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Baking soda can be used to treat various autoimmune diseases

by Vicki Batts
(Natural News)

Baking soda is a kitchen necessity, there’s no doubt about that. Whether you use it for baking, as a natural scrub for pots and pans, or as a deodorizer –the list of ways you can use baking soda in and around the home is truly an endless one. But did you know that baking soda (also known as (sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3) has a variety of medicinal uses, as well? The pantry staple is especially useful for treating conditions like arthritis, but as you may have guessed — baking soda lends itself to a variety of applications across the board, in both home and health.

Even the National Institutes of Health recently funded research on the benefits of sodium bicarbonate in people with rheumatoid arthritis — and the results were astounding. It turns out that drinking a baking soda solution can help reduce inflammation across the body, but how?

Study finds baking soda fights inflammation

Researchers from Augusta University‘s  Medical College of Georgia scientists set out to investigate the possible benefits and mode of action when it comes to baking soda’s ability to battle inflammation. The team published their findings in the Journal of Immunology. Not only have the scientists tested the benefits in rodents, human subjects with rheumatoid arthritis have shown promise with the baking soda treatment, too.

As reported in Science Daily, consuming the baking soda solution “becomes a trigger for the stomach to make more acid to digest the next meal and for little-studied mesothelial cells sitting on the spleen to tell the fist-sized organ that there’s no need to mount a protective immune response.”

The spleen is a key part of the immune system; it acts as a blood filter and also stores some immune cells, like macrophages. Scientists discovered about a decade ago that mesothelial lining also plays a role in immune response.

Mesothelial cells are what line the inside and outside of our organs. The lining has finger-like projections called “microvilli” which are capable of sensing the body’s environment — and warn the organs they cover when an invader (like a pathogen) is nearby, setting off an immune response.

Dr. Paul O’Connor, a renal physiologist in the MCG Department of Physiology at Augusta University and the study’s corresponding author, explained that the baking soda basically tells the body, “It’s most likely a hamburger not a bacterial infection,” and that there’s no need for alarm.

“Certainly drinking bicarbonate affects the spleen and we think it’s through the mesothelial cells,” O’Connor later contended.
In their research, the team found that drinking a baking soda solution for two weeks caused the population of macrophages in the blood to shift from pro-inflammatory “M1” cells to anti-inflammatory M2 cells.

Baking soda protects against more than just arthritis
As the MCG researchers note, in rodents, the benefits of baking soda were tested against one of the most damaging effects of kidney disease: acidic blood. Dr. O’Connor contends that the increasing blood acidity associated with kidney disease “sets the whole system up to fail.”

In clinical trials, baking soda is so successful at reducing blood acidity that it is now offered as a treatment for patients. Studies have shown that taking baking soda slows the progression of kidney disease, too. Similarly to the arthritis patients, studies show that these benefits seem to be derived from a decrease in M1 cells and an increase in M2 cells.

“The shift from inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory profile is happening everywhere. We saw it in the kidneys, we saw it in the spleen, now we see it in the peripheral blood,” O’Connor commented.

Like many other alternative remedies, it seems that the benefits of baking soda are endless. Some people use it to keep skin irritations at bay during the warmer months — or even to improve athletic performance for sports like running and swimming.

This kitchen staple can even be combined with other health-boosting ingredients.

You can learn more about the latest news in natural medicine at AlternativeMedicine.news.

Sources for this article include:WakingTimes.com, ScienceDaily.com.

Adrián Aréas trae su mejor actuación a Berkeley

Compilado por el personal de El Reportero

El Ensemble de Jazz Latino de Adrian Areas traerá su talento para deleitar a la audiencia el próximo viernes, 8 de junio a las 7 p.m. @ Art House Gallery & Cultural Center en Berkeley. Es el hijo mayor del mejor jugador de timbales, Chepito Aréas, quien junto con Carlos Santana, formaron la Banda de Santana.

