Monday, 30 March 2020

Best All Natural Antibiotics

Best All Natural Antibiotics


The discovery and development of antibiotics has been a literal lifesaver for both humans and animals. Before antibiotics, many bacterial infections led to death. What started as a minor infection burgeoned until the body could no longer survive it. After antibiotics, millions of lives were saved and surgeries became safer.

Unfortunately, bacteria are highly adaptable. They are able to evolve to become immune to the medications we throw at it. This process is called antibiotic resistance, and it is happening all the time. Our overuse of antibiotics has seriously accelerated this process.

For this reason, it is often better to give your body a little bit of time to try and fight the bacteria without medication. Improve your natural infection-fighting ability by eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds on a regular basis. And when your body needs a boost to fight off a pesky bug, try the following 12 natural antibiotic foods.

One of these is actually among the most famous gifts ever given – can you spot it? But first, find out more about how the overuse of synthetic antibiotics is pushing the population toward a global crisis.

Don’t gamble with your health, but give your body a chance to fight off an infection with the support of the following 12 foods before you ask for an antibiotic.


1. Garlic

Garlic is an all-around superfood. Not only has it been used as a natural antibiotic for hundreds of years, it also has anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antimicrobial properties.

This is thanks to a compound called allicin (also present in onions). To fight infection, use crushed garlic either lightly cooked or raw.


2. Oil of Oregano

Oregano is another tasty natural antibiotic, a benefit linked to its carvacrol content. This natural antibiotic is good for all sorts of bacterial infections, but is especially lauded for its use in GI tract infections.

For best results, look for oregano oil that contains at least 70% carvacrol. This product is also anti-fungal, so you can use it topically for skin issues as well.


3. Echinacea

Echinacea is one of the best known natural remedies, but many people use it to treat the virus that causes the common cold – a use that research suggests is not effective.

Instead, take Echinacea if you have a bacterial infection, open wound, or blood poisoning. It is also particularly effective on respiratory infections.


4. Cayenne Pepper
This one is a bit counterintuitive, as we are usually advised to keep things bland when we’re sick. But spicy cayenne pepper is actually both antibiotic and anti-fungal in nature, so you might want to feel the burn to shorten the illness.

It’s best to dilute your cayenne with a carrier oil – olive or coconut are good choices – so that you get the benefits without harming delicate tissues


5. Grapefruit Seed Extract

Stop throwing away the seeds from your morning grapefruit! Extract from those seeds has been found to be as powerful as the active ingredients in antibacterial soaps.

Grapefruit seed extract may be used internally for bacterial infections or externally for warts and communicable disease prevention.


6. Ginger

Ginger is an excellent spice to eat every day. Its active component, gingerol, has been proven to reduce your risk of developing cancer and to prevent or soothe digestive issues.

Ginger has also been long used as a natural antibiotic, especially against food borne pathogens. If you eat a little ginger with meals, the likelihood of becoming ill goes down, even if you were exposed to salmonella, listeria, or campylobacter.


7. Cabbage

In many situations, the tendency of cabbage and other veggies in the cruciferous family to blow up your intestines with gas is well, not so good. But when you’re trying to fight bacteria, it’s just what you need.

The sulfur compounds in cabbage do cause gas, but they are also stellar at destroying harmful cells. The antibacterial function of cabbage is strongest when you eat it raw.


8. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been touted for a few years now as a miracle product that’s good for your body inside and out. And in truth, coconut oil is loaded with antioxidants and has anti-fungal and anti-microbial characteristics.

Modest use may also help strengthen the immune system. But it is quite high in saturated fat, so it’s best to go easy on oil.


9. Apple Cider Vinegar

And while we are talking about health crazes, let’s look at apple cider vinegar. Touted for everything from weight loss to cancer prevention, proponents report that their ACV habit cures all manner of ills.

We do know that ACV has antibiotic and antiseptic capabilities, so whether or not you want to drink some every day, it’s a smart call when you start to feel under the weather.


