Compound in green tea dissolves plaque found in blood vessels

Compound found in green tea dissolves dangerous plaque found in blood vessels

(Natural News) Green tea already gets a lot of attention for its potential to fight cancer, but there’s another very important benefit that is making the beverage an even more attractive option than it already is. Scientists have found that a compound in green tea can dissolve the protein plaques in blood vessels that can cause heart attacks.

Scientists already know that EGCG, or epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a compound found in green tea, can reduce the amyloid plaques in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s disease. It turns out that this effect also carries over to blood vessels in general, and the life-saving potential of this discovery is huge.

When fatty material builds up within the arteries and reduces blood flow to the brain and heart, a protein known as apoA-1 causes further deposits to build up quickly and raises a person’s risk of stroke or heart attack. In this study, researchers from the University of Leeds and Lancaster University found that EGCG can bind to amyloid fibers in apoA-1 and convert them to smaller molecules that are soluble and less likely to cause damage to blood vessels.

The researchers are looking for ways to help people increase the EGCG in their blood without drinking massive quantities of green tea. Delicious as it may be, the amounts needed are simply too difficult for many people to get from drinking green tea alone, and there could be side effects from drinking so much of it. They are looking into ways of making EGCG more easily absorbed from the stomach and better able to stand up to metabolism; they’re even considering developing injections that could deliver the molecule directly to the plaques so it can do its work more quickly and effectively.

 

The study’s co-author, Professor Sheena Radford, commented: “The findings of this round of studies are very encouraging. We now need to apply the best scientific techniques to find how we can take the molecular EGCG element from green tea and turn it into a functioning tool to combat life-limiting health issues.”

Drinking green tea for its health benefits

Even though the researchers said that normal amounts of green tea are unlikely to bring about the desirable heart effects, there are plenty of other reasons you may want to drink it. It contains a high amount of polyphenols that can help diminish the problems caused by free radicals within the body’s cells. The EGCG in green tea rightfully gets most of the attention, but it also contains nutrients like manganese, selenium, chromium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, and E.

Its polyphenols have a tumor-reducing effect, and regular green tea consumption has been linked to a lower risk of cancers like those of the skin, colon, prostate and breast.

If you’re looking to drink green tea for health benefits, you might want to consider the matcha variety, which has ten times the antioxidants of regular green tea. It’s a powder made from the young leaves of green tea after they’ve been placed in the shade for several weeks prior to harvesting. This causes their chlorophyll levels to rise significantly, transforming their nutritional and antioxidant profile. Chlorophyll has a detoxifying effect, and some people find its texture and flavor more pleasing than that of traditional green tea. The L-theanine in matcha is believed to improve mental alertness, and like regular green tea, it’s also very high in EGCG.

It might be just a matter of time before scientists can harness the heart-attack-fighting power of the EGCG in green tea, but there’s no reason you can’t enjoy its other benefits by drinking a cup of this healthy beverage on a regular basis.

Global Glyphosate Study that expose dangers of glyphosate even at ‘safe doses’

Global Glyphosate Study that expose dangers even at ‘safe doses’

 

(Naturalhealth365) Glyphosate – the most widely used weed killer in the world – is the active ingredient in Roundup, an herbicide made by the biotech giant Monsanto. Sadly, glyphosate use has soared since the introduction of GMO crops in 1996 – with levels found in the human bloodstream skyrocketing by more than 1,000 percent over the last 20 years.

And, while Monsanto insists its product is ‘harmless,’ integrative healthcare experts maintain that glyphosate is associated with a variety of health problems like, heart disease and cancer.

Now, an international team of experts has released the results of an animal study showing that glyphosate disrupts sexual development, damages genes and disturbs the microbiome – the community of beneficial gut bacteria – even when given at “safe” doses.

Naturally, Monsanto, “the world’s most hated corporation,” lost no time in trying to discredit both the study – known as the Global Glyphosate Study (GGS) – and the researchers.

Problem for Monsanto: Glyphosate found to be harmful even at very low levels

To conduct the pilot study, researchers gave laboratory rats glyphosate in drinking water – at the EPA’s “safe limit” of 1.75 mcg per kilo per day. The study was particularly well designed because it focused on rodents that were studied from prenatal life to natural death – meaning that the team could evaluate adverse effects ranging from those caused by early exposure to those surfacing in old age.

The researchers found that glyphosate caused “significant and distinctive” changes in the overall bacterial composition of rats exposed in the womb – meaning it disrupted the balance of indispensable “friendly” bacteria. The population of Lactobacillus – a particularly beneficial species – was reduced, while levels of harmful bacteria were increased.

