Tag Archives: kinds of foods and beverages

Science

Dwarf tomato seeds will launch to ISS aboard SpaceX’s next resupply flight

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CNN
 — 

When SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission launches Tuesday, it will carry a bounty of supplies, a pair of new solar arrays, dwarf tomato seeds and a range of science experiments to the International Space Station.

The mission will also deliver ice cream and Thanksgiving-style treats, including spicy green beans, cran-apple desserts, pumpkin pie and candy corn, to the space station crew.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to lift off with its 7,700 pounds (3,493 kilograms) of cargo from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 3:54 p.m. ET, with live coverage available on NASA’s website beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays, or iROSAs, will be installed outside the floating laboratory during spacewalks scheduled for November 29 and December 3. The solar arrays will give the space station a power boost.

The cargo includes a number of health-related items, such as the Moon Microscope kit. The portable handheld microscope will allow astronauts to collect and send images of blood samples to flight surgeons on the ground for diagnostics and treatment.

Nutrients are a key component of maintaining good health in space. But fresh produce is in short supply on the space station compared with the prepackaged meals astronauts eat during their six-month stays in low-Earth orbit.

“It is fairly important to our exploration goals at NASA to be able to sustain the crew with not only nutrition but also to look at various types of plants as sources for nutrients that we would be hard pressed to sustain on the long trips between distant destinations like Mars and so forth,” said Kirt Costello, chief scientist at NASA’s International Space Station Program and a deputy manager of the ISS Research Integration Office.

Astronauts have grown and tasted different types of lettuce, radishes and chiles on the International Space Station. Now, the crew members can add some dwarf tomatoes — specifically, Red Robin tomatoes — to their list of space-grown salad ingredients.

The experiment, known as the Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System, is part of an effort to provide continuous fresh food production in space.

The dwarf tomato seeds will be grown under two different light treatments to measure their impact on how many tomatoes can be harvested, as well as the plants’ nutritional value and taste. Red Robin tomatoes will also be grown on Earth as a control experiment. The two crops will be compared to measure the effects of the zero gravity environment on tomato growth.

The space tomatoes will be grown inside small bags called plant pillows installed in the Vegetable Production System, known as the Veggie growth chamber, on the space station. The astronauts will frequently water and nurture the plants as they grow, as well as pollinate the flowers.

“Tomatoes will be a new adventure for us on the Veggie team, trying to figure out how to keep these thirsty plants well watered without over watering,” said Gioia Massa, NASA’s space crop production scientist and principal investigator for the tomato study.

The tomatoes will be ready for their first taste test in the spring.

The crew is expecting three tomato harvests 90, 97 and 104 days after the plants begin to grow. During taste tests, the crew will rate the flavor, aroma, juiciness and texture of the tomatoes grown using the two different light treatments. Half of each tomato harvest will be frozen and returned to Earth for analysis.

Growing plants on the space station not only provides the opportunity for fresh food and creative taco nights, it can also boost the mood of the crew during their long spaceflight.

The astronauts will also take surveys to track their moods as they care for and interact with the plants to see how nurturing the seedlings enhances their experience amid the isolation and confinement of the space station.

The hardware is still in development for larger crop production on the space station and eventually other planets, but scientists are already planning what plants might grow best on the moon and Mars. Earlier this year, a team successfully grew plants in lunar soil that included samples collected during the Apollo missions.

“Tomatoes are going to be a great crop for the moon,” Massa said. “They’re very nutritious, very delicious and we think the astronauts will be really excited to grow them there.”

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Sports

‘Profoundly unjust:’ Gianni Infantino launches explosive tirade against Western critics on eve of World Cup

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Doha, Qatar
CNN
 — 

On the eve of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA President Gianni Infantino launched a tirade against Western critics of the controversial tournament in an explosive hour-long monologue.

Infantino, the boss of world soccer’s governing body, looked on glumly as he addressed hundreds of journalists in Doha, Qatar, Saturday.

“We are taught many lessons from Europeans, from the Western world,” he said, referring to criticisms of Qatar’s human rights record.

“What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons.”

Despite the opening match kicking off on November 20, Infantino barely spoke about soccer and focused his attention on what he called the “hypocrisy” of Western criticism.

In a remarkable press conference, Infantino seemed exhausted. He has spent a lot of time defending FIFA’s decision in 2010 to award the World Cup to Qatar. A controversial decision made when he wasn’t the governing body’s president.

