By GEORGE YOSHINAGA
Well, that was good news about Tokyo winning the bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. Kind of brings back old memories for me. I was living in Tokyo when the city hosted the 1964 Games. It was the first time in my life that I was residing in a city where the Games were being played.
No, unfortunately I didn’t get to attend any of the games being played in Tokyo. Like everyone else, I watched most of the events on TV.
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Touching on the Games, I wonder if a Japanese American athlete will be on the roster of the U.S. team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
When and who was the last JA to make the U.S. team roster? I can’t think of anyone as I write this.
Usually, a JA athlete is involved in the lesser-known sporting events and not too much publicity is given.
It would be nice for a JA to be participating in the 2020 Olympics. If it happens, I can almost hear the Japanese fans uttering, “Kare wa Nihonjin da.” (He’s a Japanese).
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I was introduced to mango, the tropical fruit popular in Hawaii, when I met my wife, who was born and raised on the island of Maui. All she said was, “Try it, you’ll like it.” So I did and she was right. I thought mango was a terrific fruit.
Well, mango, the most popular fresh fruit in the world, is a lot more than a delicious, refreshing treat produced by nature.
As evidenced by scientific research, mangoes are also a powerful medical food, as they contain nutrients that can help clear up skin, promote eye health, stave off diabetes and even prevent the formation and spread of cancer.
Research recently presented at a meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology revealed that eating mangoes every day can help moderate and even lower blood sugar levels, despite their natural sugar content. This is good news for people with Type 2 diabetes, who may benefit from consuming mangoes regularly as part of a low-sugar diet.
For their study, researchers tested the effects of mangoes on a group of obese animals, some of whom were given 10 grams of freeze-dried mango every day for 12 weeks. At the end of the three months, the blood sugar levels of those animals that consumed mango were compared to those that did not consume mango. Based on the data, mango consumption was found to result in a significant decline in blood sugar levels.
“Although the mechanism by which mango exerts its effects warrants further investigation, we do know that mangoes contain a complex mixture of polyphenolic compounds,” says the author of the study.
Similar research out of Australia found back in 2006 that eating mangoes can also help decrease inflammation and resulting high cholesterol, as well as block the formation of various health conditions included under the banner of metabolic syndrome. In essence, mangoes actually work better than cholesterol drugs at naturally balancing and optimizing cellular function throughout the body.
“We don’t know yet how the whole thing’s going to play out, but we know some of the individual components of mango activate these receptors and even inhibit them,” said a doctor from the University of Queensland about the effects of mango consumption on cellular process. “That could end up with positive nutritional health benefits for diabetes and high cholesterol.”
But the health benefits of mango do not stop here. Science has identified more than 4,000 different antioxidant polyphenols in the plant kingdom, and many of these polyphenols are present in mangoes. The primary benefit of these polyphenols is that they scavenge damaging free radicals and protect cells against damage, which is believed to facilitate and even promote cancer.
“If you look at mangoes from the physiological and nutritional standpoint, taking everything together, it would be a high-ranking superfood,” said a medical expert who discovered back in 2010 that mango compounds target both colon and breast cancer cells.
Boy, I’d better make sure my wife has mangoes on her grocery shopping list.
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Oh, by the way. Some of you were probably expecting today’s column to have a Las Vegas dateline, but as I explained the other day, my trip was canceled due to numerous reasons, so I guess I should have started today’s column with Gardena as the dateline.
I’m sitting in my old seat in front of my computer rather than sitting on the edge of the bed at the California Hotel. It sure is more comfortable and if I need a sip of orange juice or soda pop, all I have to do is go to the fridge and grab a bottle.
Of course, my mind doesn’t work any better.
In fact, I do have a greater source of information when I’m in Vegas.
Oh well, writing from home means I won’t be feeding the slot machines.
Yeah, I rescheduled my trip for the last of September, Sept. 29 to be exact.
Anyone in the reading audience who is thinking about visiting Vegas on that date and who might want to help me drive, give me a call. My number is (310) 532-4281. Call any time of the day. Will be returning on Oct. 4 (a three-night stay).
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Thanks to Phyllis Ochoa of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Press Pass Division.
It just turned September on the calendar and I received my 2013 press pass.
Of course, I’m not a reporter and don’t cover news events, but from time to time I do need a press ID card, so my 2013-2014 pass will be of help to me.
Well, my pass will be good for the remaining days on the 2013 calendar and for the 12 months of 2014.
No, I didn’t get my LAPD press pass, but since L.A. City is in L.A. County, my Sheriff’s Department press pass will work out okay.
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Friend Harold Kobata dropped off the copies of The Pacific Citizen, the JACL’s official publication. Harold usually brings them by at the end of each month, but I guess he’s been pretty busy so I got four editions of the PC one time.
Needless to say, the July 19-Aug.1 edition had a full-page photo of Harry Honda, who passed away on July 3.
Harry was the editor of the PC when he was an active journalist.
The same edition has an introductory letter from Allison Haramoto, the new executive editor of The Pacific Citizen.
In her letter, Ms. Haramoto claims a journalism career of 20 years, 13 of them with The Hollywood Reporter.
She admits that this is her first foray in the Asian American news community.
Will this lack of association with the JA community affect her taking charge of The Pacific Citizen?
In her initial column, she admitted that she was unsure where to begin. I give her credit for making such an admission.
Well, if Harold continues to bring me copies of the PC, I’ll be able to see how the new editor works out.
Also included in the four editions of the PC Harold dropped off was the Aug. 2-15 edition, which covered JACL National Convention.
Thanks to Harold for helping me keep track of the JACL.
I’m not a JACL member, but because I’ve been a member of the JA media, I try to keep tabs on organizations such as the JACL, and reading their bimonthly publication helps me in this area.
I guess being a member of the media make it necessary to keep track of all areas of the JA community, especially since I write a twice-a-week column for The Rafu Shimpo, the only Japanese American daily publication in the U.S.
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I guess I’d better make the readers laugh after all the “straight news” items in today’s chatter:
A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets into the cab and the cabbie says, “Perfect timing. You’re just like Frank.”
Passenger: “Who?”
Cabbie: “Frank Feldman. He’s a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming long when you needed a cab, things happened like that to Frank Feldman every time.”
Passenger: “There are always a few clouds over everybody.”
Cabbie: “Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand Slam in tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star, and you should have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy.”
Passenger: “Sounds like he was something really special.”
Cabbie: “There’s more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered everybody’s birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and which fork to eat them with. And he could fix everything. Not like me. I change a fuse and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman, he could do everything right.”
Passenger: “Wow, some guy then.”
Cabbie: “He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams. Not like me. I always seem to get stuck in them. But Frank, he never made a mistake and he really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back, even if she was in the wrong. And his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished. He was a perfect man. He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank Feldman.”
Passenger: “An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?”
Cabbie: “Well, I never actually met Frank. He died and I married his wife.”
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Just thought I’d toss this in if the staff needs to fill in more space.
Race discrimination in Hawaii?
Those who don’t speak English in the Islands and want to apply for a driver’s license will have to take the driver’s examination in English only.
If they can’t speak or read English, they will be ineligible to apply for a license.
Hey, that makes sense to me.
By the way, I’m not sure about the California driver’s license test, but isn’t our exam only in English?
Someone with the answer can email it to me.
(Maggie’s comment: No, you can take it in other languages besides English, even in Japanese.)
Oh well, that’s it for today.
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George Yoshinaga writes from Gardena and may be reached via email at horsesmouth2000@hotmail.com. Opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.