No special treatment for Israel, Jill Stein says

Rania Khalek-18 August 2016

Americans who tuned into CNN’s Green Party town hall last night were exposed to political ideas and analysesthat are rarely given airtime on mainstream news networks.

Moderated by CNN host Chris Cuomo, the town hall allowed people in the audience to ask questions of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka.

An audience member identifying herself as a US army veteran expressed dismay at Stein’s support for the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to hold Israel accountable for ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinians.

“Why do you single out Israel being that they are a democratic ally to us?” she asked, reciting a standard pro-Israel talking point. “Why don’t you do the same for other Middle Eastern States, many of which are committing horrific crimes and abuse of people?”

Stein pushed back, noting that she emphatically supports ending US aid to human rights abusers across the board.

“What we’re saying is our foreign policy will be based on international law and human rights,” said Stein. 

“So when we say to Israel that we will not continue to give you $8 million a day when the Israeli army is occupying territory in Palestine, conducting home demolitions and assassinations and things of that sort that are recognized by the UN, we’re not going to do it for the Saudis either.”

Stein added that the same would apply to Egypt which continues to receive major US subsidies despite “incredible human rights violations.”

Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid, accounting for 55 percent of the total, to the tune of about $3 billion a year.

President Barack Obama is currently negotiating a new deal that his administration vows will be the biggest military aid package to any country in history.

Egypt is in second place, receiving $1.5 billion in US military aid annually, an estimated 20 percent of the total.

“Have you advocated to boycott Saudi Arabia?” Garcia asked.

“Yes, absolutely,” Stein replied.

Arms to Saudi Arabia

While Saudi Arabia receives little direct military aid from the US, it does rely on US technology and has been thetop purchaser of US arms every year since 2011.

Despite the mounting civilian death toll and famine-like conditions that have resulted from the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, the Obama administration recently approved another $1.15 billion weapons dealwith the Saudis.

“The international community must go ‘all in’ on a peace agreement,” Scott Paul, a senior policy adviser at Oxfam America, told Foreign Policy. “A sale of major arms to Saudi Arabia signals the opposite — that the US is instead all-in on a senseless war that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies.”

Saudi Arabia’s wanton destruction of Yemen is so severe that the editorial boards at both The New York Timesand The Guardian are calling on the US to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Of course neither newspaper has applies this logic to American sponsorship of Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians as Stein has done.

Singling Israel out?

As though playing the role of Israel’s lawyer, CNN’s Chris Cuomo argued that Israel “occupies a special alliance with the United States and, supporters would argue, faces an existential threat that others do not.”

In other words, Israel should be singled out, but for special treatment rather than boycott.

Cuomo’s brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, is a strong believer in giving Israel special treatment.

In what has been slammed by civil liberties groups as a McCarthyite violation of constitutionally protected speech, Governor Cuomo signed an executive order in June that requires state agencies to divest from companies and institutions that back efforts to boycott Israel.

“I happen to be of Jewish origin,” Stein responded, noting she has relatives living in Israel. And because of that, “I don’t think we are doing Israel a favor by condoning a policy that makes Israel very insecure, that makes Israel the target of hostility from its neighbors,” she said.

Ignoring Stein’s response, Cuomo repeated his question: “Do you believe that as a state Israel has a preference as an ally … do you believe they’re a special ally, yes or no?”

Stein refused to play into his narrative, saying, “I believe all our allies are special allies.”

She added: “I think we have responsibilities to everyone to create a world that works for all of us. And by sponsoring a very hostile military policy that violates international law, that doesn’t do us any favors.”

Stein hopes to persuade disaffected supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to vote for the Green Party instead of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November.

While Sanders raised the issue of Palestinian human rights during the primary, he never went as far as supporting BDS and largely refrained from talking about foreign policy more generally.

With Stein polling around 4 percent, she has no realistic chance of winning. And it’s unlikely she’ll meet the 15 percent polling threshold to be included in the presidential debates.

But with the majority of Americans heavily dissatisfied with both of the major party candidates, there is more interest than ever in learning about third parties.

Stein’s message about boycotting Israel and ending military support for it and Saudi Arabia are rarely given air time.

