India is seeing a boom in diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the leading public health issues that we face. While our ethnicity, genetic predisposition, makes us more vulnerable to diabetes, the cause for this is our life style . Urbanization, long working hours, stress, sleep deprivation, increased intake of processed food and lack of physical activity are the main reasons. Preventing and controlling diabetes needs a disciplined and consistent effort. Diet plays an important role in the prevention and control of diabetes, in addition spices and some foods have been found to support lowering of blood sugars, improving glucose metabolism, and also improve lipids, enhance antioxidant capacity and capillary functions, giving protection against heart diseases to.
Also read: World Diabetes Day 2022: Date, Significance And 5 Food Items To Include In Your Diet
If we look at the modifiable risk factors for diabetes:
Weight: Obesity/ overweight, high waist to hip ratio, increases your risk of diabetes.
Physical Activity: Lack of activity increases the risk of insulin resistance and obesity, which in turn increase the risk of diabetes
Keeping the blood pressure under control will help with better diabetes management and prevention of onset.
Cholesterol: Low HDL(good cholesterol) and high triglycerides increase the risk of T2DM.
Smoking increases the risk of a number of health problems especially diabetes.
Alcohol: over indulgence in alcohol has a detrimental effect on the pancreas , where it leads to inflammation and on the liver which it can damage.
Lifestyle: Poor food choices, stress, and lack of sleep are very important contributing factors for early onset and management of blood sugar levels.
All these are easily manageable with making the right choices. Regular screening, regular doctor visit, taking your treatment as per your doctors advise, following a healthy diet and good lifestyle is the way.
Photo Credit: Istock
PROTECTIVE FOODS : Research has highlighted some spices, herbs and vegetables which have shown to support sugar control and also delay onset of diabetes and comorbidities. Here are 3 that can be added:
1.Cinnamon: is a common spice found in all our kitchens. It has been researched for its effect on controlling blood sugars extensively. In a study published by American diabetes association Cinnamon when taken in 1. 3 or 6 gms was found to reduce blood glucose by 18-29% and also reduced triglycerides (23-30%), LDL(7-27%), Cholesterol (12-26%) which means that it not only controls the blood sugars but also the risk factors associated with T2DM. In another meta-analysis published in Annals of family medicine also established the same outcomes. This affect may be because cinnamon improves uptake of glucose by the cells, improves insulin resistance by improving the cell receptor activity and increasing insulin production.
How to consume: Powder whole cinnamon and add 1, 3 or 6 gms and it can be consumed with water. Start with 1 gm and if you are comfortable 3 gms can be taken for 2-3 months
Also read: Cinnamon Water For Diabetes: How To Make It? Recipe, Benefits And More
2.Fenugreek or Methi Seeds: This has been long used for diabetes control in India. Fenugreek is an ancient medicinal herb used for decades by traditional Indian medicine. Fenugreek seeds as research has shown increases insulin sensitivity in the cells, stimulate insulin production and enhance carbohydrate metabolism. Fenugreek seeds also lower triglycerides, cholesterol (TC), and LDL-C. A compound, sapogenins, present in them is shown to increase the cholesterol excretion through bile.
How to consume: 10 gms soaked overnight and consumed along with the water. Powdered fenugreek powder can also be used. 1teaspoon twice daily. It can be added to dahi, or sprinkled on the chapati
3.Karela/ Bitter Melon: A bitter vegetable that has been consumed for diabetes control for a long time. This effect is because of the active compounds present in Karela , namely charanti,, which lowers blood sugars,vicine and a compound that is similar to insulin- polypeptide-p. Another compound, lectin works by supressing appetite and reducing blood sugar levels.
How to consume: The entire vegetable is found to be effective, so it can be cooked and 2 medium pcs eaten daily. It can be grated or juiced and consumed but in the raw form it may cause indigestion.
I have chosen these three as they are easily available and have some good research to back these claims. However, the first line of treatment has to be decided by your doctor, these are not alternatives to medicine but must be taken alongside. Also, a balanced meal, in the right quantity and right time along with physical activity is important. These are a part of the whole , and not a magic bullet which replaces good lifestyle practises.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
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President Joe Biden landed in Cambodia on Saturday still reveling in midterm election results that have produced an unexpected boost at home for his second two years in office.
A day after he arrived in Asia, he got another piece of news from back home that could give him a lift through the rest of his international swing – CNN and other outlets projected his party would retain control of the Senate.
“We feel good about where we are. And I know I’m a cockeyed optimist,” he said from his hotel lobby on Sunday after the projection.
Yet the scale of the challenges abroad, and the effort to translate 21 months of intensive engagement into tangible results for US alliances, will put the value of that political capital on the international stage to the test even as votes are still being counted.
Biden confronted a series of stark challenges in his sit-down Sunday with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, critical allies in an Indo-Pacific region rattled by an increasingly belligerent North Korea. An assertive and confrontational China, long a central animating issue for the Biden administration, also looms large.