 

Verdad y belleza: los prerrafaelitas y los viejos maestros
Verdad y belleza: los Prerrafaelitas y los Viejos Maestros son la primera gran exposición internacional que reúne obras de la Hermandad Prerrafaelita del siglo XIX de Inglaterra con las obras maestras medievales y renacentistas que las inspiraron. Obras de Botticelli, Rafael y Fra Angelico, así como pintores renacentistas del norte como Jan van Eyck y Hans Memling estarán a la vista, demostrando la fascinación de los prerrafaelistas con sus antepasados artísticos.
Pinturas, libros, muebles, manuscritos iluminados, vidrieras, tapices, textiles y obras en papel se mostrarán en arreglos multimedia que resaltan la misión paradójica de los prerrafaelistas de ser fundamentalmente modernos emulando el pasado.
Del 30 de junio al 30 de septiembre 30, en la Legión de Honor.

 

CubaCaribe Festival de Danza y Música
El 14 ° Festival Anual CubaCaribe, del 15 al 28 de junio contará con dos semanas de danza, música y teatro caribeños en tres lugares diferentes del Área de la Bahía, Laney College en Oakland, y Brava Theatre y Museum of the African Diaspora en San Francisco.

CubaCaribe es muy aclamado por ser el único festival que presenta expresiones culturales populares, contemporáneas y folclóricas, religión, historia y política de la diáspora afro-caribeña. Unificado por el tema, Los Movimientos de la Migración, este año los artistas del festival realizarán trabajos que examinarán la migración en toda la diáspora del Caribe.

 

Fin De Semana Uno – Alayo Dance Company
Viernes, 15 de junio y sábado, 16 de junio a las 7 p.m., y el domingo 17 de junio a las 4 p.m.
Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center en Laney College en Oakland.
Alayo Dance Company presentará el estreno mundial de Calle, co-coreografiado por Ramos y Jamaica Itule, presentando siete bailarines y música en vivo, y explorando la brecha entre “high art” y “street art”, danzas de concierto y danzas que ocurren en el calle o calle. Cuando Alayo se mudó al Área de la Bahía, se sorprendió de la forma en que los bailes callejeros de Oakland -como el hip-hop, específicamente el turfing y el break dance- también se celebraban como tesoros culturales y simultáneamente se pasaba por alto, al igual que Rumba, el baile nacional de Cuba que fue iniciado por afrocubanos marginados.
Calle se llevará a cabo en la calle fuera del Teatro Odell en el campus de Laney College, ahora una universidad comunitaria diversa que comenzó como una escuela comercial y se sienta en un terreno usado una vez ocupado por un proyecto de vivienda pública para cientos de Astilleros Kaiser de la Segunda Guerra Mundial trabajadores.
Los bailarines de Alayo Dance Company son Adonis Martin Quiñones, Delvis Savigne Friñón, Alexander Vargas, Marshall J. Amey, Margot Hodenfield, Zoe Klein, Fredrika Keefer, Jacinta Vlach, Emanuel Alejandro Colombo y Denmis Bain Savigne. A ellos se unen el bailarín invitado especial Johnny5 Lopez de TurfInc.
Fin De Semana Dos – Programa Mixto
Viernes, 22 de junio y sábado, 23 de junio a las 8 p.m.
El Teatro Brava en San Francisco
Actuando en este programa están Aguas Da Bahia (Director, Tania Santiago), The Cali Dance (Director, Yismari Tellez Ramos), El Wah Movement Dance Theater (Director, Collete Eloi), Nicaragua Danza, Hijos de Maiz (Director, Luis Leon) , Alafia Dance Ensemble (Directora, Mariella Morales), Dimensions Dance Theatre (Directora, Deborah Vaughn) y Dandha da Hora y Yabás Dance Co., Fundación Cheza Nami, Musicians-SambaDá (Directora, Dandha Da Hora).

Adrián Aréas brings his best performance to Berkeley

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

The Adrian Areas Latin Jazz Ensemble will be bringing his percussion talent to delight his audience this coming Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. @ Art House Gallery & Cultural Center in Berkeley. He is the oldest son of the best ever timbales player, Chepito Aréas, who together with Carlos Santana, formed the Santana Band.