And as the CNN town hall demonstrated, mainstream journalists have no counterargument against such a reasonable and universally applied demand.

Russian hacks against the Democrats and the NSA expose the weaknesses of our democracy

Vladimir Putin examines a new presidential website in 2004 CREDIT: ALEXANDER NATRUSKIN/REUTERS

DAVID BLAIR-20 AUGUST 2016

A capital city is paralysed by the failure of its electricity supply. A nuclear power station suffers meltdown. Banks go haywire and cash machines run dry. No one can have missed the nightmare scenarios associated with cyber-attacks and their potential to wreak havoc on a networked society.

I completely rule out a possibility that the (Russian) government or the government bodies have been involved in this.Russian spokesman

But all the focus on these obvious camalities risks distracting us from what is actually happening. Instead of trying to inflict physical destruction or general mayhem, the signs are that the West’s most sophisticated adversaries are using their high-tech tools in more subtle and insidious ways.

Take Russia’s attempt to influence the US election campaign. The lengths to which the Kremlin is going to help Donald Trump and discredit Hillary Clinton are remarkable. The repeated hacks of the Democratic National Committee – which bear all the hallmarks of Russian intelligence – are designed to inflict maximum damage on Mrs Clinton, notably by driving as many wedges as possible between her and much of the Democratic party.

There was the deluge of 20,000 stolen emails, carefully released just before the Democratic convention, showing how senior party figures had tried to thwart the Bernie Sanders campaign. Then came the hacks of the Clinton Foundation, apparently designed to unearth damaging material on the candidate herself.

Along the way, Russian hackers even established a fake fundraising website for Mrs Clinton’s campaign, designed to entrap ordinary Democrats into giving away login information and email addresses.

Does [Sanders] believe in a God? He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.Brad Marshall, Democrat CFO

Political espionage targeted against candidates for high office is, of course, as old as the hills. The new twist in 2016 is how the information has been made public, with the obvious aim of tipping the balance of the election in favour of Mr Trump.

Then, this week, hackers calling themselves the "Shadow Brokers" claimed to have stolen digital tools used by the US National Security Agency to break into foreign computer networks. Experts think they are authentic, and while some believe the culprit is an NSA mole, others suspect Russian involvement. Again unusually, the tools were posted publicly online, suggesting that their aim was to discredit or embarrass their owners.

Democratic national CEO Amy Dacey was forced to step down due to leaked emailsCREDIT: ANDREW BURTON/GETTY

Behind all this lies one crucial imbalance. In any situation short of all-out war, a country like Russia is probably not going to launch sudden cyber attacks designed to knock out electricity supplies or disable banking systems. The reason is simple: Russia has power stations and banks that are just as vulnerable. When two adversaries are equally exposed, they will not do their worst for fear of the possible consequences. Equal vulnerability keeps all parties in check; when everyone lives in a greenhouse, no-one throws stones.

But there is one asymmetry that will never go away. America has free and fair elections; Russia does not.

The Kremlin can do its best to turn the race for the White House upside down, safe in the knowledge that America cannot hit back in kind. After all, when your elections are as predictable and stage-managed as Russia’s, they are also proof against foreign manipulation. Who cares if a sudden cascade of leaked emails were to sweep Russia? Assuming he stands, the winner of the next presidential election in 2018 will be Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Western countries are not going to abandon their habit of holding free and fair elections, so this imbalance is permanent. For as long as Russia remains an authoritarian state, meanwhile, Mr Putin will be able to target this vulnerability without fear of retribution.

 

And there are plenty of other openings for him to exploit. When Mr Putin sends Russian forces into action, he does not have to worry about such trifles as a vote in the country’s parliament. Today’s British MPs, by contrast, expect to have the final say whenever a Government tries to order any form of military action whatever. And experience suggests that even the flimsiest propaganda can influence a debate in the House of Commons.

The Syrian rebels definitely had sarin gas, because they were caught with it by the Turkish GovernmentGeorge Galloway, 2013

A prime example was the vote on whether to strike Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s regime killed 1,400 people with poison gas in 2013. Russia’s propaganda line – endlessly debunked then and now – was that Assad had been framed and the rebels had actually carried out this attack. Many MPs who took part in that debate voiced doubts about the dictator’s culpability when, in truth, there was no reason for any doubt.

