"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable." - Sydney Smith

Safe Income, Month after Month

By Charles Delvalle

Investors love to get large dividend checks. But you should be very wary of companies that pay 15 to 20 percent dividends. Nine times out of 10, they are new companies, often paying out more than they earn in order to attract investors. But once these companies run out of cash, they understandably lower their dividends (which will, inevitably lower the stock price). So not only will you lose when your 15 percent dividend falls ... you'll lose again when the company's stock drops.

Before investing in any dividend-paying company (or any company, for that matter), make sure it is fundamentally sound. Verify that the company has a long history of increasingly high dividend payments - the longer the better. And make sure its payout ratio (which measures the percentage of a company's earnings that go to dividends) isn't over 70 percent - or, in the case of a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) or Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), that it isn't over 90 percent.

[Ed. Note: Charles Delvalle is a contributing editor to ETR's Investor's Daily Edge newsletter.]
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Smoking Tobacco? Chewing It? What's Worse?

By Jon Herring

In Message # 1576 I told you about a long-term study of over 40,000 men and women which showed that even "light smoking" (less than five cigarettes a day) tripled the risk for lung cancer and heart disease. But it's not just cigarette smokers who are at risk.

A recent study of almost 30,000 people in 52 countries suggests that chewing tobacco can double the risk of heart attack - while those who chew and smoke increase their risk more than fourfold. It also shows that secondhand smoke is even more dangerous than originally thought. Just one to seven hours of weekly exposure to secondhand smoke increases heart attack risk by 24 percent, while 20 hours of exposure increases it by 62 percent.

These studies send a very clear message: You need to kick the tobacco habit. Completely!

The good news is that light smokers who quit have very little added risk of heart attack three to five years later. Heavy smokers who quit see a rapid decrease in risk, but still have some extra risk even 20 years later.
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1826, 09-05-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

One More Candlestick Pattern That Can Make You Money

By Rick Pendergraft

In ETR #2123 and #2124, I told you about how to use candlestick patterns to help you decide what sort of trades you should be making. Today, I want to tell you about another set of candlestick patterns that can help you decide when to enter and exit trades: the Bullish Engulfing and the Bearish Engulfing patterns. (Click here to see examples.)

Once again, these are reversal patterns, just like the Doji, the Hammer, and the Shooting Star patterns.

They are called engulfing patterns because the body of one day engulfs the entire body of the previous day. These patterns show a shift in momentum: The bullish engulfing pattern is a sign that the bulls have seized control from the bears, and the bearish engulfing pattern is a sign that the bears have sized control from the bulls.

Whether you are a short-term trader looking for small, quick moves or a long-term investor looking to time your entries and exits better, candlestick patterns should help make your decisions more profitable.

[Ed. Note: Rick Pendergraft is a market expert and two-time winner of the "Top Trader" award at Schaeffer's Investment Research.]
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The Truth About Coconut Oil

By Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Readers of my newsletter have been asking me if what they've been reading on the Internet about the benefits of coconut oil - which used to be considered detrimental to heart health - is true.

Some websites are making claims for coconut oil that seem to go beyond what the limited research tells us. One website claims, "Coconut Oil Is The Smarter Fat That Helps Promote Weight Loss." Another claims, "Coconut Oil Can Cure Your Hypothyroidism." Still another claims, "In traditional medicine around the world coconut is used to treat a wide variety of health problems, including the following: abscesses, asthma, baldness, bronchitis, bruises, burns, colds, constipation, cough, dropsy, dysentery, earache, fever, flu..." and the list continues through the rest of the alphabet.

Most smart nutritionists never thought coconut was unhealthy. After all, people in many parts of the world have been consuming coconuts for many years, sometimes in large amounts, with no apparent adverse effects. Coconuts and coconut oil are healthy additions to one's diet. The problem arises when marketers and promoters make it seem that these are miracle foods, and people then think that the more they consume, the healthier they will be. Thus, their diet goes off balance and they fail to incorporate other healthy food choices.

Those who never or rarely consume coconut or coconut oil products would likely derive some health benefits by incorporating coconut in their diet. However, those who consume coconut on a regular basis aren't likely to incur additional benefits - particularly if the excess coconut increases their caloric intake or is a substitute for the beneficial oils found in flaxseed or fish oils.

I don't think that large amounts of any oil are healthy... no matter what you read on the Internet. Instead of consuming large amounts of one type of oil, try small amounts of a variety of oils. This way, you'll get the benefit of a number of different fatty acids rather than just one. In my opinion, fish oils and flaxseed oil are your healthiest options, but olive oil and small amounts of coconut and other oils can certainly be part of your diet.

As much as possible, ingest your oils without heating them. If you do use them for cooking, keep the cooking temperature as low as possible.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, M.D., the author of Mind Boosters, is internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements.]
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It's Fun to Know: The Lunar Ark

A group of experts from around the world are recommending that a moon-based archive of our planet's culture, learning, and technology be created to help civilization recover in case of a planet-wide disaster (such as an asteroid or comet impact similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs). Members of the France-based International Space University are laying the groundwork for this project, hoping to start landing archives-armed robots on the moon soon.

(Source: National Geographic)
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Word to the Wise: Otiose

Something that's "otiose" (OH-shee-ose) - from the Latin for "leisure" - is lazy, useless, or ineffective.

Example (as used by Peter Conrad in New Statesman): "The umlaut he affected, which made no difference to the pronunciation of his name, was as otiose as a pair of strategically positioned beauty spots."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2148, 09-15-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Should You Take Garlic Supplements?

By Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Garlic supplements are one of the best-selling natural products around, with a reputation for lowering cholesterol. But patients with high cholesterol who have been given small amounts of garlic supplements have not shown any dramatic improvement. These results have prompted certain skeptics of nutritional supplements to dismiss garlic.

But don’t reject garlic completely. It may not do much to lower cholesterol levels, but it has many other health benefits. Based on the studies I have read, garlic may help lower blood pressure, has antimicrobial activity, and could have anti-cancer potential. Plus, it tastes great.

