Food Rules

Journalist and food quality activist Michael Pollan of the University of California at Berkeley discusses his new book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" with Jon Stuart of The Daily Show. Some interesting comments on the trade-offs between cheap, abundant food and nutritious food, and on how the requirement to refrain from denying health insurance based on pre-existing conditions may change the business model of health insurers for the better. View the interview here.

Coffee/Tea Reduce Diabetes risk?

Good news for coffee drinkers. Its a health drink again! Or at least a beverage you can enjoy guilt free.

A review of recent studies from the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that consumption of coffee and tea significantly reduces the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes.

"Call Me Back After the Holidays"

If you are in sales (and all network marketers are in sales) and you are not yet a fan of Jeffrey Gitomer, you should be. What are you waiting for?

In this article he offers 11 1/2 winning ways to deal with this classic pre-holiday stalling tactic. Try them out yourself, they really work.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a happy Holiday season and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Are Network Marketers behind the Social Networking Curve?

Despite what often seems like reluctance and resistance from established network marking companies, NETWORK Marketing and Social NETWORKS are natural partners. As businesses of all stripes pile onto the social networking bandwagon, will 2010 be the year that Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. finally go mainstream in the network marketing ecosystem?

Genetics Role in Obesity Minor, New Study Finds

A study published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition casts doubt on the importance of the contribution of genetic heritage to the growing incidence of obesity. The study suggests that as little as 1% of obesity may be due to genetic pre-disposition, with diet and lifestyle choices accounting for the rest. “The obesity epidemic we are facing today unfolded over the past few decades and can clearly not be explained by changes in the frequency of risk alleles,” wrote Claude Bouchard from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “It is more likely due to a changing social and physical environment that encourages consumption and discourages expenditure of energy, behaviors that are poorly compatible with the genome that we have inherited.”

This is a good news/bad news situation, of course. On the plus side, the study seems to conclude that reducing obesity - which is implicated as a contributing factor in many chronic diseases like cancer, coronary disease and diabetes - is largely under our control. This would have a huge and positive impact on not only our health as a society but on the cost of our healthcare system, since the lion's share of the cost is a result of treating chronic illness (about 75% of 2007 US healthcare expenditures). The bad news is, of course, that we can't continue to blame our genes and delude ourselves that we cannot personally do anything about it.

Which Twitter Type Are You?

Network marketing being, well, network marketing, social media tools like Facebook and Twitter can be incredibly useful for expanding and growing your business. They can also be an utter waste of your time and energy. Partly this is a matter of how well and appropriately you put these tools to work for you. And partly it is a matter of how these social networking communities perceive you. Here is an interesting perspective from social media maven Guy Kawasaki on "The Six Twitter Types". Which type are you? And which do you want to be?

Thanks to Gwen Baldinger at Lucky Penny Marketing for sharing this with me.