I AM IN THE MOOD FOR YOM KIPPUR TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

HAPPY SPRING IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH OF MEHR IN IRAN AND ALSO The Mehregan Festival, or the Persian Festival of Autumn, is an ancient celebration which is dedicated to Mehr (or Mithra/Mitra), the symbol of light, friendship, love and kindness. Mehregan is also the feast of harvest and abundance.

Tomorrow at sundown begins the 25 hour celebration mainly in reflection and prayers of the most sacred on the jewish calendar Yom Kippur.  It involves fasting and spending time reflecting upon the year past and whether or not each one of us have been a good human being. Once again Gratitude , Humility and Compassion.

The past year has been very very good for travel   Malaysia x 2 Cambodia Japan France x6  Morocco x5 Tunisia x4 India x3 Uruguay Argentina Cuba x7 England Spain Israel  Belgium Mexico x4. During the next month before the end of the Gregorian year, more travels to France England India. 

I am very grateful for my work with the Indigenous peoples and hope it continues this pace. 

The importance player has been IRAN, a country I have been in love with ever since someone gave me Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam when I was still in school. I have learned so much about the resilience, hope and hopelessness, the innocence and vision and the strength of the women of that country.. also learned more about my favourite thing about Iran , its old and new literature and music.

On this Yom Kippur, I would pray for Iran and its people and its freedom.

FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS DO NOT PROTECT YOUR HEART BUT ACTUALLY EATING FISH DOES

August 23, 2023

Health Claims and Doses of Fish Oil Supplements in the US

Joanna N. Assadourian, BSA¹; Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPH¹; Samuel A. McDonald, MD, MS¹; et alAnand Gupta, MBBS, MPH¹; Ann Marie Navar, MD, PhD¹

Author Affiliations Article Information

JAMA Cardiol. Published online August 23, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2023.2424

Conclusions

Results of this cross-sectional study suggest that fish oil supplement labels frequently include health claims in the form of structure/function claims that imply health benefits across a wide range of organ systems, increasing potential for consumer misinformation. Significant heterogeneity exists in the daily dose of EPA and DHA in available supplements, leading to potential variability in safety and efficacy between supplements.

Regularly eating fish and seafood is consistently associated with lower risk for cardiovascular disease. Fatty fish is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart

FROM GOOGLE 

Do cardiologists recommend fish oil?

Expert Analysis. All individuals should aim to consume approximately 2 servings of fatty fish per week as part of a heart-healthy diet. Routine use of non-prescription fish oil is not recommended for primary or secondary prevention of CVD.Nov 1, 2021

TO LOOSE WEIGHT, DIETING FAD DIETS IS NOT THE ANSWER, EATING FOOD IS THE ANSWER

 In the all the various diets touted over the years which by their rate of failure is heard no more, it is always about some or other quantitative measure: calories or proteins or fats or supplements but never about Quality . if you eat good quality food, you will not put on weight and if you are heavy try to eat good quality food and then you would see the result .

A case study

Today a colleague of mine who had arrived in Miami 8 years ago fleeing the poverty of Cuba wanted to see me. He was happy just this last week because he had been granted American citizenship..

his blood tests also arrived 

he is an active person, but given to eating snacks or foods which are from fast food restaurants.

The fats in the body, especially the Triglycerides had increased. and there was lots of fat in his liver. and his body measurements showed him to be obese ..The male hormone levels were very much down

Welcome to the USA where 8/10 of the population is overweight or obese. Just this past weekend i was at a national conference of Diabetes Educators, these are the people who are supposed to educate the patients to manage their diabetes with nutrition and diet and medications. the majority of the people in attendance were overweight. so it cant be that they do not know, but it is the quality of what they are eating which they do not know, and cannot know.

America along with Israel lead the world in Medical Technology and Continuous Glucose monitoring is fairly common among patients with Diabetes. I do not have diabetes but i decided to put one on for 14 days and see what makes my blood sugar goes up 

if you eat things which are not genetically suited to you, there is inflammation produced in the body also, so keep it in mind 

I ate at 7 pm, after coming home from the Park where I take care of native people, along with a good pour of a lovely Pinot Noir 2021 from California. The food consisted of a Buddha salad which is mainly a vegan collection of sweet potato with chili covered chick peas over cauliflower in tahini sauce. i also had a pattie that comes from Jamaica which contained beef and covered in flaked pastry. 

and here is what my continuous glucose monitoring showed. 

my blood glucose does not bulge at all, or shoot up. Studies from France has shown that drinking Red Wine along with your meal helps the sugar not rise high.. so please a glass of wine with your meal, and if you live in a country where it is prohibited, strive for freedom ..

the moral of the story from my sugar monitor and the illegal migrant from Cuba is 

eat food to be healthy

Freedom is not choose between unhealthy and healthy food 

Remember, Americans make money making you sick and make money trying to make you well, which they never do that well, compared to the other rich countries.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS. JEBEL TARIK. ESTEBANICO ZANJ IL BAR SIDDI AFRO IRANIANS

SOME INTERESTING FACTS. HISTORY AND TRAVEL

GIBRALTAR the part of United Kingdom at the African tip of the Iberian Peninsula, is named after the Amazigh General(native people of North Africa who were conquered ans islamised by the Arabs)

Tariq ibn Zayid, Jebel Tariq, meaning Tariq’s mountain. The Amazigh general was a native of present day Algerie.

this is Jebel Tariq..

