HEALTH BENEFITS OF GINGER

Yesterday was a huge day for President Donald Trump and the Nation.  

• First, the House approved the bill ending the longest government shutdown (43 days), which went on to be signed by the president.

• 
  From Time magazine: Emails released by the House Democrats on Wednesday show the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alleging that President Donald Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of them. Trump has long denied having any prior knowledge of Epstein’s conduct. The core three email exchanges, released as the House of Representatives returned to Washington to end the government shutdown, were penned by the disgraced financier between 2011 and 2019. One correspondence was addressed to Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. The other two exchanges were sent to author Michael Wolff, who penned the 2018 book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

• 
  How did House Democrats pull-off this coup?  Amazingly enough, Congressman Ro Khanna indicated that MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell and his staff triggered this action.  Read the details.
• So what exactly is now happening in the U.S. Congress?
• 
  Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was elected 50 days ago to replace a Republican from Arizona, but only got sworn in yesterday.
• Her swearing-in provided the crucial final signature needed for a bipartisan discharge petition to force a House floor vote on a bill demanding the Department of Justice release all unclassified Epstein files.
• 
  However, the White House tried to coerce two close supporters, Republican Congresswomen Lauren Boebert (left) and Nancy Mace to remove their names from that petition, with Boebert actually being summoned to White House to be so influenced.  Incredibly enough, they both held tight, and Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that this vote will be held next week.
• 
  Here is the problem for Republican members of Congress.
• MAGA voters want justice for the under age women who want to be heard.  There are approximately 80 of them, some who cannot say anything because they were paid to remain silent.
• Many Republican members cannot afford to vote against this discharge petition for fear of being kicked out at the mid-term elections on 3November2026, which is now 355 days away.

• 
  Thus, there are indications that many of them will vote for this petition, and this measure will move on to the Senate.
• It is possible that the Senate might not vote on this legislation.  Same pressure, for a third of the members will be up for re-election.  This petition could stop here, but the feeling is that there will be a vote, and it will pass.
• Donald Trump can then veto it.  But this will irritate a lot of MAGA voters.
• 
  He could sign, and the Department of Justice could just send redacted and deleted copies of what is being sought.  But other sources already have the accurate versions.
• Like Nixon had Watergate....will Trump fall because of Epstein?

I keep hearing that ginger is a health food.  What is ginger?

• Zingiber officinale is a flowering plant whose rhizone, or root, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine.
• A perennial plant that grows to a height of up to 4 feet.
• Used raw and dried.

• 
  First written record comes from Confucius (born as Kong Qui) around 500 BC, who said to eat ginger with every meal.
• Monk Faxian in 406 wrote that ginger was grown in pots and carried on Chinese ships to precent scurvy.  Turns out that ginger does not have have much Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), so this was not true.
• 
  The word ginger is from the mid-14th century Old English, gingifer.
• In the same family are turmeric, cardamom and galangal.

• 
  Originally came from Maritime Southeast Asia, which includes countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
• Began to spread as early as 5000 BC.
• Arrived in Europe with the spice trade, and was used by ancient Greeks and Romans.
• Used in traditional medicine in China, India and India for centuries.

• 
  Ginger can reduce nausea and vomiting, and thus is most used during pregnancies, although research is mixed.

• Some evidence that ginger can decrease body weight and increase HDL-cholesterol, both good.
• Not known to treat any specific disease.

• 
  Can cause heartburn and cause gallstones, while interfering with anticoagulants and aspirin.
• Can be used in candy, soda, pickles and alcoholic beverages, plus of course as food, raw, cooked or in edibles like gingerbread and ginger ale.
• World production in 2023 was 4.9 million tons, with 45% from India.

Can ginger really settle an upset stomach?  A quote below.

By Melinda Wenner Moyer

New York Times 

Question: What’s the science on ginger as a treatment for nausea and other stomach woes, and what is the best way to consume it?

Answer: Ginger has been a go-to remedy for digestive issues for centuries. And it’s still popular today, with supplements that contain ginger ranking among the bestselling dietary supplements in the United States, often beating out those containing green tea and echinacea.

• 
  I've personally found that dried ginger coated with some salt seems to reduce seasick symptoms, but this could be mostly psychological.  Yet, here is an actual study reported in the National Library of Medicine indicating the benefits of ginger.  
• Heck, going on a cruise?  Bring Bonine or Dramamine.  They both work, and this article leans in the direction of Bonine.  Or this rating of motion sickness medications as significantly better.

It was only a matter of time, but Dramamine from 2018 began to sell their Advanced Herbal supplements.

Bonine sells a specific product that includes ginger:  Bonine Ginger Root Extract Liquid Capsules.  However, this pill does not include the active ingredient, meclizine HCl, found in traditional Bonine tablets.  All reports indicate that this pill does work.

-