Today's News: May 13, 2019

World News
Burkina Faso church attack: Priest among six killed
BBC – Gunmen have killed six people including a priest as Mass was being celebrated in a church in Dablo in northern Burkina Faso, officials say.
The attackers, said to number between 20 and 30, then burned down the church.
The town’s mayor, Ousmane Zongo, said that there was panic as other buildings were burned down and a health centre looted.
Jihadist violence has flared in Burkina Faso since 2016, and this is the third attack on a church in five weeks.
How Vancouver became the world’s ‘laundromat for foreign organized crime’
Financial Post – Vancouver penthouses, ski chalets at Whistler, and holiday retreats in the Gulf Islands are among the thousands of properties identified in a dirty money probe that estimates more than $7 billion was laundered through the western Canadian province of British Columbia last year.
The startling findings from two reports released by the provincial government Thursday illustrate how a torrent of suspicious cash has fuelled casinos, luxury car sales and real estate in the Pacific Coast region. “The amount of money being laundered in B.C. is more than anyone predicted,” Finance Minister Carole James told reporters Thursday.
It’s estimated that dirty money pushed B.C. home prices 3.7% to 7.5% higher
In real estate alone, an estimated $5 billion may have been laundered last year in the province — equivalent to 4.6 per cent of all transactions by value in that period, according to one of the reports. In the Vancouver region, where housing prices rose more than 70 per cent in five years, “I certainly believe that money laundering played a part,” James said.
Ecuador will give US all documents & devices Assange left in London embassy – report
RT – Ecuador’s Attorney General has informed a Julian Assange lawyer that the WikiLeaks co-founder’s files, computer, mobile phones and other electronic devices will be seized during a search at the London embassy and sent to the US.
‘It’s time to rise up,’ Venezuelan general tells military officers in video
Reuters – A Venezuelan general called on the country’s armed forces on Sunday to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse.
Iran commander calls U.S. military in Gulf a target not a threat -ISNA
Reuters – A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday the U.S. military presence in the Gulf used to be a serious threat but now represents a target, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.
The U.S. military has sent forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East in a move that U.S. officials said was made to counter “clear indications” of threats from Iran to American forces in the region.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is replacing another carrier rotated out of the Gulf last month.
“An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now it is a target and the threats have switched to opportunities,” said Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ aerospace division.
Britain Warns U.S.-Iran Conflict Could Begin ‘by Accident’
Breitbart – Britain warned Monday that conflict might break out “by accident” between the United States and Iran amid rising tensions, as European Union powers gathered to thrash out ways to keep afloat the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
The warning came after the United States announced the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf to counter an alleged but still-unspecified threat from Iran, the latest in a long line of such deployments to the strategic region.
“We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side but ends with some kind of conflict,” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Brussels.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
US Special Forces School Publishes a Book on Overthrowing Foreign Governments – Declares most past US plotting to be successful
Antiwar – US Special Operations Command can now be said to have literally written the book on US-imposed regime change, with the book “Support to Resistance: Strategic Purpose and Effectiveness” released this week by their official school.
The official study covers 47 distinct cases of US special forces trying to intervene in various countries from 1941-2003. It did not include some of the more famous US-backed coups, as the study said they did not involve “legitimate resistance movements.“
This meant a few pages covering each incident, attempts to sort them into various categories, and determinations if they were successful or failures. Overwhelmingly, they determined their own interventions were successful.
Apparently anticipating the problems in years to come, the study also addressed mounting unrest across the Middle East in its early portion, and waved this away by arguing that it was generally the fault of the Soviet Union, and would’ve happened no matter what the US did.
California May Go Dark This Summer, and Most Aren’t Ready
Hot Air – The plan by PG&E Corp. comes after the bankrupt utility said a transmission line that snapped in windy weather probably started last year’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history. While the plan may end one problem, it creates another as Californians seek ways to deal with what some fear could be days and days of blackouts.
Some residents are turning to other power sources, a boon for home battery systems marketed by Sunrun Inc., Tesla Inc. and Vivint Solar Inc. But the numbers of those systems in use are relatively small when compared with PG&E’s 5.4 million customers. Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom said he’s budgeting $75 million to help communities deal with the threat.