It’s hard to avoid concluding that they were bamboozled by the disinformation and lies peddled in cyberspace, often by Russian outlets.

When a country holds genuine elections and allows free parliamentary debate on questions of war or peace, it lays itself open to manipulation of this kind. Russia, closed and authoritarian, is largely immune. There is no getting away from this asymmetry: the only defence is to be aware of the danger.

U.N. Mulls Compensation for Victims of Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic

BY COLUM LYNCH-AUGUST 19, 2016

For the past six years, the United Nations has repeatedly claimed there is no irrefutable evidence that U.N. peacekeepers introduced cholera into Haiti six years ago, dismissing mounting claims by scientists to the contrary. The U.N. has successfully fended off a class action suit in a U.S. federal court on behalf of Haitian victims seeking financial redress.

But in a reversal, the U.N. this week acknowledged it did play a role in starting a deadly epidemic that has cost more than 10,000 lives since 2010 and continues to sicken Haitians. On Friday, a U.N. spokesman said for the first time that the organization is mulling offering some form of compensation to victims of the disease that has sullied the reputation of the international organization and of the Nepalese peacekeepers who are believed to have introduced the disease into Haiti.

A top U.N. spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters at a press conference on Friday that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is working closely with U.N. member states to “develop a package that would provide material support to those families most directly affected by cholera.” Haq said the details of an arrangement are still being worked out with certain important states, and he would not say whether such support would come in the form of cash payments to thousands of cholera survivors and to the families of victims who have succumbed to the disease.

“The Secretary General deeply regrets the terrible suffering the people of Haiti have endured as a result of the cholera epidemic,” Haq told reporters at U.N. headquarters. “The United Nations has a moral responsibility to the victims of the cholera epidemic and for supporting Haiti in overcoming the epidemic and building sound water, sanitation, and health systems.”

The move comes two days after the U.N. acknowledged for the first time that its Nobel Peace Prize winning blue helmets brought cholera to Haiti. In email remarks to the New York Times, Haq said that the U.N. “has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera.”

In Friday’s remarks, Haq stopped short of acknowledging U.N.’s direct responsibility for introducing cholera in Haiti. But he made it clear that U.N. member states would have to share the burden of funding an international response. Haq said that previous efforts to fund efforts to improve Haiti’s sanitation and health care have been “seriously underfunded, and severe and persistent funding shortfalls remain.”

Cholera made its first appearance in nearly a century in Haiti in October, 2010, and it has since killed more than 10,000 people. A panel of scientists established by Ban concluded that the disease was introduced into the Haitian population by human activity in the Meye tributary, a branch of the Artibonite River, and quickly spread throughout the river delta, infecting thousands of Haitians along the way.

Nepalese peacekeepers were stationed at a camp in Mierbalais, along the banks of the Meye, fueling suspicion that the waste of an infected peacekeeper had flowed into the river. At the time, the panel said it could not attribute responsibility to one individual or group. But he scientific consensus in support of the case for U.N. culpability have been growing. And some members of the original U.N. panel have subsequently been convinced that the peacekeepers did bring cholera to Haiti. Scientific studies haveconfirmed that Haiti’s cholera outbreak can be traced back to a single event after the 2010 earthquake.

Thousands of Haitian victims last year filed a class action suit against the United Nations in the U.S. Southern District federal court. A federal appeals court judge, Jose Cabranes, on Thursday upheld a claim by the U.N. that it has diplomatic immunity from a lawsuit on U.S soil. Lawyers representing the Haitian plaintiffs have 90 days to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Photo Credit: JOE RAEDLE/Getty Images

Clinton leads Trump by 8 points - Reuters/Ipsos poll

Supporter Hunter Lassus awaits the arrival of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for a rally at John Marshall High School in Cleveland, Ohio August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Makela

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., August 18, 2016.REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 Sat Aug 20, 2016

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads Republican rival Donald Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday.

The Aug. 14-18 survey showed 42 percent of Americans supported Clinton ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. That compares with 34 percent support for Trump. Another 23 percent of likely voters would not pick either candidate.