Some evidence suggests that the benefits of raw garlic are reduced when garlic is cooked or processed and packaged in pill form. I prefer to eat raw garlic, and I personally don’t take a garlic supplement. But if you don’t like the taste of garlic, you can find garlic supplements, including odorless garlic, in health food stores or online.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, M.D., the author of Mind Boosters, is internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements.]
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2147, 09-14-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Weight Loss: How to Fight Cravings -- and Win!

By Dr. Jonny Bowden
 Much like Pavlov’s dogs, we are trained to have a physiological response (hunger) to a neutral stimulus. We associate all sorts of things with food, from a holiday celebration to a fight with our spouse. Food nourishes us, but it also comforts us, soothes us and even medicates us when we’re feeling anxious, lonely or tired. No wonder it’s so easy to overeat!

But just as we were conditioned to associate food with all sorts of neutral stimuli, we can undo that conditioning. And it generally takes no more than 21 days.

Our overeating triggers are actually chains of events, like Christmas tree lights that go on in sequence. A stressful argument leads to feeling helpless, which leads to the kitchen, which leads to 10 packs of Ring-Dings.

So here’s the trick: short-circuit the chain.

On my CD audiobook “Change Your Body Change Your Life,” I call this “putting a chink in the link.” Break the circuit and the remaining lights don’t fire up.

First, isolate exactly what your five biggest hunger triggers are – loneliness, watching TV, anger, boredom, whatever. Write them down.

Now put a “chink in the link.” Substitute a new activity for the destructive activity, much like an addict learns to go to the gym and get “high” from running. Try any one of these simple activities next time you hit one of your triggers:

1. Brush your teeth.
2. Eat a pickle. Eating something completely different from what you’re craving tricks the brain and kills the craving. Try eating a hot pepper when you’re craving chocolate and you’ll instantly see what I mean.
3. Reward yourself with a relaxing activity you normally wouldn’t do. Try a warm bath or uninterrupted reading of your favorite magazines.
4. Go for a walk. The endorphins released will often balance the chemistry of a craving brain.
5. Write down what you’re feeling. Try “being” with that feeling for five minutes.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He’s a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master’s degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life.]
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Mind/Body/Soul:
From Victim to Hero
By Dr. Matthew Anderson
Are you stuck in the Victim Syndrome? Confronting and shaking off the mentality of a victim could be the most courageous and life-transforming act of your life.

The Victim Syndrome is a self-destructive view of yourself and the world. It leads to powerlessness, blame, low self-esteem and resentment. If the Victim Syndrome is not identified and managed it can destroy your body and your relationships. It can also become a “family tradition” -- a way of seeing one’s position in society that has been passed down from generation to generation.

The checklist below can help you discover if you have been “infected” by the Victim Syndrome.

The Victim Syndrome Checklist.
To what degree do these items apply to your thinking, feeling and behaving?

1. I often feel powerless to change my life for the better.

2. I harbor a great deal of resentment toward others.

3. I often blame others (spouse, parents, economy, lack of education, etc.) for the unhappy
circumstances in my life.

4. I can easily name “good” reasons for why I cannot change.

5. I have many friends and family that agree with my “good” reasons.

6. I have a hard time forgiving others.

7. I have a hard time forgiving myself.

8. I dislike or am uncomfortable with the word “responsibility.”

9. I resent and resist the idea of growing up.

10. I often fear life and its challenges.

11. When I am afraid I usually honor that fear and allow it to stop my productive action.

12. I often share my feelings of powerlessness with others.

13. I complain a lot.

14. I avoid people who encourage me to make positive changes.

15. I have not taken a significant risk in years.

16. I use my weight, gender, level of education, etc. as an excuse for my passivity.

17. I have decided that one cannot heal from past trauma.

18. I refuse to make a list of positive changes I want in my life or begin to make a plan of action.

19. I think that all these items apply to someone else.

Most of us have some of these attitudes some of the time. But if you find that more than a few of the statements below apply to you, then please find a good support group or therapist to help you escape the Victim Syndrome.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships.]
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Alternative Eating:
Eat Like a 2-Year-Old
By Dr. Tim Reynolds
If you have kids, you know what the headline to my article means. Two-year-olds are natural grazers. They eat a little here, a little there. They don’t sit down and gorge themselves, then starve themselves until the next feeding. They only start doing that once we teach them to. “Don’t eat that, you’ll spoil your dinner,” we say. Instead, we should be learning from them and eating six small meals a day.

Eating more often with less food makes sense no matter how old you are. It raises insulin levels less, which allows you to keep hormonal changes in better balance. If you eat six small meals a day, you will also be less hungry when you do eat. This means you will have a much better chance of eating nutritious foods instead of reaching for something high in sugar.

So if you want to control appetite, eat more nutritious foods and live a healthier life, I suggest you eat like a 2-year-old.

[Ed. Note: Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert.]
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Exercise & Fitness:
7 Bodyweight Exercises for a Total-Body Workout
By Craig Ballantyne
Many people don't have time to consistently go to the gym and want to work out at home. But how many exercises can you really do at home without clunky machines?

All that you need for a total-body workout.

This entire workout can be done using only your body’s weight as resistance. In fact, this workout allows you to use more muscles per exercise than you would at the pec-dec at your local gym. It should take no more than 24 minutes, but it will boost your metabolism for 24 hours.

Here's the workout. Beginners should do all exercises in the entire workout only once. Only those at advanced fitness levels should try the three-set system described below.

1. Bodyweight squat and
2. Pushup or kneeling pushup.
These are basic exercises and should need no description. Do exercises 1 and 2 back to back, with no rest (we call that a superset). Aim for 8-12 repetitions per set. If you are advanced, rest 1 minute before starting the next superset. Then rest a minute and repeat one more time.

3. Split squat and
4. Mountain climber.
A split squat is also called a stationary lunge. Split your feet apart by taking a step forward. Use the wall for balance if you are a beginner. Drop your hips straight down and use your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps to push your body back up. Do all repetitions for one side and then repeat for the other side. Do 8 repetitions per side.

For the mountain climber, get into a pushup position. Brace your abs as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach. Maintain that during the entire exercise. Lift one foot off the ground and bring that knee up to your chest, then touch the foot down as if climbing up a mountain wall. Slowly return to the start position. Alternate sides for 10 repetitions per side.