“I’m worried,” Newsom said Thursday during a budget briefing in Sacramento. “We’re all worried about it for the elderly. We’re worried about it because we could see people’s power shut off not for a day or two but potentially a week.”
Shocking Monsanto Records Reveal White House May Have Betrayed Cancer Victims
Care2 – Just before going to concluding arguments in the third lawsuit against Monsanto, in which Alva and Alberta Pilliod allege that the company’s pesticides are to blame for their cancers, shocking new documents came to light.
According to Monsanto’s own report, the company hired a corporate intelligence company “to take the temperature on current regulatory attitudes for glyphosate.” The company’s report indicated that a domestic policy advisor at the White House said: “We have Monsanto’s back on pesticides regulation. We are prepared to go toe-to-toe on any disputes they may have with, for example, the EU. Monsanto need not fear any additional regulation from this administration.”
This wasn’t the only shocking news that has come out of the third trial against Monsanto: emails were released showing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials may have worked with Monsanto to help slow the release of the dangers of the pesticide from the public, as well as feeding the company consistent updates.
Despite the recent revelations, the EPA made a contradictory statement in its media release it distributed a week ago, in which the agency declared that “glyphosate is not a carcinogen.” The media release also declared that the EPA’s decision is “consistent with the findings of other regulatory authorities that glyphosate does not pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans.”
The statement is a stark contrast to the World Health Organization’s declaration that glyphosate is a “probable carcinogen” after reviewing approximately 1000 studies, as well as the verdicts in two trials against Monsanto in which juries awarded the plaintiffs who are suffering from cancer the win. In order to do so, the jury first had to decide whether there was sufficient evidence linking Monsanto’s glyphosate-based pesticide, RoundUp, to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—a type of cancer of the lymphatic system.
Washington State Narrows Exemptions For Measles Vaccine Requirement
Huffpost – Parents in Washington state will soon no longer be able to claim a personal or philosophical exemption for not having their children get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Friday signed a bill into law that will limit such exemptions as the nation grapples with one of the largest measles outbreaks since officials in 2000 declared the virus eliminated.
“In Washington state, we believe in our doctors. We believe in our nurses. We believe in our educators. We believe in science and we love our children,” Inslee said before signing the bill. “And that is why in Washington state, we are against measles.”
The Pentagon is reportedly shifting funds from ballistic missile and surveillance plane programs to fund Trump’s border wall
SF Gate – The Pentagon announced Friday it was diverting $1.5 billion in funds to help fund the construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall.
Some of that $1.5 billion will come from programs such as an intercontinental ballistic missile system and a surveillance plane system, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Documents and Pentagon officials have explicitly said the funding shift won’t impact military readiness.
“We have very smart people here in the department, and we found ways to do this without having any impact on readiness,” acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Friday.
Adam Schiff: Democrats considering fines of $25,000 a day for Trump officials who defy subpoenas
Washington Times – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that Democrats are considering using the power of inherent contempt to fine Trump officials that resist their subpoenas.
“We’re going to have to enforce much of this in court,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We are going to have to consider other powers like inherent contempt if the courts take too long.”
Last week, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for withholding an unredacted version of the Mueller report from Congress and not allowing them to view highly sensitive grand jury information.
Though Democrats are taking steps to address the Trump administration’s resistance to their Congressional investigations, many are concerned their efforts — subpoenas or court action — could take too long to be enforced.
“I think if you fine someone $25,000 a day … until they comply, it gets their attention,” Mr. Schiff said. “We’re going to have to enforce our ability to do oversight”
More ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Bans Advancing in South, Midwest
Necn – If a new Mississippi law survives a court challenge, it will be nearly impossible for most pregnant women to get an abortion there.
Or, potentially, in neighboring Louisiana. Or Alabama. Or Georgia.
The Louisiana legislature is halfway toward passing a law — like the ones enacted in Mississippi and Georgia — that will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant. Alabama is on the cusp of approving an even more restrictive bill.
State governments are on a course to virtually eliminate abortion access in large chunks of the Deep South and Midwest. Ohio and Kentucky also have passed heartbeat laws; Missouri’s Republican-controlled legislature is considering one.
Economy & Business
Kudlow Contradicts Trump, Admits U.S. Businesses and Consumers Pay for China Tariffs
Slate – White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow appears to have diverged from President Trump’s claims that China would pay for a recently-announced tariff increase, admitting during an interview on Fox News Sunday that U.S. companies and consumers would effectively have to shoulder the burden.