And there was a disturbing sidelight: although the glyphosate harmed the microbiomes of the young rats that had been exposed in the womb, the mothers appeared unaffected.

Study co-author Daniele Mandrioli, M.D., a researcher at the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, called this finding “quite remarkable,” and stated it “shouldn’t be happening.”

Disruption of the gut microbiome is associated with obesity, diabetes, immune system problems and even depression.

More problems: Reproductive abnormalities were discovered due to glyphosate exposure

Other changes in the rats included irregularities in the genital area (specifically, a significant and measurable reduction in the distance between the anus and the genitals). The team noted this could have significant impact on reproductive health, and could also indicate a disruption of sex hormones.

The researchers also determined that the glyphosate was genotoxic, or capable of damaging the genetic information within cells.

The study, which was crowdsourced by 30,000 Italian citizens, yielded three separate peer-reviewed papers published in the noted scientific journal Environmental Health. And, as you might expect, the team called for further investigation in a comprehensive long-term study.

Keep in mind: In 2015, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” But U.S. and European regulators continue to deem it acceptable for use – in the midst of a pattern of secret industry papers, suppressing research, using experts with alleged ties to Monsanto, “corporate malfeasance” and “scientific fraud.”

No surprise: Monsanto defends its flagship product, Roundup, and smears the science

Scott Partridge, a Monsanto spokesman, was quoted in a Guardian article as labeling the Ramazzini Institute an “activist organization with an undisclosed agenda that exists as part of their crowdfunding efforts.” The Ramazzini Institute, Partridge alleged, has a “long history of rendering opinions not supported by regulatory testing agencies.”

Of course, Monsanto has a long history itself of corporate corruption – which is all outlined in the “Poison Papers.”

Monsanto’s characterization of the Ramazzini Institute could not have been farther from the truth. Far from being an “activist organization,” the Ramazzini Institute is devoted to evaluating and identifying carcinogenic risks and appraises the efficacy and safety of drug therapies and treatments to prevent the development of cancer.

Their groundbreaking studies on formaldehyde, vinyl chloride and benzene have led to regulatory changes on a global level.

Another reason for the public relations failure of Monsanto is the sheer number of expert scientists and entities associated with this study. The Global Glyphosate Study was conducted by an impressive team that included Bologna University, the Italian National Health Institute, George Washington State University, the Ramazzini Institute and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai in New York.

Monsanto’s ordinary strategy has been to try to discredit and disparage any institution that comes up with unflattering research – but this time, it wasn’t so easy.

Obviously, these well-respected entities present a much more difficult target than any single institute.

Scientists have defended the study, praising it as providing “solid, independent results obtained by a shared research project on which (policymakers) can confidently base risk assessments and evaluations.” The findings were called “of great importance.”

The study was also praised as a “valuable approach for trying to understand the potential negative health effects of glyphosate” also praised because it used doses comparable to what humans are exposed to in everyday environments.

18.9 billion pounds of glyphosate-based herbicides have been sprayed around the planet since 1974. Is it really worth it?

Why is the evil product not been banned eons ago! Now with Bayer merger, the whole world is at risk starting with the EU nations. Let the whole world rally together and boycott the shops, stores, companies, etc that sell, promote such glyphosate-based herbicides. And get the farmers to stop using on their crops.

Or else we are doomed to a lingering death.    

Vegetable oils cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes and more

(NaturalNews) Vegetables oils have been heralded as a healthy alternative to using normal fat when cooking. However, it turns out that vegetable oils are not all they're cracked up to be when it comes down to it. We've all been told, even by government and medical associations, to use more vegetable seed and bean oils, such as soybean, corn, safflower and canola.

We're told that vegetable oils are safe to use as a heart-healthy alternative to cooking with traditional saturated fats. The argument has been that traditional fats such as butter, lard and coconut oil cause high cholesterol and clogged arteries, eventually leading to heart disease. So-called "experts" advised us to avoid saturated fats in favor of polyunsaturated fatty acids – in particular, omega-6 fats.

Turns out vegetable oils aren't actually that healthy

These vegetable oils that many of us have grown up on are found at most grocery stores and are clear, tasteless, highly refined and processed oils – most commonly sunflower, soybean, canola, safflower and corn oils.