10. Myrrh Extract

Here is a spice that you probably recognize from the biblical story of the birth of Jesus. That will give you some idea how long people have known that it makes effective medicine.

Much more recently, a 2000 study confirmed that myrrh is able to combat bacteria like E. coli, staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. Myrrh oil is available today in pharmacies, natural grocers, and online.


11. Olive Leaf Extract

It’s not just olives and their oil that offer health benefits – the leaf of the olive tree is also handy to have around the house. Olive leaf extract has been used as a natural fever reducer since at least the early 1800s.

It was also found to treat malaria. Researchers have discovered recently that it is the elenolic acid in olive leaves that functions as a broad spectrum antibiotic that can kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi.


12. Honey

Honey is one the oldest known antibiotics, tracing back to ancient times. Egyptians frequently used honey as a natural antibiotic and skin protectant.

Honey contains hydrogen peroxideTrusted Source, which may account for some of its antibacterial properties. It also has a high sugar content, which can help stop the growth of certain bacteria.

Additionally, honey has a low pH level. This works to pull moisture away from bacteria, causing the bacteria to get dehydrated and die off.

To use honey as an antibiotic, apply it directly to the wound or infected area. The honey can help kill off the bacteria and aid in the healing process. If possible, opt for raw Manuka honey. This form of honey offers the most health benefits. You can purchase raw Manuka honey here.

You can also ingest honey to aid in the treatment of internal infections. Simply swallow a whole tablespoon or stir it into a warm cup of herbal tea for a soothing treat.





Antibiotic resistance is no joke, but you can do your part to slow it down by using natural antibiotic alternatives whenever possible. Incorporating at least one per day of these 12 products into your routine can boost your immune system and stop bacteria from gaining a foothold in your body.

That’s not to say that you will never again need a doctor-prescribed antibiotic medication, but it will make your infection easier to treat when that day comes.

US could face 200,000 coronavirus deaths, millions of cases


US deaths from coronavirus could reach 200,000 with millions of cases, the government’s top infectious diseases expert warned yesterday as New York, New Orleans and other major cities pleaded for more medical supplies.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, estimated in an interview with CNN that the pandemic could cause between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in the United States.

Since 2010, the flu has killed between 12,000 and 61,000 Americans a year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 1918-19 flu pandemic killed 675,000 in the United States, according to the CDC.

The US coronavirus death toll topped 2,400 yesterday, after deaths on Saturday more than doubled from the level two days prior. The United States has now recorded more than 137,000 cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, the most of any country in the world.

Jason Brown, who was laid off from his job in digital media due to the pandemic, said Fauci’s estimate was scary.

“I feel like it’s just growing, growing, growing,” said Brown, who is 27 and lives in Los Angeles, one of the epicentres of the outbreak. “There’s no vaccine. It seems like a lot of people don’t take it seriously in the U.S. so it makes me believe that this would become more drastic and drastic.”

Erika Andrade, a teacher who lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, said she was already expecting widespread deaths from the virus before Fauci’s estimate on Sunday.

“I wasn’t surprised that he said the numbers were coming. They were lower than what I actually expected,” said Andrade, 49. “I’m worried for my mother. I’m worried for the people I love.”

In New York, the usually bustling city was quiet except for the sound of ambulance sirens.

“It feels very apocalyptic,” said Quentin Hill, 27, of New York City, who works for a Jewish nonprofit. “It almost feels like we’re in wartime.”

New York state reported nearly 60,000 cases and a total of 965 deaths yesterday, up 237 in the past 24 hours with one person dying in the state every six minutes. The number of patients hospitalised is slowing, doubling every six days instead of every four, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Stephanie Garrido, 36, a tech worker from Manhattan, said she has not left her home in 15 days, receiving her groceries by delivery. Too many New Yorkers have underestimated the aggressiveness of the virus as many people continue to socialise and congregate, Garrido said.

“Those people are in denial or just don’t think it will affect them. It’s extremely inconsiderate,” Garrido said. “People need to consider that this will be much longer term.”