This tournament will be a historic event, the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, but is also mired in controversy, with much of the build-up focusing on human rights, from the death of migrant workers and the conditions many have endured in Qatar, to LGBTQ and women’s rights.

Infantino, despite admitting things weren’t perfect, said some criticism was “profoundly unjust” and accused the West of double standards.

The Italian opened the news conference by speaking for an hour, telling journalists that he knew what it felt like to be discriminated against, saying he was bullied as a child for having red hair and freckles.

“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker,” he said, in front of a stunned audience.

“I feel this, all this, because what I’ve been seeing and what I’ve been told, since I don’t read, otherwise I would be depressed I think.

“What I’ve seen brings me back to my personal story. I am a son of migrant workers. My parents were working very very hard in difficult situations.”

Infantino said progress had been made in Qatar on a range of issues, but insisted real change took time, adding that FIFA would not leave the country after the tournament finished. He suggested that he thought some Western journalists would forget about the issues.

“We need to invest in education, to give them a better future, to give them hope. We should all educate ourselves,” he said.

“Reform and change takes time. It took hundreds of years in our countries in Europe. It takes time everywhere, the only way to get results is by engaging […] not by shouting.”

Infantino also addressed questions around the last-minute decision to ban alcohol from being sold at the eight stadiums which will host the tournament’s 64 matches. In a FIFA statement issued on Friday, the governing body said alcohol would be sold at fan zones and licensed venues.

The Muslim country is considered to be very conservative and tightly regulates alcohol sales and usage.

In September, Qatar had said it would permit ticketed fans to buy alcoholic beer at World Cup stadiums three hours before kickoff and for one hour after the final whistle, but not during the match.

“Let me first assure you that every decision that is taken in this World Cup is a joint decision between Qatar and FIFA,” he said. “Every decision is discussed, debated and taken jointly.”

“There will be […] over 200 places where you can buy alcohol in Qatar and over 10 fan zones, where over 100,000 people can simultaneously drink alcohol.

“I think personally, if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive.”

“Especially because actually the same rules apply in France or in Spain or in Portugal or in Scotland, where no beer is allowed in stadiums now,” he added.

“It seems to become a big thing because it’s a Muslim country, or I don’t know why.”

Infantino finished the press conference by insisting that everyone would be safe in Qatar, amid concerns from the LGBTQ community.

Homosexuality in Qatar is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison, but the FIFA president promised that this was a tournament for everyone.

“Let me mention as well, the LGBT situation. I have been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country several times, not just once. They have confirmed, and I can confirm, that everyone is welcome,” Infantino said.

“This is a clear FIFA requirement. Everyone has to be welcomed, everyone that comes to Qatar is welcome whatever religion, race, sexual orientation, belief she or he has. Everyone is welcome. This was our requirement and the Qatari state sticks to that requirement,” Infantino said.

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Business

Why Costco, Trader Joe’s stopped selling your favorites

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New York
CNN Business
 — 

Chances are, you’ve been there: You head to Trader Joe’s to buy caramel popcorn, churro bites and roasted gorgonzola crackers, or to Costco for its Kirkland Signature mini peanut butter cups and take-and-bake pizza.

But when you get to the store, your favorite treats aren’t on the shelf. And, to your horror, you learn they’re not coming back.

They’ve been discontinued.

It’s one of the most disappointing experiences as a grocery shopper. Why a beloved product has disappeared ranks as one of the most common questions customers ask stores. Fans run social media accounts dedicated to tracking discontinued products at Trader Joe’s, and others blog about long-lost items at Costco.

“We understand that it can be disappointing — devastating, even,” Trader Joe’s says on its “discontinued product feedback” contact page for customers.

There are several reasons Trader Joe’s, Costco

(COST) and other stores suddenly stop selling customer favorites.

Sometimes products are seasonal, or a manufacturer always planned to make them for a limited time. Also, for stores like Costco and Trader Joe’s, discontinuing items can reinforce the treasure hunt-like appeal of these stores.

But more often, other strategies are at play.

One major factor: It’s difficult to get shelf space inside Trader Joe’s and Costco and stay there. These companies sell a limited number of items — only the products in highest demand from customers.

That’s quite a different strategy from supermarkets, as well as the likes of Walmart

(WMT) and Amazon

(AMZN), which offer a wide array of foods and brands. Costco, for example, sells around 4,000 different products at a given time. Traditional supermarkets typically sell 40,000.