“For years, our countries have been engaged in trilateral cooperation out of a shared concern for the nuclear and missile threat North Korea poses to our people,” Biden said at the start of three-way talks.
“As North Korea continues provocative behavior, this partnership is even more important than it’s ever been,” Biden said.
Biden also met with Kishida and Yoon individually before their trilateral meeting.
Biden’s stop at an Asian nations summit comes as advisers see a clear boost from bucking the historical and political trends in the midterm elections. While Biden’s message won’t shift dramatically, the weight behind it is unmistakably more robust after American voters delivered a message that surpassed the hopes of even the most optimistic White House officials.
Biden previously met Kishida and Yoon together on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in June, pledging to enhance cooperation – a complicated task for the major US allies that have a historically fraught relationship.
But that cooperation is imperative as recent, stepped-up aggression from North Korea will be top of mind for the trio of leaders Sunday. North Korea has conducted missile launches 32 days this year, according to a CNN count of both ballistic and cruise missiles. By contrast, it conducted only four tests in 2020, and eight in 2021.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested Saturday the meeting will not lead to specific deliverables, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that the leaders will “be able to discuss broader security issues in the Indo-Pacific and also, specifically, the threats posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.”
The trilateral comes one day ahead of a high-stakes, one-on-one meeting for Biden with China’s leader Xi Jinping, their first in-person encounter since Biden took office. That meeting will take place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.
Speaking to reporters Sunday morning, Biden said he was entering the meeting with Xi in a position of relative strength.
“I know I’m coming in stronger,” he said, noting he knew Xi well and there was “very little misunderstanding” between the two leaders.
“We just got to figure out what the red lines are and what the most important things are to each of us going into the next few years,” Biden said.
Biden, Yoon, and Kishida were also set to discuss Monday’s meeting during the trilateral meeting.
“One thing that President Biden certainly wants to do with our closest allies is preview what he intends to do, and also ask the leaders of (South Korea) and Japan, ‘What would you like me to raise? What do you want me to go in with?’” Sullivan said, adding that it “will be a topic but it will not be the main event of the trilateral.”
Earlier Sunday, Biden attended the East Asia Summit, building on Saturday’s appearance at the ASEAN Summit aimed at boosting US-Indo-Pacific relations. Biden raised North Korea, China and Myanmar during his meeting with Asian leaders, the White House said in a readout.
A day ahead of meeting Xi, Biden underscored “the United States will compete vigorously with (China) and speak out regarding (China’s) human rights abuses, while keeping lines of communication open and ensuring competition does not veer into conflict.”
Biden departed for Bali later Sunday evening.
This leg of the trip, a senior administration official told reporters on a call earlier this week, reflects “stepped-up engagement with ASEAN and with Southeast Asia” during the Biden administration.
Biden, the official added, will “lay out our vision for keeping up a pace of enhanced engagement and trying to also address concerns of importance to ASEAN in ways that they are looking for,” keeping with an ongoing theme during the Biden presidency of building alliances in strategic competition with China.
Among the key topics of discussion this weekend in Cambodia, the official said, is the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, where the military seized power in a coup last year.
World leaders will discuss “efforts to promote respect for human rights, rule of law and good governance, the rules-based international order, and also to address the ongoing crisis in Burma.”
Biden arrived in Phnom Penh on Saturday, holding a bilateral meeting with ASEAN chair and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and attending the ASEAN-US summit.
“This is my third trip, my third summit – second in-person, and it’s testament to the importance the United States places in our relationship with ASEAN and our commitment to ASEAN’s centrality. ASEAN is the heart of my administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy. And we continue to strengthen our commitment to work in lockstep with an empowered, unified ASEAN,” Biden said in brief opening remarks as the summit began.
On Friday, Biden made a three-hour stop in Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt, where he attended the COP27 climate summit and met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Washington’s scintillating comeback win at No. 6 Oregon rattled the College Football Playoff picture Saturday night. And then came UCLA’s stunning home loss to Arizona that narrowed the Pac-12’s final four hopes to one team — Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans. Sunday’s Week 12 AP Top 25 rankings will see big changes, along with TCU’s win at Texas.
Several nationally-ranked teams move out of the latest AP Poll, while a few other programs in the playoff hunt noticeably flexed their muscles, including Ohio State, Michigan and Tennessee. The Volunteers scored 66 points during a drubbing of Missouri, a style-points victory for Josh Heupel’s team following last week’s loss to Georgia.
Liberty and Illinois are among the teams who may not be ranked any longer after Hugh Freeze and the Flames lost to UConn and the Fighting Illini suffered a home setback to Purdue to lose ground atop the Big Ten West.
