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Starbucks rolls out a non-dairy, certified vegan alternative today by adding Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk to its menu at all U.S. locations. "Providing a non-dairy alternative to dairy and soy is the second most requested customer idea of all time from MyStarbucksIdea.com, generating more than 84,000 votes,” according to Starbucks.
Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk was added today to all Starbucks U.S. locations. Photo credit: Starbucks
While coconut milk is a popular dairy alternative for those who are vegan, lactose intolerant, paleo or allergic to other non-dairy milk alternatives like soy and almond, coconut has raised red flags for its incredibly high saturated fat content. However, recent studies show no correlation between saturated fat and heart disease, helping coconut gain mass-market appeal.
In fact, coconut oil (which makes up much of the fat content in coconut milk) offers a number of health benefits. It can protect against various infections, improve blood lipids by raising HDL (good) cholesterol, increase energy expenditure, improve satiety and help you lose weight, in addition to being a great hand and body cream.
So will you find the same benefits with a coconut milk latte from Starbucks? Due to the highly processed formulation of Starbucks coconut milk, the answer may be no.
Not to be confused with coconut water, coconut milk is a thick, creamy white liquid traditionally made by simply processing and straining grated coconut milk and water. (Find a recipe to make your own two-ingredient coconut milk at home here). Starbucks’ processed coconut milk, however, contains more than a dozen ingredients, including sugar, salt and thickeners. According to a product photo posted to Reddit, the full list of Starbucks coconut milk ingredients are:
filtered water, coconut cream, sugar, tricalcium phosphate, carageenan, gellan gum, sea salt, natural flavor, vitamin A, palmitate, vitamin D2, vitamin B12
Bottom line: More non-dairy milk alternatives are an excellent addition to the Starbucks menu, and pure coconut milk is a healthy option. Unfortunately, the highly processed blend at Starbucks may not be the best choice.
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A ringed seal swims in a water tank at the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan on July 26, 2013. Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty Images
Ringed seals spend most of the year hidden in icy Arctic waters, breathing through holes they create in the thick sea ice.
But when seal pups are born each spring, they don't have a blubber layer, which is their protection from cold.
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<p>Marine biologist Brendan Kelly is executive director of a collaborative program called the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.searcharcticscience.org/">Study of Environmental Arctic Change</a>. He says the seal pups spend the first months of their lives nestled in snow caves on top of the ice.</p><p>But as the climate warms, that snow is starting to melt earlier in the year, before pups can handle the cold.</p><p>"The pup is suddenly exposed to the elements," Kelly says. "And it tends to get wet at this point. It gets cold at night, or the temperature just goes back down again for a while, and we see freezing deaths to the pups."</p>
<p>Without the protection of their snow caves, the pups are also more likely to be eaten by polar bears and other predators.</p><p>According to regional climate models, snow depth in parts of the ring seals' pupping habitat could be reduced by up to 70% by the end of the century.</p><p>"When you see this kind of massive habitat loss in a short time period, it doesn't bode well," Kelly says. "They're likely to become endangered in the coming decades."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/04/arctic-warming-puts-ringed-seals-in-peril/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A volunteer sets up beds in what will be a field hospital in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on April 8, 2020 in New York City. The cathedral has partnered with Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital and is expected to have more than 400 beds when opened. Spencer Platt / Getty Images
New York state now has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any single country save the U.S. as a whole.