Both companies’ ability to keep prices below most of their competitors hinges on turning over high volumes of top-selling merchandise every minute, every day.

If an item isn’t selling fast enough on the shelf at Trader Joe’s or is collecting dust at Costco warehouses, the companies need to switch to something else that customers will snap up.

“If you don’t have high volume or growing volume, the costs of producing and handling a slow-selling product are such that it doesn’t make business sense,” Trader Joe’s vice president of marketing Matt Sloan said in a company podcast earlier this year.

Other times, it’s the product itself: Companies will pull items if suppliers raise the price too much or the quality drops.

“Costco would rather not sell an item than sell it at a price that’s too high,” said Chuck Howard, an assistant professor of marketing at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School. “It would be off-brand for them to be selling things that consumers think would be too expensive.”

For example, about five years ago Costco replaced a $27 10-pound boneless, skinless frozen chicken breast from Perdue with a $21.99 Wayne Farms version, said Marcus Walker, an assistant buyer of frozen foods at Costco from 2005 to 2020.

Items that are cheaper at other stores are also prime to eliminate.

Costco wants its products to be the lowest-priced option. It pulled Hot Pockets because it wasn’t able to match Sam’s Club prices on the product, Walker said.

Costco’s teams buy their suppliers’ products at competitors’ stores and test them to compare the quality against Costco’s. If they find an item tastes better somewhere else, they’ll ask the supplier to improve it for Costco, Walker said — and if that doesn’t happen, Costco will look to replace it.

Another issue, which the pandemic underscored, is the stability of product supply. If a manufacturer can’t produce enough of an item, the companies will stop selling it and replace it with something they can consistently keep on shelves.

In 2020 and 2021, with demand sky-high from customers stocking up on groceries during the pandemic, manufacturers halted production of many secondary products to make only their highest-demand items. And even as demand eased this year and factories returned to running at more normal capacity, manufacturers still aren’t making as wide a variety of items as they did before the pandemic.

Hormel Foods

(HRL), the maker of Skippy and Spam, and Mondelez

(MDLZ),, which owns brands like Oreo, are among the companies that have said recently they are reducing the number of products they’re selling to focus on their top-performing ones.

Angela Ackerman, who runs the Instagram account @Costcoguide with more than 230,000 followers, said Costco fans often ask her why they can’t find Costco’s dried dark chocolate mangoes in particular.

“They fall in love with something and want to see it again,” she said.

Scarcity can fuel sales, as Ackerman knows. When she sees a notice at Costco that it will no longer sell a prized item, she buys more before it runs out.”If I know it’s going to be gone, I stock up.”



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Health

Drinking caffeine while pregnant impacts child’s height: Study

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CNN
 — 

Starting the day with a hot cup of caffeinated coffee or tea may sound divine to some, but it could have negative impacts for the children of people who are pregnant, according to a new study.

Children who were exposed to small amounts of caffeine before birth were found on average to be shorter than the children of people who did not consume caffeine while pregnant, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Network Open.

Children of parents who consumed caffeine while they were in the womb were shown to be shorter in stature at age 4 than those whose parents did not — and the gap widened each year through age 8, according to lead author Dr. Jessica Gleason, a perinatal epidemiologist.

“To be clear, these are not huge differences in height, but there are these small differences in height among the children of people who consumed caffeine during pregnancy,” said Gleason, who is a research fellow at Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists currently recommends limiting caffeine consumption to less than 200 milligrams per day while pregnant.

For context, a mug of caffeinated tea typically has about 75 milligrams of caffeine, a mug of instant coffee has about 100 milligrams and a mug of filtered coffee has about 140 milligrams, according to the Cleveland Clinic. And even chocolate has about 31 milligrams of caffeine.

But the differences found in the most recent study were found even in the children of parents who drank less than half a cup of coffee per day while pregnant — well below the current guidelines, Gleason said.

It’s not clear whether this study effectively shows causation between maternal caffeine consumption and child height, according to Dr. Gavin Pereira, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Curtin University in Australia. Pereira was not involved in the study.

“The correlation observed in this study can be explained by the existence of a common cause of both caffeine consumption and growth restriction e.g., poverty, stress, and dietary factors,” said Pereira in a statement to the Science Media Centre.

If shorter height in early childhood were to persist into adulthood, there would be a chance those children could face the risk of poor cardiometabolic outcomes, such as heart disease and diabetes, which are associated with smaller stature.

But there is still no way to know if the difference would persist into adulthood, and studies like this that focus on population outcomes are no reason for individual families to panic, Gleason said.