Do exercises 3 and 4 as another superset as describe above. Do three supersets only if you are advanced.

5. Reverse lunge and
6. Close-grip pushup.
A reverse lunge is also called a moving split squat. Stand with your feet together. Take a step back with one leg. Drop your hips down and bend both knees. Then squeeze your butt and thigh of the front leg (the leg that didn't go anywhere) and pull yourself back up to the start position. Do 8 reps on one side and 8 on the other. Beginners, use the wall for balance.

The close-grip pushup is the same as the normal pushup, except your hands are shoulder width apart, not wider. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides. This works your triceps (the back of your arms) more. Do 8-15 repetitions.

7. Jumping jacks.
Finish the workout with the classic jumping jack exercise. Beginners, do 20 and then stretch. More advanced exercisers can do 50 jumping jacks, take a 30-second break, and repeat up to three times. Then finish with stretching for your tight muscle groups.

[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine.]
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Recipes & Nutrition:
Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata
By Kelley Lunsford
Farm-fresh eggs go Mediterranean in this one-dish meal that is perfect any time of the day. It provides sight-saving lutein and zeaxanthin, plus glutathione, an antioxidant that fights free radicals and detoxifies your body.

Serves: 6

Time to Table: 20 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight
. Lutein, zeaxanthin, glutathione, omega-3
. Excellent source of riboflavin, selenium
. Good source of protein, vitamin B12, folate

Ingredients
1/4 cup organic sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cups organic asparagus, blanched and chopped
2 Tbsp organic Parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbsp organic butter
1/4 cup organic, 1% milk
6 large organic, omega-3 eggs
1/2 medium organic onion, diced

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 F. In large bowl combine beaten eggs with the milk and Parmesan.

Heat the butter in a medium oven-safe sauté pan, and add the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent and golden.

Pour in the egg mixture and turn the heat down to low. Stir the eggs to fully cover the bottom of the pan. When the eggs begin to cook and take shape, stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus. Place the sauté pan into the oven and continue to cook for 2 more minutes until the frittata is cooked around the edges and the center has puffed up.

Remove immediately form the oven. Invert the frittata onto a large platter and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
120 calories, 8 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 2.6 g monounsaturated fat, 0.9 g polyunsaturated fat, 219 mg cholesterol, 162 mg sodium, 5 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber, 3 g sugars, 9 g protein

[Ed. Note: Kelley Lunsford is the Founder & CEO of Healing Gourmet, a multimedia company that educates on how foods promote health and protect against disease. She is also the creator of Healing Gourmet's Personalized Nutrition Software and Editor-in-Chief of the Healing Gourmet book series published by McGraw-Hill, including Eat to Fight Cancer, Eat to Beat Diabetes, Eat to Lower Cholesterol and Eat to Boost Fertility.]
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 09-21-07] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul.

Engulfing Patterns

"Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it means liberty." - James Russell Lowell

"The spirit of the speaker will determine the spirit of the audience." - Roger Ailes

"Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it." - Benjamin Franklin

"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that the whole thing started with a mouse." - Walt Disney

Onions and Garlic ... "Powerful" in More Ways Than One

By Jon Herring

If you're like me and enjoy the taste of garlic and onions - and you eat them often - you're doing a lot more than adding some flavor to your meals. You could be adding years to your life.

The allium plants - particularly onions, shallots, and garlic - have been used as food and medicine for thousands of years. And modern science has confirmed that these pungent vegetables are some of the most medicinally potent foods we can eat. Hundreds of population and laboratory studies have shown that they have strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and immune-boosting qualities.

Onions, shallots, and garlic have also been shown to reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol, and normalize blood pressure. And a large Italian study, recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows a strong inverse correlation between onion and garlic consumption and cancers of the mouth, esophagus, breast, ovaries, kidneys, and prostate.

So whenever you have a chance to slice a shallot for your salad, put an onion on your sandwich, or press some garlic to go with your mixed vegetables, do it!
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1926, 12-30-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Antioxidants and Vitamins: The Truth Behind the Headlines

By Mike Adams

If you've been reading the mainstream media recently, you might have come to the conclusion that vitamins are the most dangerous things you could possibly consume. Headlines declare antioxidants to be useless, vitamin C to be dangerous and vitamin E to be deadly! Nutrition, it seems, is suddenly under attack.

But what's really behind these scare tactics? Is there any real science behind the headlines?

To answer this question, consider the most recent example: a large antioxidant study (vitamins E and C) in women. A nine-year study followed more than 8,000 women to determine the effects of antioxidants in preventing heart disease. The study found a significant reduction in stroke (31 percent) and heart attacks (22 percent) among those women who actually took the vitamins. But if you consider all the women who originally signed up for the study -- including those thousands who never took the vitamins -- it turns out the results show nothing substantial.

Of course you're not going to see positive results in women who didn't take the vitamins. Nor would you see results from anything else (a drug, an herb, etc.) if the women didn't actually take that substance. And yet the mass media stories about the study all declare antioxidants to be useless because they are considering the measured results of all the women, including those who didn't take the antioxidants. It's like taking a hundred cars that ran out of gas, filling up 40 of them with gasoline, then declaring that gasoline doesn't make cars run because 60 of them are still on empty.

It sounds absurd, I know, but it's only the beginning of this story. Time after time, medical researchers and the mainstream media seem to go out of their way to distort scientific studies and misinform readers about the usefulness of vitamins and dietary supplements.

Another study publicized last year declared that vitamin E was deadly and would kill you with heart attacks and strokes. This particular meta-data analysis was based on synthetic vitamin E (a completely unnatural chemical made from petroleum derivatives), not the vitamin E that appears in nature. Furthermore, many of the study subjects were elderly patients already suffering from heart disease, putting them at high risk for heart attacks from day one. When these patients started to die during the study, researchers declared, "The vitamin E killed them!"

Researchers also went to great lengths to cherry-pick studies that showed negative results for vitamin E, tossing out all the studies that showed positive results. This kind of subjective inclusion of clinical trials in a meta analysis is a classic sign of scientific fraud.