These oils are highly unstable and highly inflammatory but have been given a huge push over the past couple of decades by advisory groups that we all trust on a daily basis, including the American Heart Association, the National Cholesterol Education Program and the National Institutes of Health.

Many well-respected scientists and doctors insisted we cut down on saturated fats and make the switch to polyunsaturated. But it turns out that they were completely wrong.

A review at Tufts University found that there was no benefit whatsoever to reducing saturated fats or increasing polyunsaturated fats, except for omega-3 fats. The very idea that vegetable oils are better than saturated fats comes from the belief that they lower cholesterol, presumably reducing our overall risk of heart disease.

Yet swapping out these saturated fats means swapping them for polyunsaturated fats which are inflammatory. Looking back over human history shows that we always consumed much more omega-3 fats (and much less omega-6 fats) than we currently do, because wild foods are very rich in omega-3s.

The main source of omega-3 in diets today comes from fish, yet wild game and wild plants are also high in omega-3 – and used to play a bigger part in our diets. Wild meat and grass-fed beef contain about seven times as much omega-3 fats as industrially raised animals, which have almost none at all.

The introduction of refined oils into our diet and move away from grass-fed and wild animals increased our omega-6 fat intake, while omega-3 fats have dramatically declined in our diets. Omega-6 fats contained in vegetable oils fuel your body's inflammatory pathways and also reduce the availability of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats in our tissues, which results in further inflammation.

In other words, omega-6 fats undo the benefits of eating omega-3 fats. Consuming too much vegetable oil increases the likelihood of inflammatory diseases and even the risk of mental illness, suicide and homicide. In fact, studies have found that there is a connection between mental health conditions and inflammation in the brain.

So what fats should we eat?

There's no wonder everyone is so confused about what they should and shouldn't be putting in their bodies. Even the experts can't agree and change their perspective every few years. The latest advice is that we eat more traditional fats, such as extra-virgin organic coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, grass-fed meats, grass-fed butter, nuts and fatty fish – which will increase the amount of omega-3 fats in your diet.

Jamal should be in jail and not running for elections

Jamal now offers himself as Anwar’s running mate in Umno polls

 

The Sungai Besar Umno division chief says the PKR de facto leader should contest the presidency while he will go for the Umno Youth chief post.

VIDEO INSIDE

Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Yunos says he is offering himself to lead the party’s Youth wing as the party is facing a challenging period. (Youtube screengrab)

PETALING JAYA: Fugitive Umno leader Jamal Yunos has suggested that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim contest the presidency of Umno in the party’s upcoming election.

The Sungai Besar Umno division chief said in a video released today that he wanted Anwar, who was Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998, to return to his old party and vie for the top post.

He said this in confirming his own intention to go for the Umno Youth chief’s post in the polls scheduled to be held on June 30.

He also said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should run for deputy president.

“I suggest for the upcoming election that Anwar run as Umno president and Zahid, who is now acting president, contest the deputy president’s post,” he said.

For the three vice-presidents’ posts, his dream team comprised Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, incumbent vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein and one other candidate.

Hishammuddin had announced last week that he would stay away from contesting any central leadership position during the polls.

Jamal said he was offering himself as Umno Youth chief to help the party which was facing a challenging period.

He said he would revive Umno Youth’s strength in the country by ensuring the wing would be principled and well-respected.

He was speaking against the backdrop of a large chart which featured photos of the leaders he had proposed and the party posts he wanted them to hold.

Jamal had first declared his intention to contest in the party polls on June 3.

The police had issued a warrant of arrest against him after he vanished from the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for back pain, a few hours after he was charged there before a magistrate on May 25.

He had pleaded not guilty to three charges and was allowed bail of RM3,000 for each of the offences.

On June 8, his lawyer Imran Tamrin said he was unable to contact his client as his phone was still unreachable.

Imran said Jamal, who is speculated to have escaped to Indonesia, was not contactable even by his family members.

Jamal should be in jail and not running for elections. WHY HAVE THE POLICE BEEN UNABLE TO ARREST HIM. A coward hiding and running for office - Truly a NEW ONE that only can from Umno.

Najib Multi Millions 'Scam' Project

Najib Signed Off Hundreds Of Millions On 'Scam' Solar Project For Sarawak Schools

• 10 June 2018
 
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Company owner, PPB man Saidi Abg Samsudin, said to benefit from his contacts with the PM’s wife Rosmah.

Sarawak Report has viewed copious documents indicating that in January 2017 the former Prime Minister personally pushed through an extraordinary RM1.25 billion project, which was  awarded to a car rental company in Bintulu, purporting to install solar energy supplies for 369 Sarawak schools in the interior.

