The ab wheel is a core exercise that challenges your strength as well as your balance.

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Your core is aptly named: It's at the core of every move you make. When you walk, run, stand, twist, bend over, reach to the side or lift weights, the muscles in your abdomen initiate and stabilize the movement.

And yet core workouts are often reduced to what they can do to help you sculpt six-pack abs. (Not that there's anything wrong with wanting those muscles to pop, but there's just so much more to your midsection beyond imitating a washboard.)

So let's take some time to appreciate the unsung hero of your ab workouts. Below, discover the muscles that make up your core, how to tell if they're weak and the best workouts and stretches to target the area.

When your core is strong, you'll move better and feel better.

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Your core includes all the muscles of your trunk from your chest and upper back to your glutes and lower back.

"It's layers of deep muscles that help support your pelvis, spine, butt, back, hips and stomach," Katie Dunlop, CPT, tells LIVESTRONG.com, adding that your core muscles are responsible for keeping your posture tall and allowing you to move.

When your core is weak, it can lead to poor posture (or pain when trying to correct it), back pain you can't pin to a specific activity and balance issues, Dunlop says. Knowing the muscles of your core can help you identify your problem and incorporate the best core exercises into your workout routine.

A strong core lets you perform everyday tasks and workout-specific moves with ease.

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If you haven't caught the gist by now, having a solid midsection is incredibly important for pain-free functional movements.

Your core keeps your spine stable and protected, which allows and helps the body to do everyday tasks like lifting heavy bags or picking up your dogs and kiddos, says Bethany Lyons, founder of Lyons Den Power Yoga.

And for those struggling with back pain (about 80 percent of Americans, according to the American Chiropractic Association), developing core strength can provide much-needed relief. A 2015 study from the Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation found exercises that target your trunk helped patients with chronic low back pain manage their symptoms.

Many yoga poses like Upward Facing Dog help you stretch your core.

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"Your core contains some of the hardest-working muscles in the entire body [that] are often overlooked when it comes to stretching," Lyons says. But stretching those overworked muscles is crucial, she adds, for posture, mobility, flexibility and for decreasing your risk of pain and injury.

While you might be able to loosen up other body parts with a single stretch, you can't rely on just one movement to keep your core limber because it contains several different muscles.

Opposing stretches like Child's Pose and Upward Facing Dog ensure that you're not overlooking any core muscles by working the front and back of your body.

Planks are one of the best and most accessible exercises for strengthening your entire core.

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"You should do something that strengthens your core every single day," says Nike master trainer Alex Silver-Fagan. "Since the core supports every other part of the body and stabilizes your spine, it's important you give it a lot of attention."

That doesn't mean you're doing intense or high-impact moves every day, however. Silver-Fagan suggests choosing four or five exercises (forearm planks, side planks, dead bugs and bird dogs are some of the best), doing each of them for 45 to 60 seconds with a 30- to 60-second rest in between and completing 2 to 3 sets total.

Don't waste your time doing standard crunches. Add a stability ball or medicine ball to activate more muscles.

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Back in 2001, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) published definitive research answering the question, "What's the best ab exercise?" The group ranked 13 of the most common moves and found that bicycle crunches created the most activation of the rectus abdominis (those six-pack muscles).

Third place belonged to stability ball crunches. Incorporating this tool into your workouts has benefits for your whole core by targeting the entire functionality of the trunk, including rounding and arching your back, side-bending and rotating, according to the ACE.

But there's more to a flat belly than doing endless reps of ab exercises. You'll need the total core-strengthening benefits from the exercises above, full-body strength-training exercises (because they also recruit your abs), cardio workouts and a healthy diet to reduce body fat and show off those chiseled abs.

Excerpt from:
The Best Core Exercises and Strengthening Workouts - LIVESTRONG.COM

"Eggs are NOT bad for your heart: Thirty-year study finds eating one a day does not raise the risk of stroke or heart disease," reports the Mail Online.

While we know eggs contain many nutrients, they are also quite high in cholesterol. Because of the link between cholesterol and heart disease, doctors once thought eggs might raise heart disease risk. Later research showed that cholesterol in the diet is not such a problem. Studies into eggs and heart disease have had conflicting results, perhaps because people who eat a lot of eggs might have a less healthy diet overall.

In a new study, researchers used dietary information from 215,618 people in the US, dating back to 1980. They found no evidence that people eating an egg a day had a higher risk of heart attack or stroke than people who rarely or never ate eggs, once their overall diet and lifestyle was taken into account. The researchers pooled their study results with those of 27 other studies from around the world. The pooled results also found no increased risk of heart attack or stroke for people eating eggs.

You can reap the benefits of the nutrients of eggs, while reducing any risk posed by cholesterol, by cooking them without adding salt or fat and avoiding frying them. Frying eggs in oil can increase their fat content by around 50%.

Read more about the healthy way to eat eggs.

The researchers who carried out the study were from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in the US. The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health. It was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal on an open-access basis, meaning it is free to read online.

The UK media sources that carried the story provided reasonably accurate and balanced reports about the research.

This was a prospective cohort study, using 3 large ongoing cohorts of healthcare professionals in the US. Cohort studies are good ways to find links between risk factors (such as regularly eating eggs) and outcomes (such as heart attack and stroke). However, they cannot prove that one directly causes the other. There may be other factors that affect both egg consumption and heart disease, which have not been fully taken into account.

The research was carried out in 2 parts: a cohort study and a meta-analysis.

The researchers used information from 3 large cohort groups of healthcare professionals, which ran from 1980 to 2012, 1991 to 2013 and 1986 to 2012.