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Elon Musk tweeted Saturday that Twitter was the top generator of referrals to other websites.Adrees Latif/Reuters
Elon Musk claimed Twitter was “the biggest click driver on the internet by far” in a tweet Saturday.
The site’s new owner was widely mocked in the replies by users rejecting his claim.
Twitter generated 7.7% of referrals in January, with 74.1% for Facebook, per Datareportal.
Elon Musk was widely mocked after claiming that Twitter was the biggest driver of “clicks” to other websites on the internet “by far.”
In a tweet on Saturday, the new owner of Twitter suggested the platform was the biggest source of referrals to other websites. He was replying to an exchange discussing how little traffic came from Twitter, with author Matt Taibbi saying 10 minutes on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast was worth a year of tweets.
“Twitter drives a massive number of clicks to other websites/apps. Biggest click driver on the Internet by far,” Musk replied.
He then came under fire as users pointed out that Facebook was far and away the leading generator of traffic to other websites.
Tom Coates, a product developer, tweeted: “100% wrong. Embarrassingly wrong. I mean even if you ignore the search engines it’s wrong. I can feel your ad execs and partnerships people (if there are any left) shriveling up the more you type.”
Coates shared a study from Datereportal which suggested Twitter generated 7.7% of social media referrals across social media in January, a fraction of the 74.1% of clicks from Facebook.
In terms of all websites, Twitter ranked ninth for traffic, just above adult website Pornhub.
A 2016 study by data analytics site parse.ly cited by NiemanLab found the average news organisation generated just 1.5% of its traffic from Twitter, with the top 5% of publishers receiving 11% of their clicks from the platform.
Former Twitter employee Claire Díaz-Ortiz said the claim was false, and the company never sold itself to advertisers on clicks because it was well known they had far fewer than sites such as Facebook.
Musk is looking for ways to make Twitter profitable after saying last week the company was losing $4 million a day. He laid off about 3,700 Twitter staff following his $44 billion takeover to slash costs.
His first attempt to generate new revenue, the rollout of verification for $8, ended in farce as users wreaked havoc impersonating major figures like George Bush and Tony Blair, as well as companies such as Lockheed Martin and Eli Lilly.
Musk has since reportedly touted the idea of putting the whole website behind a paywall, and has already floated the possibility of bankruptcy in his first meeting with Twitter employees.
Committing to a healthy diet in order to lose weight can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re someone who loves to indulge in decadent meals that are loaded with less-than-healthy ingredients your taste buds love. However, if you want to shed some pounds, switching out unhealthy foods for more nutritious options is one of the best things you can do—and that starts by taking a look at the food in your very own home. In fact, some of the worst foods for your overall healthy may be right in your pantry.
To discover some of the worst pantry snacks you should cut out if you want to avoid belly fat, we spoke to nutritionists Trista Best from Balance One Supplements and Valeria Dolbel, founder of Beauty Diets. They told us about two you should think twice about adding to your cart next time you’re at the grocery store: Doritos and cookies.
1. Chips like Doritos
When it comes to the worst snacks for your overall health, Best says that chips are definitely somewhere at the top of the list—especially if you want to avoid weight gain. “They are often fried, made with inflammatory omega-6 oils, refined carbohydrates, and a combination of fat and carbs that cause oxidative stress in the body,” she explains.
And while there are tons of fattening chips that should be avoided, she tells us that “Doritos are one of the worst types of chips to consume, regardless of flavor.” As Best points out, “They are made with artificial colors and flavors along with refined carbs. This form of carb causes a rapid increase in glucose, which increases the body’s fat-storing rate.” Yikes!
In addition to all those carbs and artificial ingredients, another major downside to Doritos is the fact that they’re “easy to snack mindlessly due to their various flavors.” That makes it difficult to enjoy the chips in moderation, which, as we all know, is one important key to healthy eating. “When eating chips, if you must, it is best to opt for whole grain and baked options or to eat them pre portioned,” Best suggests.
2. Store-bought cookies
If you have a sweet tooth, you may typically opt for cookies over chips. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), store-bought cookies aren’t a better option. Dolbel says that these treats, along with other sweets like pies and cakes, “are the food category that contributes the most calories accounted for added sugar intake yet provide little to no nutritional value.” When you overload on all those calories without getting anything substantial from the food, you put yourself at risk of weight gain: “Low fiber and highly refined grains increase the risk of weight gain and higher levels of belly fat,” Dolbel explains, adding that your favorite cookie likely “causes belly fat due to highly-processed ingredients such as butter, sugar, and refined flour.” Say it ain’t so!
Luckily, you don’t have to ignore your sweet tooth altogether just to avoid weight gain. There are plenty healthy yet sweet options out there. Dolbel recommends going with plain Greek yogurt and homemade granola, which can “aid in weight loss by controlling the portion size to ensure you will achieve all nutrients and keeps you full for a longer time.” Yum!