Letters signed by Najib clearly authorised for the Ministry of Education’s strict rules on tendering and price negotiation to be over-ruled during the awarding of the project and later for payments to continue to be made, even though the terms of the contract were not being fulfilled by the company.

Ministry of Education staff who raised concerns about quality control were transferred from their posts, according to our information, and reports to the police and MACC were ignored right up until the last election.

Insiders say several companies qualified to install solar power in Malaysia were by-passed for the contract, in favour of the politically connected Sarawak company, Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd, which lacked a track record in the field.

Jepak Holdings owner, PPB man Saidi Abg Samsudin (right) with the ex-Minister of Education

So far, eighteen months into the three year contract, not a single solar power unit has yet been installed at any of the designated schools, although the money has continued to flow from the Department of Education.

Angry whistleblowers have now passed their dossier of damning information to senior anti-corruption figures in the new government, who have indicated the matter is now being investigated. As one disgusted insider told Sarawak Report:

“The company was made tycoon overnight by Najib.  This company even enjoyed a privilege never given to any companies in the world where even price comparison and negotiations were skipped. Najib’s Minutes for the Company encompasses issuing an Uncompromising Letter of Award, pressing the Ministry to forgo price negotiations and also requesting the Ministry to approve the finalized price set by the company itself.”

Solar Power Plan Or Fancy Excuse To Award A Billion Ringgit?

Particularly galling for Sarawak families is the fact that the consequences of the contract have included serious supply problems for the affected schools, many of which have been regularly cut off from electricity altogether and facing blackouts for several hours a day.

Jepak boss Saidi with PPB boss, Governor Taib Mahmud

Previous to this project, which was touted to provide cleaner, cheaper solar energy, the affected schools relied on deisel generators, which were supplied and maintained by some 30 local companies, who were required to regularly tender for the service contracts by the Ministry of Education. Jepak Holdings had held one of the contracts.

However, under the new contract Jepak Holdings took over the entire diesel supply and maintenance work for all 369 schools for an agreed lump sum of RM21.8 million a month, whilst simultaneously being tasked to convert the schools to solar hybrid systems at a rate of at least ten schools a month.

It might appear a seemingly enlightened strategy, if placed in the right hands for the right amount of money.  However, insiders say that the diesel contract was in fact heavily inflated above the actual cost of supplying the schools.

Worse, despite raking in millions, the company has failed to provide sufficient upkeep and supply of the existing diesel generators, let alone install the new solar power supplies. The schools need 2 to 4 generators, but most are currently running on just 1 genset which can only provide electricity for a maximum of 12 hours a day.  According to a source:

“to cover up their incompetency, the company just falsified claims and in at least one case forged a school principle’s signature on forms to verify the work. The principle discovered this fraud when Ministry officials conducted a random check. The school head then wrote to officially complain to Ministry, but no action was taken.  Instead, the principle was later forced to withdraw the complaint after receiving threats.  He was even told to call certain high ranking officers in Ministry and to inform them that it had just been a misunderstanding.”

Jepak Holdings

So, what appears to be the background to this chaotic situation, where over a billion ringgit of public money appears to have been thrown at making life even worse for Sarawak’s interior schools and teachers?

Jepak Holdings is owned by PBB big-wig Saidi Abg Samsudin and his wife and daughter

Jepak Holdings is primarily a car rental company, set up in 1985, is owned by a senior PBB member Saidi Abg Samsudin, who is the Deputy Chief of the party’s Jepak, Bintulu seat.

Saidi, a PPB man from Jepak nabbed the RM1.2bn contract as elections loomed

He is right hand man to the state seat YB Talib Bin Zulpilip, a long-term party insider close to Taib Mahmud, who chaired the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation for many years.

Most crucially, perhaps, Saidi is known to have had a close relationship with Najib and Rosmah and since the issuing of the contract has also become a regular golfing companion of the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alias bin Ahmad, whom the documents show took an unsual interest in helping force through the Sarawak schools solar project against the advice of civil servants.

Saidi and new buddy Alias bin Ahmad at the latter’s daughter’s wedding last year

Alias bin Ahmad resigned his post just before GE14, having sidelined staff whom he accused of being particularly critical of the management of the project.

It is understood that he was a personal appointee at the Ministry of Education of Najib’s, in that the prime minister had overruled the minister’s own selection for the post in favour of Alias.