2 of the studies included only women and 1 contained only men. At the start of each study, people filled out questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, including dietary questionnaires. These were repeated every 2 years. People were also asked about diagnoses of heart attack, diabetes and stroke. Deaths from heart disease or stroke were also recorded.

Researchers grouped people according to how many eggs they ate, from fewer than 1 per month to at least 1 each day. They then looked to see how likely people who ate varying amounts of eggs were to have had a heart attack or stroke, or to have died from heart disease, compared to people who ate fewer than 1 egg a month. They also looked at the risk of adding 1 extra egg a day to the diet.

Because they had regular data on diet, the researchers were able to keep updating the information, so they accounted for any change in diet. They adjusted their figures to take account of a wide range of possible confounding factors, including:

The researchers wanted to see how their results fitted with other studies. They searched for other prospective cohort studies that also looked at egg consumption and heart attack or stroke. They then pooled the results of all the studies they found with their own study results, to get an overall picture of the state of evidence. They compared the risks of heart attack and stroke between the people who ate most and least eggs and looked at the risk of 1 additional egg per day.

What were the basic results?

In the cohort study, 14,806 of 215,618 (6.8%) people had a heart attack, stroke, or died from heart disease or stroke, during 22 to 32 years of follow up.

After taking account of potential conflicting factors the study found:

In the systematic review, 139,195 people (8%) from 28 studies had a heart attack or stroke or died of heart disease, out of a total 1,720,108 people.

The pooled results found:

The results varied from study to study, however. The researchers said the variation was most noticeable between studies carried out in Asia (including a big study from China) and those from Europe or the US.

The Chinese study found people who ate more eggs had a lower risk of heart attack or stroke. They say this could have been because eating eggs regularly suggested a better standard of living overall, for this population.

The researchers said: "The results from our cohort study and updated meta-analysis show that moderate egg consumption (up to 1 egg per day) is not associated with cardiovascular risk overall." They added that most of the people in the studies ate fewer than 1 egg a day, so the results should be interpreted with caution.

Overall, this study suggests that eggs can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. The researchers did not find any evidence that eating eggs raises the risk of heart attack or stroke, once you take into account a person's overall diet and lifestyle.

However, they did find that people who ate a lot of eggs tended to have less healthy diets overall. They were more likely to be overweight, did less exercise and were more likely to smoke. They also ate more red meat, processed meat (such as bacon), refined flour, potatoes and sugary fizzy drinks.

This highlights the problems with looking at just 1 food in someone's diet it only makes sense if you look at what else they are eating, and their general lifestyle. People should not take this study on eggs as a green light to have a full fried breakfast every morning.

There are a few issues that mean we should be cautious about the results. The cohort study was carried out in the US, among healthcare professionals who were all well-educated and healthier than average. It's possible the results would not hold true for other population groups.

The results could be affected by unmeasured confounding factors, although the researchers did take a wide range of these into account. Dietary questionnaires rely on people reporting what they ate accurately, which is not always the case. In addition, variation in study findings in the meta-analysis are not completely explained, which makes the results a little less reliable.

Overall, the study supports advice to eat eggs in moderation as part of a balanced diet. Find out more about a eating a healthy diet.

Analysis by Bazian Edited by NHS Website

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Eating an egg a day does not increase chance of heart attack or stroke - NHS Website

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As news of the novel coronavirus dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization makes headlines as it spreads through China and the rest of the world, most attention has been directed towards prevention and quarantine. While properly washing your hands and avoiding crowds is a good idea if you live near an area that has reported cases, its important to also take steps to boost your immune system in case you actually come in contact with the virus so the body can effectively fight back.

The immune system is designed to fight off infection and disease. It has a number of ways to detect and destroy anything it recognizes as foreign to your body, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites or unhealthy cells such as cancer cells.

Viruses need the cell machinery in order to produce their own proteins. They are intracellular parasites that can only replicate inside cells, which is one of the reasons theyre not considered to be alive. The most effective mechanisms of the innate response against viral infections are mediated by interferon and by the activation of natural killer (NK) cells.

The strength of the immune system varies from person to person and, whats more, from day to day because its ability to fight off infection fluctuates depending on many factors. Here are a couple of things you can do to keep your immune system in check during the COVID-19 outbreak.

With all the daily headlines sowing doom and gloom about the novel coronavirus, its easy to stress over it. Some are so panicked that theyve begun stockpiling basic goods and food. Its a good idea to be prepared for any major emergency and this includes a viral outbreak however bear in mind that stress hormones tax the immune system, making its response to viral infections less effective.

In short supply, the stress hormone cortisol can boost immunity by limiting inflammation. But, once it crosses a certain threshold, too much cortisol in the blood opens the door for more inflammation. Stress also negatively impacts the production of lymphocytes the white blood cells that are the bodys first line of defense against infection putting you at risk of viral disease.

During this particularly stressful period, try not to panic because youll only make matters worse. Remember, the effects of stress are cumulative, meaning even ordinary, day-to-day activities can eventually lead to more serious health issues.

We already know that, for the vast majority of people that are already healthy, this is really more of an inconvenience to a lot of them than something that can be fatal or life-threatening, said Dr. Caroline Sokol, an immunology researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital.

To relieve stress, take breaks when you feel burned out and try to practice some relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, or positive thinking.

Regular exercise promotes cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and offers protection against diseases. Exercise also improves blood circulation, allowing immune system cells to move through the body more freely and do their job more effectively.