I know what you're thinking: Researchers are smarter than that. They wouldn't be so foolish as to count the results of people who didn't take the vitamins or give supplements to the near-dead and blame their deaths on the supplements. But you might be assuming these researchers are operating with ethics in the first place -- and experience tells us they're not.

Many receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants offered to them by drug companies. Their primary research (and revenue source) involves studying the effects of pharmaceuticals. Researchers who don't consistently "discover" positive effects for pharmaceuticals are eventually blackballed from the industry and find themselves jobless and unemployable. There's a tremendous amount of pressure applied to researchers to make sure they uncover findings that support the financial interests of the drug companies. Eighty percent of all clinical trials funded by drug companies produce results that are favorable to the financial interests of those companies.

Similarly, there is also a lot of pressure to find something wrong with dietary supplements, herbs and nutrition -- precisely because such substances compete with pharmaceuticals. The more consumers take nutritional supplements, the less they need pharmaceuticals because nutrition actually prevents disease. So one of the key ways to ensure a strong future market for pharmaceuticals is to discredit nutritional supplements and make people believe they're somehow dangerous.

This is all quite laughable, given that prescription drugs are now the 4th leading cause of death in America. FDA-approved pharmaceuticals are killing at least 100,000 Americans a year right now. Dr. David Graham, a senior FDA drug safety researcher, reported that just one diabetes drug recently scrutinized for its health effects has likely killed more than 80,000 Americans! That's more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, and this is from but one drug.

Almost nothing is killing Americans faster than prescription drugs, not terrorists, not war, not chemicals in the food, car accidents or drunk driving. Pharmaceuticals are so universally dangerous to the health and safety of Americans that if they were herbs, they would have been outlawed years ago.

And yet vitamins have killed no one. No one ever died from taking natural vitamin E, eating superfoods or ingesting vitamin-rich berries. In fact, nutritional supplements and superfoods greatly enhance human health, protect you from disease and greatly reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, depression, diabetes, obesity and many other common diseases.

It is a curious sign of the times that the mainstream media, which receives billions of dollars in advertising from drug companies, now finds itself in the business of misinforming Americans, trying to convince them that day is night, up is down, nutrition is dangerous, war is peace, ignorance is strength and freedom is tyranny. It's right out George Orwell's classic, 1984.

So don't be suckered by the headlines. Be a skeptical thinker, and consider who's funding these skewed studies that somehow keep inventing dangers associated with herbs or dietary supplements.

[Ed. Note: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger -- a leading authority on healthy living -- is on a mission: to explore, uncover and share the truth about harmful foods and beverages, prescription drugs, medical practices and the dishonest marketing practices that drive these industries.]
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Healthy Healing:
The Healthy Antidote to Antibiotic Side Effects

By Dr. Ray Sahelian

When I was a resident working in hospitals I routinely saw patients suffer from diarrhea after being placed on antibiotics. These drugs, while useful, also caused so much misery. Yet there's a simple remedy for this, one recently confirmed by an important new study. You can counteract the harmful digestive effects of antibiotics with their counterparts, probiotics.

Some background: An antibiotic kills the bad bacteria causing an infection, but it often also kills the good bacteria in your gut and other places in your body. By killing the good bacteria in the gut, harmful germs can get a foothold and cause diarrhea.

British researchers wanted to find out whether a probiotic drink containing lactobacillus could help reduce the incidence of diarrhea associated with antibiotic use. Older hospital patients taking antibiotics drank 100 grams of a probiotic preparation twice a day during a course of antibiotics and for one week after the course finished. The placebo group received a sterile milkshake.

The results showed that 12 percent of the probiotic group developed diarrhea, compared with 34 percent in the placebo group. The researchers conclude, "Consumption of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and S thermophilus can reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. This has the potential to decrease morbidity, healthcare costs and mortality if used routinely in patients aged over 50."

I hope doctors and hospitals begin to add a probiotic supplement or drink to the regimen of patients placed on antibiotics. In the meantime, if you are prescribed antibiotics, you can find probiotic formulations at your local health food store.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, M.D., is a practicing physician and best-selling author. He is a leading authority on natural supplements and nutrition. For the latest research on organic ways to improve your health and well-being, click here.]
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Alternative Eating:
The Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

By Dr. Jonny Bowden

From 1977 to 2001, the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages containing fructose increased 135 percent. In 2006 five different publications came out showing that adolescents, college students and adults under 50 were consuming as much as 20 percent of their calories from sugar-sweetened beverages -- and that doesn't include the sugar calories from cakes and desserts. Most of this sugar comes from fructose and "fructose on steroids," also known as high-fructose corn syrup.

These sugars are everywhere. We consume them in insanely high amounts, and the health costs are just beginning to be recognized. New research points to some of the possible consequences.

In one study, overweight and obese adults were instructed to eat their usual diet along with sugar-sweetened beverages. One group was asked to consume 25 percent of the day's calorie requirement as a specially made beverage sweetened with glucose (a simpler form of sugar). The other group was given an identical beverage sweetened with fructose. Both groups were allowed to eat as little or as much of their usual diet as they wanted, but were required to drink the sugar beverages.

Not surprisingly, all subjects gained weight. But the fructose-consuming subjects gained intra-abdominal fat, whereas the glucose subjects did not.

Why does this matter? Because intra-abdominal fat -- the kind that makes you more of an apple than a pear -- is the most dangerous kind of fat to carry around. It puts you at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease and a constellation of symptoms called Metabolic Syndrome, which itself is an almost certain path to either heart disease or diabetes. The fructose-consuming subjects also had increases in fasting insulin and in fasting glucose, both of which are associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Triglycerides have long been recognized as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In this study, researchers measured triglycerides after eating. In the fructose group, postprandial triglycerides more than doubled. In addition, the overweight men and women assigned to drink the fructose-sweetened beverages developed a more atherogenic lipid profile in just two weeks, meaning they may have been on their way to atherosclerosis.

