Ask Doc Doc's note: Today, I'm sharing the final essay in our best of Retirement Millionaire Daily week. This is our most popular Q&A essay of the year, where we discuss a common complaint from our readers.
We haven't gotten many complaints in our inbox lately, but there is one we keep seeing... Folks want us to "stop selling" in our Retirement Millionaire Daily.
I'm no stranger to hating sales pitches.
When I bought my current car, I faxed my offer to the dealership. They either took my offer or not. But it worked. I didn't have to deal with a salesperson trying to sell me more than I needed. And I didn't have to haggle over a price.
But I have to chuckle a little bit when these complaints come in... We launched Retirement Millionaire Daily as a free daily letter... with a whole team of folks working hard to research the best ways to improve your health and wealth.
If it stopped bringing in revenue, it wouldn't be long before we'd have to shut it down. To put it another way: If it weren't for our advertising, there wouldn't be any Retirement Millionaire Daily.
But here's my promise: You won't ever find me selling something that I can't get behind.
For example, the 2017 Stansberry Conference is something that I'm personally involved in. From September 27 to 28, we have a lineup of guest speakers that includes Stansberry Research analysts – including myself – several New York Times bestselling authors, a Tony Award winning producer, the son of a former president, and much more.
Seats for the conference just sold out. But you can stream the whole thing online instead. Click here to learn more.
If you're not interested, no problem. Please continue enjoying the essays we publish each day for free. Forward them to a friend... share them on Facebook. And if you get tired of being "sold to," we include a link at the bottom of each letter to unsubscribe.
Send your criticisms and complaints our way at [email protected]. We read them all.
Q: I was recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee. I have been told that collagen supplements are helpful, but have found there are a multitude of different products on the market. Is collagen helpful, are there any downsides, and if helpful, what type is best? – M.B.
A: Before you resort to supplements, I'd recommend trying to go the more natural route.
If you're overweight, your first step should be to lose weight. Excess weight adds strain to your joints, making them ache more.
Some exercises can also relieve pain. One study from the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation analyzed 12 different reports on osteoarthritis and yoga. They found overall patients who participated in 45 to 90 minutes of yoga a few times a week saw their pain improve as well as a reduction in swelling and stiffness.
Weight-bearing exercises help improve cardiovascular health, but they also strengthen bones and joints. Avoid any high-impact, high-intensity exercises, as they would worsen your symptoms.
Another tactic is to go get a massage. According to the Mayo Clinic, several studies have pointed to massage improving pain and range of motion in people with osteoarthritis of the knees.
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Q: Isn't aspartame a dangerous ingredient in sugarless gum? – C.F.
A: Aspartame is a common sugar substitute found in ice cream, diet soda, mints, hard candy, and chewing gum. And yes, it's dangerous. Aspartame increases inflammation, damages healthy gut bacteria, and causes headaches.
Aspartame is made of three chemicals – methanol (a poison), aspartic acid (poisonous), and phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is an amino acid that makes up 50% of aspartame's structure.
Phenylalanine is critical in the body's functions in building proteins... But if you have a disease called phenylketonuria, your body is unable to process phenylalanine. And large quantities of aspartame could cause mental retardation.
For most people, moderation is best.
How much is too much?
If you just want to look at aspartame...
In the U.S. the recommended limit of aspartame is 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. That means a 150-pound person would have a limit of 3,402 milligrams per day.
Now that means you'd have to chew a lot of gum to meet that limit – about 425 sticks. But considering how many other foods you're eating that contain aspartame, don't chew too much.
Sugar-free gum without aspartame isn't hard to find. I see one brand – PUR – often. So if you're concerned about getting even small amounts, look for aspartame-free gum.
Q: BMI is actually as follows in English units:
(Weight in LBS) times 703)/ height in inches squared.
This is the actual formula. – R.H.
A: Thanks R.H., for pointing this out to us. Sometimes my researcher forgets which side of the Atlantic she is on.
The formula for BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared.
But you'll notice, that's not American units... The CDC has the formulafor us here:
BMI = weight (lb) / [height (in)]2 x 703
Interestingly, the formula for BMI was devised in 1830 by a Belgian scientist named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet... an astronomer, not a physician. He simply wanted a quick and easy guide to describe sizes of men based on a statistical system. That's yet another reason not to use BMI as your only guide for health.
Editor's note: Our offices here at Stansberry Research will be closed on September 4 in observance of Labor Day. Look forward to your next issue of Retirement Millionaire Daily on Tuesday, September 5.
- The most important question to ask yourself today.
- Something different: What this human-pig embryo means for our organs.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Retirement Millionaire Daily Research Team
September 1, 2017