 

Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters

Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters is the first major international exhibition to assemble works by England’s nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with the medieval and Renaissance masterpieces that inspired them. Works by Botticelli, Raphael and Fra Angelico as well as northern Renaissance painters such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling will be on view, demonstrating the Pre-Raphaelites’ fascination with their artistic forebears.

Paintings, books, furniture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, tapestries, textiles, and works on paper will be shown in multimedia arrangements that highlight the Pre-Raphaelites’ paradoxical mission to be fundamentally modern by emulating the past.

From June 30–Sept. 30, at the Legion of Honor

 

CubaCaribe Festival of Dance and Music

The 14th Annual CubaCaribe Festival, June 15-28 will feature two weeks of Caribbean dance, music and theater at three different Bay Area venues, Laney College in Oakland, and Brava Theater and Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.  CubaCaribe is highly acclaimed for being the only festival to present popular, contemporary and folkloric cultural expression, religion, history, and politics of the Afro-Caribbean Diaspora.  Unified by the theme, The Movements of Migration, this year festival artists will perform works examining migration throughout the Caribbean diaspora.

Weekend One – Alayo Dance Company

Friday, June 15 and Saturday, June 16  at 7 p.m., and Sunday, June 17 at 4 p.m.
Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center at Laney College in Oakland.

Alayo Dance Company will perform the World Premiere of Calle, co-choreographed by Ramos and Jamaica Itule, featuring seven dancers and live music, and exploring the gap between “high art” and “street art,” concert dance and dances that happen in the street or calle.  When Alayo moved to the Bay Area, he was struck by the way Oakland street dances – such as hip-hop, specifically turfing and break dancing – were also celebrated as cultural treasures and yet simultaneously overlooked, much like Rumba, the national dance of Cuba which was started by marginalized Afro-Cubans.

Calle will take place in the street outside of the Odell Theater on the campus of Laney College, now a diverse community college that started as a trade school and sits on land once used occupied by a public housing project for hundreds of World War II Kaiser Shipyard workers.

The dancers of Alayo Dance Company are Adonis Martin Quiñones, Delvis Savigne Friñon, Alexander Vargas, Marshall J. Amey, Margot Hodenfield, Zoe Klein, Fredrika Keefer, Jacinta Vlach, Emanuel Alejandro Colombo and Denmis Bain Savigne.  They are joined by special guest dancer Johnny5 Lopez of TurfInc.

Weekend Two – Mixed Program

Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23 at 8 p.m.

The Brava Theater in San Francisco

Performing on this program are Aguas Da Bahia (Director, Tania Santiago),  The Cali Dance (Director, Yismari Tellez Ramos),  El Wah Movement Dance Theater (Director, Collete Eloi),  Nicaragua Danza, Hijos de Maiz (Director, Luis Leon),  Alafia Dance Ensemble (Director, Mariella Morales),  Dimensions Dance Theater (Director, Deborah Vaughn) and  Dandha da Hora & Yabás Dance Co.,Cheza Nami Foundation, Musicians-SambaDá (Director, Dandha Da Hora).

Yucatán restaurant wins international recognition for design

by the El Reportero’s news services

Ixi’im Restaurant in Chocholá was selected for the Prix Versailles award
A restaurant in Yucatán has been crowned best designed in the world in a prestigious international architecture competition.

Ixi’im Restaurant, located about 40 kilometers southwest of Mérida in the municipality of Chocholá, beat out all other contenders in its category to win the Prix Versailles World Architecture Award.

The restaurant design prize — along with others in the categories of shops and stores, shopping malls and hotels — was presented at a ceremony held May 15 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

Premiere of Sacúdete las Penas, Hola México Film Fest
The film Sacúdete las Penas will be the closing night at the largest Mexican Film Festival outside of Mexico, which will take place on June 1 – 9, 2018. The festival will be attended by Director Andrés Ibáñez Díaz.

The film is about González, an inmate serving a long sentence, who tells the story of Pepe Frituras, Mexico City’s most famous dancer, who would lose his freedom during a night out partying, ending up in the Palace of Lecumberri – the country’s most dangerous penitentiary.

Through anecdotes filled with music, dances, and romance, González narrates how he became the only convict that managed to escape the prison walls using the power of his imagination.

Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=5jstm_JeyW8

Senate embraces plan for renewed film-tax program to help film/TV industries
The California Senate today on a bipartisan, 37-0 vote approved extending a model program to keep and create mostly off-screen jobs in California’s renowned film and TV industries.

SB 951 would extend the California Film and Television Production Act from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2025, and makes key improvements.

To date, the program has allocated $840 million in tax credits to 150 approved projects. Those numbers reflect 29,000 cast members hired; 18,000 crew members hired; and 13 TV series that relocated to California from out of state.


Other provisions of SB 951 include:

· Awarding tax credits according to a jobs ratio rating system, whereby applications are ranked based upon the number of jobs created in California and other economic factors.

· Increasing funding for independent films and ensuring smaller productions are not competing with larger productions.
· Offering an additional 5 percent tax credit increase for production outside the Los Angeles 30-mile zone.

Mitchell’s measure was supported by members of both parties and labor unions. Gov. Brown signed into law the original 2014 measure, which also received bipartisan support.

SB 951 now moves to the Assembly. Its initial hearing date has not yet been set.

Nearly 6,000 people died in Puerto Rico — 70 times official count

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine estimates that nearly 6,000 people died in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

 

by Jessica Corbett

 

A study published Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine estimates that nearly 6,000 people died in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, with a survey indicating the mortality rate is likely more than 70 times the highly contested official death toll of 64.

Researchers with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center surveyed thousands of survivors and initially estimated that at least 4,645 people died between when the storm struck the U.S. territory on September 20, 2017 and the end of the year.

However, considering that they could not survey people who lived alone and died due to the hurricane, researchers adjusted the estimate to 5,740. Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the study says deaths can be attributed to the storm “if they are caused by forces related to the event, such as flying debris, or if they are caused by unsafe or unhealthy conditions resulting in injury, illness, or loss of necessary medical services.”

The findings bolster a series of damning independent reports that have disputed the official death toll. Pressure from those reports pushed Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to recruit researchers from George Washington University to review the government’s process of accessing deaths tied to the hurricane and produce an analysis that is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Pointing to that government-funded analysis, the Harvard study notes that its findings “will serve as an important independent comparison to official statistics from death-registry data, which are currently being reevaluated, and underscore the inattention of the U.S. government to the frail infrastructure of Puerto Rico.”

The hurricane decimated the island’s infrastructure, particularly its debt-riddenelectrical system. According to the National Hurricane Center (pdf), Maria caused an estimated $90 billion in damage, making it the third-costliest tropical storm since 1900, behind Katrina in 2005 and Harvey, which struck the Southern United States last year.

 

Two huge vaccine scandals the press is ignoring

by Jon Rappoport

Some lies are so big, many people can’t accept the fact that they’re lies. Their minds are boggled. “No,” they say, “that couldn’t be.” But yes, that could be, and is.

Two giant vaccine scandals are in progress at the moment.

The mainstream press is mentioning them, here and there, but without any intent to rise alarms, dig in, investigate, and get down to the core of the problem.
So I’ll get to the core.

The first scandal revolves around the flu vaccine for the current year. The CDC and other “experts” have admitted the vaccine has a very low effectiveness rate.
Why is it a dud?

Because the vaccine is produced using chicken eggs, and in that medium, the flu virus—which is intentionally placed in the eggs—mutates. Therefore, it isn’t the same virus which is causing flu this year. Therefore, no protection against the flu.

FiercePharma reports: “Based on data from Australia, which already had its flu season, scientists warn that this season’s flu shot might be only 10% effective. And the reason for such a low level of protection might lie in the method by which the majority of flu vaccines are made: in eggs.”

Ten percent effectiveness. Now that’s ridiculous. And it’s assuming you accept the whole model of how vaccines work—that they actually do protect (safely) against disease, rather than, at best, repressing the visible symptoms of the disease.

Amidst their spotty coverage of this scandal, here is what the press is failing to mention: the problem with the flu vaccine isn’t just a 2017-2018 flaw.

It would be the same problem ever since chicken eggs have been used to manufacture the vaccine.

Are you ready?