Although scientists have yet to establish a direct link between exercise and immune system health, its reasonable to presume that moderate regular exercise can help prevent disease by promoting overall health.

However, intense exercise can cause inflammation in the body that may send the immune system into overdrive. So, try not to take things overboard especially during times of seasonal viral outbreaks.

The immune system is the bodys natural defense system, and like any army, its warriors need sustenance. Its rather well established that people who live in poverty and are malnourished are more vulnerable to infectious diseases.

Although there are have been few studies that tie the effects of nutrition directly to the development of infectious diseases, there is evidence pointing to the fact that various micronutrient deficiencies such as those of zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, and E can alter the immune response in animals.

Make sure you eat a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables in order to receive the right proportion of micronutrients.

Smoking tobacco has several effects on immune system health, such as:

Studies show that people who dont get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus.

When we sleep, the body releases proteins called cytokines while sleep deprivation decreases their production. Cytokines are paramount during times of infection or inflammation. Whats more, the production of antibodies and immune cells is reduced when you dont get enough sleep.

The optimal amount of sleep for most adults is between 7 and 8 hours. However, school-aged children and teenagers might need up to 10 hours of sleep.

A note on supplements. Although youll find bottles of pills and herbal supplements claiming to promote immunity or otherwise boost the immune system, there is no evidence that they actually bolster immunity.

See original here:
How to the boost immune system against coronavirus - ZME Science

India confirms a total of 28 coronavirus cases

The coronavirus outbreak has affected a total of 70 countries around the world. India reportedtwo fresh cases of coronavirus on Monday, one in Delhi and the other in Telangana. With the biggest jump in numbers, Indiareportsa total of 30 cases as of today. A group of 15 Italian tourists who traveled Rajasthan last month tested positive. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan told the media that the positive case reported in Delhi interacted with his family of six members in Agra. All six members are infected from the virus.

COVID-19 can spread easily from an infected person. It can cause symptoms like cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, sore throat and some may experience difficulty in breathing. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of coronavirus. it is important to avoid any panic situation insteadfollow the right prevention methods to fight the spread of coronavirus.

A strong immune system can help you fight the infection naturally. Lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho sharessome amazingtips to boost one's immunity to stay safe during thisoutbreak.

"A virus can impact someone with low immunity. So if you have a low immune system, viruses, bacteria, infections are more likely to affect you as compared to those with strong immunity," Luke explains. In the video, he stresses on the importance of a strong immune system and explains that if you maintain a strong immune system, you can possibly prevent a viral infection. Even if you get it, a strong system can help you fight against it effectively.

Avoid public gatherings to prevent coronavirus spread Photo Credit: iStock

Several foods can help you boost immunity but Luke highlights that foods alone will not boost your immune system. It has to be combined with sleep, exercise, stress management and many other factors.

Also read:Delhi Reports First Case And One More In Telangana; WHO Guidelines On How Use Masks To Protect Against Coronavirus

1. Ginger has strong immunity-boosting properties. Include it in your foods or prepare ginger tea.

2. Spinach, not in the raw form can also help you boost immunity. Steam or boil it lightly as it to prepare an immunity-boosting recipe.

3. Yogurt is great for your gut health. A healthy gut promotes strong immune system.

4. Almonds are loaded with nutrients. A handful of almonds or 8-10 almonds can be consumed daily.

5. Turmeric is one of the best options you must add to your diet for better immunity. But it should be combined with black pepper and good fat like coconut oil or pure ghee. Take a half tablespoon of turmeric, one tablespoon of ghee or coconut oil and a small amount of pepper. It will boost the absorption of turmeric.

6. Green tea is a healthy beverage. You can drink up to 2-3 cups of fresh green daily.

7. Add more fruits to your diet. Fruits like papaya, berries and kiwi are some great immunity boosters.

8. Add more protein to your diet. A virus affects the tissues and can destroy cells and protein helps in repairing tissues. Make sure that you add a small amount of protein to every meal.

9. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are also great immunity boosters.

10. Garlic is also loaded with immunity-boosting properties. Consume raw garlic or boil some garlic and ginger in hot water to prepare a tea.

11. A healthy soup with a combination of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, pumpkin and turmeric.

Add more immunity boosting foods to your diet Photo Credit: iStock

Also read:Coronavirus Outbreak In India: Samples Taken From 6 People In Noida Test Negative

Other tips to boost immunity-

Luke suggests you must combine other healthy practices with a diet loaded with immunity boosters. Some of these include-

1. Proper sleep

2. Regular exercise- at least 30 minutes of exercise

3. Wash your hands more often or use a sanitiser

4. Try deep breathing or pranayam to supply more oxygen to the body

5. Beat stress with yoga, meditation, exercise or other activities you like

Also read:Flu Shots Can Prevent Coronavirus - This And Other Myths Busted

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

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India Confirms 30 Coronavirus Cases; Do Not Panic But Boost Your Immunity With These Amazing Expert Tips To Fight It - NDTV News

For Alison Schultz, 2019 was the year to get healthy. She not only lost more than 50 pounds in 12 months, she quit drinking, too.

Alison Schultz's weight-loss story will inspire anyone who has turned to food or alcohol to cope with stress.

Credit: Alison Schultz/LIVESTRONG.com Creative

The 39-year-old mom of two daughters, ages 9 and 13, says she feels better than ever. Read on as this healthcare manager shares her story in her own words.

When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I didn't think much about my weight. I was never skinny but I'm tall (5'10"), so I was used to being bigger than most women. I'm muscular, too, and always have been.