These population-level trends should instead be taken together with other research for organizations to reassess their recommendations, Gleason said.

In the past, there were inconsistent studies regarding whether consuming caffeine during pregnancy impacted the fetus, but the evidence has come together in recent years, Gleason said.

A 2015 meta-analysis that reviewed all of the existing research found there is a dose response association between consumption of caffeine and smaller birth size. And a 2020 study revealed there is no safe level of caffeine for a developing fetus.

Even without the panic that Gleason cautioned against, some people might want to cut back on caffeine — and then find that it’s easier said than done.

Remember, caffeine is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and shots, as well as cocoa and chocolate. It’s also present in fortified snack foods, some energy bars and even some pain medications. (For a more extensive list of caffeine content from various sources, check the chart from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.)

A 2016 Johns Hopkins University study found that it was helpful when individuals identified situations or moods in which they are most likely to crave caffeine so they could avoid situations that trigger cravings, especially during the first few weeks of modifying caffeine use. Caffeine drinkers could also have a plan for when cravings occur, like taking a five-minute relaxation break involving deep-breathing exercises.

Remember to always discuss any major lifestyle or dietary changes with your health care provider first, as changes may affect your mood or medical conditions.

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Health

Drinking caffeine while pregnant impacts child’s height: Study

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Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.



CNN
 — 

Starting the day with a hot cup of caffeinated coffee or tea may sound divine to some, but it could have negative impacts for the children of people who are pregnant, according to a new study.

Children who were exposed to small amounts of caffeine before birth were found on average to be shorter than the children of people who did not consume caffeine while pregnant, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Network Open.

Children of parents who consumed caffeine while they were in the womb were shown to be shorter in stature at age 4 than those whose parents did not — and the gap widened each year through age 8, according to lead author Dr. Jessica Gleason, a perinatal epidemiologist.

“To be clear, these are not huge differences in height, but there are these small differences in height among the children of people who consumed caffeine during pregnancy,” said Gleason, who is a research fellow at Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists currently recommends limiting caffeine consumption to less than 200 milligrams per day while pregnant.

For context, a mug of caffeinated tea typically has about 75 milligrams of caffeine, a mug of instant coffee has about 100 milligrams and a mug of filtered coffee has about 140 milligrams, according to the Cleveland Clinic. And even chocolate has about 31 milligrams of caffeine.

But the differences found in the most recent study were found even in the children of parents who drank less than half a cup of coffee per day while pregnant — well below the current guidelines, Gleason said.

It’s not clear whether this study effectively shows causation between maternal caffeine consumption and child height, according to Dr. Gavin Pereira, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Curtin University in Australia. Pereira was not involved in the study.

“The correlation observed in this study can be explained by the existence of a common cause of both caffeine consumption and growth restriction e.g., poverty, stress, and dietary factors,” said Pereira in a statement to the Science Media Centre.

If shorter height in early childhood were to persist into adulthood, there would be a chance those children could face the risk of poor cardiometabolic outcomes, such as heart disease and diabetes, which are associated with smaller stature.

But there is still no way to know if the difference would persist into adulthood, and studies like this that focus on population outcomes are no reason for individual families to panic, Gleason said.

These population-level trends should instead be taken together with other research for organizations to reassess their recommendations, Gleason said.

In the past, there were inconsistent studies regarding whether consuming caffeine during pregnancy impacted the fetus, but the evidence has come together in recent years, Gleason said.

A 2015 meta-analysis that reviewed all of the existing research found there is a dose response association between consumption of caffeine and smaller birth size. And a 2020 study revealed there is no safe level of caffeine for a developing fetus.

Even without the panic that Gleason cautioned against, some people might want to cut back on caffeine — and then find that it’s easier said than done.

Remember, caffeine is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and shots, as well as cocoa and chocolate. It’s also present in fortified snack foods, some energy bars and even some pain medications. (For a more extensive list of caffeine content from various sources, check the chart from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.)

A 2016 Johns Hopkins University study found that it was helpful when individuals identified situations or moods in which they are most likely to crave caffeine so they could avoid situations that trigger cravings, especially during the first few weeks of modifying caffeine use. Caffeine drinkers could also have a plan for when cravings occur, like taking a five-minute relaxation break involving deep-breathing exercises.

Remember to always discuss any major lifestyle or dietary changes with your health care provider first, as changes may affect your mood or medical conditions.