The governors of at least 21 states, representing more than half the US population of 330 million, have told residents to stay home and closed non-essential businesses.

Maryland arrested a man who repeatedly violated the ban on large gatherings by hosting a bonfire party with 60 guests, Governor Larry Hogan said yesterday.

One bright spot yesterday was Florida reporting about 200 more cases but no new deaths, with its toll staying at 56.

President Donald Trump has talked about reopening the country by Easter Sunday, April 12, despite many states such as New York ordering residents to stay home past that date. On Saturday, he seemed to play down those expectations, saying only “We’ll see what happens.”

Tests to track the disease’s progress also remain in short supply, despite repeated White House promises that they would be widely available.



Confirmed Cases and Deaths by Country - March 30, 2020


VENTILATOR SHORTAGE

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose state has become one the fastest growing areas for the virus, especially in the county that includes Detroit, called the rapid spread “gut-wrenching.”

“We have nurses wearing the same mask from the beginning of their shift until the end, masks that are supposed to for one patient at one point in your shift. We need some assistance and we’re going to need thousands of ventilators,” Whitmer told CNN.

New York City will need hundreds more ventilators in a few days and more masks, gowns and other supplies by April 5, Mayor Bill de Blasio said to CNN.

New Orleans will run out of ventilators around April 4, John Bel Edwards told CBS.

Ventilators are breathing machines needed by many of those suffering from the pneumonia-like respiratory ailment and many hospitals fear they will not have enough.

Dr Arabia Mollette, an emergency medicine physician at Brookdale and St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, say she now works in a “medical warzone.”

“We’re trying to keep our heads above water without drowning,” Mollette said. “We are scared. We’re trying to fight for everyone else’s life, but we also fight for our lives as well.” – March 30, 2020, Reuters

Saturday, 28 March 2020

COVID-19 Guidelines: You Are Safe As Long As People around You Are Safe


Coronavirus or novel coronavirus or how it’s scientifically called, COVID-19 has shook the world. When we stepped into 2020, we were filled with hope and excitement, but just three months into it and the world is in chaos- a tiny invisible virus has brought the world into a standstill.

Before we go on and on about coronavirus, we want to start by saying that don’t panic. We can fight it together by taking precautions and changing our behaviour. Amidst all the terrifying reports of this deadly virus, there is news for hope too. Hundreds of patients have recovered from COVID-19, and according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, COVID-19 pandemic is the first-ever, pandemic that can actually be controlled.

Furthermore, the death rate is higher in adults above the age of 60, and individuals with pre-existing conditions and people with low immunity. However, this doesn’t give young, healthy people the liberty to behave irresponsibly. Because you might contract COVID-19, recover too, but you might pass it to others for whom it might prove fatal. Or you might just be a carrier of coronavirus –meaning you won’t get infected, but you will pass it on to someone or something which has the potential to cause the infection. It’s not just our social responsibility anymore, its the moral responsibility of every human.

The main cause for the spread of COVID-19 is continued socializing even after cases began appearing. Allow us to elaborate:

A person infected by coronavirus doesn’t show symptoms for 5-14 days after he is infected. The incubation period of COVID-19 is 2-14 days. In this window period, the infected person isn’t aware of his/her condition and goes on living life normally, in the process infecting others. Now, these infected individuals are clueless about what’s happened to them, and they inadvertently spread the virus to more people until the symptoms start to appear.

In countries which are worst affected by COVID-19 such as China, Iran and Italy, the graph of the number of COVID-19 cases has always been exponential. So to combat it, social distancing is pivotal.



Avoid large social gathering, parties, dining outside, mass celebrations or planned vacations. Go out when it’s absolutely necessary. Everything can wait; the coming two-three weeks is crucial. Buy grocery and other necessities needed for 15 days or so but don’t stockpile. It will create more chaos and panic among people. In times like this, it’s important to be kind. Before you hoard up on supplies, such as hand sanitizers, soaps or toilet papers, think about your fellow human beings; you are safe as long as the people around you are safe.