During the interview, anchor Chris Wallace said to Kudlow, “It’s not China that pays tariffs. It’s the American importers, the American companies that pay what, in effect, is a tax increase and oftentimes passes it on to U.S. consumers.”
Kudlow replied, “Fair enough. In fact, both sides will pay. Both sides will pay in these things.”
Upon further pressing from Wallace, Kudlow proceeded to acknowledge that while China may suffer from the tariffs, it is in fact U.S. businesses and consumers that have to pay for them. Kudlow argued, however, that the ramifications of the tariffs would be much more severe for China because the hit to the country’s export markets would significantly affect its GDP. He claimed that the U.S.’s GDP would not see similarly damaging losses due to the strength of the economy. Kudlow also noted that Trump would likely meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit next month in Japan.
China says it will never surrender to foreign pressure amid trade dispute
Reuters – China’s foreign ministry said on Monday the country will never surrender to foreign pressure after Washington renewed its threat to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports in an escalating trade dispute.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments at a daily briefing in Beijing.
Geng declined to comment on what countermeasures China planned to announce in response to the U.S. tariff hike on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday.
AMAZON rolls out machines that pack orders, replace jobs
Reuters – Amazon.com Inc is rolling out machines to automate a job held by thousands of its workers: boxing up customer orders.
The company started adding technology to a handful of warehouses in recent years, which scans goods coming down a conveyor belt and envelopes them seconds later in boxes custom-built for each item, two people who worked on the project told Reuters.
Amazon has considered installing two machines at dozens more warehouses, removing at least 24 roles at each one, these people said. These facilities typically employ more than 2,000 people.
That would amount to more than 1,300 cuts across 55 U.S. fulfillment centers for standard-sized inventory. Amazon would expect to recover the costs in under two years, at $1 million per machine plus operational expenses, they said.
Energy & Environment
6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Panama and Costa Rica border region
RT – A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the Panama-Costa Rica border region. The wider area around the quake is home to more than 400,000 people.
Severe weather slams the South with tornadoes and relentless rain
NBC – Louisiana was hit with record breaking rainfall in the month of May, with some in New Orleans kayaking through flooded streets, and dangerous flooding and forced dramatic rescues in Mississippi. The major storm system caused chaos across six states.
Science & Technology
INSIDE CHINA’S MASSIVE SURVEILLANCE OPERATION (CHILLING)
Wired – The woman remembers the first time she got a smartphone.
It was 2011, and she was living in Hotan, an oasis town in Xinjiang, in northwest China. The 30-year-old, Nurjamal Atawula, loved to take pictures of her children and exchange strings of emoji with her husband while he was out. In 2013, Atawula downloaded WeChat, the Chinese social messaging app. Not long after, rumors circulated among her friends: The government could track your location through your phone. At first, she didn’t believe them.
In early 2016, police started making routine checks on Atawula’s home. Her husband was regularly called to the police station. The police informed him they were suspicious of his WeChat activity. Atawula’s children began to cower in fear at the sight of a police officer.
The harassment and fear finally reached the point that the family decided to move to Turkey. Atawula’s husband, worried that Atawula would be arrested, sent her ahead while he stayed in Xinjiang and waited for the children’s passports.
“The day I left, my husband was arrested,” Atawula said. When she arrived in Turkey in June 2016, her phone stopped working—and by the time she had it repaired, all her friends and relatives had deleted her from their WeChat accounts. They feared that the government would punish them for communicating with her.
For Uyghurs in Xinjiang, any kind of contact from a non-Chinese phone number, though not officially illegal, can result in instant arrest. Most Uyghurs in Turkey have been deleted by their families on social media. And many wouldn’t dare try to make contact, for fear Chinese authorities would punish their relatives. It’s just one of the ways President Xi Jinping’s government maintains a tightly controlled net of surveillance over the Uyghurs in China, and it has a ripple effect on Uyghurs living all over the world.
After the 9/11 attacks, the Chinese government took a page from George W. Bush’s war on terror and began targeting separatist groups in Xinjiang. In 2009, bloody ethnic riots broke out between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi, the Xinjiang capital. Police put the city on lockdown, enforcing an internet blackout and cutting cell phone service. It was the beginning of a new policy to control the Uyghur population—digitally.