Read original article here

Entertainment

Grey Poupon wants in on Olivia Wilde’s salad dressing scandal

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New York
CNN
 — 

Grey Poupon wants in on Olivia Wilde’s salad dressing scandal.

The Dijon mustard brand is taking advantage of being featured in the center of the drama, announcing in an Instagram post that it is releasing 100 limited-edition “Don’t Worry Dijon” jars, a riff on Wilde’s latest movie that stars Harry Styles.

Confused as to why Dijon mustard has entered the celebrity discourse? The drama started when an unnamed nanny, whose claims have not been verified by CNN, spoke to the Daily Mail about the end of Wilde and actor Jason Sudeikis’ relationship. The actress/director and the star of “Ted Lasso” were together from 2011 to 2020 and have two children.

The anonymous nanny offered private details about Wilde’s alleged romantic relationship with Styles, co-star of Wilde’s recent “Don’t Worry, Darling” film along with Florence Pugh. The nanny said that Wilde angered Sudeikis by preparing a salad for Styles with her ‘special dressing’ in the family kitchen.

The internet wildly began searching for the recipe. Wilde, who had decried the nanny’s statements as “false and scurrilous,” contributed to the gossip mill, posting a photo on her Instagram story of a passage from Nora Ephron’s autobiography “Heartburn” late Tuesday.

“Mix 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard with 2 tablespoons good red wine vinegar,” the passage outlined by Wilde reads. “Then whisking constantly with a fork, slowly add 6 tablespoons olive oil, until the vinaigrette is thick and creamy; this makes a very strong vinaigrette that’s perfect for salad greens like arugula and watercress and endive.”

Grey Poupon will be giving away a limited number of the new jars in the coming days through its social media channels, its owner Kraft Heinz said.

The Instagram post even features a feather boa wrapped around the jar – a costume staple of pop star Harry Style’s 15-show run at Madison Square Garden.

– CNN’s Megan Thomas and Dan Heching contributed to this report.



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Entertainment

Olivia Wilde satisfies fans’ cravings by sharing her salad dressing recipe

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CNN
 — 

Actor and director Olivia Wilde appears to have a good sense of humor.

After a tabloid story published Monday referenced a special salad dressing made by Wilde, people have been abuzz searching online for the recipe.

The salad chain Sweetgreen even jokingly tried to stake claim to the dressing, with an Instagram post of a photo of Wilde holding its restaurant bag, with the caption, “the salad dressing origin story.”

Then late Tuesday, Wilde, it seems, had some fun by posting a photo on her Instagram Stories that appeared to be of a page in Nora Ephron’s 1983 autobiographical novel, “Heartburn.”

“Mix 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard with 2 tablespoons good red wine vinegar,” the passage outlined by Wilde reads. “Then whisking constantly with a fork, slowly add 6 tablespoons olive oil, until the vinaigrette is thick and creamy; this makes a very strong vinaigrette that’s perfect for salad greens like arugula and watercress and endive.”

Wilde did not comment on her post.

The salad dressing fever includes a theory that Wilde a while back shared the dressing recipe with the Food Network. And whatever the ingredients, it’s added Wilde to the ranks of stars whose recipes we are craving.



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US

Parkland shooting: School shooter avoids the death penalty after jury recommends life in prison

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Fort Lauderdale, Florida
CNN
 — 

The Parkland school shooter has avoided the death penalty after a jury recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the February 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – a move that left some of the victims’ loved ones disappointed and angry.

The jury’s recommendation Thursday, coming after a monthslong trial to decide Nikolas Cruz’s punishment, is not an official sentence; Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer still is expected to issue the gunman’s formal sentence on November 1. Under Florida law, however, she cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life.

Families of the gunman’s victims bowed or shook their heads as the verdict forms for each of the 17 people he killed were read in court Thursday morning. The jury found the aggravating factors presented by state prosecutors did not outweigh the mitigating circumstances – aspects of Cruz’s life and upbringing his defense attorneys said warranted only a life sentence.

None of the jurors looked in the direction of the victims’ families as their verdicts were read, but instead looked down or straight ahead. Cruz – flanked by his attorneys, wearing a blue and gray sweater over a collared shirt and eyeglasses – sat expressionless, looking down at the table in front of him.

Live updates: Jury reaches decision in Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial

Tony Montalto, the father of 14-year-old victim Gina Montalto, called the jury’s recommendation a “gut punch” for the victims’ families, lamenting that “the monster that killed them gets to live to see another day.”