Government preventive measures can work only when we proactively corporate with the government. We can fight it together; we can beat COVID-19 and control the spread. Yes! It’s going to be tough, its a lockdown we weren’t prepared for. But it has to be done.

During the time of self-quarantine, don’t forget to:

  • Wash your hands frequently
  • Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth
  • Practice respiratory hygiene
  • Disinfect surfaces and gadgets
  • If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early
  • Stay informed and follow the advice given by your healthcare provide
COVID-19 Guidelines: You Are Safe As Long As People around You Are Safe

While these external factors are vital to prevent the spread, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is equally important. If you are in a lockdown or self-quarantine, it’s a perfect time to start cooking! Instead of Netflix and chilling, try getting back to the kitchen and bring out the MasterChef in you. Eat healthy and nutritious food. Wash the veggies and meat thoroughly, don’t eat it raw. Don’t binge on junk food and stay hydrated —preferably, drink warm water. Exercise or practice Yoga. You can do it at your home or in your porch or terrace. Focus on boosting your immunity. Because until a cure or vaccination for COVID-19 is found, your immunity is the only thing that can keep you safe.

Below are a few foods which are the powerhouses of immunity

  • Citrus fruits: lemons, oranges, grapefruit
  • Indian gooseberry
  • Ginger
  • Garlic
  • Turmeric
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli
  • Watermelon
  • Green Tea
  • Pomegranate





Remember folks, in these desperate times, the true testament of human nature is proven. Instead of treating everyone out there as a possible suspect, let’s try to take care of each other. Yes, social distancing is in place, but kindness and compassion can still be shown.

In conclusion, we want to advise our younger lot to be more careful. You might be blessed with vitality and good health, but your grandparents and parents may not be. With age, the immune system weakens, and your parents or elders at home might not be able to recover if they get infected with COVID-19.  Therefore, take precautions, because if you don’t, you might be the one infecting your parents or grandparents. Take care of yourself and stay at home to take care of your parents. Its always better to be safe than sorry!

We sincerely hope, that within a month or two we can contain COVID-19 and get back to normal life. We know we will!!

Take care people. Stay safe!

Friday, 20 March 2020

10 Foods You Should Never Eat Again After Age 45



As you’ve matured, your tastes have changed. You’ve outgrown many once-favorite foods. Chances are that sugary cereal, penny candy, and bubblegum are no longer part of your daily routine. At another time you may have subsisted on ramen noodles, peanut butter sandwiches, or delivery pizza, until your tastes, habits, or budget evolved.

Now that you’re over 45, you have a new set of reasons to reexamine your diet, banish unhealthy choices, and adopt a new set of favorites. With age come changes in your metabolism, activity level, brain function, and personal priorities; now may be the time to look for healthier alternatives to some of the foods you’ve become accustomed to.

Here’s a list of the top ten foods that may not be a good fit for healthy lifestyle after 45 – and a longer list of alternatives you may find that you enjoy even more. Making the switch can usher in an era of better heart health with reduced risk for cancer and diabetes, less digestive discomfort, a slimmer waistline, less chance of brain fog, healthier skin and hair, and added years of good health. A few thoughts as you start:

Don’t feel you have to make all changes at once. You don’t even have to make all of them. Just pick two or three you like best and phase some others in over time.

Don’t feel you have to go ‘cold turkey’ from one extreme to the other. Gradual changes are more likely to be permanent.

Identify your excuses for making bad food choices and eliminate them. For example, you may overindulge because it’s a “special occasion.” Replace impulse eating with purposeful eating and watch your health improve day by day.

Print this report and keep it in the same place you write out your weekly grocery list. Use it over time to swap in healthier food choices.

Finally, for those food habits you simply can’t give up, save yourself some “cheat days”, but no more than one a week.

Here’s our list of ten foods to give up after at 45, and in bold face type with each, a longer list of foods you’re apt to like better anyway. It’s your body, your health, your future – so choose your foods wisely.