But in my mid-30s, my joints began to hurt from carrying extra weight on my frame, and a healthier lifestyle became important to me with our daughters beginning to grow and learn about health, too.

The other part was that I wanted to feel better, and that meant giving up alcohol and food as a way to cope with stress. I have a very high-stress career and I was addicted to alcohol, late-night eating and other unhealthy eating habits that paired with booze. I started to shy away from events where alcohol wasn't being served and started hanging out with friends who enjoyed drinking as much as I did. I kept blaming my unhealthy life on my stress. That was easier at the time than actually meeting my social drinking addiction head on.

It was shortly after my uncle passed away unexpectedly in January 2019 that I really drank to forget my pain. The grief that I felt hurt less when I was drinking. My husband told me he was worried, and I'll never forget the look on his face as he shared his fears. I realized then that my drinking had affected my whole family, and I was blown away.

I felt empowered at that moment to make a huge change in my life. I quit drinking and began adopting healthier eating habits and daily exercise, which helped to curb the desire to drink.

Did you know that keeping a food diary is one of the most effective ways to manage your weight? Download the MyPlate app to easily track calories, stay focused and achieve your goals!

When I started changing my habits to get healthy, I weighed 273 pounds. I began walking and then running 45 minutes a day three to four times a week. At first, I hated it. I kept thinking to myself 'Why do people talk about enjoying this?'

I ran inside and out, depending on the weather. It took me one and a half months to get from walking to running, and I continue to train. I'll run farther distances or set my treadmill with incline changes to mix things up a bit.

The whole time, what kept me going was a workout playlist a mix of songs from all genres. As long as the beat is there, I'd listen to it. I love it now! I just set my tunes, crank up the volume and focus on me. It's awesome.

"While I used to think about routine through a negative lens, I can say with complete certainty that routine has kept me on track with my fitness goals and healthier eating habits."

As for my diet, I'm not such a huge sugar-craver, so it was actually harder for me to stay away from the chips. It's still difficult sometimes, so I'll treat myself to a cheat day because, hey, everything in moderation, including moderation! I also added low-starch veggies and fruit and ate lean meat such as chicken and turkey more often.

In fact, my Monday through Friday diet is a bit like a record on repeat. And, while I used to think about routine through a negative lens, I can say with complete certainty that routine has kept me on track with my fitness goals and healthier eating habits.

Breakfast: A protein shake with sugar-free coconut-almond milk or chia pudding (2 tablespoons chia seeds, a half-cup of almond milk, splash of vanilla and a tablespoon of frozen raspberries)

Morning snack: An apple and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or two rye crackers with cream cheese

Lunch: Spinach, romaine or kale salad with chicken or turkey, a container of fresh-cut veggies and a small serving of hummus (2 tablespoons) or a quarter to a half cup of cottage cheese with pepper

Afternoon snack: Celery with low-fat cheese, a small handful of almonds or a hard-boiled egg

Dinner: A protein, like chicken, with a big green salad

Nighttime snack: An apple with peanut butter or no-added-sugar vanilla yogurt and a tablespoon of fruit

Today, I weigh 219 pounds and my goal is to ultimately get down to 200.

"I want to teach my daughters that healthy isn't always skinny and that health is holistic, and it's important to love yourself first."

Credit: Alison Schultz/LIVESTRONG.com Creative

I curbed the late-night eating by changing my routine and staying busy. I realized that when I would sit on the couch watching TV, I'd want to shove food in my face, so I started working out in the evening. I get right into my running gear as soon as I get home from work so that I'm motivated to get it done!

After dinner, I'll do some crocheting to keep my brain preoccupied if I'm watching TV. I find that these little crafts really help curb my desire to eat. I also use that time to organize my calendar for the week or look at healthy recipes or new healthy snack recipes to try. I know it sounds silly, but this helps me to avoid snacking constantly all evening. I also drink flavored tea in the evening straight up no honey or milk or sugar.

With a busy job, two growing kids and a farm, meal planning has been my saving grace. Sundays are meal planning day, and this sets the tone for the whole week. I don't stress because I know what's for supper every night, and I've got it in my calendar so I get digital reminders the night before in case I need to thaw meat for supper after work.

"Remember that the weight didn't add up overnight and it doesn't come off overnight either. A little bit of grit and grace will help you get through the tough days."

I work in another city three days a week, so I'm gone overnight two nights. I make casseroles ahead of time so that supper is easy and healthy for my family, too, even when I'm not there.

For lunches, I pre-cut a whole container of vegetables and hard-boil 18 eggs per week. They're super easy and healthy as a lunchtime snack, and my kids love them, too.

Find a strategy that works for you and don't feel pressured by what works for other people.

I also think it helps to have a strong support network, whether that's a friend, a spouse or co-workers to work out with.

And set attainable goals for yourself. My vision board keeps me on track. A year ago, I had envisioned living a healthier lifestyle, one that I wasn't ashamed of. I empowered my vision by researching how to achieve my goals through clean eating and exercise. My vision board today has the same foundational choices.

Finally: Remember that the weight didn't add up overnight and it doesn't come off overnight either. A little bit of grit and grace will help you get through the tough days.

Excerpt from:
How One Woman Lost More Than 50 Pounds in a Year by Quitting Booze and Late-Night Eating - LIVESTRONG.COM

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and disinfect with 65% alcohol-based hand sanitisers to rid your skins surface of germs.

Kaodim conducted a social survey involving 599 respondents to find out how people are protecting themselves from the recent deadly Covid-19 outbreak across the world.

While you should be cautious, being too paranoid about contracting this virus will only bring more harm than good.

