Ask Doc "Pick a side, Doc."
Last Friday, I asked you if you're a bull or a bear. Turns out, Health & Wealth Bulletin readers are fairly equally split. But some of you wanted me to pick a side...
The truth is that I'm neither a bull nor a bear. I'm a realist.
I'm going to be the person at this table who says: "Nobody panic. Nothing is blowing up like a nuclear bomb. Let's all take a deep breath."
After all, I've traded through...
- Black Monday in '87
- The savings and loan crisis that followed that
- The Asian debt crisis in '97
- The dot-com bubble in 2001
- The Great Recession in '09
- The COVID-19 crash just last year
Throughout them all, I learned two important lessons...
First, almost everyone – from your average small investor to professional investors on Wall Street – absolutely loses their mind when markets start to fall. No level of experience or fancy education makes people immune to that.
Second, the only folks who make it out unscathed – who manage to get out at the right time and preserve their wealth – are those who keep a cool head.
That's what I want you to do... Keep a cool head. And stick to the facts.
Is it time to panic and sell all your stocks? I personally don't think so. You could still make quite a bit of money on the right businesses.
But is it time to get your exit plan in place? Absolutely.
The market isn't designed to sustain this kind of activity for long periods of time. It will eventually correct itself – something that all of the new traders who piled into stocks at the beginning of this year aren't remotely prepared for.
It will likely be brutal for them. But it won't be that way for folks who prepare in advance and are able to keep a cool head.
On Tuesday night, I sat down with my colleagues Dr. Steve Sjuggerud and Dan Ferris for the Bulls vs. Bears Summit.
We revealed the truth about the recent wild market activity and what it means for your stocks before the end of the year.
We also unveiled the one step we all agree to take with your money right now, to ensure your wealth is protected, no matter where stocks go from here.
This one step could not only save you hundreds of thousands of dollars...
But also help you make money off the unique stocks that still have room to run.
If you missed the Summit, watch the replay here.
Now let's get into this week's Q&A... As always, please keep sending your questions and comments to [email protected].
Q: My doctor recently suggested steroids for my arthritis. I've heard good and bad things, I'd love to hear Doc's take. – G.C.
A: Quick pain relief from a steroid injection may make your pain worse...
A 2020 review from the journal Radiology sheds light on an often-overlooked problem: Steroid shots for osteoarthritis may speed up disease progression.
In other words, that shot might help with the acute pain, but it may also worsen your arthritis. It could mean more pain later as well as bone loss. The problem is that steroids change how our bodies break down calcium and vitamin D – both important elements for maintaining bone structure and strength.
If your doctor does recommend steroid injections like prednisone or cortisone, be sure to discuss these serious side effects with them.
Instead of going straight to steroids, try lifestyle changes first...
Getting calcium from your diet and getting plenty of vitamin D from sunshine are vital to staying healthy. Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich foods like fruits, veggies, and olive oil. Also be sure to add in weight-bearing exercises to keep your bones healthy.
Q: I enjoyed reading your article "Ditch Your Supplements." Can you address in an upcoming letter whether taking probiotics daily provides any health benefits? Thank you. – K.I.
A: Probiotics are touted as essential bacteria that everyone needs to be eating to maintain a healthy gut and digestive system. Unfortunately, probiotics have become a buzzword for companies to sell you junk meds.
Turns out, if you have a relatively healthy gut, eating probiotics isn't going to benefit you. Many people consider probiotics to be helpful for antibiotic-associated diarrhea ("AAD"), but a 2017 systematic review of 10 studies found this claim to be untrue.
In fact, a Scientific American report found that manufacturers don't select the strains of probiotics to market – Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus – because of their health benefits... but because it's easier to grow and farm them in large quantities. These particular probiotics may not even survive in the highly acidic environment of the human stomach.
The global probiotic market is estimated to reach $66 billion by 2024. Don't throw your money away on them – here's what to do instead...
Eating fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut as part of your regular balanced diet is a great place to start. (Regularly having a little bit of kimchi is better than eating a large serving of it once a week.) Then make sure you're getting good sleep, moving your body every day, and reducing your stress levels.
You might also be thinking of yogurt for your probiotic fix. But not all yogurt contains probiotics. And even when a yogurt advertises probiotics, it may be the same useless additive that you'd find in pill form.
What We're Reading...
- The deck is stacked against retirees.
- Something different: The country with a passion for typewriters.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 1, 2021