10 Foods You Should Never Eat Again After Age 45
(and 20+ You’ll Like Better Anyway)

1. Fried foods
The more fried food you eat, the greater your risk for heart failure. That’s the conclusion of a 2015 study at Harvard Medical School, as reported by WebMD.

Their recommendation: “ditch the French fries, doughnuts, crispy fried fish and chicken, and other foods cooked in fat.” 1

Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, told WebMD that greasier foods increase calorie consumption, leading to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

"In addition,” she said, “people who eat a lot of fried foods may also consume a generally less healthy diet, consisting of more red and processed meats and fewer vegetables, beans and fruits. The bottom line is, eating fried foods once in awhile is fine but not on a daily or even a weekly basis."

The good news is that finding alternatives to fried foods is easy. If you have a fondness for fish and chips, order your broiled fish with a pat of butter and eat just half an order of the fries. If you must a donut with your coffee, choose a donut hole instead; you’ll enjoy the same donut shop experience while eliminating 73% of the calories. Fast food joints known for fried food offer non-fried alternatives, like grilled chicken sandwiches.

2. Junk food
Junk food is no joke. The term applies to any cheap food containing high levels of calories from sugar or fat while offering little in the way of fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals.

Junk food alone is probably not going to wreck your health, but it is a contributing factor. Best of all, it’s easy to eliminate.

The best selling items in most fast food places and convenience stores are junk food. To get the burgers, fries, candy bars, and chips out of your diet, stop going into (or driving through) the places that sell them. Since you most often eat these foods when you are out in your car, consider keeping healthier snacks like granola bars in your vehicle. Or if you’ve looking to grab a snack while you’re filling your gas tank, convenience stores often sell bananas, apples, or healthy snacks like fruit and yogurt cups (just look out for added sugar). If you crave something crunchy and salty, skip the chips and grab a small bag of lightly salted almonds.

Junk food calories are empty calories. The high metabolism you enjoyed when you were growing up easily burned them off. But after age 45, it’s time to reassess; aren’t there better things your like to spend your daily calories on?

3. Sandwiches
Though we’ve just mentioned grilled chicken sandwiches as a much healthier alternative to fast-food burgers, a sandwich for lunch every day may not be the best idea.

Sandwiches traditionally combine bread (often refined white bread), lunch meats (high in fat and nitrates), cheese, and mayo or other high calorie spreads. Put them all together and you’ve got a calorie bomb in a baggie.

Here are some healthier alternatives:

Make or order all your sandwiches with whole grain bread
Use twice the vegetables and a third less meat
Hold the cheese; or eliminate all the meat and use one slice of cheese with lots of veggies
Replace mayo with mustard, pickle relish, or hummus
Deconstruct the sandwich by ordering a bowl or a wrap instead, completely eliminating the bread
Order your lunch off the salad menu and skip the sandwiches altogether (beware the high-calorie dressings and the basket of bread)
These options are as quick, easy, and satisfying as traditional ham-and-cheese, but without the excess fat and calories. As with with the junk food, you’ve got better things to spend your calories on.

4. Refined Sugar
Refined sugar is added to many processed and prepared foods for a couple basic reasons.

First, it’s an easy way to make foods more appealing to your taste buds.

Second, sugar is ridiculously cheap due to heavy subsidies from the federal government; while one set of government workers urges you to adopt healthy eating habits, another is doling our subsidies, tax breaks, and trade protection to U.S. sugar producers. In addition, many in the political class now want to tax you for consuming the very same sugar that your taxes already helped subsidize.

In a nation where diabetes has reached epidemic levels, taxpayer-financed sugar subsidies make no sense whatsoever. Your take-away – do your own research, think for yourself, and stop letting the government decide what you put in your mouth.

Start by eliminating as much refined sugar as possible. According to nutritional experts, refined sugar contributes to serious health problems such as obesity, tooth decay, hypoglycemia, diabetes, vitamin and mineral depletion. 2 Tooth decay alone is a compelling reason to give up refined sugar; your later years will be a lot more pleasurable if you still have your original set of healthy teeth.

