| Saturday - December 12, 2009 There are countless reasons to practice good health, and you can read about many of them in Total Health Breakthroughs and its sister publication, Early to Rise. But even if you're more interested in wealth building than "health building," it's a good idea to stay fit. Here's how Bo Dietl, ex NYC tough cop turned super-successful businessman, puts it in his book Business Lunchatations (which he co-wrote several years ago with Bob Bly). "What do weightlifting and bodybuilding have to do with my success both as a police officer and a businessman? I believe that people instantly judge other people based on the first impression they make -- and a large part of that first impression is physical." I don't lift weights anymore, but I do think that keeping fit is important for business as well as health. Here's how Dietl explains it. "If your body is flabby or weak, or if you lack physical energy, that impression is immediately conveyed to others. Be honest with yourself; have you ever thought of an obese person 'If she can't even discipline herself enough to control her weight, how can I trust her to control my business if I hire her?' "When you have a hard body underneath your business suit, that hardness and fitness help create a more impressive appearance. People will sense that you are a strong person, and treat you accordingly."
Unless you are a rare exception, you're not even close to getting the vitamins and minerals you need from the food you eat. And evidence that these nutrients can have major health benefits continues to build. Consider these facts: -
A 1992 USDA study of 22,000 Americans concluded that only 4 percent of them were getting the minimum recommended daily allowance (RDA) of essential vitamins. -
Americans tend to eat the same foods every day -- and that's a big problem. Sixty-five percent of American daily diets are deficient in zinc, 70 percent do not include vitamin-C-rich fruits, and 80 percent do not include carotene-containing vegetables. -
Because of modern farming methods, most foods today have less nutritional value than they once did. For example, it now takes 60 servings of spinach to get the same amount of iron as one serving provided in 1948. And you would have to eat 25 cups of spinach per day to get the RDA for vitamin E. To get the most nutritional value, you should eat an organic whole foods diet rich in colorful plant foods. But no matter how great your diet, these statistics show that everyone should also take a multivitamin and multimineral supplement. For even more diet and nutrition tips, you should keep reading Total Health Breakthroughs.
A reader writes in with a question I get frequently... "Can you recommend a business in which I can apply your principles and be successful? Of course, I will work hard at it to make it work. "I am disabled and have been unemployed for nearly three years now. And I am 15K in credit card debt. So time is short for me. I will be working as a team with my wife, who has been disabled for 25 of her 55 years." N.R. There is no one business that will give you guaranteed success, N.R. And I don't know enough about you to advise you what kind of business you might like or do well with. But given your financial situation, it's clear that you have to start earning an income quickly. And given the fact that you are disabled, there are lots of small businesses that may not be appropriate for you. Again, I don't know enough to say. My first thought was to suggest that you learn the skill of copywriting. American Writers & Artists Inc. has a program that can get you into money-making shape in six months if you work diligently, as you say you will.
But my second thought has to do with another sort of job you can do at home. It's a business I didn't even know existed until just recently. And it has many advantages for a person like you. -
It requires no capital outlay. -
It requires no expensive tools. A computer with an Internet connection is all you need. -
It is easy to learn. -
There is a great demand for this service, but little competition. -
You can start out small and grow as big as you want. I'm talking about becoming a professional researcher -- doing online research for the information-publishing industry. You can charge by the page, by the hour, or by the job. It's up to you. The information industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Thousands of new copywriters and editors are coming on board every month, and many of them desperately need help in researching their subject matter. Whether it's business, finance, health, travel, sports -- you name it -- there are millions of pages of information being published every day on the Web. You can provide a very valuable service to all those writers out there who have more work than they can handle. Just offer to do the research for them and they will happily pay you a fair fee. I discovered this niche just last week while reading an essay by a well-known copywriter who churns out more copy in a month than most copywriters put out in a year. Her secret, I found out, is that she has a researcher who does all the background work for her. The researcher spends her time on Google, sorting through articles and journals and locating the facts and figures the copywriter needs. I can think of a dozen busy writers and copywriters who would love to have a researcher helping them. Maybe you could be that person! I've suggested to AWAI that they start a program to teach people how to be a researcher. If you're interested, get in touch with Katie Yeakle, AWAI's Executive Director: kyeakle@awaionline.com. Maybe you can be one of their first students.
When it comes to investing, my rule is: Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. In today's market, this means that I am actively reorganizing my portfolio to protect myself from both inflation and deflation -- two realistic possibilities that could decimate my wealth. I'm protecting myself from inflation by continuing to buy gold coins and investing in natural-resource stocks. I'm protecting myself from deflation by investing in gold-related stocks and holding a lot of cash. But I don't expect these investments to provide me with an income or increase my net worth. I take care of those important objectives by investing in small businesses (actively) and large businesses (passively). But I have very rigorous standards. One of the people I go to for advice on my passive investment portfolio is Sound Profits Editor Andy Gordon. He knows a lot more about investing than I do -- and, just as important, he shares my conservative approach. He believes, as I do, that the return of my capital is more important than the return on my capital. Plus, he has a proven track record of making profits in good times and bad. I recently asked Andy for the secret of his success. This is what he told me: "When I choose a stock to invest in, I have to feel absolutely confident that the company is able to weather bad times. Markets are cyclical... good and bad times don't last forever. "For example, I happen to like the energy sector, and I've recommended several energy companies to my readers. Have energy prices peaked? I don't know. And as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter. Why? Because the shares of these companies are heavily discounted and they have growth strategies that will do well even if energy prices decline. "I also like certain food and drink companies, industrial global companies, and a data processing company. Are these sectors headed up or down? I'm not sure. But it doesn't matter. Why? Because I would be buying these companies at significant discounts, and each of them has resilient growth and global customer acquisition strategies."
You've probably heard horror stories about bugs and other "unmentionables" accidentally ending up in people's food. But what if manufacturers were intentionally adding ground-up insects to their products? Well, they are. The food additive "carmine" is derived from the body of the cochineal beetle. The extract is used to produce a bright pink, red, or purple color. It is commonly found in foods like yogurt, ice cream, red grapefruit and other fruit juices, maraschino cherries, and candy, as well as drugs and cosmetics. Food manufacturers are not required to identify the source of carmine on the label... and they don't. (Probably because of the "gross-out" factor.) It's usually listed as "natural color" or "color added." But there are two problems with that. For one thing, carmine is an animal product, which is important to some people with dietary restrictions. Plus, carmine is a known allergen. It has been linked to hives, sneezing, asthma, and even anaphylactic shock -- which can be fatal. Several groups are pressing the FDA to require more specific labeling for such ingredients. That is certainly a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, as we always advise, you'll never have to worry about what you're eating if you stick to whole, unprocessed foods.
Managing Editor Jon Herring is battling the "red meat myth" again. But not everyone is happy. Here's what one reader said: "Get f-ing real! Americans have eaten and continue to eat far too much red meat, and are afflicted with many disorders associated with excess animal fat, such as heart disease, gout, obesity, liver failure, etc. -- to say nothing of the preservatives, nitrites/nitrates, and hormones you mention, which are, of course, unhealthy. "You are doing everybody a disservice by arguing that red meat is just 'ok,' as long as it's this or that kind. Seems that your organization needs a credibility check!" What do you think? Check out Jon's article and add your comments.
[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.] | 
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