<p>The state's caseload skyrocketed by 10,000 on Thursday, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52239261" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. It had 161,807 cases as of 4:46 a.m. EST, according to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">data from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering</a>. That's more than hard-hit Spain and Italy, which now have 153,222 and 143,626 cases respectively. The Empire State still trails the European countries for deaths, but the virus that causes COVID-19 has claimed more than 7,000 lives in the state, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday, more than double the 2,753 people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.</p><p>"9/11 was supposed to be the darkest day in New York for a generation," Cuomo said at a Thursday press conference reported by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-state-more-coronavirus-cases-than-any-country-worldwide-2020-4?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">Business Insider</a>. "And then, in many ways, we lose so many more New Yorkers to this silent killer."</p>
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<p><br>Cuomo said the state saw its highest death toll in a single day Wednesday at 799.</p><p>More than 5,000 of the state's deaths were in New York City, the nation's largest. Also on Thursday, the number of New York City patients being treated at special overflow hospitals more than doubled, from fewer than 100 Tuesday to 242, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/09/831288797/number-of-patients-at-overflow-hospitals-in-new-york-has-doubled?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3RIYNTkEKWjXiSa7a8DADbATdZWH2nHafyhgIXD6TQ-fCsOJQSb6zGbeU&t=1586502026809" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>.</p><p>The city has hired contract labor to bury the surge in dead at its potter's field on Hart Island, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-hart-island-idUSKCN21R398?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0bTLixbI91r4fgtPQ6wqyAdd44yRdwnCLG6-kjfPW_SJuHeW2FDiqnpfU" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. Those with either no family or no family who can arrange a funeral have been buried there since the 1800s. But while typically the city buries around 25 people there per week, that number has jumped to around that many per day Monday to Friday. And while the work is usually done by inmates, the city has hired contractors for public health reasons.</p><p>"For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic," Department of Correction spokesperson Jason Kersten told Reuters.</p>
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<p>However, the news out of New York this week wasn't all grim. The number of new cases admitted to the hospital fell for a second day in a row to 200, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/you-cant-relax-vigilance-urged-as-new-york-sees-signs-of-coronavirus-flattening-idUSKCN21R2FM?fbclid=IwAR1z7MQBpSFt7S3NBRLPVetzgWkKaep0VfaMDJ9ndoniRlqUYf83nZjamGY&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook" target="_blank">Reuters further reported</a>. Cuomo said it was a sign that social distancing was working, but said it was far from time to ease restrictions.</p><p>"You can't relax," Cuomo said Thursday. "The flattening of the curve last night happened because of what we did yesterday."</p><p>In another sign that restrictions are working across the U.S. as a whole, projections for the final nationwide death toll fell from at least 100,000 to 60,000.</p><p>The U.S. currently leads the world with 466,299 cases, according to Johns Hopkins. It has the second highest death toll after Italy, at 16,686 to Italy's 18,279. Globally, there are 1,603,330 confirmed cases of the disease. To date, 95,758 have died while 355,983 have recovered.</p>
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Moroccan patients who recovered from the novel coronavirus disease celebrate with medical staff as they leave the hospital in Sale, Morocco, on April 3, 2020. AFP / Getty Images
By Tom Duszynski
The coronavirus is certainly scary, but despite the constant reporting on total cases and a climbing death toll, the reality is that the vast majority of people who come down with COVID-19 survive it. Just as the number of cases grows, so does another number: those who have recovered.
In mid-March, the number of patients in the U.S. who had officially recovered from the virus was close to zero. That number is now in the tens of thousands and is climbing every day. But recovering from COVID-19 is more complicated than simply feeling better. Recovery involves biology, epidemiology and a little bit of bureaucracy too.
How does your body fight off COVID-19?
<p>Once a person is exposed the coronavirus, the body starts producing <a href="https://www.mblintl.com/products/what-are-antibodies-mbli/" target="_blank">proteins called antibodies to fight the infection</a>. As these <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/27/serological-tests-reveal-immune-coronavirus/" target="_blank">antibodies start to successfully contain the virus</a> and keep it from replicating in the body, symptoms usually begin to lessen and you start to feel better. Eventually, if all goes well, your immune system will completely destroy all of the virus in your system. A person who was infected with and survived a virus with no long-term health effects or disabilities has "recovered."</p><p>On average, a person who is infected with SARS-CoV-2 will feel ill for about seven days from the onset of symptoms. Even after symptoms disappear, there still may be small amounts of the virus in a patient's system, and they should stay <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html" target="_blank">isolated for an additional three days</a> to ensure they have truly <a href="https://health.usnews.com/conditions/articles/coronavirus-recovery-what-to-know" target="_blank">recovered and are no longer infectious</a>.</p>What about immunity?