Drones in Aisle 5? Grocery stores are becoming unusual hotbeds of innovation
The Denver Post – In a grocery store somewhere in North America, a small drone floats from aisle to aisle, hovering like a hummingbird that has traded its nimble wings for tiny propellers.
Each time the autonomous robot drops down to scan a crowded shelf using an onboard camera, the machine collects valuable data about the store’s ever-changing inventory.
It may sound like a sequence from some high-tech vision of the future, but the drone and the artificial intelligence behind it — created by an Austin-based startup and data subscription service called Pensa — already has been tested in multiple retail outlets and probably will begin appearing in grocery stores later this year.
Not so long ago, stepping inside a grocery store — with its canned goods, harsh lighting and outdated Muzak playlists — felt like going back in time. The industry’s business model had changed little over the past century. Now, experts say, the industry finds itself in the midst of a technological upheaval, one that is providing the public with a glimpse of a future far beyond self-service kiosks and online shopping.
Those changes are not without risk. As U.S. retail companies embrace automation, many experts believe that the impact on jobs will be significant, with some analysts predicting as many as 7.5 million retail workers could lose their jobs over the next decade. Yet the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests the retail-sales labor force will grow over the decade between 2016 and 2026, though more slowly than average.
In recent months, Kroger, the nation’s largest grocer, introduced a new fleet of autonomous delivery vehicles, and Giant Food Stores rolled out a series of robotic assistants named “Marty” that scan shelves and identify hazardous spills. Last year, Kroger introduced a system called “Scan, Bag, Go” that allows customers to scan and pay for grocery items as they shop — with their smartphone.
Walmart customers recently have been able to order groceries using a Google assistant, joining Amazon-owned Whole Foods, which partnered with Amazon’s Echo last year so that customers can shop using voice commands.
By next year, Walmart — which also sells $200 billion worth of groceries each year and remains the world’s largest private employer with 1.5 million Americans on its payroll — plans to have autonomous floor-scrubbing robots at nearly half of its 4,700 U.S. stores, part of a major effort to upgrade its business by harnessing the convenience of intelligent machines.
Swarms of A.I. Drones May Soon Patrol European Borders.
The Intercept – Imagine you’re hiking through the woods near a border. Suddenly, you hear a mechanical buzzing, like a gigantic bee. Two quadcopters have spotted you and swoop in for a closer look. Antennae on both drones and on a nearby autonomous ground vehicle pick up the radio frequencies coming from the cell phone in your pocket. They send the signals to a central server, which triangulates your exact location and feeds it back to the drones. The robots close in.
Cameras and other sensors on the machines recognize you as human and try to ascertain your intentions. Are you a threat? Are you illegally crossing a border? Do you have a gun? Are you engaging in acts of terrorism or organized crime? The machines send video feeds to their human operator, a border guard in an office miles away, who checks the videos and decides that you are not a risk. The border guard pushes a button, and the robots disengage and continue on their patrol.
This is not science fiction. The European Union is financing a project to develop drones piloted by artificial intelligence and designed to autonomously patrol Europe’s borders. The drones will operate in swarms, coordinating and corroborating information among fleets of quadcopters, small fixed-wing airplanes, ground vehicles, submarines, and boats. Developers of the project, known as Roborder, say the robots will be able to identify humans and independently decide whether they represent a threat. If they determine that you may have committed a crime, they will notify border police.
Health
Disease that can be transferred from dog to human confirmed in Iowa, officials say
USA Today – Iowa officials are warning residents about a disease in dogs that can be passed to humans.
Dr. Jeff Kaisand, the state veterinarian, has confirmed several cases of “canine Brucellosis” coming from a commercial small-dog breeding facility in Marion County, Iowa. The sickness is known to only affect dogs and humans, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
“We are in the process of notifying the individuals who have custody of the exposed dogs,” a Friday news release from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship states. “Both the animals and the facilities are quarantined while the dogs undergo clinical testing.”
The zoonotic bacterial disease, “zoonotic” meaning the sickness can be transmitted from one animal to people or other types of animals, is spread through reproductive fluids, the release states.