At the end of the day, achieving the body if your dreams is about more than cutting out a few snacks; you’ll have to maintain a healthy diet all around and put in the work during your workouts. However, if slimming down is your goal, it’s a good idea to avoid these foods as much as possible.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen will be active Sunday despite his ulnar collateral ligament injury and the belief is he will start against the Minnesota Vikings, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Bills officials, however, have been tight-lipped all week and have declined to reveal who is starting and want to keep it secret until after Sunday’s NFL actives/inactives list is released at 11:30 a.m. ET. Bills officials spent intensive time this past week leaning on and listening to their doctors and other arm specialists, and the team was reassured that Allen is not at any added risk to make the injury worse if he plays Sunday against the Vikings, sources said.
With this in mind, the sources say the belief is that Allen will start Sunday, but the team has declined to confirm any final decisions and insists it is taking it “minute by minute” and doesn’t want to give the Vikings any competitive advantage by naming a starting quarterback.
Allen was limited in Friday’s practice, when he was seen with a practice jersey on and no sleeve on his right arm. If he starts, he will have participated in only one day of practice after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday.
“We are literally in an hour-to-hour situation here just looking at how he’s going to progress through the day,” coach Sean McDermott said Friday. “And as he goes through these different tests, medically, making sure that he’s able to check the boxes in a progression to where we can see if we can proceed through the course of the day here.”
Allen is dealing with a right elbow injury to the ulnar collateral ligament and related nerves, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen earlier in the week. It happened on the last drive of Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets. He has not missed a game since 2018, when he missed four games with a UCL injury in his right elbow.
ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.
Summary: Two common compounds, green tea catechins and resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, reduce the formation of Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid plaques in brain tissue.
Source: Tufts University
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 6 million Americans, and its incidence is expected to rise in the coming decades.
The cause of the disease in its most common form, which is not genetically based, is not well understood. This makes treatment difficult, but progress is being made. Using a 3D model of living human brain cells, Tufts researchers earlier this year showed that the common herpes virus could induce plaques in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Now, Tufts researchers are working to understand what might slow progression of the disease. They have tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer’s-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds’ effect on the growth of sticky beta amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
The researchers found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. And they did so with few or no side effects.
The researchers reported their findings in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Some of the 21 compounds tested reduced the disease progression by acting as anti-viral agents—slowing Alzheimer’s induced by the herpes virus.
But finding a compound “that could diminish the plaques regardless of the virus component would be ideal, because that would show that regardless of the cause of Alzheimer’s, you might still see some kind of improvement,” says Dana Cairns, GBS12. Cairns is a research associate in the Kaplan Lab in the School of Engineering and led the research.
The initial screening was done in simpler models, and compounds that had a positive effect were then tested in the 3D neural tissue model. That model is created using a nonreactive silk sponge seeded with human skin cells that, through genetic reprogramming, are converted into neural stem cell progenitors.
Those cells grow and populate the sponge, “which allows for 3D network formation of neurons similar to what you’d see in the human brain,” Cairns says.
The initial screen found five compounds had “really robust prevention of these plaques,” she says. In addition to the green tea compounds and resveratrol, they found curcumin from turmeric, the diabetic medication Metformin, and a compound called citicoline prevented plaques from forming and did not have anti-viral effects.
“We hoped to find compounds that would be harmless and show some level of efficacy,” she said. Green tea compounds and resveratrol met that standard.
“We got lucky that some of these showed some pretty strong efficacy,” Cairns said.
“In the case of these compounds that passed the screening, they had virtually no plaques visible after about a week.”
Green tea catechins—molecules in the tea leaves that have an antioxidant effect—have been explored as a potential treatment for cancers, and resveratrol has been tested for anti-aging properties.
Cairns cautioned that seeing effects in the lab “doesn’t always necessarily translate to what you might see in a patient.” Some compounds do not cross the blood-brain barrier, which would be essential in the case of Alzheimer’s, and some have low bioavailability, meaning they are not readily absorbed into the body or bloodstream.
Still, the discovery is significant because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s or a way to prevent its progression, aside from several potential drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies that are still in trials, Cairns says.
The researchers found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. Image is in the public domain
Compounds like these two that show some efficacy and are known to be safe and easily accessible could be taken as a supplement or consumed as part of one’s diet, she adds.
“For example, natural sources of resveratrol include red wine, certain fruits such as grapes, blueberries, and cranberries, peanuts, pistachios, and cocoa,” says Cairns.
“While it is empowering to be able to take measures like these to potentially prevent neurodegeneration in the future, it is also important to consult with your health-care provider before making any major changes to your diet.”
Looking ahead, a potential area of research for researchers and pharmaceutical companies would be to take the beneficial properties of these compounds and “try to enhance them to make them more bioavailable or make them penetrate the blood-brain barrier a bit better,” Cairns says.