Photographs show that Saidi prominently attended the wedding of Alias’s daughter in KL and closely socialised with the Chief Education Secretary.

Saidi also is understood to have supplied RM1 million that Rosmah presented to the families of victims of fire in a religious school last year and he has been photographed socialising with Rosmah’s key aide and spokesman Rizal Mansor.

The Bintulu man was equally known to have forged a close relationship with the former Eduction Minister himself, Mahdzir bin Khalid, who together with his Chief Secretary is said to have battled with civil servants to defend the contract and finally went over the department’s head to gain Najib’s approval to ignore rules on contracts.

Greeted at the Alias wedding by then Education Minister Mahdzir bin Khalid

Damning correspondence, which is now being examined by anti-corruption investigators, show that some months after the contract was initiated in 2017 Ministry of Education officials had suspended payments to Jepak Holdings, on the grounds that promised work was not being performed.

After apparent conflict between Education Department personnel and the minister and his chief secretary, who wanted the payments made, it was agreed that the minister would apply directly to Najib to gain prime ministerial authorisation to ignore the requirements of the department’s standard rules on contracts.

That authorisation was received in writing from the Prime Minister last July, which enabled Jepak Holdings to continue to receive vast sums of money, for apparently failing to perform even the most basic functions of its contract.

Letter from Education Minister last July to Najib requesting rules be by-passed on the billion ringgit contract

The key letter sent by the Education Minister to Najib Mahdzir Khalid (above) was entitled:  “Application to obtain special clearence to skip procument procedure for the Jepak project of power supply”.

Najib wrote in his own hand at the top of the letter a note to Datuk Othman, Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Finance, after the letter was stamped as received by his office:

“Dear Datuk Othman, I agree to give special clearence as requested. Please implement it. Thank You.

The note was signed by Najib in his capacity as Minister of Finance and dated 19th July. With this written permission the objections of Education Ministry staff were over-ruled and the money continued to flow into the non-performing project.

The directive continued a pattern of unorthodox procurement on the project, which correspondence shows was officially initiated by a letter sent by Jepak Holdings on November 6th 2016 to the Prime Minister himself, proposing the hugely expensive solar power project and extolling its virtues in cementing local Sarawak voters in their allegience to BN.

Letter to Najib from Jepak Nov 11th 2016

The letter was signed by Saidi and by the next day Najib had scrawled a written instruction at the top of the letter to the Education Minister. It read:

“Yb Datuk Mahdzir Khalid produce letter of award for this project based on Jepak Holdings letter immediately”

Again Najib signed the note in his capacity as Finance Minister, signed 7th November.

The unusual procurement process for the enormous project continued to be rushed through with a letter of award being produced just four days later on 10th November.

And the special prime ministerial assistence continued in April the following year, when the Jepak Holdings again wrote directly to Najib asking him to prod Education Chief Secretary Alias to forward a 9,8%  deposit payment of RM130 million on the project:

Jepak goes straight to the PM to get money out of the Education Department, which was stalling on the cash

Once again scrawling on the top of the letter Najib signed and dated his instruction to Alias:

“Datuk Alias, I agree with Jepak’s request for the payment and do it fast  without delay.”

This was despite a letter of protest having been written days before on 30th of March by the Department of Education’s procurement head, Mr Aedy bin Ramli, complaining at the company’s failure to deliver on the project.

Clear concerns in the Department of Education over the wasteful project was over-ruled by Najib

Conflict With Supplier

The billion ringgit fiasco seems set to focus anti-corruption investigators under the new Attorney General even more firmly on contracts relating to pliable politicians in Sabah and Sarawak and it appears the concerns over this particular project has spawned a number of related charges.

To carry out the solar side of the project, Jepak Holdings had apparently turned to a major supplier of solar panels, engaging with the company in a cosortium to supply the schools.  However, a dispute ensued with the supplier apparently alleging that Jepak misrepresented the nature of the requirements, by claiming that the Ministry of Education was expecting a hybrid solution that produced only 70% of the required power from the solar panels.

In fact, the contract stipulates that 90% of the energy must come from solar power, placing far more expense upon the supplier, which has caused deadlock on the production and supply. Under the contract at least 180 schools ought to have now receied panels, but so far none have been installed.

The supplier is believed to have filed its own suit, alleging it is owed several million.  Leaving investigators to discover why the prime minister and his advisors in the Department of Education and apparently his wife were all so keen to brush aside the rules and appoint a company run by a political ally to perform a billion dollar contract it was not equipped to carry out?