ESTABANICO a black man born in the Moroccan port of Azemmour(i have visited his birthplace where he is not a celebrated figure for various reasons!) under the tutelage of his patron, the spanish  nobleman Dorantes, was the first African to set foot in the territory now called America or USA.  His story is beautifully recreated in this book The Moor’s account by Laila Lalami(an American professor)

The beautiful archipelago of Zanzibar lies off the coast of East Africa and forms part of the country of Tanzania. Where did the name Zanzibar originate?

The word Zanzibar came from Arabic zanjibār (زنجبار [zandʒibaːr]), which is in turn from Persian zangbâr (زنگبار [zæŋbɒːɾ]), a compound of Zang (زنگ [zæŋ], "black") + bâr (بار [bɒːɾ], "coast"),cf. the Sea of Zanj. The name is one of several toponyms sharing similar etymologies, ultimately meaning "land of the blacks" or similar meanings, in reference to the dark skin of the inhabitants.

It was a transhipment port for slaves originating in Africa, sent to faraway places including Iran and India. The descendants of these slaves in India are known as Siddis( photo  siddi children of india) The descendants of africans, now collectively referred to as Afro Iranians are found in the southern flanks of Iran. A photo below shows a group of afro-iranians in the sistan-baluchistan province

In the last photo you see a group of men in Khorramshar taking part in a zar ceremony

SHAMLOO WHO LINKS MANY IRANIAN HEARTS WITH MINE

 

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD CRY FOR YOU, CARLOS ALBERTO!

 I never thought I would cry for you, Carlos Alberto!

I am sitting in my room, at a seaside village in Bretagne in the West of France, not that far away from where you died, just a few days ago, in the city where you lived for 40 years, Madrid

But we had something else in common, Carlos Alberto, it was the city where you were born in 1942, son of that illustrious journalist Ernesto M who was exiled and died in Miami in 1990. 

I never met him.

I do not know where and how I met your younger brother, Alex. Vaguely I remember entering Versailles Restaurant in Calle Ocho and being introduced to him and following him and his partner to your mothers house.

It was a great honour to meet your mother.

On another occasion, I was visiting your mother and Alex and you were in the house and i was so touched when you asked me:  how are things in my Havana? as if you had just left that city on the malecon, it had already been more than thirty years.

you gave me one of your books and i remember how you dedicated it to me 

to you, who has the luxury of walking on both sides of the line

I carried that book on my next trip to Baracoa and no sooner the state security arrived at my house wanting to know about the book (as is common, someone visiting my house had been an informant)

Will you come to the local offices of the Ministry of the Interior, asked the official, who was later jailed for sexual molestation. When I arrived at the office, a fat official with two young junior officials were waiting. 

Without much introduction, he asked, are you a friend of Carlos Alberto?

No, i said vehemently, but i have the pleasure of knowing his mother. In the days before the triumph of the revolution when the fascist peons of the tyrant Batista were looking for Fidel, it was this elegant lady, who hid him in their spacious mansion (in one of the bathrooms). Fidel was grateful for this gesture and when the newly revolutionary government were purging journalists, Fidel made sure that his erstwhile friends were not in danger. At a hotel, when Ernesto and Fidel entered the lift, Fidel turned around to Ernesto and said, you are the best we have, please leave with your family within the next forty eight hours so that no harm would come to you.

So Carlos Alberto, his older brother, his younger brother  , mother and father left for Miami.. Ernesto died in 1990 and his wife in 2000, Alex of Covid in 2020 and Carlos Alberto has left us in 2023.

I never thought i would shed a tear for you, Carlos Alberto, I am genuinely sad. Tears are flowing copiously.

We did share the history of our glorious island ..

1776 AND ALL THAT. ARRIVAL OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON THE FRENCH COAST

 Port San Gustain is a port in Brittany with an illustrious past. The current day village is a charming one on one of the estuaries in the Bay in Brittany near the town of Auray.

Two people we can historically connect to this port are 

Samuel de Champlain was well respected French exploration who explored much of eastern Canada (then known as New France), made friends with many Indian tribes and wrote about their life. If you travel in Quebec or Vermont, you would come across places that are associated with him.

No authentic portrait of him exists.

Which student of north American history does not know Benjamin Franklin? His face adorns a denomination of usa currency and there are so many places and institutions named after him in the USA. For our purpose he was the first USA, newly nascent in 1776, ambassador anywhere having arrived at this port just a few months after the American independence in 1776.

(a friend of mine from the USA wrote to me jokingly , if you meet Franklin, ask him what he thinks of what is happening to the USA!)

I had a pleasant afternoon in this small village in Brittany, absolutely gorgeous weather for this early summer day.