The message is clear. Read food labels carefully. Cut fructose and its steroidal cousin from your diet.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life. For more information, click here.]
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Mind/Body/Soul:
How to Make Sense of Your Emotions

By Dr. Douglas Ramm

As a practicing clinical psychologist I am often astounded by how little insight people have into their emotions. For many, emotions are inexplicable and somewhat mysterious aspects of human nature. Some believe their emotions should be ignored. Others assume that by following their feelings they will find happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life.

In fact, neither way of handling feelings is truly effective in an attempt to find and hold onto emotional well-being. What enhances our potential for achieving emotional well-being is the ability to make sense of the emotions we experience in daily life.

The first step in making sense of your emotions is realizing that all emotions are a matter of how we are situated with respect to those things, people and events we believe to be essential to our overall emotional well-being. Take fear, for example. Walking down the street you suddenly hear a bus bearing down on you at high rate speed. You instantaneously become frightened because this thing coming at you threatens your safety, an essential aspect of your emotional well-being.

The second step in making sense of emotions consists of realizing that we find love and joy when we are in direct contact with who or what we consider essential. Like fear, anxiety surfaces when there is a threat to what we believe is essential to our emotional well-being. But unlike fear, where the threat is clear and present, with anxiety the threat is vague and not yet here.

We become depressed when we lose something or someone we consider essential. We become angry when someone unfairly does something that results in a threat to or loss of something or someone we believe to be essential. Envy occurs when we encounter someone who has something or someone we believe would enhance our emotional well-being. We become jealous when we worry someone may take away something or someone we consider essential.

Next time you feel love or joy or the next time you become frightened, anxious, depressed, angry, envious or jealous, take a look at how that emotion relates to how you are situated with respect to a thing, person, or event that seems to be essential to your emotional-well being. As this connection becomes clearer, you will be better able to make use of your emotions in your efforts at becoming happier and more satisfied with life.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Douglas Ramm is a psychologist, philosopher, author and leading researcher in the field of emotional well being, contentment and life satisfaction. He has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows where he shares insights for enhancing quality of life. Discover how to enhance yours here.]
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Weight Loss:
Are You Eating to Kill Anger?

By Dr. Matthew Anderson

Most overweight people eat to overcome, diffuse or "kill" certain uncomfortable feelings. We live in stressful times and high stress generates uncomfortable feelings. But very few of us have been taught effective skills to manage those feelings. So we handle them the best way we can -- we eat.

But eating to kill feelings causes its own set of problems: fat, of course, but also additional painful feelings. Then we have to eat even more. We get caught in a self-perpetuating cycle.

What do we do about it? The effective answer is to become aware of and manage your feelings. Today, I want to focus on anger.

Everybody feels angry at some time. People who say they don't are deluding themselves. Anger is a natural and necessary human emotion. When anger is handled properly, it can be useful and healthy. When anger is chronically suppressed, it can contribute to depression, weight gain and other health problems.

Many of us are scared of our anger. Well-meaning but uninformed family members, religious groups and school systems have taught us that anger is bad, unnecessary, unfeminine, dangerous and destructive. No wonder we eat to kill anger.

So what can you do to stop?

1. Admit that you get angry.

2. Buy some books that help you understand anger.

3. Make a list of everything that angers you.

4. Make a second list of productive, positive ways to deal with the items on your "angry list."

5. Make a list of the people in your life you need to communicate your anger to. Get a third person to help the conversation stay on track and remain productive. Then, go and talk it out.

Your ability to manage your anger will increase even if you do only one of these suggestions. Start with the easiest, safest one and work from there.

[Ed. Note: Dr Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships.]
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Recipes & Nutrition:
Almond-Encrusted Halibut

By Kelley Lunsford

Eco-friendly halibut takes on a deliciously creative crunch from almonds. And it's a nutritional powerhouse too -- providing an excellent source of eight nutrients (plus a good source of seven more) essential to your wellness.

Serves: 4

Time to Table: 25 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight

. Omega 3
. Excellent source of protein, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, selenium
. Good source of fiber, calcium, folate, iron, thiamin, copper, zinc

Ingredients
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup slivered organic almonds
1/4 cup organic wheat germ
1 large organic egg
1 cup low-fat milk
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
24 ounces Pacific halibut (4-6 ounce fillets)
1/2 tsp sea sal
t1 whole organic lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 F. In shallow dish, whisk together egg and milk. Stir together wheat germ, almonds and parsley in a separate dish. Sprinkle halibut with sea salt and pepper. Dip fish in egg mixture, then in almond mixture. Place fish in glass baking dish and bake 5 minutes per 1 inch of thickness. Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutritional Information
314 calories, 13 g total fat, 1.6 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 6.2 g monounsaturated fat, 3.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 107 mg cholesterol, 402 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 4 g Fiber, 1 g sugars, 42 g protein

[Ed. Note: Kelley Lunsford is the Founder & CEO of Healing Gourmet, a multimedia company that educates on how foods promote health and protect against disease. She is also the creator of Healing Gourmet's Personalized Nutrition Software and Editor-in-Chief of the Healing Gourmet book series published by McGraw-Hill, including Eat to Fight Cancer, Eat to Beat Diabetes, Eat to Lower Cholesterol and Eat to Boost Fertility. For more information, click here.]
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 09-14-07] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." - Benjamin Franklin

"Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, sensitive or assertive, but about a set of attributes. First and foremost is character." - Warren Bennis

"Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time." - Bill Gates

"Too much zeal offends, where indirection works." - Euripides

Are You a "Light" Smoker? Don't Kid Yourself

I can't tell you how many people have told me, "I only smoke when I drink" or "I only smoke two or three a day." I guess that's better than a pack a day, but it's still more harmful than you might think.

Researchers in Norway recently published the results of a long-term study of 43,000 men and women. They found that even smoking fewer than five cigarettes a day tripled the risk for lung cancer and heart disease. This study sends a very clear message: If you want to live, you need to kick the habit - immediately and completely! Make today the first day of your healthy, smoke-free life.