There are plenty of internet trolls spreading misinformation, so heres Kaodims take on how to take simple precautions.

1. The best antivirus = Immune system + hygiene

Fighting off the virus is not just about sanitising and wearing masks. The most crucial part is actually your immune system and daily hygiene.

It is obvious enough that you should include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet, exercise regularly, and take vitamins and supplements to keep your immune system strong.

But also remember that sharing things like cutlery and towels even among family members are a big no-no as it makes the transmission of bacteria that much easier.

Towels in particular can contain dangerous bacteria such as E. Coli if you dont wash them often. So the transference of virus and bacteria is made all the worse if you share your towels with someone else.

2. Disinfect your home, not just your hands

Youve been told many times to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and disinfect with 65% alcohol-based hand sanitisers, but did you know that the cleanliness of your home is just as important in preventing diseases?

70% of Kaodims respondents believe that the upholsteries in their home are more unsanitary than their toilets, and they are absolutely right.

Research shows that your bed, sofa, and carpets contain 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. This is because you come into contact with it way more often than you do your toilet seat.

3. Dont forget your car

As a mode of transportation that you use every day, the interior of your car typically gets cleaned way less than your home toilet. Especially for Malaysians who drive their cars everywhere, its a shame that cleaning the interior of your car is seldom a priority.

Conduct a thorough house cleaning and disinfect your whole house and car regularly. Pay extra attention to your mattress, sofa, and other upholsteries, as this is often unknowingly a breeding ground for dirt and bacteria.

Just because you dont see them, doesnt mean they dont exist. It is recommended that you hire a professional house cleaning and car seat cleaning service to make sure that the job is done right.

4. Action is essential

It is important to get up to date with the Covid-19 pandemic while remaining conscious of whether a piece of news is reliable or not.

It is important to take precautions, but it is absolutely essential to stay calm in this time of crisis, and take actions that are relevant to you and your lifestyle.

Remember, always be cautious but not paranoid. A little goes a long way in protecting you and your family.

This article first appeared in kaodim.com

One of Southeast Asias fastest growing local services platform, Kaodim connects users to dependable and professional local service providers fast and hassle-free. With the Kaodim app, users can access professional services for home renovation, office cleaning, and much more.

See the original post here:
4 ways to protect yourself against the dreaded Covid-19 - Free Malaysia Today

Commentary about the coronavirus is endless. Those with anti-China and anti-trade mindsets bash China, those with anti-Trump agendas bash the presidents response, and those with a big-government bias are using the crisis to argue for spending more money.

The etiology of the disease is uncertain, with cases showing up in Americans who didnt travel abroad and didnt have contact with an infected person. There is not even an accurate diagnostic test for the virus. Expert opinions may not be reliable.

Some people have begun stockpiling food. This is all well and good, but there is a more critical preparation step that few are taking.

In all the commentary, little is said about taking personal responsibility for boosting ones immune system to fight off the disease. Like the flu, the virus may wane in warmer weather. If so, like the flu, it is a good bet it will return next fall. Acting now to boost your immune system is prudent. Here is how.

Drink Less Alcohol We all know that alcohol can damage the liver. Fewer people are aware of the effects of alcohol on the immune system:

First, its important to know that the microbes living in your intestines, your guts microbiome, plays an important role in fighting diseases. When you drink a lot of alcohol, it has many negative effects on your digestive system. It damages the epithelial cells in your intestines, making it harder to absorb many nutrients. It also severely disturbs your guts microbiome, significantly altering the balance of healthy and unhealthy bacteria.

Excessive drinking may impair the function of immune cells in the lungs and upper respiratory system, leading to increased risk for pneumonia, tuberculosis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. Because the immunity of the mucus is impaired in both the lungs and digestive tract, any disease can become more severe.

Excessive drinking reduces the number and function of three important kinds of cells in your immune systemmacrophages, T and C cells. Macrophages are the first line of defense against disease.

Perhaps you are just an occasional binge social drinker. Knocking down your immune system in a crowded public place is a terrible idea.

Eat Less Sugar and Processed Food WebMD puts it this way: Eating or drinking too much sugar curbs immune system cells that attack bacteria. This effect lasts for at least a few hours after downing a couple of sugary drinks.

A sugary cup of coffee and a pastry in the morning compromises your immune system. At lunch, when you have a bottle of soda with your sandwich, your bodys ability to resist illnesses going around the office is compromised. Eat enough sugar, and you can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by 40 percent.

In the morning, consider eating an orange instead of drinking sugary orange juice. Throughout the day, look for opportunities to incorporate more immune-boosting vegetables in your diet. The Brassica family broccoli, kale, bok choy, Brussel sprouts, etc. are especially noteworthy immune boosters.

Exercise Regularly An essay by Harvard Health Publishing puts it this way:

Regular exercise is one of the pillars of healthy living. It improves cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and protects against a variety of diseases. But does it help to boost your immune system naturally and keep it healthy? Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system. It may contribute even more directly by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently.

Even if you dont have a regular exercise regime, you can spend less time on social media, get up from watching CNN or Fox News, and get outdoors for a walk. Moderate activity is all you need to boost your immune system.

Have a Sense of Purpose The science behind how ones state of mind and illness are linked is controversial, but allowing our thinking to control us is never a good idea.

Researchers have questioned individuals about how often in the past week they had felt happy or satisfied, and how often they felt that their life had a sense of meaning. They were looking to distinguish those who felt happy due to hedonic well-being (characterized by material or bodily pleasures such as eating well or having sex) and those who experienced eudaimonic well-being (deeper satisfaction from activities with a greater meaning or purpose, such as intellectual pursuits, social relationships or charity work).

