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Pumpkin seed: Expert advice on the benefits, downsides, and more

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Reference: Iyanuoluwa Oyetunji, Master of Science in Medicine, specialization in Human Nutrition and Julia Rocha, Bachelor in Nutrition 

Roberta Flack announces she has ALS and finds it ‘impossible to sing’

Roberta Flack’s manager announced that she has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and can no longer sing.

The progressive disease “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak,” Flack's manager Suzanne Koga said in a statement on Monday (14 November).

“But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon,” she added.

The announcement of this diagnosis comes just ahead of the premiere of Roberta, a feature-length documentary at the DOC NYC film festival on Thursday (17 November).

The release says that the Grammy-winning singer and pianist, now 85, “plans to stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.”

Flack is known for hits like “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” the latter of which catapulted her into stardom after Clint Eastwood used it as the soundtrack for a love scene in his 1971 movie “Play Misty for Me.”

The Antonino D´Ambrosio-directed documentary will be in competition at the festival and available via DOC NYC’s website for a week after, before airing on television on 24 January 2023 as part of PBS’s American Masters series.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region, according to ALS.org.

When the motor neurons die, the brain can no longer initiate or control muscle movement. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe.

Reference: The Independent: Peony Hirwani

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Whoopi Goldberg tests positive for COVID for second time this year

Whoopi Goldberg has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 67-year-old star - who previously tested positive in January and missed some episodes of 'The View' in the New Year - was absent from Monday's (14.11.22) edition of the talk show.

A representative for the show told Entertainment Weekly that Whoopi had felt under the weather before the show, and didn't appear on the broadcast.

Later in the afternoon, she received her positive result.

Her co-host Joy Behar - who has regularly skipped the start of the week following the season 26 premiere - was also absent, with Sara Haines filling in as moderator.

Sunny Hostin was on the panel alongside co-stars Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin.

Whoopi was shocked by her COVID-19 diagnosis after having all her jabs and trying to keep safe.

She said at the time: "It was a shock because you know, I'm triple vaxxed, haven't been anywhere, haven't done anything, but that's the thing about the Omicron.

"You just don't know where it is. You don't know where it is, who's got it, who's passing it.

"So you know, it's one of those things where you think 'I've done everything I was supposed to do.'"

The Hollywood star insisted she wasn't worried about the long-term impact of COVID on her health, despite having battled pneumonia and sepsis a few years ago.

She said: "I just feel like you can only do what you can do and whatever your body decides is going to do is what you have to roll with."

Meanwhile, her latest positive test comes a week after she quit Twitter following Elon Musk's acquisition.

She explained: "So it has been a little over a week since Elon Musk took over Twitter and the place, it’s a mess.

"He also suspended Kathy Griffin for impersonating him on a parody account, which has started a FreeKathy hashtag to trend. I’m ... I’m getting off. I’m getting off today because I just feel like, you know, it’s so messy."

Reference: Banf Showbiz: BANG Showbiz