Healthline.com: “The majority of flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs, a method of vaccine development that’s been used for 70 years.”
Hello? Anyone home?

Seventy years. The same problem.

The same “low effectiveness” problem.

That’s a page-one story with a giant headline. That’s the lead item on the nightly news. That’s a pounding investigative series about the lunatic promotion of a massively ineffective—but universally promoted—vaccine going back decades and decades.

But it isn’t a giant headline. It isn’t an investigation. It’s a here-today-gone-tomorrow piece. That’s all.

The second scandal keeps unfolding in the Philippines, where drug giant Sanofi’s Dengvaxia, given to prevent Dengue Fever, is facing enormous pushback from government officials, who stopped the national vaccination campaign, after thousands of children already received the shot.

The issue? Safety.

FiercePharma: “The Philippines stopped vaccinations shortly after the company warned that Dengvaxia can cause more serious infections in those who previously hadn’t had exposure to the virus. The country also kicked off a probe and plans legal action, according to health secretary Francisco Duque.”

Did you get that? The company (Sanofi) itself warned that vaccine might not be safe.

FiercePharma: “…the [Philippine] Department of Health didn’t heed warnings from an advisory group of doctors and pharmacologists, who concluded early last year that the vaccine’s safety and efficacy were unproven.”

My, my.

But let’s dig even deeper. Sanofi saying is saying the vaccine might be dangerous for those who haven’t been exposed to the Dengue virus before getting the shot.

What on Earth does that mean?

It means a child who had naturally come in contact with the virus would have developed his own antibodies to it. And later, those antibodies would protect him against the Dengue virus IN THE VACCINE. Otherwise, the virus in the vaccine could give him a case of Dengue or cause some other form of damage.

This is saying, “If a child is ALREADY immune to Dengue Fever, because his immune system has successfully dealt with the virus, then the vaccine won’t damage him.”

And THAT is saying, “If the child has naturally developed an immunity to Dengue, then the vaccine, WHICH HE DOESN’T NEED, won’t harm him.”

Of course, the press isn’t getting the picture. If any reporters are seeing the light, they’re keeping their mouths shut. The scandal is too big and too crazy.

Between the lines, a vaccine company is admitting their vaccine is only safe for children who don’t need it.

A tree just fell in the forest. Who heard it?

(Jon Rappoport is the author of three explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, And Power Outside The Matrix).

San Francisco Carnival Grand Parade

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Watch a brilliant procession of contingents, most of which will feature beautifully adorned floats depicting rich multicultural themes and featuring performers who engage and entertain the crowds. Brazilian-style “escola” samba schools with up to 300 members dance through the streets in fantastic feathered headdresses or sweeping Bahia skirts, while Caribbean contingents perform the music and dance of the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad.

Other parade groups include Mexican Aztec performers, traditional African drummers, Polynesian dancers, Japanese drummers, giant puppets and folkloric groups representing Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia.

Grand Parade kicks–off at the corner of 24th and Bryant Streets. On May 27 at 9:30 a.m.

Mission Branch Library renovation
Community meetings kick-off branch make-over

San Francisco Public Library and San Francisco Public Works are beginning the planning process to renovate the Mission Branch Library, which was last updated more than 20 years ago. This upgrade provides an opportunity to bring this historic branch into the 21st century.

 The public is invited to attend community meetings to meet the architects and share ideas for restoring and improving their neighborhood branch.

 Saturday, May 19, 1 p.m., Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St.

 Wednesday, May 23, 6 p.m., Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St.

 The Mayor’s proposed budget includes $19.8 million to fund the planning, design and construction of the Mission Branch Library renovation. The branch originally opened in 1915, one of seven Carnegie funded branches in San Francisco.

San Francisco Job Fair and career fair information for career seekers

The San Francisco Job Fair and Career Fair is on Thursday, May 31, 2018 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis for career seekers and candidates. Come meet with hiring managers from local, national, and Fortune 500 companies for free at our San Francisco Job Fair.

Thursday, May 31, 2018, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Brighten up your Tuesdays with live latin music

Making Their Cha Cha Cha Debut!