Their results are eye-opening. They found people with a meaning-based or purpose-based outlook had favorable gene-expression profiles, whereas hedonic well-being, when it occurred on its own, was associated with profiles similar to those seen in individuals facing adversity.

Research findings support the idea that eudaimonic well-being benefits immune function directly. In contrast, stress increases when we believe we must change our circumstances to achieve happiness. Stress is known to reduce the capacity of your immune system to fight viruses.

There are no guarantees. Despite our best efforts, disease may yet visit us. However this is no excuse to not work at tipping the odds in our favor.

[Image Credit: pxfuel CC0 1.0]

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Who Is Grant Cardone?

At the age of 60 in the year 2019, Grant Cardone is famous as an internationally renowned sales trainer and as the bestselling author of The 10X Rule and If Youre Not First, Youre Last. His primary venture, Cardone Training Technologies, providesFortune 500companies,small businesses, andentrepreneurswith an interactive sales training platform.

Additionally, he has gained popularity for single-handedly building a massivereal estateempire that has a present-day portfolio valuation of around $900 million. Hisinvestment vehicle,Cardone Capital, has been involved in more than $800 million in real estate transactions covering around 4,700 units of multi-familypropertiesthroughout many American states. Here is an overview of how Cardone built his multimillion-dollar real estate empire without raising externalcapitalfrom anyone beyond his close family members.

Cardones interest in real estate as an investment option is owing to several key reasons and features the property market offers. They include better stability in property valuations compared to the high volatility observed in the equity market, regular cash flows in the form of monthly rent from tenants, benefits of amortization as rent from tenants pay down the debt and help create long-term wealth, tax benefits available in the form of depreciation, potential for long term appreciation in property value, and availability of leveragewhich allows one to purchase property worth four times the money they actually have.

Based onthe tagline Making big deals available to everyday investors, Cardone's real estate venture raises money from the public by launching public equity funds in which common investors can purchase units/shares. The collected money is used to purchase existing income-generating properties, and the earnings are shared with the investors as regular monthly distributions. Created through real value and tangible assets, Cardone claims to simplify the real estate investment for the average Joe investor.

For instance, the Cardone Equity Fund IV will use the collected capital to invest in purchasing multi-family properties in the states of Florida, Texas and Alabama. The fund manager may also occasionally invest in single-family and commercial properties, and in other real estate-backed investments in other markets within the Continental U.S.

Cardone manages all the properties and takes care of all operational overheads linked to the real estate dealings as well as property maintenance. It allows the common investors the complete freedom from handling such operational issues. They benefit from a steady flow of monthly income, an appreciation in the property value over the long term, and can focus on their regular jobs and businesses. Essentially, Cardone claims to let investors create a passive income stream that guarantees regular cash flows, the scope of value appreciation, and the opportunity to create long-term wealth as a side business/investment.

Unlike the majority of property emperors, who successfully built their sizableportfoliosas a full-time career, Cardones real estate holdings were slowly expanded as a side business. Cardones real estate venture was not intended to be his primary businessor his mainincome source. Instead, it was created in order for him to have a stable holding place to preserve and grow theearningsfrom his sales consulting company.

During a February 2015 interview with theBiggerPockets Podcast, Cardone said, Every time I get money, I go broke again because I shove it into this real estate thing. He went on to elaborate that I take these three companies that will probably be destroyed in my lifetime, that Ive madea ton of moneyoff of, and I take all that money and I park it over here so I am always broke running these three, or I am having to hustle every day to get new money and then I shove it in over here.

Though at the core he considers himself anentrepreneurand not a real estate investor, Cardone believed that real estate provided a wealth-preservation vehicle that his other business ventures could not offer.

Since the age of 15, Cardone had been actively involved in the real estate market and was studying the intricacies of the deals. During his childhood, he and his father regularly visited different pieces of property as a family outing activity, and over time his interest in buying buildings developed. To this day, shopping for real estate is still something he enjoys doing with his wife and children.

In 1981, Cardone graduated from college with an accounting degree. Despite wanting to immediately acquireproperties, he delayed it for a few years. This allowed him to grow the money that he would later use to makeinvestments.Additionally, it allowed him sufficient time to imbibe as much as he could on the subject of real estate.

In an October 2014 episode of hisreal estate show, Cardone revealed that a lot of his education "understanding different terms such asnet operating income (NOI), what apro formais, and what a good market looks like" came not from academic study but from actually "looking at different deals, and meeting agents." In fact, Cardone has never read anything on real estate investing: He replaced the knowledge that can be found in books with the knowledge that can be attained by actually looking at listings in different markets.

At 29, Cardone finally put his years of real estate studying into practice. He bought a single-family property in Houston that initially did well. However, after a few months, the tenants left, and Cardonescash flowdried up. He hated the fact that he had to lessen the focus on his main business in order to find new tenants. Afraid that this situation would recur, Cardone quickly sold the property for abreak-evenprice and swore that he would never purchase single-familyresidential real estateas an investment ever again.

Cardones second acquisition did not take place until five years later, in 1987.During that time, he continued to accumulatecashas well as increase his property investing knowledge. His first multi-family property deal was a 38-unit complex in San Diego. Cardone acquired the property for $1.9 million, making adown paymentof $350,000. Just over a month later, he acquired another complex.

Cardone continued to purchase more complexes at first, one at a time, though the pace later picked up. In 2012, Cardone Capital made what was dubbed as Florida's largest private party acquisition of multifamily real estate. It consisted of a portfolio of 1,016 apartments spread over five apartment communities for a total of $58 million.