Signs of the disease in a dog include infertility, spontaneous abortions and stillbirths, according to the department of public health. Symptoms for humans include fever, sweats, headache, joint pain and weakness.
Those who have recently acquired a small dog from Marion County should get their pet tested, Kaisand said. Pet owners and those who come in contact with animals are being reminded to wash their hands regularly.
“The threat to most pet owners is considered very low,” the release reads. “Dog breeders, veterinary staff and anyone who comes in contact with blood, tissues and fluids during the birthing process may be at higher risk and should consult their primary care physician.”
The disease is most common in kennels and breeding facilities, the Iowa Department of Public Health said.
Tainted drugs: Ex-FDA inspector warns of dangers in U.S. meds made in China, India
NBC – Massoud Motamed says the FDA struggles to police the sprawling number of overseas drug manufacturers who may hide problems in their production lines.
The notice arrived at the home of Denise Schreck, a New Jersey woman who suffers from high blood pressure, last July.
“URGENT PRODUCT RECALL,” blared the words at the top of the letter from her pharmacy.
The blood pressure medication used by Schreck and millions of other Americans was tainted. The culprit? A chemical with the potential to cause cancer.
Schreck went online to learn more and discovered that the generic drug, valsartan, was in fact found to contain a contaminant formerly used in the production of rocket fuel, according to a government fact sheet.
“I was just really blown away,” Schreck, 51, told NBC News. “It’s shocking to know that you’ve been taking a probable carcinogen for four years.”
New Immune Cells Found in Mother’s Milk
Mercola – The continually developing field of stem cell biology over the last decade has shown that innate lymphoid cells in breast milk, known as ILCs, influence not just immunity, but inflammation and tissue health in breastfed babies.
Several types of ILCs reside in the tissues of babies as they develop and can both initiate and advance an immune response.
ILCs are essentially on standby, waiting to communicate with a developed immune system, and can survive in an infant’s gut for several days to protect against harmful bacteria.
A small amount of breast milk progenitor cells can penetrate the gastrointestinal tract walls of nursed infants, enter their circulatory system and colonize distant organs, including their spleens, livers and lymph nodes.
Researchers found positive outcomes for breastfed babies — and negatives for formula-fed babies — in three specific areas; negatives being diabetes mellitus, atopy (hypersensitivity or allergic reactions) and childhood obesity
A trip to the sauna may help your heart, according to a new study
NaturalNews – Sauna bathing is a relaxing activity that originated in Finland. According to an interesting study, spending time in a dry sauna can also boost your cardiovascular health.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland and published in the journal BMC Medicine.
Earlier research on saunas and heart health usually focused on its benefits for men. However, this study was the first of its kind to report that, regardless of gender, people can enjoy major health benefits from sauna bathing. (Related: Regular sauna bathing reduces your risk of vascular disease and mental health disorders, according to new study.)
According to Tanjaniina Laukkanen, first author of the study: Frequent sauna baths are linked to a reduced risk of fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (e.g., heart attack and stroke) and all-cause mortality.
But it remains unknown why saunas are linked to these health benefits.
Children who use gadgets or watch TV in the dark are at risk of poor quality sleep
NaturalNews – These days, more kids are getting used to playing on their own phones and gadgets instead of toys. While there are educational apps that are suitable for kids, an alarming study warns that letting preteens spend time on devices before bedtime negatively affects their sleep quality.
The study, which was published in the journal Environment International, was conducted by researchers from Birkbeck, University of London (Birkbeck), Imperial College London, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Switzerland, and the University of Lincoln.
The researchers found that preteens who use their mobile phones or watch TV in the dark at least one hour before bed are at risk of not getting enough sleep, unlike other preteens who use these devices in a well-lit room or those who don’t use them at all before bedtime.
This study is the first to examine the joint effect of the pre-sleep use of media devices with screens and room lighting conditions on the sleep quality of pre-teens.
Preteen sleep quality and “screen time”
The results of the study suggest that the nighttime use of phones, laptops, and tablets is consistently linked to insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, and poor quality of life. Researchers warned that this is a serious matter, especially since insufficient sleep is also associated with impaired immune responses, anxiety, depression, and obesity in both children and adolescents.
CDC: Hepatitis A Infections Soaring
Newsmax – The number of Americans infected with hepatitis A has grown nearly 300% in just three years, health officials reported Thursday.