<p>In general, once you have recovered from a viral infection, your body will keep cells called lymphocytes in your system. These cells "remember" viruses they've previously seen and can react quickly to fight them off again. If you are exposed to a virus you have already had, your antibodies will likely stop the virus before it starts causing symptoms. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5114%2Fceji.2018.77390" target="_blank">You become immune</a>. This is the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27158/" target="_blank">principle behind many vaccines</a>.</p><p>Unfortunately, immunity isn't perfect. For many viruses, like mumps, immunity can wane over time, leaving you <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160421145747.htm" target="_blank">susceptible to the virus in the future</a>. This is why you need to get revaccinated – those "booster shots" – occasionally: to prompt your immune system to make more antibodies and memory cells.</p><p>Since this coronavirus is so new, scientists still don't know whether people who recover from COVID-19 are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html" target="_blank">immune to future infections of the virus</a>. Doctors are finding antibodies in ill and recovered patients, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-patients.html" target="_blank">that indicates the development of immunity</a>. But the question remains how long that immunity will last. Other coronaviruses like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25685" target="_blank">SARS and MERS produce an immune response</a> that will protect a person at least for a short time. I would suspect the same is true of SARS-CoV-2, but the research simply hasn't been done yet to say so definitively.</p>Why have so few people officially recovered in the US?
<p>This is a dangerous virus, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is being extremely careful when deciding what it means to recover from COVID-19. Both medical and testing criteria must be met before a person is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html" target="_blank">officially declared recovered</a>.</p><p>Medically, a person must be fever-free without fever-reducing medications for three consecutive days. They must show an improvement in their other symptoms, including reduced coughing and shortness of breath. And it must be at least seven full days <a href="https://health.usnews.com/conditions/articles/coronavirus-recovery-what-to-know" target="_blank">since the symptoms began</a>.</p><p>In addition to those requirements, the CDC guidelines say that a person must test negative for the coronavirus twice, with the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/care-for-someone.html" target="_blank">tests taken at least 24 hours apart</a>.</p><p>Only then, if both the symptom and testing conditions are met, is a person officially considered recovered by the CDC.</p><p>This second testing requirement is likely why there were so few official recovered cases in the U.S. until late March. Initially, there was a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavirus-test-shortages-face-masks-swabs.html" target="_blank">massive shortage of testing in the U.S.</a> So while many people were certainly recovering over the last few weeks, this could not be officially confirmed. As the country enters the height of the pandemic in the coming weeks, focus is still on <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html" target="_blank">testing those who are infected</a>, not those who have likely recovered.</p><p>Many more people are being tested now that states and private companies have begun <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/testing-in-us.html" target="_blank">producing and distributing tests</a>. As <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200406/coronavirus-in-ohio-from-its-rocky-start-testing-for-covid-19-slowly-ramping-up" target="_blank">the number of available tests increases</a> and the pandemic eventually slows in the country, more testing will be available for those who have appeared to recover. As people who have already recovered are tested, the appearance of any new infections will help researchers learn <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/24/we-need-smart-coronavirus-testing-not-just-more-testing/" target="_blank">how long immunity can be expected to last</a>.</p>Once a person has recovered, what can they do?
<p>Knowing whether or not people are immune to COVID-19 after they recover is going to determine what individuals, communities and society at large can do going forward. If scientists can show that recovered patients are immune to the coronavirus, then a person who has recovered could in theory <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/30/21186822/immunity-to-covid-19-test-coronavirus-rt-pcr-antibody" target="_blank">help support the health care system</a> by caring for those who are infected.</p><p>Once communities pass the peak of the epidemic, the number of new infections will decline, while the number of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/china-says-passed-peak-coronavirus-epidemic-covid-19-1491863" target="_blank">recovered people will increase</a>. As these trends continue, the risk of transmission will fall. Once the risk of transmission has fallen enough, community-level isolation and social distancing orders will begin to relax and businesses will start to reopen. Based on what other countries have gone through, it will be <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00154-w" target="_blank">months until the risk of transmission is low</a> in the U.S.</p><p>But before any of this can happen, the U.S. and the world need to make it through the peak of this pandemic. Social distancing works to slow the spread of infectious diseases and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/what-you-can-do.html" target="_blank">is working for COVID-19</a>. Many people will <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/stories/2019-novel-coronavirus/" target="_blank">need medical help to recover</a>, and social distancing will slow this virus down and give people the best chance to do so.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Reef scene with crinoid and fish in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Reinhard Dirscherl / ullstein bild / Getty Images
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
The future for the world's oceans often looks grim. Fisheries are set to collapse by 2048, according to one study, and 8 million tons of plastic pollute the ocean every year, causing considerable damage to delicate marine ecosystems. Yet a new study in Nature offers an alternative, and more optimistic view on the ocean's future: it asserts that the entire marine environment could be substantially rebuilt by 2050, if humanity is able to step up to the challenge.