See also
In addition to Cairns, other co-authors of the journal article include Isabella A. Silveira, E21, and Adam Mullis, a postdoctoral scholar at Tufts, along with David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
About this Alzheimer’s disease research news
Author: Mike Silver Source: Tufts University Contact: Mike Silver – Tufts University Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access. “Screening neuroprotective compounds in herpes-induced Alzheimer’s disease cell and 3D tissue models” by Dana Cairns et al. Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Abstract
Screening neuroprotective compounds in herpes-induced Alzheimer’s disease cell and 3D tissue models
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that can cause life-altering and debilitating cognitive decline. AD’s etiology is poorly understood, and no disease-modifying therapeutics exist.
Here, we describe the use of 2D and 3D tissue culture models of herpesvirus-induced AD, which recapitulate hallmark disease features of plaque formation, gliosis, neuroinflammation, and impaired neuronal signaling, to screen a panel of 21 medications, supplements, and nutraceuticals with purported neuroprotective benefits.
This screen identified green tea catechins and resveratrol as having strong anti-plaque properties, functional neuroprotective benefits, and minimal neurotoxicity, providing support for their further investigation as AD preventives and therapies.
Two other candidates, citicoline and metformin, reduced plaque formation and were minimally toxic, but did not protect against virus-induced impairments in neuronal signaling.
This study establishes a simple platform for rapidly screening and characterizing AD compounds of interest in 2D and 3D human cortical tissue models representing physiologically relevant disease features.
Following the pandemic, many have understandably become more health-conscious; especially when it comes to colds and flu.
As the temperatures drop and sniffle season commences, people will be looking for quick fixes and remedies to stay their healthiest – and now a viral TikTok has showed that you needn’t look further than your cupboards.
Johnny Kyunghwo Sheldrick has shared a recipe for a Korean treat – known as a delicious accompaniment for hot drinks as well as a medicinal miracle – and it only needs two, easy-to-find ingredients.
‘Cheong’ is a way to describe preserves, syrups and marmalades, famous variants made with plum, yuja and quince.
Johnny Kyunghwo Sheldrick (pictured) has shared a recipe for a Korean treat – known as a delicious accompaniment for hot drinks as well as a medicinal miracle
The South Korea-based influencer began the clip by thoroughly washing and drying his citrus, and cutting them in half (left). He then mixed the slices with sugar and placed the concoction in a glass container (right)
But the soothing, sweet concoction can also be made with lemons, and provides the perfect pick-me-up if you feel yourself getting ill.
Johnny’s recipe – which has raked up more than 1.2 million views on social media – needs only three lemons and some sugar and can be ready to use within a day or two of making it.
The South Korea-based influencer began the clip by thoroughly washing and drying his citrus, and cutting them in half.
He then advised slicing them as thinly as possible before weighing them out. Next, weigh out the same amount of sugar (Johnny used a mix of dark brown and white variants).
For the recipe, Johnny weighed out the same amount of sugar as his lemons, using a mix of dark brown and white variants
Johnny mixed ‘about two-thirds’ of the sugar into his lemon slices in a bowl, thoroughly stirring the concoction with gloved hands to coat the slices evenly
Johnny next suggested added a tablespoon of the preserve to Earl Grey Tea, saying it ‘really opens up’ the sinuses
Follow Johnny Kyunghwo Sheldrick’s recipe for a tasty, medicinal preserve that will add a citrusy tang to your hot beverages
What you’ll need:
Lemon x 3
White sugar
Brown sugar
How to make ‘Cheong’:
Thoroughly wash and dry your lemons, before cutting them in half. Then, cut the halves into slices as thinly as you can.
Weigh out your lemon slices, and then measure out the same amount of sugar. Johnny used a mixture of white and brown sugar.
Mix around two-thirds of the sugar in a bowl with all the lemon slices, making sure each segment is coated thoroughly. Johnny stirred his lemon slices in the mixture with gloves hands.
Transfer the mix into a glass container and press everything down.
Top with the remaining sugar and leave on a counter overnight.
The next morning, most of the sugar, except for a layer of the top should be dissolved – so mix the remainder in.
It should be ready for use after this – Johnny recommends enjoying it in a cup of Earl Grey tea.
The preserves should last months if stored in a fridge and used with only clean utensils, the creator says. He also recommends using some plastic wrap laid down on the surface of the Cheong to prevent potential mould.
He then mixed ‘about two-thirds’ of the sugar into his lemon slices in a bowl, thoroughly stirring the concoction with gloved hands to coat the slices evenly.
Johnny transferred his mix into a glass container – such as a jar – ‘making sure to press everything down’.
He topped it with the remaining sugar and left the coated lemons overnight on the counter.
‘Next day, almost all the sugar will be dissolved apart from the top,’ he said. ‘So mix that bit in.’
Johnny next suggested added a tablespoon of the preserve to Earl Grey Tea, saying it ‘really opens up’ the sinuses.