“This shooter did not deserve compassion,” he said outside the courtroom, after the jury’s findings were read. “Did he show the compassion to Gina when he put the weapon against her chest and chose to pull that trigger, or any of the other three times that he shot her? Was that compassionate?”

Cruz, now 24, pleaded guilty last October to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three school staff members were killed, and 17 others were injured. Because Cruz pleaded guilty to all counts, the trial phase was skipped and the court went directly to the sentencing phase.

Prosecutors had asked the jury to sentence the gunman to death, arguing Cruz’s decision to carry out the shooting was not only especially heinous or cruel, but premeditated and calculated and not, as the defense contended, related to any neurological or intellectual deficits.

To illustrate their point, prosecutors detailed Cruz’s thorough planning for the shooting, as well as comments he made online expressing his desire to commit a mass killing.

In their case, the shooter’s defense attorneys said Cruz had neurodevelopmental disorders stemming from prenatal alcohol exposure, and presented evidence and witnesses claiming his birth mother had used drugs and drank alcohol while pregnant with him. Cruz’s adoptive mother was not open about this with health professionals or educators, preventing him from receiving the appropriate interventions, the defense claimed.

Of the 12 jurors, three voted against the death penalty, jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told CNN affiliate WFOR, saying, “I don’t like how it turned out but it’s that’s how the jury system works.”

“There was one with a hard ‘no,’ she couldn’t do it, and there was another two that ended up voting the same way,” said Thomas.

The woman who was a hard no “didn’t believe because he was mentally ill he should get the death penalty,” Thomas said.

The parents of Alyssa Alhadeff, another 14-year-old victim, said they were disgusted by the verdict.

“I’m disgusted with those jurors,” Alyssa’s father, Ilan Alhadeff, said. “I’m disgusted with the system, that you can allow 17 dead and 17 others shot and wounded, and not get the death penalty. What do we have the death penalty for?”

Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of geography teacher Scott Beigel, echoed that question, telling reporters, “If this was not the most perfect death penalty case, then why do we have the death penalty at all?”

She, like many of the families who addressed reporters, commended prosecutors for their work, saying they perfectly executed the state’s arguments against the gunman.

“Justice was not served today,” her husband, Michael Schulman, said.

The jury’s recommendation robbed the victims’ families of justice, the father of 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg told reporters, saying it could make another mass shooting “more likely.”

“We are all in this position now of doing the work that we do around this country to keep this from happening to another family,” Fred Guttenberg said after court. “This decision today only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted.”

“This jury failed our families today,” Guttenberg said.

The widow of 49-year-old Christopher Hixon, who was the school’s athletic director, said the jury’s decision indicated the gunman’s “life meant more than the 17 that were murdered” and the rest of the community who remain “terrorized and traumatized.”

Debra Hixon also rejected the defense’s arguments about the gunman’s mental or intellectual struggles, pointing to another one of her sons, who has special needs.

“I have a son that checked … a lot of those boxes that the shooter did as well,” she said. “And you know what? My son’s not a murderer. My son’s the sweetest person that you could ever meet.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also was disappointed by the jury’s decision, he said Thursday, as well as how long it took for the judicial process to play out.

“I was very disappointed to see that,” he said of the jury’s verdict. “I’m also disappointed that we’re four and a half years after these killings, and we’re just now getting this.”

Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes commended the attorneys in his office who represented the gunman, telling reporters, “With the greatest bit of sympathy, we attempted to prepare this case and present this case in the most professional and legal manner as we could.”

Weekes urged the community to respect the verdict, saying Thursday “is not a day of celebration, but a day of solemn acknowledgment, and a solemn opportunity to reflect on the healing that is necessary for this community.”

Weekes declined to comment when asked whether Cruz had a reaction to the jury’s recommendation.

To decide on a recommended sentence, jurors were asked to weigh the aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances presented by the prosecution and defense during trial.

Prosecutors pointed to seven aggravating factors, including that the killings were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, as well as cold, calculated and premeditated. Other aggravating factors, prosecutors said, were that the defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to many people, and that he disrupted a lawful government function – in this case, the running of a school.

The defense, meantime, offered 41 possible mitigating circumstances, including that Cruz was exposed to alcohol, drugs and nicotine in utero; that he has a “neurodevelopmental disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure;” and that his adoptive mother did not follow the recommendations of medical, mental health and educational providers, among many others.