Clinton has led Trump in the poll throughout most of the 2016 campaign, and has maintained her advantage following last month's Republican and Democratic conventions. Since late July, support for the former secretary of state has ranged between 41 percent and 44 percent of likely voters, while Trump's support has varied between 33 percent and 39 percent.

The race was tighter at this point in the 2012 election, with Democratic President Barack Obama ahead of Republican nominee Mitt Romney by less than 2 percentage points.

Clinton also led a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll that asked people to choose between Clinton, Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green Party. Some 41 percent supported Clinton and 34 percent supported Trump. Among alternative-party candidates, Johnson came in third with 7 percent and about 2 percent supported Stein.

Clinton and Trump have both struggled to inspire American voters this year. According to the poll, neither candidate is regarded favourably by most Americans, and two-thirds of U.S. adults believe the country is on the wrong track.

Clinton continues to face questions about her handling of classified emails while serving as Obama's secretary of state, while Trump's off-the-cuff remarks about immigrants, women and Muslims have rankled members of his own party.

Republican leaders, including former members of Congress, have called for the Republican National Committee to stop helping Trump and refocus its resources on helping candidates win down-ballot races for the House of Representatives and the Senate. Earlier this week, Trump reshuffled his campaign leadership while his campaign chief, Paul Manafort, faced increased scrutiny over his work with pro-Russian political groups in the Ukraine. Manafort resigned on Friday.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It surveyed samples of 1,119 and 1,118 likely voters, respectively, and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points.

(Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Philippine communist rebels announce seven-day truce for peace talks

President Rodrigo Duterte frees Communist party’s top leaders before talks take place in Norway

Communist rebel leader Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, hours after they were freed from detention in the Philippines. Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Saturday 20 August 2016

Philippine communist guerrillas will observe a seven-day truce from Sunday to bolster upcoming peace talks hosted by Norway, the rebels said, urging the Manila government to also order a ceasefire.

The Communist party of the Philippines made the move following president Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to free its top leaders on Friday. They are set to fly to Oslo for negotiations aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest insurgencies.

“We hope that this ceasefire declaration will be reciprocated by the [government] as a show of all-out determination to move forward with peace negotiations,” the party said in a statement.

The talks begin on Monday with both sides expressing optimism for reaching a political settlement after 30 years of failed negotiations.

The government estimates the 47-year-old rebellion has claimed 30,000 lives and impoverished vast swathes of the south-east Asian nation.

Norway has acted as an intermediary in the talks. Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino had ended negotiations in 2013 after rejecting the communists’ demand that he free all imprisoned guerrillas.

After winning a landslide election victory in May, Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire last month, but ended it just five days later when a rebel ambush killed a government militia member and wounded four others.

“To further bolster peace negotiations, the [party] and [its armed wing the New People’s Army] are also open to discuss the possibility of a longer ceasefire,” the rebel statement said.

However, this would only be possible after the government freed “all political prisoners”, it said, referring to 550 guerrillas detained by the government.

The rebel army is believed to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen left, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, when a bloodless “People Power” revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

But the movement retains support among the poor in rural areas, and its forces regularly kill police or troops while extorting money from local businesses.

Hours after the release of guerrilla chief Benito Tiamzon and his wife in Manila on Friday, police said they had arrested another senior rebel leader, Amelia Pond, in the central city of Cebu.

Pond is to stand trial for two murders as well as attempted murder, a police statement said.

‘The rest of her life was consumed by pain’: Man sentenced in rape, murder of 100-year-old woman

Kasey Nesbitt (Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office)

By Kristine Guerra August 20 at 6:30 AM

If 37-year-old Kasey Nesbitt is lucky, he’ll be out of prison at 86.

By then, he’ll still be younger than the Kansas woman he raped in 2014.

Nesbitt, who’s identified in court records as a criminal street gang member, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the rape and murder of 100-year-old Martha Schell.

He’ll be eligible for parole in 23 years, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett told the Wichita Eagle. If granted parole, he’ll still serve another 26 1/2 years, which is the second portion of his sentence.