His present-day real estate holdings are based in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, and continue to expand across many other regions with new funds being launched regularly.

Though Grant Cardone is famous as a professional sales trainer, he has successfully built a real estateempire from scratch which is now valued in excess of $740 million and comprises of a diversified portfolio of multi-family properties spanning multiple U.S. states. More people are renting now than at any point in the past 50 years and the number of homeowners has remained relatively unchanged. The market is big, and by offering easy investment options to common investors Cardone is capitalizing on the big potential that is available by purchasing multi-family properties. However, investors should note that such investments come with their own set of sector-specific real estate market risks, and property appreciation needs longer holding periods.

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The Multi-Million Real Estate Empire of Grant Cardone

Woke" politics is killing the Democratic Party. Michael BloombergMichael BloombergBiden surge calms Democratic jitters The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden riding wave of momentum after stunning Super Tuesday Delegate battle ahead likely favors Biden MORE, the former mayor of New York City, clearly has the best chance of beating Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpAs Biden surges, GOP Ukraine probe moves to the forefront Republicans, rooting for Sanders, see Biden wins as setback Trump says Biden Ukraine dealings will be a 'major' campaign issue MORE, but hell never be in a position to do so because of his habit of stating empirical truths. Thats totally disqualifying to the party's Social Justice Warriors.

Theres plenty to dislike about Bloomberg principally, his refusal to accept the science on guns and his longing to dump low-wage workers on the country to manicure his golf greens at half the price. (Also, he banned the Big Gulp!)

But those arent suicidal positions in the Democratic Party. No, its Bloombergs grasp of the obvious that appalls the party's base as was obvious from the gasps of debate audiences and the media.

The Feminist Division of the Woke Brigade:

Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann Warren Sanders condemns his supporters' 'ugly, personal attacks' against Warren The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden riding wave of momentum after stunning Super Tuesday Delegate battle ahead likely favors Biden MORE (D-Mass.) has been universally praised for hounding Bloomberg during the last two debates,demanding that he release former female employees from any nondisclosure agreements made as part of workplace lawsuits.

Assuming Bloomberg even has the authority to release parties to a contract, which in many cases he likely doesnt, this would be a disaster for plaintiffs.

The precise reason defendants are quick to offer handsome settlements in exchange for nondisclosure agreements is to protect their reputations. If such post hoc, one-sided revisions of the agreements were to become commonplace, the offers will come a lot less frequently and theyll have a lot fewer zeros.

Victims of sexual harassment will be forced either to accept a much smaller settlement, or to waste years of their lives on expensive legal proceedings, which they might lose. Juries are unpredictable.

And as Bloomberg has said, its not only the accused who want privacy in these cases. Just askHarvey Weinsteins accusers if they enjoyed having their dirty laundry aired at his criminal trial.

But in the name of "Girl Power" feminism, liberals are happy to screw over all future victims of sexual harassment.

The Racial Division of the Woke Brigade:

After slashing the murder rate in New York City to unimaginable lows, the former mayor bluntly explained how it was done:"Put a lot of cops on the streets, put those cops where the crime is, which means minority neighborhoods.

Logic is patriarchy!

If95 percent of murders murderers and murder victims fit one M.O. male, minorities 16 to 25, he said, then police should be questioningabout 95 percent young male minorities.

Math is patriarchy!

True, Bloomberg was off by a few percentage points: Typically, only about 90 percent of murder suspects in New York City are minorities(as are their victims.)On the other hand, the mayor was under-counting black and Hispanicshootings.About 97 percent of shootings in New York are committed by minorities.Thats precisely whatstop and frisk stops.

Overwhelmingly, their weapon of choice is a gun.Liberals wail about guns, but how do they imagine police get guns off the street? Answer: They go to high-crime neighborhoods and stop and frisk young men.As Bloomberg explained, "they say, Oh, I dont want to get caught. So they don't bring the gun. They stillhavea gun, but they leave it at home.

The aggressive policing of former mayors Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRevolution forecast: When a tsunami becomes a thunderstorm Bolton book release delayed due to government review Trump's three-track clemency process just might work MORE and Bloomberg saved thousands, if not tens of thousands, of black and Hispanic lives.But to "The Woke," saving such livesis an unforgivable sin if that means a few minutes of humiliation for young men in high-crime neighborhoods.

TheTa-NehisiCoates Division of the Woke Brigade:

During the 2008 financial crisis, Bloomberg explained how it happened:

It all started back when there was a lot ofpressureonbanksto make loans to everyone. Redlining, if you remember, was the term wherebankstook wholeneighborhoodsand said, Peoplein these neighborhoods are poor, they're not going topay offtheirmortgages, tell yoursalesmendon't gointo thoseareas.And then Congress got involved, local elected officials as well, and said, Oh, that's not fair, thesepeopleshould be able to getcredit. And once you started pushing in that direction,banksstarted making more and more loans, where thecreditof the person buying thehousewasn't asgoodas you would like.

Forget everything else he said.The moment Bloomberg mentioned redlining, liberal brains froze.

Theres nothing the matter with talking about redlining per se; author and journalist Ta-NehisiCoates does it all the time. But thesole purposemust beto blame this FDR-era policy, which was outlawed in 1968, for black poverty today.

Contrary to most news accounts, Bloomberg didnt blame theendof redlining for the financial crisis. If that were true, it would have been calledthe financial crisis of 1968.

He blamed politiciansgargantuanoverreactionto redlining, decades later, for the financial crisis.Thats whats known as "an indisputable fact."