The Cuband Quartet, an Alternative & Fusion Cuban music project, formed in 2015 by a group of Bay Area Cuban musicians. Rumba, Latin Jazz, Pop, Timba, Reggae, Son and Blues are among the musical influences the band displays. Backed up by the flavor of original compositions, instrumentalist performances, and a strong rhythm section. Featuring Ed Corzo, piano; Rafael Matos, sax; Yoel Mullen, voice and percussion; Carlos Ramírez, Voice and Bass.

Tuesday, May 22, 8pm to 10 p.m. 2327 Mission Street at 19th, San Francisco. Free Admission.
Cha Cha Cha salutes the 40th Anniversary of Carnaval on Sunday, May 27th.

Mexicans screen four films at Cannes

An opportunity for young filmmakers to screen their first or second feature or short film

by the El Reportero’s news services

Four short films from Mexico screened today as part of the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week thanks to a partnership with the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

The films featured were Lo que no se dice bajo el sol (Under the Sun) directed by Eduardo Esquivel; Vuelve a mí (Back to Me) by Daniel Nájera; Aguas tranquilas, aguas profundas (In Deep Water) by Miguel Labastida; and the documentary Tierra de brujas, mar de sirenas (Land of witches, sea of mermaids) directed by Delia Luna Couturier.

The origin of the alliance between Cannes and Morelia goes back to 2003 when FICM organizers agreed to show Cannes Critics’ Week films during the annual film festival in the Michoacán state capital.

Two years later, Cannes organizers reciprocated by including Mexican films that had previously premiered in Morelia.

“We’re very well represented. It gives me great pleasure that it’s young people who are benefiting from this,” FICM director Daniela Michel told the news agency EFE.

The Cannes Critics’ Week, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, was founded in 1962 to allow selected young filmmakers to screen their first or second feature or short film.

In previous editions, well-known Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro — who this year won the best picture and best director Oscars for The Shape of Water — and Alejandro González Iñárritu have shown their early work.

Michel said the Mexican shorts featured in this year’s selection are reflective of the good times that Mexican cinema is currently experiencing.

In his film Lo que no se dice bajo el sol, 25-year-old Guadalajara native Esquivel told EFE that he wanted to explore “the fractures that remain invisible in family relationships.” He described the film’s inclusion in the event as an “honor.”

Aguas tranquilas, aguas profundas, directed by 26-year-old Labastida, explores the fine line between sanctity and mental illness and the collision between religion and psychiatry in rural areas of Mexico.

Couturier’s documentary delves into the stories about legendary beings and characters who some people believe inhabit the canals of Xochimilco in southern Mexico City, while in Vuelve a mí Nájera, 29, examines the loss of innocence of two siblings who move together to Chihuahua to work but end up being driven apart.

Nájera said that young Mexican filmmakers don’t shy away from examining themes such as corruption and violence that they are confronted with in Mexico but they do so with a new and different perspective.

“It’s important to talk about violence because we’re living through it,” the 29-year-old Couturier explained.

Cinema can be “a weapon for change and a way to discover ourselves, culturally and historically,” she said.

The grand prize at this year’s Critics’ Week was won by a Franco-Brazilian-Portuguese comedy drama called Diamantino.

Source: EFE (sp)

Latino Film Festival 2018
See Independent Films from Latino Artists

Join in on the fun at this year’s Latino Film Festival. This spicy and colorful event features unique works from up-and-coming and well-known filmmakers. All are from the US, Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.

This year’s festival is September 14 – 30 in San Francisco as well as other Bay Area Cities including San Jose, Oakland, and Berkeley.

The San Francisco movies will be at a variety of venues around the city, including the Brava Theater Center, Opera Plaza Cinema, and Galeria de la Raza. Other venues include the Mission Cultural Center For Latino Arts, the Red Poppy Art House, and the Producer’s Lot.

Turmeric is an ideal drug alternative for treating Type 2

by Isabelle Z.

If you’re diabetic, you’ve probably had it hammered into your head already that you need to eat a low-glycemic diet and exercise regularly, but there is one very powerful tool that can help you in this fight that doesn’t get nearly as much attention: turmeric.