In the comments, he advised that the preserves will ‘last quite a long time (months) if stored in the fridge’ with ‘only clean utensils used on it’.
‘I also recommend using some plastic wrap laid down on the surface of the Cheong to prevent any potential mould,’ Johnny added.
But does the sweet lemon preserve really help beat off flus and colds?
In 2016, South Korean outlet MBC penned an article praising the healing benefits of Cheong during the winter months.
Referring particularly to the lemon variants, the reporter recommended mixing the sugary, citrusy blend with ‘warm or carbonated water’, claiming it helps to prevents colds and relieve fatigue.
And lemons and citruses have been famously lauded for their benefits thanks to being superpacked with Vitamin C.
According to Livestrong, it can act as a ‘natural antioxidant’ which ‘enhances’ the immune system and has both antiviral and antibacterial properties.
However, some may be surprised to hear that preserves and syrups may also soothe your symptoms – although they’re commonly used as alternative remedies in other cultures.
Raspberry jams are a famed Russian remedy for colds, often stirred into black tea to help tackle a sore throat.
The true effectiveness has been debated, but some reports have argued the effectiveness comes from raspberry’s ‘anti-inflammatory’, according to blog Understand Russia.
It may also be that the saccharine tones of syrups and jams offer aid, as, according to Drugs.com, sugar, as a form of glucose has a ‘demulcent action’, meaning it coats throat tissue is a ‘soothing film’ to help with inflammation and redness.
Andrii Kolesnyk and Kseniia Drahanyuk both beam with excitement as they crouch over a box.
They are about to unpack Ukraine’s first ever military uniform for pregnant women, which they recently commissioned after a pregnant sniper got in touch.
The young couple, both TV journalists before the war started, are now fully dedicated to their independent NGO, “Zemlyachki,” or “Compatriots,” which procures vital items for women in the armed forces.
The initiative started when Andrii’s sister was sent to the front on February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
“She received men’s uniform, men’s underwear,” he says. “Everything that [was] designed for men.”
It soon became clear that servicewomen needed a lot more than uniforms. Everything from smaller boots to lighter plates for bulletproof vests to hygiene products is in demand.
So, the couple turned to private company donations, charity funds and crowdfunding to purchase goods independently of the military. Some customized gear such as women’s fatigues is produced under their own brand by a factory in Kharkiv in the country’s east – including the new pregnancy uniform.
Other items, including body armor plates, helmets and boots, come from companies as far afield as Sweden, Macedonia and Turkey. But Kolesnyk and Drahanyuk say they are struggling with the procurement of winter items like sleeping bags and thermal clothing that will be important for comfort as winter sets in.
Kolesnyk says they have distributed equipment worth $1 million so far and helped at least 3,000 women. If they’re on the front-line shooting rockets they might as well do it “in minimum comfort,” he tells CNN.
There are currently about 38,000 women in the armed forces, according to the country’s Ministry of Defense.
“We are doing this to help our government,” Kolesnyk says, not to compete with it. Their hub is overflowing with cardboard boxes full of kit, all paid for from crowdfunding and grants.
A physical disability prevents Kolesnyk from joining his sister, father and brother-in-law on the front lines, a fact that saddens him.
“For a man, it’s hard to understand that you can’t go there, and your sister is there. So, I’m trying to do my best here to help not only my family, but the whole army,” he says.
Twenty-one-year-old Roksolana, who gave only her first name for security reasons, walks in to pick up a uniform and other gear before heading out on her next assignment. An art school graduate, she joined the army in March and is now part of an intelligence unit.
“It’s so valuable to have these people who understand that we are tired of wearing clothes that are three sizes too big,” she says. “We had no helmets, we had old flak jackets, wore tracksuits and sneakers. Now we feel that we are humans.”
She giggles as she laces up her new boots with impeccable long fingernails. Before they hug goodbye, Drahanyuk hands Roksolana a copy of “The Choice,” the best-selling memoir by Holocaust survivor and psychologist Edith Eger. The aim is that this can be a tool to help process trauma. Zemlyachki has also formed partnerships with military psychologists to whom women in combat can reach out.
Other women, such as 25-year-old Alina Panina, are receiving psychological support through the Ukrainian military. A border guard with a canine unit, Panina spent five months in captivity at the infamous Olenivka prison in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region after leaving the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
She was finally released on October 17 as part of an all-female prisoner exchange with Russia and went into mandatory rehabilitation at a military hospital, under whose care she remains.
Ukraine recently demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross send a delegation to the Russian prisoner of war camp.
“I was not prepared [for captivity], and we discussed this a lot with other women prisoners that life hasn’t prepared us for such [an] ordeal,” Panina says at a pizza bar run by veterans in downtown Kyiv.
She says prison guards “were unpredictable people” who sometimes abused prisoners verbally, but that she was spared any physical harm.