(Reference: WebMD )

- Jon Herring
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"The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Beware the Discouragement Fraternity

By Robert Ringer

I recently read an interesting article in Entrepreneur magazine about women who have inherited their fathers' businesses. One of the women mentioned in the article was Julie Smolyansky, 30-year-old president of a publicly traded company, Lifeway Foods Inc. The company manufactures cultured dairy, natural, and organic "probiotic foods." (Don't ask.)

Smolyanksy took over the reins of the company when her father was struck down by a heart attack in 2002. She recalls overhearing people, at her father's funeral no less, expressing doubts that the company could survive with a 27-year-old "girl" running the show.

A few weeks after she had taken over the helm, one of her father's top advisors bluntly told her that she simply wasn't up to the challenge. He opined that she would need some older and wiser "gray hair" on the board.

Her response: "I told him I didn't agree and I'd handle things a little differently." I love it! A real-life female tortoise. What a dignified way to say "Get stuffed!"

It gets better. Smolyanksy says, "We were under the gun, and I didn't have time to monkey around with people who didn't believe in me. I wasn't going to spend my energy being diplomatic and political."

In the spirit of Martha "Get Out of My Way If You Don't Want to Be Stepped On" Stewart, Julie Smolyansky is definitely another one of those women with whom you wouldn't want to slow dance. Lifeway Foods has prospered under her, with sales now approaching $20 million.

Maybe this no-nonsense female executive read Dan Kennedy's book No B.S. Sales Success: The Ultimate No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners & Make Tons of Money Guide. Like all of Kennedy's works, it's a classic.

Perhaps the most important section of Kennedy's book is where he talks about avoiding being "contaminated" by the words of old pros who give you involuntary advice. Or what I refer to in To Be or Not to Be Intimidated? as being intimidated by the "Discouragement Fraternity."

First, let's take a look at what Kennedy has to say in his book.

In Chapter 4, he warns about the dangers of a fresh and enthusiastic salesperson listening to the unsolicited advice of "grizzled veterans" - people who have managed to make a decent living in their chosen professions through a combination of longevity, seniority, and accumulated customers or clients.

In other words, they succeed, to one extent or another, just by following Woody Allen's advice to just show up every day. It is Kennedy's (and my) contention that these seasoned vets can negatively impact the attitude of a person entering their field. Among other things that Kennedy offers as reasons for their bad advice:

. They resent hotshots who might make them look lazy, ineffective, or over the hill, and will pull out all stops to put such upstarts in their place.
. They are cynical about their customers.
. They are complainers and blamers who don't take responsibility for their own failures.

He further explains that you can find these naysayers in virtually every kind of business or organization - "on the showroom floor at the car dealership, gathered around the coffee machine in the real estate office, in the hall, or at the sales meeting."

It is absolutely critical that you not allow these know-it-alls to contaminate your thought processes. Which means you must exercise discretion when it comes to the people you allow to influence you.

In To Be or Not to Be Intimidated? (first published in the seventies as Winning through Intimidation), I give similar warnings to my readers in Chapter 2. I begin by admitting how ignorant and naive I was when I entered the real estate brokerage business.

I was devastated by the discouraging remarks that were gleefully directed at me by virtually every real estate agent with whom I spoke. More often than not, when I would talk to a real estate agent about my plans to obtain a real estate license, he would drone on and on about how difficult it was to be a success in the real estate brokerage business, and why a newcomer would find it almost impossible to get started ... let alone succeed.

Fortunately, I had already reached a psychological maturation point in my business life that allowed me to ignore most of the negative grenades tossed at me. I had long ago concluded that all members of the Discouragement Fraternity had two things in common: (1) Because they were insecure, they feared competition, and (2) they were ferocious about protecting their turf.

In that same chapter, I tell one of my favorite stories about an experience I had in an organic chemistry class in college. The story is far too long to tell here, but the gist of it is that I came smack up against a "Court Holder" in that very difficult course.

Basically, a Court Holder is just an average guy who makes a career out of holding court. He's the jerk at every cocktail party explaining how utterly simple it all is - the one poised with one elbow on the mantel, a drink in his hand, and a group of information‑starved puppies flocking around him in a semicircle.

More to the point, a Court Holder is a master intimidator. And To Be or Not to Be Intimidated? is all about refusing to allow others to intimidate you.

As I write in the book, "Don't allow yourself to be intimidated by know‑it‑alls who thrive on bestowing their knowledge on insecure people. Mentally close your ears and put blinders on your eyes, and move relentlessly forward with the knowledge that what someone else knows is not relevant. In the final analysis, what is relevant to your success is what you know and what you do."

Later, in Chapter 9 of the same book, I discuss a theory that is a natural extension of the Court Holder phenomenon - the Leapfrog Theory. The Leapfrog Theory states: No one has an obligation - moral, legal, or otherwise - to "work his way up through the ranks." Every human being possesses an inalienable right to make a unilateral decision to redirect his career and begin operating on a higher level at any time he believes he is prepared to do so.

In other words, ignore the "words of wisdom" of the established hotshots in your profession and go for the gold without asking anyone's permission. If you aspire to great accomplishments, you must recognize that the quickest way to the top is not by fighting your way through the pack but by leapfrogging over it.

As with a pig, make it a point never to wrestle with a Court Holder. When you, and you alone, feel ready to move up in class, simply jump over the swarm of Court Holders in front of you and ignore their warnings of imminent disaster on the horizon.

Oh, and just so you know, once you make it to the top of the ladder, be prepared to be disliked. Your success is a hard pill to swallow for those who warned you that what you were contemplating was all but impossible.

But here's the good news. Of those who dislike you, probably 50 percent will kiss up to you anyway, because they are shamelessly impressed by wealth. And probably another 40 percent will genuinely respect you for your accomplishments. Finally, figure about 10 percent will actually go through life mad and refuse to acknowledge your success.