Nesbitt’s punishment comes nearly two years after Schell died. An autopsy revealed that she died of a blood clot that traveled to her lungs, the Wichita Eagle reported. Schell’s death, according to court records obtained by The Washington Post, was caused by complications from injuries she suffered in the sexual assault.

Police said Nesbitt broke into the elderly woman’s Wichita home in September 2014. According to an affidavit, Schell went to her next-door neighbor’s home that morning, wearing only a towel to cover her breasts.

She was “shaking and distressed,” the neighbor told a Wichita detective.

[A serial sex offender, out on probation, has been charged with rape for the fifth time]

Schell was later taken to a local hospital. Confused about what happened, she told the detective that a man broke into her home and tried to rape her, the affidavit said. She remembered being thrown around and getting hit on the back of her head behind her ear, she told the officer.

A test showed that Schell was indeed raped, as shown by significant injuries to her vaginal area, according to the affidavit.

By analyzing DNA profiles from sperm cells collected from Schell, investigators found a match with Nesbitt, whose DNA profile was already in a local database.

Schell, who remained hospitalized after the assault, died the following month.

A jury convicted Nesbitt of felony murder, rape and aggravated burglary charges last month. He’s filed a notice to appeal his conviction and sentence to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Nesbit’s criminal history stretches back to at least 1999, when he was 19, and includes several convictions on theft, burglary and criminal trespass, court records show.

Elderly people account for only 3 percent of sexual assault victims, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network or RAINN. More than half of victims are between the ages of 18 and 34. Nearly 30 percent are between 35 and 64, while 15 percent are minors.

Before her death, Schell was living a quiet and independent life in her home, using a walker to help her move around, Bennett told jurors last month,according to the Wichita Eagle. But the attack left her with a broken vertebrae and other injuries.

“The next day and the rest of her life was consumed by pain,” Bennett said,according to the paper.

After Nesbitt was sentenced, Bennett told the paper that Schell’s relatives are still grieving.

[All-American swimmer found guilty of sexually assaulting unconscious woman on Stanford campus]

“No one expects a 100-year-old family member to live forever,” Bennett said. “But no one expects a 100-year-old family member to die like this.”

The victim’s son, Kerin Schell of Wichita, declined to speak with The Post.

Besides her son, Schell, a retired school board secretary, also left behind a daughter, two grandsons and one great-grandson, according to her obituary.

“Rest in peace sweet and gentle lady,” Gloria Gadomski wrote in the guest book.

“May you be comforted in the knowledge that others share in your loss,” Betty Washington wrote.

Thailand: Abbot kicks monk out of Buddhist order for being too small

Sermsak, right, says he will continue to follow the teachings of Buddha. Image via Daily News.

19th August 2016

THAILAND’S smallest monk was disrobed this week after a senior monk decided he was too small.

Venerable Sermsak Thammasaro, who is 99cm tall and weighs just 15kg, was disrobed in a ritual on August 16 because he was deemed “disabled and a burden”.

Sermsak, 21, who was said to be very popular among local villagers, was ordained just one month ago.

 

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Kaewmala @Thai_Talk

Really, so much for Buddhist compassion. The (21yo) monk decided to leave the monkhood b/c he did not want to cause problems for the temple.

2:01 AM - 18 Aug 2016

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The unnamed senior monk at Thap Chang Temple in Soi Dao District of the eastern province of Chanthaburi said ordaining persons who are physically too little is against Buddhist Vinaya, a Buddhist monastic order. He added that Sermsak could be accepted as a ‘Nayn’, a form of novice monk.

Local media reported that Sermsak or the monk that ordained him had to leave the monkhood, with Sermsak opting to take the fall.

While the incident has sparked anger among villagers and Thai netizens, experts have insisted that Buddhist Vinaya prohibits persons with dwarfism to be ordained as Buddhist monks.