<p>The key to success, the authors say, is lessening the impact and stresses on the ocean, while restoring damaged ecosystems, and trying to reduce carbon emissions that drive climate change.</p><p>This study examines nine parts of the ocean in detail — salt marshes, mangroves, seagrasses, coral reefs, kelp, oyster reefs, fisheries, megafauna, and the deep ocean — and suggests critical and realistic steps that can be taken to restore and protect these areas.</p>
<p>The authors refer to several models of success for reversing the decline of marine life. For instance, the global wildlife trade treaty CITES and and a <a href="https://iwc.int/commercial" target="_blank">1982 moratorium on commercial whaling</a> have reduced hunting of endangered species and helped protect the critical habitats these species depend upon. Depleted <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/managing-fisheries-helps-stocks-recover-most-of-the-time/" target="_blank">fish populations have also rebounded</a> in response to proper management techniques.</p><p>While the study fosters an optimistic view of future ocean health, it concedes that some parts of the ocean will be more difficult to restore. For instance, coral reef systems have the added pressure of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/great-barrier-reef-suffers-biggest-bleaching-event-yet/" target="_blank">bleaching events</a> due to climate change, and the process of restoring damaged reefs is slow and expensive. However, the study notes that there are efforts to discover coral that's resistant to temperature change and bleaching events.</p><p>Restoring the oceans would be no small feat, and would require stable governmental policies, a large financial investment, and the continued evolution of scientific advances and technologies, the authors say. Action would also need to take place within a very short space of time.</p>
<p>But the biggest obstacle to restoring the oceans is mitigating the effects of climate change, according to Callum Roberts, a co-author of the study and professor at the University of York in the U.K.</p><p>"Climate change is the big problem that is looming over everything because it makes recovering nature harder, and as the climate changes, it's going to become more difficult," Roberts told Mongabay. "That's why we have to act very quickly now to start restoring nature, because that's going to help human societies to adapt over time, as well as to allow nature a better chance to survive and thrive through a changing climate."</p><p>Despite the challenges, Roberts says he believes the oceans are incredibly resilient. This is evident in marine protected areas (MPAs), where fishing and other human activities are prohibited, Roberts says.</p>
<p>"I've seen in localized areas how recovery can take place, and how it can take place quite quickly and spectacularly," he said. "When you protect areas, you can predict very easily the way that the response will go. You start off with things becoming more abundant, living longer, producing more offspring. Then you see the reconstruction of habitat structures on the seabed or kelp forests, then the return of some of the rarer things."</p><p>This year was supposed to be the "Ocean Super Year," with several ocean-related meetings and negotiations meant to take place, including the <a href="https://twitter.com/HighSeasAllianc/status/1235917197916213248?s=20" target="_blank">4th High Seas Treaty negotiation</a>, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/conferences/ocean2020" target="_blank">U.N. Ocean Conference</a>, <a href="https://www.fpa2.org/news-7937.html" target="_blank">Monaco Blue Initiative</a>, and the <a href="http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/04-Covid-19-IMO-meetings-.aspx" target="_blank"> International Maritime Organization</a>, which included a session with the Marine Environment Protection Committee. However, most have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19.</p>
<p>The pandemic itself has also prompted some reprieve for the oceans from human pressure, although Roberts said it's too early to identify the long-term effects.</p><p>"A lot of fishing boats are tied up right now, and that's definitely going to give a short-term benefit to marine life," he said. "Longer term, I don't know. But I think there will be a lot of thinking done after this crisis about how we need to do things better."</p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/ocean-optimism-study-says-we-can-restore-marine-health/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em>From Your Site Articles
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A daughter touches her father's head while saying goodbye as medics prepare to transport him to Stamford Hospital on April 02, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. He had multiple COVID-19 symptoms. John Moore / Getty Images
Across the country, the novel coronavirus is severely affecting black people at much higher rates than whites, according to data released by several states, as The New York Times reported.