This root, which comes from the same plant family as ginger, is actually one of the most thoroughly researched anti-diabetic plants, and a new review in the International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism adds to the growing body of evidence that its active polyphenol curcumin can make a huge difference in managing and even preventing the illness.

The review looked at a variety of studies in cells, animals, and humans, and they all reached the same conclusion in favor of turmeric for diabetes. The studies show it can reduce problems associated with the disease, such as insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar. It does this in a variety of ways, including by reducing the production of liver glucose and glycogen, suppressing inflammation caused by hyperglycemia, improving the function of pancreatic cells, improving beta cell function, and improving the oxidation and utilization of fatty acids.

The news is certainly good for those suffering from diabetes, which can be tricky to manage and can lead to life-threatening complications over time. However, it’s also very useful knowledge for those who do not suffer from diabetes. Its prevalence is rising, with 1.5 million Americans being diagnosed with it every year due largely to an unhealthy modern Western diet that barely resembles actual food provided by nature.

One study in particular showed just how effective turmeric can be at preventing those with pre-diabetes from going on to develop full-blown type 2 diabetes. That study, which was published in the journal Diabetes Care, found that taking 1500 mg of curcumin every day for nine months was 100 percent effective at ensuring prediabetics don’t develop type 2 diabetes; the placebo group, on the other hand, saw 16.4 percent of subjects developing the deadly illness.

Best of all, it accomplishes this without dangerous side effects for most people. Contrast this with the standard diabetes treatment, oral anti-diabetic medications. The most popular option, metformin, is full of side effects. It might lower your blood sugar, but it will raise your risk of death at the same time – hardly a trade-off that most people would be willing to make if they were informed of all the risks. Taking insulin isn’t much better, with one recent study finding it actually accelerates type 2 diabetes progression while also causing type 1 diabetes!

Turmeric, ginger both excellent diabetes fighters

It’s the anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric that make it so useful in addressing diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is caused by systemic inflammation, which then affects the function and secretion of insulin; the curcumin in turmeric can keep this at bay.

Turmeric’s cousin, ginger, has also been shown to help fight diabetes. Taking just 1600 milligrams per day – roughly ¼ teaspoon – was found in studies to improve people’s fasting glucose, triglycerides, insulin, inflammation markers, and total cholesterol, along with glycated hemoglobin, which measures the damage caused by sugar to red blood cells.

While turmeric has tremendous anti-diabetic value, it’s important to keep things in perspective. If you start eating turmeric every day, that doesn’t mean you can binge on brownies and ice cream indiscriminately. Instead, it should be consumed as part of an overall healthy lifestyle approach to preventing or managing diabetes.

Eliminating sugar from your diet is still essential because it’s so destructive to your health, and the benefits gained by regular exercise are simply too great to be ignored. What turmeric can do for some people, however, is take the place of diabetic drugs, working in tandem with smart diet choices and mind-body approaches to help people maintain optimal health.

See PreventDiabetes.news for more coverage of preventing type-2 diabetes.

Sources for this article include:

GreenMedInfo.com
NaturalPedia.com
WakingTimes.com
Diabetes.org
NaturalNews.com.

NAFTA deal unlikely this week, says economy minister

‘It is not easy, we don’t think we will have it by Thursday’

by Mexico News Daily

Reaching an updated NAFTA deal before Thursday’s deadline is looking unlikely, Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said today.

United States House Speaker Paul Ryan set the cut-off date last Wednesday amid some optimism that Mexico, the U.S. and Canada could soon reach an agreement in principle as a result of meetings attended last week by the chief trade representatives in Washington.

However, ultimately no new deal was forthcoming and talks this week also look set to fall short of reaching a definitive outcome, which would allow the U.S. Congress a chance to approve it before the end of the year.

“It is not easy, we don’t think we will have it by Thursday,” Guajardo told broadcaster Televisa.

“We will keep negotiating, and in the moment that we have a good negotiation, we can close the deal . . . independent of which Congress [the current or new one] that will vote on it,” he said.

The United States will hold midterm elections in November and a new Congress will first sit in January. Under the U.S. “fast track” trade negotiation law, there are lengthy notification periods before Congress could start considering a new NAFTA, precipitating the establishment of this Thursday’s deadline.