18 Aug

Kaewmala @Thai_Talk

This order came from some high-ranking monk in Chantaburi. The local temple & villagers are very fond of this monk.https://twitter.com/thai_talk/status/766151845484097536 …

 

Follow

Kaewmala @Thai_Talk

So here's Director of Samut Sakorn Buddhism Office confirming a rule prohibiting men who are too short from monkhoodhttp://www.dailynews.co.th/regional/516744 

4:27 AM - 18 Aug 2016

'แก้ว'แจงกฎการบวชพระ ห้ามผู้เตี้ยเกินเป็นภิกษุ

ผอ.สำนักพุทธศาสนา จ.สมุทรสาคร ยันบทบัญญัติในพระธรรมวินัยห้ามผู้ชายที่เตี้ยเกินไปบวชพระเหตุเพราะจะทำให้พุทธศาสนิกชนไม่เลื่อมใสศรัทธา แนะให้บวชเณร พร้อมระบุพระผู้ใหญ่จ.จันทบุรีทำถูกตามบทบัญญัติสึก'พร...

dailynews.co.th

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“Although I have become a layperson, I still have faith in Buddhism and will continue to follow the teaching of Buddha,” Sermsak wrote on Facebook, as translated by Prachathai.

Thai monks have been making the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent months, particularly with the gruesome discovery of tiger parts and 40 dead tiger cubs at the so called ‘Tiger Temple’ in Kanchanaburi province earlier this year.

Last year, two monks were expelled from their order after after crashing their truck while returning to their temple after an hours-long drinking binge.

8 Impressive Health Benefits of Turmeric

by Dr. Edward Group DC, NP, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM-December 11, 2014

Turmeric, or Curcuma longa, is an ancient spice popular in India and Asia as far back as 2,000 BC. The spice belongs in the ginger family and has been highly prized in the culinary traditions of these cultures. Turmeric imparts a vibrant yellowish hue to curry dishes, and the spice is also used as a natural dyeing agent for cloths. In Persia, turmeric comes from the word saffron and is closely related to the spice.

The Healing Benefits of Turmeric

The main phytochemicals that give turmeric its most impressive and wide-ranging health benefits are curcuminoids. Amazingly, over 9,000 medical and clinical research studies have been conducted on this amazing spice and curcumin in recent years, with most noting significant benefits

There are 3 primary phytochemicals in the curcuminoid family that produce the health benefits: diferuloylmethane (or curcumin, the primary curcuminoid responsible for turmeric’s vibrant yellowish color), demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. In addition to these three chemicals, turmerone is another of the potent volatile oils found in the root.

Research has proven these curcuminoids exert powerful health-promoting effects via 160 mechanisms and pathways in the body such as antioxidant, neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, epigenetic, and adaptogenic properties. ^[1] [2]

8 Health Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric provides an abundance of antioxidants capable of supporting cellular health, but what does that mean for you? Here are some of the most well-researched benefits of turmeric.

1. Promotes Balanced Mood

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the Journal of Affective Disorders showed noticeable and promising results with turmeric for supporting a balanced mood. Two groups were studied over 8 weeks. The first group received curcumin daily, while the other received placebo. After 8 weeks, the depression and anxiety score tests completed by all of the participants showed significant symptom improvements compared to placebo. Could turmeric be a potential new option for stabilizing mood? ^[3]

2. Helps Wounds Heal

Cut your finger? A study in the Sept 2014 issue of Life Sciences found that turmeric (curcumin) has beneficial properties that appear to speed the wound healing process. These modes of action include the modulation of redness and welling and oxidation. As new studies come to light showing turmeric’s ability to potentiate the body’s natural healing processes and outcome, the possible breadth of applications could be enormous.^[4]

An exciting study in the Oct 2006 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry demonstrated the efficacy of a topical turmeric application for wounds in rats. The results showed that turmeric increased collagen synthesis rates, improved wound contraction, and increased tissue strength and cell proliferation around the wound. Turmeric also showed antioxidant properties that helped the healing process. ^[5]

3. Aches and Discomfort

An impressive study completed and published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging looked at the effect of turmeric on knee osteoarthritis pain and function. In the 4-week study, two groups were randomized and divided; one group received turmeric extract, while the other group received the daily upper limit dose of ibuprofen.