<p>In New York, which has seen the most COVID-19 related deaths, the virus has disproportionately affected both the black and Hispanic population. In New York City, Hispanics make up 29 percent of the population, but 34 percent of the city's COVID-19 deaths, while African-Americans are 22 percent of the city's population and 28 percent of the fatalities, according to <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-deaths-race-ethnicity-04082020-1.pdf" target="_blank">new statistics</a> from the city, as <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-04-08/coronavirus-disproportionally-kills-hispanics-and-blacks-in-new-york-city" target="_blank">US News and World Report</a>.</p><p>When I saw this, it made me very angry," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/04/08/hispanic-and-black-new-yorkers-are-dying-at-highest-rates-from-coronavirus-1273789" target="_blank">Politico</a> reported. "It's sick. It's troubling. It's wrong."</p>
<p>Public health researchers say the alarming statistics highlight inequalities in resources, health, and access to care. Pervasive health conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease put people at a higher risk of getting seriously ill or dying if they contract COVID-19.</p><p>"There are clear inequalities, clear disparities in how this disease is affecting the people of our city," de Blasio said, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/04/08/hispanic-and-black-new-yorkers-are-dying-at-highest-rates-from-coronavirus-1273789" target="_blank">Politico</a> reported. "So many people struggle to get the healthcare they need, who didn't have the money to afford the healthcare they deserved. So many people have lived with chronic healthcare conditions."</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-covid-19-shows-unacceptable-disparities-for-african-americans-2020-4" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> reported, the numbers across the country have been even more disproportionate. In Chicago, where African-Americans make up 32 percent of the population, they have accounted for 72 percent of virus-related deaths and more than half of all positive test results. Similarly, in Milwaukee, blacks make up 28 percent of the population but have been 73 percent of all COVID-19 related deaths.</p><p>"Those numbers take your breath away, they really do," said Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/coronavirus-race.html?campaign_id=54&emc=edit_clim_20200408&instance_id=17477&nl=climate-fwd%3A&regi_id=86064351&segment_id=24329&te=1&user_id=bb077276a084ddee06decfc0648f4eef" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. She is the city's first black woman elected as mayor. She added that the statistics were "among the most shocking things I think I've seen as mayor."</p><p>The statistics moved Dr. Anthnony Fauci, who sits on the president's coronavirus task force, to address societal health disparities at the White House on Tuesday.</p><p>"And the reason I want to bring it up, because I couldn't help sitting there reflecting on how sometimes when you're in the middle of a crisis, like we are now with the coronavirus, it really does ... ultimately, shine a very bright light on some of the real weaknesses and foibles in our society," Fauci said, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-covid-19-shows-unacceptable-disparities-for-african-americans-2020-4" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> reported.</p><p>"As some of you may know, the greater proportion of my professional career has been defined by HIV/AIDS, and if you go back then during that period of time when there was extraordinary stigma — particularly against the gay community — and it was only when the world realized how the gay community responded to this outbreak with incredible courage and dignity and strength and activism, that I think that really changed some of the stigma against the gay community, very much so.</p><p>"I see a similarity here because health disparities have always existed for the African American community. But here again, with the crisis, how it's shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is," he said.</p>
<p>Sharrelle Barber, an assistant research professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/coronavirus-race.html?campaign_id=54&emc=edit_clim_20200408&instance_id=17477&nl=climate-fwd%3A&regi_id=86064351&segment_id=24329&te=1&user_id=bb077276a084ddee06decfc0648f4eef" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that the effects of policies drawn up generations ago keep many black residents in segregated neighborhoods without job opportunities, stable housing, or grocery stores with healthy food and more.</p><p>"These communities, structurally, they're breeding grounds for the transmission of the disease," Barber said. "It's not biological. It's really these existing structural inequalities that are going to shape the racial inequalities in this pandemic."</p>
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