Mexico’s presidential election is also now less than seven weeks away, further complicating talks.

The lingering uncertainty over the future of the 24-year-old trade pact, coupled with the upcoming election, has placed pressure on the Mexican peso, Guajardo said.

The currency fell to its lowest level in more than a year yesterday and some analysts believe that it will continue to decline in the lead-up to the election, which according to opinion polls, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is likely to win.

The economy secretary, who said last month that there was an 80% chance that a new agreement would be struck in the first week of May, now believes that there are “different moments to close the negotiation.”

“It could be before the Mexican election on July 1, it could be just after,” he said.

A push to conclude a deal by the end of the week came yesterday in the form of a telephone conversation between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Donald Trump.

A report in Canadian media said Trudeau make a direct appeal to Trump to keep momentum alive at the negotiating table.

Guajardo’s successor, should López Obrador become Mexico’s next president, said last month that an incoming AMLO administration would be willing to accept a new NAFTA deal that was struck before July 1.

However, if that doesn’t happen, Graciela Márquez said, it would be preferable to complete the negotiations after the new president is sworn in in December.

In the five-month period between election day and the swearing-in ceremony, Guajardo said, the next government’s team would need to be involved in any ongoing trilateral trade talks.

Guajardo said that negotiators were close to reaching agreement on rules of origin for the auto sector.

However, U.S. demands for a so-called sunset clause that would see NAFTA automatically expire if the agreement is not renegotiated every five years as well as the elimination of settlement panels for trade disputes remain sticking points.

The United States and Canada are also pushing Mexico to increase wages in its automotive sector.

Guajardo added that more flexibility was needed in order to reach a deal.

Kenneth Smith, the head of Mexico’s technical negotiating team, reiterated in a radio interview that from Mexico’s perspective there are no fixed deadlines it is working towards.

“Mexico’s position since the start of the negotiation has been that we’re not going to sacrifice the quality of the deal to conclude quickly,” he said, although he added that there is still time to reach a conclusion before the end of the year.

“There’s no question the possibility exists, we’re interested and I think the United States and Canada share this view,” he said.

Source: Reuters (en)

In other non-related news:

It’s no longer just about drugs: pipeline thieves move into Sinaloa
Pemex has detected an average of three new illegal taps per day

Violent crime in Sinaloa is not the exclusive domain of drug cartels: gangs of fuel thieves known as huachicoleros have taken their fight into the northern state.

This year, state oil company Pemex has detected on average three new illegal taps on its pipelines per day in Sinaloa, which is now one of eight Mexican states where 80% of the crime is concentrated.

Last month, turf wars between rival gangs over the control of the illicit fuel market in the state triggered a wave of violence, mainly in state capital Culiacán and the town of Mocorito, located about 120 kilometers to the north.

The Topolobampo-Culiacán pipeline runs through both municipalities and, according to Pemex data, there were 252 illegal taps on the duct in the first three months of the year, almost double the number detected in the first quarter of 2017.

In Culiacán and Mocorito, state security authorities have reported gun battles and cars being set alight in connection with the crime and schools have been closed due to the fear generated by the feuding, between heavily-armed groups.

On April 15, 10 people were kidnapped in Culiacancito, located just outside the capital, and the following day a shootout in El Limón de los Ramos — also in the municipality of Culiacán — left an innocent passerby wounded.

Authorities subsequently seized a burned-out car with several bullet holes from the scene of the confrontation.

Two days later on April 18, another car was set alight at a home in the community of El Tamarindo, Culiacán, leading to an air and ground-based police operation and the suspension of classes in the area.

The same day, state Public Security Secretary Genaro Robles attributed the incident to fuel thieves.

In response to the rising levels of fuel theft, the state Public Security Secretariat has launched a joint operation with the army and navy.

It has also called on residents not to buy stolen fuel in order to discourage its sale and in turn reduce the prevalence of the crime.

Pemex CEO Carlos Treviño said last month that fuel theft costs the state oil company 30 billion pesos (US $1.5 billion) a year.

Source: Reforma (sp)

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