The staggering increase has come despite an effective vaccine and is seen mostly among drug abusers and the homeless, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Hepatitis A virus can linger in feces and be spread hand-to-hand, with infection occurring when a hand contaminated by the virus touches the person’s mouth.
“In the previous decade, large outbreaks of hepatitis A were rare and mostly attributed to contaminated commercial food products,” noted lead researcher Dr. Monique Foster, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis.
Although 2016 saw two outbreaks of hepatitis A caused by contaminated food, the main culprit of outbreaks has been the living conditions of drug addicts and the homeless, Foster said.
Common Blue Violet – Soothing Medicine, Inside and Out
Common Sense Home – Common blue violets (Viola sororia) are perennial wildflowers native to North America. A folklore favorite, these bright little plants are also rich in nutrition and soothing medicine.
Common Blue Violet is also known as Pansy, Heart’s Ease, Jump-Up, Wild Pansy, Hens and Roosters, kiss-me-at-the-gate. Other names include purple, wood, sweet, English, common, trinity, butterfly and garden violet.
There are over 70 species of the family violaceae in the United States, and most have similar medicinal and food qualities. Some common species with purple flowers include Viola odorata (sweet), Viola papilionacea (wood) and Viola cucullata (marsh).
Note: These are a different species from African Violets (Saintpaulia ionantha), which have round, fuzzy leaves and are commonly grown as a specimen plant in the U.S.. Don’t eat Saintpaulia ionantha!
Food Uses
Both leaves and flowers are safe for human consumption. They are mild and somewhat bland. (Roots can be used medicinally, with caution.) Large amounts of leaves or flowers may have a laxative effect, so enjoy in moderation.
Healing Wise by Susun Weed gives a plethora of violet recipes from vinegar and syrup to soup and salad. Susun sings the praises of sweet violets, citing that 100 grams of fresh spring leaves contain 264mg of ascorbic acid (a component of vitamin C) and 20,000 IU of vitamin A, as well as an assortment of trace minerals.
(If you want more recipes, Healing Wise is the book for you. It’s a a whimsical exploration of seven common healing herbs and their uses.)
To make a simple violet vinegar for use in salad dressing, fill a small jar with blossoms (don’t wash them) and cover with a good quality vinegar such as white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, or rice vinegar. Cover and let steep from 1-6 weeks before using. (The flavor becomes more pronounced as it ages.)
Remember, the darker the color of the flowers, the darker the infusion. If you’re blessed with deep purple blossoms, you may want to try this beautiful violet jelly.
5 Proven Benefits Of Ginger In Rheumatoid Arthritis
Natural Arthritis Treatments – Rheumatoid arthritis is a debilitating disorder characterized by joint stiffness, inflammation and pain. It is an autoimmune disease affected by various genetic and environmental factors.
In chronic cases it might affect the day to day functioning of the patient as well. Thus providing proper physical as well as mental care to the patients becomes of utmost importance. Allopathic medications provide symptomatic relief and do have numerous other side effects too.
Thus use of other alternative medications is quite common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Ginger as a ‘Wonder spice’ for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Natural herbs and spices have the answer to the greatest medical challenges of humans. This is the reason why these herbs have been given great importance in ancient medical literature. Ginger is one such herb plant which is well known for its therapeutic roles. It is a native to South East Asia, China, Caribbean and West Africa. It is a plant rhizome just like carrot and is used widely in Chinese and Indian cuisine .
Apart from its culinary uses it is also used in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine for various health ailments. There are scientific evidence that prove its role in prevention of motion sickness and sea sickness.
It also helps in prevention of morning sickness , stomach upset, and nausea due to cancer, muscle soreness, respiratory troubles and menstrual pain . An article in Journal of Medicinal Food states that red ginger was also used as a painkiller for arthritis in Indonesia. It relieves the joint pain and also improves joint movement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis . Thus it won’t be wrong to call it a ‘Wonder Spice’!
5 Proven Benefits of Ginger in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of ginger bioactive compounds have a great potential in the treatment of the symptoms of the rheumatoid arthritis. These have potential to stop the progress of the disease as well as ability to reverse the damage caused by it.
1.Ginger reduces inflammation
2.Ginger has antioxidant power