On balance, not a very high price to pay for getting what you want out of life. Just smile and say to yourself, in the words of Emmett Smith (the midget among giants who broke the NFL's all-time rushing record): "Now tell me what else I can't do."
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Today's Action Plan

At this point in your career, you should know who you can trust to give you good advice. Keep in mind that not all good advice is positive. Often, the voice of experience can help you avoid serious mistakes by pointing out flaws in your plans. But be wary of unsolicited advice from naysayers whose only purpose seems to be to keep you from "leapfrogging" (to use Robert Ringer's word) over them.
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Living Rich: Become an Expert in an Interesting or Arcane Subject

The people I most admire are usually very skillful and knowledgeable at their jobs. But they have a secondary skill or knowledge that they trot out of the barn from time to time - often unexpectedly but always impressively. One of my brothers, for example, is a first-rate expert on Greek poetry. And at weddings or casual drinking fests, he can quote appropriate verses of Tennyson, Auden, and Eliot. To me, this is an indication of a man who lives life a little bigger, broader, and more romantically than most others.

- Michael Masterson
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Word to the Wise: Lamia

A "lamia” (LAY-mee-uh) is a female demon - a vampire. According to Greek mythology, Lamia was a queen of Libya, loved by Zeus. Hera, Zeus's wife, robbed her of her children from this union and turned her into a monster. Stories have also been told of a fiend named Lamia who, in the form of a beautiful woman, seduced young men in order to devour them. Such nightmarish legends compelled poet John Keats and many other writers before and after him, to write their own tales of Lamia, which still haunt and terrify.

One way to use "lamia" in a sentence: "In his latest horror flick, a seductive lamia preys upon the young men of a suburban town, who, it turns out, were responsible for her brutal death."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1576, 11-19-05], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Anti-Aging Tip: Melatonin Does More Than Help You Sleep

By Al Sears, MD

As prescriptions - and profits - for sleep aids like Lunesta and Ambien continue to rise, drug companies often take potshots at natural remedies that actually work. Melatonin is a good example.

But melatonin does more than just help you sleep. This hormone has anti-aging properties that help you look and feel younger. And melatonin can protect your cells against diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. It also stimulates the release of human growth hormone (HGH), one of the primary hormones of youth.

Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant. It destroys disease-causing molecules called free radicals at an incredible pace. And it does something most other antioxidants can’t: It stimulates extra antioxidant enzymes that can protect against everything from wrinkles to illness.

For anti-aging benefits, take just 0.5 mg a day. To help you sleep, take between 1.5 mg and 2 mg before going to bed. If you have a chronic disease, like cancer, a stronger dose of 20 mg to 40 mg before bed is recommended.

But don’t take a higher dose without discussing it with your doctor. And women who are pregnant or nursing should avoid the use of all hormones without a doctor’s supervision.
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Word to the Wise: Transmogrify

To "transmogrify" (trans-MOG-ruh-fie) is to change completely, especially into a shape or form that is fantastic or humorously bizarre.

Example (as used by Gregg Easterbrook in an article about the potential effects of global warming in The Atlantic): "[Real estate in] Houston could decline, made insufferable by worsened summertime humidity, while the splendid, rustic Laurentide Mountains region north of Montreal, if warmed up a bit, might transmogrify into the new Poconos."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1993, 03-19-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Anti-Aging Tip: Try These Cancer Fighters for Lunch and Dinner

By Al Sears, MD

New research is giving us a window into the world of phytochemicals - compounds found in many fruits and vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage) and leafy greens have two particular phytochemicals - indole-3-carbinol (I-3-C) and chlorophyll - that are proving to be powerful weapons in the fight against aging.

I-3-C, abundant in broccoli and spinach, can affect key stages in age-related cancers like prostate, breast, and colon cancers. When a cell in one of those tissues mutates and becomes cancerous, I-3-C can actually program the cell to "commit suicide" and die before the cancer spreads.

Acting at a different stage in cancer protection, chlorophyll connects to cancer-causing toxins in the gut and prevents them from being absorbed. Chlorophyll is present in all green leafy vegetables, but is especially high in spinach.

Both I-3-C and chlorophyll are available as supplements, too. I-3-C comes in a pill form. I recommend 100 mg to 200 mg daily. Chlorophyll comes in both a powder and a pill, and is present in "green drinks," like chlorella and spirulina. If you're taking the pill form, look for chlorophyllin - a powerful derivative of chlorophyll. An effective daily dose is 100 mg to 200 mg.
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1988, 03-13-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Anti-Aging Tip: An Antioxidant to Help You Avoid Diabetes and Obesity

By Al Sears, MD

You've probably heard that red wine has health benefits. You may even know about research linking those benefits to the powerful antioxidant called resveratrol. One study has found that resveratrol lengthened the lives of mice by 30 percent.

I've recently uncovered more evidence that this antioxidant may be the most versatile and powerful anti-aging supplement (with the exception of CoQ10) you can take. The newest round of studies, from the Institute of Genetics, Molecular, and Cellular Biology, found that resveratrol helped mice run twice as far during exercise. It super-charged their muscles, reduced their heart rates, and gave them a boost in endurance comparable to the boost humans achieve through athletic training.

A study of men and women from Finland showed that resveratrol is likely to operate the same way in humans. And one of the lead researchers from a French study, Johan Auwerx, said, "Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training."

What's more, resveratrol protected mice from gaining weight and developing the symptoms of diabetes and obesity. Other benefits included a heightened sensitivity to insulin (a sensitivity which declines with age). When you reverse this decline in insulin sensitivity, you have not only reduced the effects of aging, you've also helped maintain your ideal weight and avoid diabetes.

Aside from red wine, good sources of resveratrol are blueberries, cranberries, bilberries, and red grapes.

You can take resveratrol in supplement form as well, which you can find in most health food stores. I recommend a dose ranging from 20 mg to 50 mg daily.
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From the ETR Archives: How Cooperating With Competitors Can Help You Succeed

By Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: To read each full article, click the link embedded in the text.]

"I hear plenty of talk about how cutthroat business is, but most of what I see is softer. I do know businessmen who are rude and crude. I know some who lie and cheat. But most of the worst ones don't do very well. They score a couple of scams, but then word gets out. Before long, they can't find anybody but new, dumb meat to do business with.

"Put differently, most of the business successes I've known or have seen firsthand were achieved by some form of cooperative behavior."
__________

"Bad behavior limits your potential. Good behavior enhances it. Furthermore, competitive business practices are generally self-destructive. Cooperation is the true key to long-term success.

