Videos:

1.Tucker Carlson Tonight – Friday, June 17 (12:30)
2. America’s wars: The invented reason and the real reason (2:12)
3. William Mandel Denounces HUAC: “This Collection of Judases”
4. NATO is a paper army (7:01)
5. What It’s Like Living in California Now (8:37) 

Pistachios may lower vascular response to stress in type 2 diabetes

Penn State University, June 17, 2022

Among people with type 2 diabetes, eating pistachios may reduce the body’s response to the stresses of everyday life, according to Penn State researchers.

“In adults with diabetes, two servings of pistachios per day lowered vascular constriction during stress and improved neural control of the heart,” said Sheila G. West, professor of biobehavioral health and nutritional sciences. “Although nuts are high in fat, they contain good fats, fiber, potassium and antioxidants. Given the high risk of heart disease in people with diabetes, nuts are an important component of a heart healthy diet in this population.”

West and her colleagues investigated the effects of pistachios on responses to standardized stress tasks in patients with well-controlled Type 2 diabetes who were otherwise healthy. They used a randomized, crossover study design in which all meals were provided. Each of the diets contained the same number of calories.

After two weeks on the typical American diet — containing 36 percent fat and 12 percent saturated fats — participants were randomized to one of two test diets. During the four-week test diets, participants ate only food supplied by the study. The researchers reported the results of this study in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“We found that systolic blood pressure during sleep was particularly affected by pistachios,” she said. “Average sleep blood pressure was reduced by about 4 points and this would be expected to lower workload on the heart.” The researchers found that the pistachio diet lowered vascular constriction during stress. When arteries are dilated, the load on the heart is reduced. The physical challenge involved immersing one hand into icy water for two minutes.

Study finds curcumin, the main polyphenol in turmeric, as effective as Prozac in treating depression

Government Medical College (India), June 6, 2022

A recent study published in Phytotherapy Research shows that curcumin, the main polyphenol in turmeric, is as at least as effective as fluoxetine (Prozac) in treating depression.

Not only can it help ease symptoms of depression, but it does so safely, without the potential to cause suicidal thoughts, weight gain and even changes in blood pressure and heart rate that can lead to shock and death — some of the many side effects which have been linked to Prozac. 

The study, conducted by researchers from the Department of Pharmacology at the Government Medical College in Bhavnagar, India, assessed groups of people who took curcumin capsules and Prozac, either individually or combined.  Twenty people took 500 mg curcumin capsules twice daily, 20 took 20 mg of Prozac daily, and the remaining 20 people took a combination of the two.  The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, a questionnaire designed to gauge the severity of a person’s depression level, was given to assess any changes in mood among the individuals who participated in this study.

The findings showed that curcumin worked just as well as Prozac, acting as the “first clinical evidence that curcumin may be used as an effective and safe modality for treatment in patients with MDD without concurrent suicidal ideation or other psychotic disorders.” (1, 3) MDD stands for “Major Depressive Disorder.”

Monkeys that eat omega-3 rich diet show more developed brain networks

University of Oregon, June 13, 2022  

Study gives new insight into similarity of complex brain networks in monkeys, humans

Monkeys that ate a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids had brains with highly connected and well organized neural networks — in some ways akin to the neural networks in healthy humans — while monkeys that ate a diet deficient in the fatty acids had much more limited brain networking, according to an Oregon Health & Science University study.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, provides further evidence for the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in healthy brain development. It also represents the first time scientists have been able to use functional brain imaging in live animals to see the large-scale interaction of multiple brain networks in a monkey. These patterns are remarkably similar to the networks found in humans using the same imaging techniques.

The study measured a kind of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, which is a primary component of the human brain and important in development of the brain and vision. 

The study found that the monkeys that had the high-DHA diet had strong connectivity of early visual pathways in their brains. It also found that monkeys with the high-DHA diet showed greater connections within various brain networks similar to the human brain — including networks for higher-level processing and cognition

‘Mini-strokes’ lead to PTSD and other psychiatric disorder

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany  June 15, 2022 

Transient ischemic attacks are commonly referred to as “mini-strokes,” but this does not make them any less serious than major strokes. In fact, a recent study has found that around 30% of patients who have transient ischemic attacks go on to develop the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) occur when the flow of blood to the brain is disrupted temporarily, often by blood clots or other debris. They differ from major strokes in that the flow of blood is only blocked for a relatively short time – usually no more than 5 minutes. 

Despite only disrupting blood flow temporarily, TIAs serve as warning signs for future major strokes. They indicate that there is a partially blocked artery or a clot source in the heart. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that between 10-15% of people with TIA will experience a major stroke within 3 months. 

“We found 1 in 3 TIA patients develop PTSD,” says study author Kathrin Utz from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. “PTSD, which is perhaps better known as a problem found in survivors of war zones and natural disasters, can develop when a person experiences a frightening event that poses a serious threat.”

The researchers found that about 30% of the TIA patients reported symptoms of PTSD and 14% showed signs of a significantly reduced mental quality of life. Around 6.5% of the participants also had a reduced physical quality of life. 

TIA patients who showed signs of PTSD were also more likely to show signs of depression, anxiety and a lower overall quality of life than those who did not. 

Exercise linked to brain cell growth and improved memory

University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), June 14, 2022

New research out of the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland has shown that exercise helps with preserving brain cells and preventing loss of memory, cognitive issues and general memory problems.

In the Finnish study, aerobic activity in particular was found to support healthier brain cells and prevent memory problems better than other exercise types studied, including weight lifting and high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

While weight lifting and HIIT have better fat burning properties, moderate aerobic exercise seems to cultivate healthier brain cells and protect against loss of memory.

For the study, University of Jyvaskyla researchers put groups of rats on three different workout programs to determine their effects on memory and overall brain health. Weight lifting, running and high-intensity interval training were the three types studied. The training regimens created were made to model approximately what the typical human might do in a workout program. The running group used a treadmill much as humans do, and the weight lifting group climbed a ladder with little weights attached to their tails. The HIIT group alternated short durations of sprinting and jogging.

By study’s end, while all of the rats showed general fitness gains, the weight lifting group and the HIIT group showed no signs of neurogenesis, or new brain cell growth. By contrast, the running group demonstrated growth in brain cells as well as a reduction in the loss of memory and memory problems.

Organic food consumers have a 21% lower risk of pre-eclampsia

Norwegian Institute of Public Health, June 15, 2022

 Pregnant women may be able to lower their risk of a potentially deadly complication known as pre-eclampsia by more than 20 percent simply by eating more organic vegetables, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National Institute for Consumer Research and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and published in BMJ Open.

“The result is intriguing and supports that diet during pregnancy can influence the risk of pre-eclampsia,” researcher Hanne Torjusen, PhD, said.

Pre-eclampsia is a complication of late pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. The cause of the condition is not known, although it has been linked to a variety of risk factors including some of the same risk factors as cardiovascular disease. Mild cases may resolve without problems, but severe cases may progress into a life-threatening condition that can only be alleviated through premature delivery of the baby.

The new study is the first to show a connection between organic food consumption and lower pre-eclampsia risk.