Nutrition expert Dr. Josh Axe recommends these top 5 sugar substitutes: raw honey, stevia, dates, coconut sugar, and maple syrup. 3

5. Added salt
Like refined sugar, salt is a cheap food additive that our tastebuds enjoy and have become accustomed to. Food processors know this and add salt liberally to packaged and prepared foods.

Historically, salt has been an essential element in the human diet due to its value as a preservative. Salt has been used to cure fish and meat going back thousands of years. However the advent of refrigeration in just the last century has reduced the need for salt as a preservative. Trouble is, our taste buds and our cooking habits still haven’t fully adjusted.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, high salt intake increases blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease. 4

You have many alternatives to added salt when it comes to enhancing the flavor of your food. These include garlic powder, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, herb blend and many other options found in the spice section of your favorite market.

6. Distilled spirits
You already know that alcohol has serious health impacts. What you may not have considered is that these impacts can be more severe after age 45. Your brain, your liver, and your heart can all suffer irreparable harm, degrading your quality of life in your mature years.

The brain impact alone is enough to cause anyone to reassess their alcohol habits; cognitive decline, depression, and the risk of falling all increase with excessive alcohol consumption.

If you drink distilled spirits, consider switching to options with lower alcoholic content as a safer choice. Beer and wine in excess can be as bad for your health as distilled spirits, but have the advantage of being more dilute.

Many popular options are now available for lower alcohol beer (under 5% ABV). A few top selling brands include Anchor Steam (4.9%), Founders All Day IPA (4.7%) , Newcastle Brown Ale (4.7%), Goose Island Honkers Ale (4.3%), and Guinness (4.2%). Some popular brews go even lower: Sam Adams Light (4%), Murphy’s Irish Stout (4%), and Victory Donnybrook Stout (3.7%).

These beverages allow you to enjoy social hour without unduly punishing your brain, liver, heart and other organs. Two 12-oz. bottles of Sam Adams Light contain less than one full ounce alcohol. Two pints of Guinness contain about 1-⅓ oz. of alcohol.

Most wines have a higher alcoholic content than beer, but still much lower than distilled spirits. Wine is typically 12-15 percent alcohol, versus 40 percent or more for distilled spirits. Some varieties tend to be lower in alcohol, including moscato and reisling at around 6%. Some red blends have alcohol content as low as 10.5%. Red wine contains resveratrol, believed by many to support heart health. Mix your wine with sparking water or fresh squeezed fruit juice to reduce the alcohol content even further.

For a taste comparable to wine at the alcohol level of beer, Angry Orchard hard cider comes in at 5.0% ABV. Other ciders and fruit lambics may be lower.

Learn to purchase or order beer and wine based on alcohol content, much as you’d compare nutrition labels of jars of peanut butter. If you occasionally want to enjoy a distilled spirit, use a ample amounts of a mixer such as sparkling water, ginger ale, bloody Mary mix, or fresh squeezed fruit juice.

Also remember that the single most important beverage to consume is pure water. Have a glass of water both before and after consuming alcohol in order slow absorption, dilute the alcohol in your system, and stay adequately hydrated, since alcohol actually dehydrates you.

7. Mystery meat
Hot dogs and other processed, cured meats should be avoided because they contain... well, who even knows what they contain, which in itself is the reason to avoid them. Mystery meat tends to be high in fat, sodium, nitrates, fillers, and food coloring, not to mention animals parts you always assumed either got thrown away or used in dog food.

If you’re eating in a deli, sliced turkey breast is probably your best bet. Turkey pastrami is a healthier choice than deli meats made from fatty beef brisket. If you’ve having an occasional hot dog, makers of all-beef hot dogs tend to have the highest standards for quality and nutrition. Hebrew National, maker of kosher-certified all-beef hot dogs, claims that its wieners are superior because “we answer to a higher authority.” There may be some truth to this, as Hebrew National along with Wellshire Farms was rated tops in the nation by a taste-testing panel at The New York Times. 5

The healthiest meat options include grass fed beef and bison and antibiotic-free chicken and turkey.