Results showed that the turmeric group experienced discomfort relief just as much as the ibuprofen group. The turmeric group, however, seemed to enjoy more relief from joint stiffness. Those taking turmeric reported significantly less side effects than those taking NSAIDs. ^[6] A double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the December 2011 issue of Surgical Endoscopy looked at turmeric supplementation on postoperative discomfort and fatigue in patients who had gallbladder surgery. Patients taking turmeric experienced significantly less pain and fatigue (per pain scale log assessments) at intervals of 3 weeks, as compared to placebo. ^[7]

4. Encourages Balanced Blood Sugar

A novel investigative study published in the Nov 2014 issue of The Journal of Endocrinology looked at the effects of curcumin on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas called Beta cells (or B-cells) and Islet cells, in relation to type-2 diabetes. Researchers treated B-cell lines and human Islet cells with preparations of turmeric and reported a number of positive benefits. ^[8]

5. Soothes Irritated Tissue

Turmeric has been shown in studies to be valuable in helping the body modulate and buffer excess irritation. The swelling response is a healthy and natural mechanism the body uses to usher soothing compounds in acute times of crises or repair. It’s believed that most people in today’s toxic, stress-laden environment are under constant inflammatory conditions, and a growing number of experts believe it to be the origin of many diseases.

A review published in the 2007 issue of Advances of Experimental Medicine noted the soothing effect of turmeric is likely exerted through its ability to inhibit inflammatory enzymes including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), lipoxygenase (LOX), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), among others. These three are particularly important enzymes that mediate and inform the inflammatory processes, though if poorly regulated can possibly lead to disease. Turmeric shows promise in helping the body adapt and regulate these enzymes. ^[9] [10]

6. Helps Stiff Joints

A randomized, pilot clinical study was published in the November 2012 issue of Phytotherapy Research. The goal of the study was to see the effectiveness and/or difference in the relief of active joint discomfort. 

One study group received the standard-of-care medication (diclofenac sodium), while the other received turmeric. Patients were given symptom score sheets (DAS/ACR) to assess results. Turmeric outperformed diclofenac sodium on all levels, including being relatively free from adverse side effects.^[11]

7. Cholesterol Optimization

Turmeric’s ability to help the body regulate and balance cholesterol levels has been hypothesized and studied since the 1990s with varying levels of benefits. A couple of these studies show an impressive reduction in lipid profiles and cholesterol markers in turmeric-supplemented groups. One randomized, single-blind clinical study published in the November 2011 issue of Phytotherapy Research set out to investigate turmeric’s effect on cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Group participants were given either turmeric (curcumin) in low or high doses, and a control group was given vitamin E only. After just seven days, the results proved statistically significant. Low-dose turmeric showed the most improvement as compared to the other two groups, with serum cholesterol levels being reduced by 17% and triglycerides being slashed a whopping 47%! ^[12]

Another study conducted a similar seven day trial. Results showed the turmeric (curcumin) supplemented participants had reduced serum cholesterol by 12%, reduced lipid peroxides (cholesterol byproduct marker) by 33%, and increased HDL cholesterol (the good kind) by an impressive 29%. Most importantly, these studies show that turmeric is consistently safe and has very low risk of side effect. ^[13]

8. Ulcers

India has long used turmeric in curry dishes as a taste and color enhancer. Another key reason turmeric has been used in so many cultural dishes in the East for millennia is because of its soothing properties on digestion. Researchers wanted to test the protective effects of turmeric on the lining of the stomach against acidic preparations (ethanol) used to induce stomach ulcers in test animals (representative of humans).

A preparation containing the essential oils from turmeric was administered prior to the ethanol and the results were impressive. Turmeric inhibited stomach ulcer formation by an impressive 85%. Lesions, tissue necrosis, and hemorrhaging were also greatly reduced. In addition, turmeric also appears to offer some impressive protection for stomach ailments. ^[14]

Supplementing with Turmeric

There are a lot of turmeric supplements on the market; some better than others. At minimum, make sure to only purchase organic products from reputable companies. Because turmeric is so popular, there’s no shortage of hucksters out there peddling low quality junk that’s produced under questionable 

circumstances. If you’re in the market for a turmeric supplement, we recently released a liquid turmeric extract that I’m really proud of. The initial feedback has been incredible.

I’d like to hear from people who’ve supplemented with turmeric. What’s it doing for you? Leave a comment below and share your experience.

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