For each victim, jurors unanimously agreed the state had proven the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt and that they were sufficient to warrant a possible death sentence.

However, to recommend death, all jurors still would have needed to find that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating circumstances. They did not unanimously agree on this, the jurors indicated Thursday on their verdict forms – meaning Cruz must be sentenced to life in prison and not death.

In closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors argued Cruz’s decision to commit the shooting was deliberate and carefully planned, while Cruz’s defense attorneys offered evidence of a lifetime of struggles at home and in school.

“What he wanted to do, what his plan was and what he did, was to murder children at school and their caretakers,” lead prosecutor Michael Satz said Tuesday. “The appropriate sentence for Nikolas Cruz is the death penalty,” he concluded.

However, defense attorney Melisa McNeill said Cruz “is a brain damaged, broken, mentally ill person, through no fault of his own.” She pointed to the defense’s claim that Cruz’s mother used drugs and drank alcohol while his mother was pregnant with him, saying he was “poisoned” in her womb.

“And in a civilized humane society, do we kill brain damaged, mentally ill, broken people?” McNeill asked Tuesday. “Do we? I hope not.”

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Health

Fight menstrual cramps with food. Here’s how

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Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.



CNN
 — 

About 85% of girls suffer painful bloating, cramps and abdominal pain during their monthly periods — and for some the problems can last for years.

“Since menstrual pain is a leading cause of school absenteeism for adolescent girls, it’s important to explore options that can minimize the pain,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, in a statement. She was not involved in the study.

But there are behavioral adjustments girls and young women can make to reduce pain, according to a new analysis of studies. “Diet modification could be a relatively simple solution that could provide substantial relief for them,” said Faubion, who is also the medical director for The North American Menopausal Society, of the research findings.

The abstract, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of NAMS, explored the connection between diet and dysmenorrhea, the medical term for painful periods. The lead author, Serah Sannoh, told CNN she became interested in the topic due to her own menstrual pain, which has plagued her since adolescence.

“I found diets high in inflammatory foods such as animal meats, oil, sugars, salts, and coffee contribute to an increased risk of pain during a woman’s period,” said Sannoh, who conducted the research as an intern at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. She is currently a medical student at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

“A lot of the things that young people like to eat are are highly inflammatory … lunch meats, foods full of sugars and trans fats. But if you go on an anti-inflammatory diet — fruit, vegetables, olive oil, like the Mediterranean diet — you’ll get less cramping,” said NAMS board member Dr. Monica Christmas, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study.

The scientific evidence has shown eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep and exercising are effective measures in curtailing the duration and severity of cramps, Christmas said. But she noted it’s important women see a health care provider: “Make sure that there’s not some other medical condition that might also be contributing to the symptoms.”

As your body prepares to menstruate, endometrial cells that built a lining in the uterus to welcome a fertilized egg begin to break down. As they do, those cells release large amounts of fatty acids called prostaglandins to make the uterine layer contract and expel the unused tissue. The body also releases prostaglandins naturally during labor to open the cervix for birth.

Prostaglandins act like hormones, causing blood vessels and smooth muscles to constrict, resulting in cramping and pain. Researchers have found prostaglandin levels are higher and uterine contractions are stronger and more frequent in women with menstrual pain than women who have little or no pain, according to American Association of Family Physicians.

Eating inflammatory foods only adds to the discomfort, studies have found. Highly processed and high-sugar foods and fatty, greasy foods are common culprits — a 2018 study found college students who ate more snacks had more pain during their periods.

Another 2018 study of Spanish college students found women who drank cola and ate meat were more likely to suffer pain during their cycle than women who ate more vegetables and fruits. In fact, a 2020 study found women who ate fewer than two servings of fruit a day were more likely to suffer pain during their menstrual cycle.

Part of the problem is an imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, Sannoh found. Omega-3 fatty acids — found in foods such as salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters, walnuts, chia and flaxseeds — are anti-inflammatory. Studies have linked them to a reduction in risk for many chronic diseases triggered by inflammation.

Omega-6 fatty acids keep skin, hair and bones healthy and help regulate metabolism, in addition to their role in the reproductive system. But too many of these fatty acids can cause inflammation when the body ultimately breaks them down into arachidonic acid, which lowers the body’s pain threshold.

“From my research, I found out that people with diets high in omega-6 fatty acids, especifically those derived from animal-based products, have a higher presence of arachidonic acid in the body, which increases the amount of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins that help the uterus contract,” Sannoh said.