Now her partner’s fate is up in the air. He is also a border guard who is still in captivity. “I know he is alive but don’t know in which prison he is,” Panina says sadly as she scrolls through pictures of him.
When asked what gives her hope, she simply says, “our men, our people.”
In 2020, Rod Webber and his team of performance artists and filmmakers found themselves as the targets of what Webber calls an unwarranted FBI and Boston Police Department investigation.
Webber, who is the writer and director of the documentary 2020: The Dumpster Fire, says that investigators are falsely using footage from a trailer of the movie—in which Webber and his team burn an effigy of Donald Trump, and blow up a mannequin with the word “truth” written on it that agents mistook for the word Trump—as evidence of an assassination plot.
A still from 2020: The Dumpster Fire, showing Webber getting arrested.
Buffalo 8 Productions
The FBI and BPD have made multiple visits to Webber and his friends, and have served them with grand-jury subpoenas. A subpoena from January 2021 addressed to Webber that has been reviewed by The Daily Beast references an “official investigation… of suspected violations of federal criminal law.” They haven’t been formally charged with anything, but Webber says investigators told him they were looking into a plot to assassinate Trump.
Webber’s wife, co-producer, and activist Lauren Pespisa says the accusation and law enforcement attention is unjustifiable. “It’s just art,” she says. “Confrontational art.”
Their movie is a chaotic showcase of Webber’s performance art as he follows the campaign trail. He shows up at events put on by everyone from Joe Biden to Andrew Yang to Donald Trump. It’s a mash of serious interviews and Webber’s trolling, an attention-grabbing way of breaking down the election cycle and exposing the hypocrisy of the many candidates.
It culminates in a sketch featured in the trailer meant to draw attention to the various sexual-misconduct allegations against the then-recently elected president. Webber, Pespisa, and co-producer Embry Galen—dressed as Trump—attend a rally in downtown Boston, carrying a large cutout of the president. Pespisa introduces herself as E. Jean Carroll, the journalist and author who in 2019 alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1995.
Mannequin allegedly used to spur investigation.
Buffalo 8 Productions
“I’m here on behalf of all women who [Trump’s] filthy hands have groped to do a ritual,” Pespisa tells the crowd. “To make sure his filthy paws don’t touch our beautiful country anymore.” She goes on to mime ripping the heart out of Trump-impersonating Galen and Webber lights their effigy on fire.
To understand how Webber and his friends found themselves in this situation, one needs to understand how they tick. For the uninitiated, Webber’s world is nothing if not weird and difficult to comprehend. He maintains that he is first and foremost an artist. “My way of calling out authority is through art,” he explains in an interview with The Daily Beast. But this can lead to trouble: he’s been arrested 10 times since 2016.
Webber has had a knack for mischief since high school. He recalls filling his school’s courtyard with forks stuck into the ground as a prank. As a graduation gift, he left a pine tree in the school’s steeple. That streak has always been balanced by a desire to create serious art, however. Earlier in his career, that meant making anti-folk music and directing indie-films like I Thought You Finally Completely Lost It and Northern Comfort, both of which starred Greta Gerwig.
His interests in the intersection of art and politics coalesced with the making of the documentary, A Man Among Giants. Through it, Webber tracked the mayoral campaign of WWE wrestler Doug “Tiny the Terrible” Tunstall in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Webber, who stayed politically active through this time, attending protests and events, realized he could be using that footage for more documentaries.
He’s since become one of those characters who pop up anywhere something is happening in the United States political world, dedicating much of his energy to provoking people in power through what he calls “ethical trolling.”
“That means we punch up,” he explains. During election cycles, this involves showing up to campaign events and protests to make noise and try to catch politicians in an embarrassing or hypocritical moment.
This approach has resulted in surreal moments, including a clip of Trump supporters chanting “Suck Trump’s cock” at the request of Webber and his colleague Vermin Supreme. His 2016 indie documentary Flowers for Peace has garnered over a million views on YouTube and features absurd scenes of Webber, a staunch leftist, praying next to then-candidate Jeb Bush during rallies.
Webber and Vermin Supreme, mocking TheComedian, a 2019 artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, that was at the 2019 Art Basel.
Buffalo 8 Productions
As a painter and digital media artist himself, another natural arena for Webber’s trolling is in the art world. In late 2019, Webber was arrested and made headlines for writing “Epstien [sic] Didn’t Kill Himself” on the wall with lipstick at the site of Art Basel’s showcase of the work “The Comedian”—which is, famously, a $120,000 banana duct-taped to the wall.
The misspelling is on purpose. “That’s how shit goes viral,” Webber laughs.
“I’m like Don Quixote. I tilt at windmills and then I write about it.”
“I’m like Don Quixote,” he explains. “I tilt at windmills and then I write about it.” And indeed, he does sometimes seem like a crazed knight charging politicians, wielding a bullhorn or a guitar, only to be curbed by campaign staffers and gallery security guards.