As was reported extensively at the time, every governmental and quasi-government agency having anything to do with housing during the Clinton administration forced banks to jettison standard measures of creditworthiness in order to issue more mortgages to low-income and minority homebuyers specifically to make up for the legacy of redlining.

Because of redlining policies that had ended 30 years earlier, banks were required to ignore credit scores, W-2s,debt-to-income ratiosand, say, the fact that the borrowers husband was in prison. (True.) The Federal Reserve of Boston directed mortgage lenders to acceptunemployment benefitsas a source of income.(Also true.) Other housing authorities followed suit.

Fannie Mae then bundled the bad mortgages with the good and sold them to banks, which spread the bundles to investment portfolios throughout the country. When real estate prices tanked,the bad mortgages went belly-up, and the entire financial system collapsed.

Bloomberg knows what caused the 2008 financial crisis. But that is intolerable to the new woke Democratic Party.

Ann Coulteris a lawyer, a syndicated columnist and conservative commentator, and the author of 13 New York Times bestsellers. The most recent, Resistance Is Futile! How the Trump-Hating Left Lost Its Collective Mind, was published in 2018. Follow her on Twitter@AnnCoulter.

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You might not have heard because Trump is still president, so MSNBC and CNN were required to give hair-on-fire coverage of some mundane action hes taken this week but on Monday, Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and a criminal sexual act.

I have some random thoughts on the case and the whole #MeToo movement. Apologies in advance that this has nothing to do with Donald Trump, Dictator.

1) Every time I hear about Weinsteins predations, I wonder how many waitresses, real estate agents and housewives in Los Angeles might be celebrated actresses today, except that when Weinstein barged out of the bathroom stark naked and lunged at them, they fled the room and didnt look back.

Our media are so infantile. Cant we agree that Weinstein is a psychopathic scumbag without calling the witnesses against him heroes?

The true heroes are the girls whose names we dont know not the ones who were grossed out by the pig, but had sex with him anyway, then sent him emoji-filled, suck-up emails because they wanted to be stars.

True, we know there are some, like Gwyneth Paltrow, who turned him down flat, so kudos to her and to Brad Pitt, who accosted Weinstein afterward and told him, If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, Ill kill you.

Not to take away from that magnificent episode, but Paltrow is Hollywood royalty (the daughter of director-producer Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner), and her boyfriend at the time was an A-list actor. Still: heroes.

But how many actresses whom were supposed to envy and read about their skin care regimes and Hollywood Hills homes and how they were ugly ducklings as children (they all say that) are really no different from the average L.A. waitress, except they were willing to have sex with Harvey Weinstein or some similarly hideous beast?

Definitely keep getting your political opinions from them, America.

2) After the verdict, I looked at the list of movies Weinstein produced. There are nearly 200, maybe more. I have zero interest in seeing any of them, and the ones Ive so much as started were terrible except the three or four by Quentin Tarantino and one called Benefit of the Doubt, which sounds good.

Weinsteins talent wasnt in producing movies; it was in staging aggressive campaigns with the Oscars judges.

But lets be generous and say 10 of Weinsteins movies were great.

Thats worse than the music industrys practice pre-iTunes of selling $20 albums or CDs that had one, maybe two good songs. One good to 12 bad, versus 10 good to 200 bad.

My main takeaway from the Weinstein trial is that Im so glad theres Amazon Prime and Netflix now, so pushy freaks cant get rich producing schlock that the public hates.

3) There was fleeting coverage of the Weinstein case on Monday immediately after the verdict came in, with a bank of microphones set up outside the courthouse in anticipation of the defense lawyers making a statement.

Theyre the interesting ones here. Will they appeal? What do they expect from the upcoming trial against Weinstein in Los Angeles? Also, considering who the defendant was, they did pretty well.

News cameras were focused on the empty microphones, as TV anchors chit-chatted with guests, one eye on the courthouse door. On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell interrupted her guest when she thought she caught a glimpse of defense attorney Donna Rotunno. False alarm! back to the guest.

Finally, Rotunno emerged, headed toward the microphones and guess who leapt in front of her and got there first? GUESS!

No, not Michael Avenatti.

Gloria Allred, who proceeded to recite a lot of boilerplate about the accusers being heroes and speaking their truth. (She did not say: We know Weinstein was horrible because he hired my daughter to attack his accusers.)

Hilariously, Rotunno just kept walking, while TV viewers everywhere wishes a lightning bolt would strike Allred.

4) In light of the plague of white men, its notable that the majority demographic on the Weinstein jury was this hated group. The jury was composed of two white women, two black women, one black/Hispanic woman; one black man; and seven white men.

Despite Weinsteins repulsiveness, the case was far from a slam-dunk. Luckily, white men have not yet adopted the modern propensity to view the world as an identity group cage match. I would wager that it never occurred to a single white man on the jury to think: We cant send a white man to prison!

5) Also relevant to the white male pestilence infecting America: If wed cut off immigration around 1880, certainly by 1850, there would be hardly any #MeToo cases at all. (I cant think of a single #MeToo perpetrator of founding American stock i.e., the group that gets blamed for everything.) We need way better assimilation programs.

6) There was one notable exception to the medias refusal to budge off their 24-7 Trump Is an Authoritarian Monster coverage on the day of the Weinstein verdict: the Kobe Bryant memorial! All news was interrupted for hours and hours of live coverage of the Kobe event. No mention of Kobes rape case.

Ann Coulter is the writer of 12 best-selling books,

including In Trump We Trust.

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