“When you have a diet that balances omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and you decrease the amount of inflammatory foods that you ingest, that will decrease the painful menstrual experience,” she added.

Two separate studies from 2011 and 2012 revealed women who took omega-3 fatty acid supplements reduced the intensity of menstrual discomfort enough to lower their use of ibuprofen for pain relief. And a 1996 study found a highly significant relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and milder menstrual symptoms in teens.

Changing your diet is not the only way to fight menstrual pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, reduce the production of prostaglandins, which is why they are a mainstay of treatment for cramps, Christmas said.

However, these pain medications also have side effects. According to a 2015 Cochrane Library review of evidence, NSAIDs are linked to bloating, diarrhea, dizziness, indigestion, headaches, heartburn, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting and on rare occasions, raised liver enzymes.

Certain oral birth control pills also lower the production of prostaglandins in the uterine lining, which then reduces both blood flow and cramping. Doses of less than 35 micrograms were “effective and should be the preparation of choice,” according to a 2009 Cochrane Library review.

But if you are not interested in using these methods — or want extra relief — give an anti-inflammatory diet a try. Sannoh put her research into practice by decreasing her intake of red meat and other inflammatory foods such as sugar and coffee, and told CNN that it did decrease her menstrual pain.

There’s an added benefit to adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, Christmas said.

“These diets are also associated with less high blood pressure, less cardiovascular disease, less diabetes, less arthritic issues, decreased morbidity and mortality, especially after menopause,” Christmas said.

“So if you can get people who are young to eat better, exercise, and live a healthier lifestyle, they’re going fare better as they age.”

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Entertainment

Ariel Elias had a beer can thrown at her — but she got the last laugh and sip

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CNN
 — 

In her 11 years of doing standup, this was by far the worst heckler Ariel Elias had ever encountered.

The comedian’s gig at the Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey on Oct. 8 started like any other, so she never anticipated becoming the subject of a viral video and the latest example of the comedy stage becoming the scene of an unsettling incident.

Elias had spent the majority of her 20-minute set talking about female body image before launching into a pre-planned question-and-answer portion of her set. A joke she ends on appears on some merchandise she sells after the show.

That’s when a woman in the audience, seated at a large table of people attending a raucous birthday party, yelled to her on stage: “Did you vote for Trump?”

“I wasn’t talking about politics,” she tells CNN. “I think I was honestly talking about my period. It just felt like she was looking for a fight, and I really don’t think I did anything to like elicit that.”

The woman was kicked out. Then the man seated next to her hurled a beer can – fast – at Elias’ head.

In the aforementioned video of the moment, many in the audience react with shock.

Elias says she didn’t see the beer fly by her head, but she heard it loudly thump behind her.

“I just like heard it against the wall and then I felt the back of my legs were wet, and I was trying to figure out what happened,” she says. “And then I looked down and I saw the beer can and put it together and people were furious that that had happened, which was nice. So I’m glad a mob mentality didn’t take over against me.”

In the moment, she picked the can up and found it was still heavy with beer.

“I remember thinking, ‘Don’t let the adrenaline win. Take a sip. Be brave,’” she says. “When I thought that there was still beer in there, I thought, you know what? I’d never needed a drink more in my life. And I think this is kind of the only way to get out of this because I still have five minutes left of my set.”

She knows that she had the option to step away from the stage and that “nobody would’ve been mad at me.” But, she thought, what about her stickers?

“I sell merch after the show, and my my best-selling sticker is based on my closing joke. I was like, ‘Well, I have to do the joke if I want people to come and buy stickers afterwards.’”

So she finished.

Later, Elias says, “it was much scarier once I got home.” She had to watch the video to realize how hard and fast the beer had been thrown.

“To be honest, I’m not the best at processing my emotions. So I think probably just like in six days I’ll cry while watching ‘Man vs. Food,’” she says, laughing.

Her friends and family have been supportive; her parents told her they were proud and her fellow comics keep checking in on her.

“Last night, I did a couple of spots in the city and everybody asked like, ‘Are you okay?’ Which I think is very much the question that I need to be asked,” she says. “Because the answer is, I don’t know yet.”

While Elias has decided not to press charges, the comedy club is. And although she doesn’t want to back to the town where it happened, Elias says she absolutely loves doing standup and will continue on.

“Please don’t throw things at me,” she says. “I love stand up so much. It’s my favorite thing in the world. I love traveling and being in front of people who are different from me.”

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