A piece of Webber’s AI art work.
Buffalo 8 Productions
But unlike the character, Webber occasionally strikes a nerve, and it has lasting consequences.
While filming Flowers for Peace in 2015, Webber confronted the Trump campaign at an event in Rochester, New Hampshire, and took a pause in Trump’s speech as an opportunity to quote the Bible to him.
Trump listens as Webber rattles off a paraphrased version of 1 Timothy 3, which states that anyone who “aspires to the office of overseer” must be “above reproach, sober-minded,” and “not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.” Webber says the ensuing escort out of the building by the Trump campaign’s private security resulted in multiple injuries to himself.
He was later arrested at an event in Manchester, New Hampshire, when he tried to ask Trump why he was beaten in Rochester. But the charges were dropped, and Webber then turned around and sued the Trump campaign and the Manchester Police Department.
Years later in 2020, Webber and the Trump campaign settled. Webber was awarded $20,000 in damages, and, in a separate case, Webber and the Manchester Police Department settled for $15,000 in damages.
To Webber, the FBI investigation is unwarranted, but it does fall into a familiar pattern. He points to the court case for the terrorist convicted of the Boston Marathon bombing in which agent Kimball had to admit that the online evidence he attempted to use to show radicalization were memes and pop song lyrics.
“Fuck the bomber, but that’s basically what they’re doing with us,” Webber says. “They’re taking this trailer out of context and falsely accusing us of an assassination plot.”
The FBI has declined to comment, and the BPD did not respond to requests for comment.
Though Webber is often out to provoke, what he does is protected by the law—and is always, he claims, victimless.
Of course, the line between art and vandalism is thin for Webber, and is often crossed from the perspective of his targets. “On the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2019, a visitor entered a gallery booth and used lipstick to deface a wall within the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC),” an Art Basel representative told The Daily Beast. “Vandalism is a clear violation of the fair’s rules and regulations, and as such, he was escorted out of the fair by the Miami Beach Police Department.”
His charges in Soho and Basel were dropped, barring a $60 fine for disorderly conduct in New York, which Webber says he only paid because he was dealing with the more recent and more stressful harassment by the FBI.
“Everything gets null processed,” Pespisa says of Webber’s arrests. “For a guy who gets arrested so much, it’s amazing that a query check doesn’t bring up anything.”
He recalls that the case in Florida was dismissed almost immediately. “I was all ready to defend myself, and as soon as my butt hit the seat they told me that everything was being dropped.” Webber says he was frustrated. “I wanted to grandstand.”
Webber is often so confident of his innocence that he chooses to advocate for himself in court, performing his own legal research. He won the settlement from the Trump campaign without representation. “He puts me to sleep reading a book of jurisprudence that he got from his grandfather,” Pespisa laughs.
“It’s not all unicorn onesies and political performance,” Webber says. “Like the ACLU, I choose cases because setting precedent is how we keep legal power in check.”
To them, the means are justified. In the creation of their films and the ruffling of feathers, they are attempting to speak truth to power and to make lighter an often dour situation.
“A protest without joy becomes drudgery,” he says. “As long as my team and I can bring a smile to some people’s faces, I feel like we’re doing alright.”
Webber and his production team.
Buffalo 8 Productions
Under the trolling is a legitimate desire to make a difference through documenting social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock in their documentary The War of North Dakota.
“Sometimes you have to put down the silliness and just act as a faithful documentarian of history,” Webber explains.
But Webber and Pespisa had to slow down in face of the federal investigation into them. “We had to take time to read and understand what we were getting charged with and how to defend against it,” Webber explains.
And although things have recently calmed—they say the last visit from law enforcement was in February—Webber and Pespisa still don’t feel that they’re in the clear. When asked if he’s worried about another visit, Webber says, “All the time. They always come after an article’s published.”
“We had a congratulatory talk back in 2020 when we thought it had all died down,” he continues. “I’m never having one of those again.”
“I’m positive that they’re keeping a file open on us,” adds Pespisa. “How many other people and other artists are they doing this to?”
Despite all this, Webber and Pespisa have never considered quitting. As recently as early July 2022, Webber and Pespisa confronted the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front when they attempted to demonstrate in downtown Boston. Documenting the whole encounter, Pespia, Webber and other activists chased Patriot Front members out of the city.
Webber took to Twitter to call out law enforcement’s response or lack thereof. “We’re not just jesters hassling politicians,” says Webber. “We’re doing the hard work of researching information which has allowed us to be on the scene to confront neo-Nazis in Boston—a feat which city officials have claimed was impossible.”
This latest encounter is proof that no amount of stress and harassment will stop Webber and Pespisa. “What are we going to do, roll up and die?” Webber asks. “We’ll continue to call out power. It’s a constant struggle, but we’re looking forward to what’s next.”