8. Soda

Since you’re reading a report on healthy living, you probably don’t need to be told that soda is bad for you.

Whether it’s full-sugar or a diet version, soda is not healthy and has no redeeming values. It does not make your life better or more fun, and it does not make you more attractive. Switch to iced tea (either unsweetened, or sweetened with one of the natural alternatives listed earlier in this report). Choose either traditional black tea, anti-oxident rich green tea, or one of the many flavorful herbal teas. Or go with one of the many options available in water – flavored water, vitamin water, or basic pure spring water. Hydration is essential, soda is not.

9. Fat-promoting foods
Being obese and over 45 is a bad combination. The strain on your heart alone can take years of good health off of your life. The extra pressure on your joints can make walking difficult and uncomfortable. This in turn means you’re less likely to get even a basic level of exercise. It’s time to shape up your diet by erasing fat-promoting foods from your life.

Leading culprits include potatoes, a starch and should be eaten in moderation. Instead, choose vegetables like cabbage, green beans and carrots. If you’re dining out, skip the starches and order an extra vegetable or a salad instead.

Avoid high-fat ground beef. Instead choose 90 percent lean beef. Don't eat the skin on chicken. You still need some fat in your diet, which you can get from using high quality olive oil, all-natural peanut butter, and avocados. 6

If your diet is too heavy in fat-promoting foods (and you’re too heavy as a result), seek help from your doctor, from a nutritionist, or reshape your food intake and your body by following a common sense eating plan like the Mediterranean diet.

10. Brussels Sprouts
Never eat brussels sprouts after age 45 – unless you actually like brussels sprouts. We’re stretching the point here in order to say that you no longer have to eat what your mother tells you to eat. Now that you’ve matured, you should not feel compelled to eat anything you don’t like – brussels sprouts, broccoli, liver, you name it. Enjoy your meals by learning to choose foods that you enjoy and that are good for you. Your grocer offers more variety than ever before, as do restaurants. Experiment with new foods that are whole, fresh, and low in fat. Find what you like and eat it!

Apple limits online iPhone purchases to 2 per person amid Covid-19


Apple Inc is limiting customer purchases of iPhones over its online stores in many countries including the United States and China to a maximum of two handsets per person, checks on its website on Friday revealed.

The purchase caps come just after the hardware maker closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores outside China, as the coronavirus spreads globally and forces lockdowns and limitations on public movement to contain it.

Checks on Apple’s website reveal that in numerous countries, a drop-down menu prevents customers from buying more than two of the same model iPhone, across all models. The last time it did so was in 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced, to stop people from reselling them.

In mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and Singapore, a message appears above iPhone listings informing customers that purchases will be limited to two devices per order.

Apple declined to comment.

The purchase limits come as Apple braces for a blow due to the coronavirus’ impact on sales, both due to supply chain disruptions and weak demand.

As the illness swept China, Apple closed all of its brick-and-mortar retail outlets in the country, only reopening all of them by March 13. Foxconn, its most important manufacturing partner, temporarily halted operations, though founder Terry Gou has said that production has now returned to normal.

In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a letter warning investors the company would unlikely meet its initial revenue projections for its calendar 1Q earnings guidance due to the virus.

Now, while China’s factories have resumed operations, Apple and other hardware companies face weakening demand as the countries around the world shutter retail stores and enforce social distancing.

The coronavirus, which originated in China in late December, has since spread to 178 countries, infecting over 240,000 and killing about 10,000 globally.

On March 13, Apple announced that all of its Apple Stores outside of China would shut down to fight the spread of the virus.

According to Nicole Peng, who tracks the smartphone sector at research firm Canalys, Apple is likely limiting online orders to prevent scalpers from stockpiling devices and re-selling them on the grey market.

“This happened in the past in Asia when there is a new iPhone launch and scalpers saw an opportunity to sell to mainland China, where the new phones were harder to buy at the time,” she said.

“Now that stores all over the world are closed, online scalpers see a similar opportunity.”