"I can tell you from personal experience that in the jewelry business, the art business, the contest and sweepstakes business, the astrology business, the academic-book-publishing business, and many others - sharing ideas with your competitors works much better than trying to take advantage of them to further your own ends."
__________

"You can - if you like the martial metaphor - run your business as if you are fighting a war. You can see your market as a battleground. You can hate your competitor. You can try to beat him out of market share and rejoice if he goes out of business.

"But if he does, what have you won? A position in a market that has lost one of the agents that was making it grow."
__________

"I'm not advocating that you divulge all your secrets to all your competitors, but I'm strongly in favoring of giving first - and with all the best intentions - with the expectation that in the long run you'll get back as much or more than you have given.

"It's a universal principle that applies to all aspects of life. Many of the most successful people I know are 'give-first' people. Such people understand that the best way to establish trust and good will is to give first and without requisite compensation.

"Once trust and good will are established, business and communication flow smoothly, deals are easily cut, agreements are quickly made, and success is much more abundant."
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Word to the Wise: Torpid

"Torpid" (TOR-pid) - from the Latin for "numb" - means dull / sluggish / apathetic.

Example (as used by Peggy Payne in Sister India): "For more than twenty years - all my adult life - I have lived here: my great weight sunk, torpid in the heat, into this sagged chair on my rooftop patio."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1987, 03-12-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

"Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days."
The Bible (Ecclesiastes)

SUMMARY OF TODAY'S MESSAGE:

Ask not what your competitors, customers, great employees, and irreplaceable advisors can do for you. Ask what you can do for them.

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ONE OF THE GREATEST SUCCESS SECRETS I KNOW

JG is a very successful direct marketer. His business has soared while most of his competitors have foundered.

About six months ago, I gave him -- free -- a marketing idea that he since said made him "more than several million dollars." Yesterday, he invited me to tour his facilities as a "payback." He walked me into every office, introduced me to all his key people, and showed me some very interesting marketing data. Some of it related to a new idea he had tested that was "doing gangbusters."

"This one is going to square us," he told me with complete confidence. "You're going to make a lot of money with this idea."

Toward the end of the tour, he introduced me to KP -- who did not hide his shock at learning that I was a competitor. "Why would you let the enemy see what we do?" he was bold enough to ask JG right in front of me.

"Sometimes it pays," JG replied.

"How do you know it will pay this time?" the young man asked.

"I don't," JG said, "but if I don't try, my chances of it's paying are nil."

JG could have told KP that the gesture had been paid back beforehand, but that would have really confused the young man. Too many people cannot understand the idea of cooperating and sharing in a competitive environment. Several of my clients, for example.

The idea that JG repaid me with is truly a multimillion-dollar idea -- or at least it could be if it were exploited intelligently. And although I'll suggest it to all my clients who could benefit from it, some of them won't pursue it because of the source. They will be suspicious of an idea that comes from one of their "enemies." "If it were really a good idea," they'll think, "he wouldn't tell us about it."

Too bad.

I'm not advocating that you divulge all your secrets to all your competitors, but I'm strongly in favoring of giving first -- and with all the best intentions -- with the expectation that in the long run you'll get back as much or more than you have given.

It's a universal principle that applies to all aspects of life. Many of the most successful people I know are "give-first" people. Such people understand that the best way to establish trust and good will is to give first and without requisite compensation.

Once trust and good will are established, business and communication flow smoothly, deals are easily cut, agreements are quickly made, and success is much more abundant.

Like the "free offer" (which is the foundation of more successful marketing programs than any other strategy I can think of), this works well because:

1. It doesn't cost anything, so it's hard to say "no" to.

2. It establishes a relationship based on benefit for the recipient. This creates two positive impulses: trust and reciprocity.

I see it this way. If I can surround myself with quality people and do business with them over time, I will eventually profit from it. So most of my initial efforts are directed at establishing credibility with those people and making them think of me when they think of business opportunity.

How can I do that? There's only one way: I make sure that from the get-go they experience positive benefits from doing business with me.

SL, who runs one of the most successful direct-marketing companies in the country, feels the same way. He's never told me so explicitly, but I know from how he treats me. From our first meeting, he's made every possible effort to give more than he gets. I've done the same. Needless to say, there is a great deal of good faith between us. And all this was done out of habit -- for there is nothing I can think of that we can do together. Not now, anyway. But you never know. If and when an opportunity for mutual profit-making arises, we'll be able to move forward quickly, dispensing with the normal testing and trial periods, the cautions and suspicions, the doubts and worries -- all those negative thoughts and feelings that usually sink great chances before they've had the chance to float.

And SL isn't the only one.

I've had the same experience with JS, another big-time direct marketer. JS and I meet at least once a year and pass tips back and forth. So far, we haven't found a way to do business together. But the tips are useful and the relationship is solid gold.

And DC, who owns a billion-dollar business.

The same is true with JA. And PR. And PH. And HB. And MM and BB.

Don't give foolishly. Never give more than you can afford to. And never give anything that you will begrudge losing. Give your time. Give your energy. Give your ideas -- even your best ideas. And give everyone you value an opportunity to benefit from knowing you.

Give first and give freely and give frequently -- and you will be repaid. Not just once or twice but tenfold.

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WORD TO THE WISE: FUG

"Fug" is the stuffy, musty atmosphere of an overcrowded or poorly ventilated space. "Like a brown café in Amsterdam," says KP (who suggested this word for "Word to the Wise"). Novelist Colleen McCullough used the word this way: "In spite of the open windows the stench had become a reeking fug."

MMF
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #559, 03-11-02], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Competition creates better products; alliances create better companies."
Brian Graham

TODAY'S MESSAGE:

In the long run, you'll make more money, build a stronger business, and enjoy your career more if you adopt an open and generous attitude toward your competitors.

This, I know, contradicts much of what is usually said about business.

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IT PAYS TO HELP YOUR COMPETITORS

Most books on the subject treat business as war. Your competitors are your enemy. Beating them out of market share is your goal. If you can get them to go out of business completely, you've triumphed.

I don't share that view. And I'll tell you why.

War is a terrible, painful, and ultimately destructive endeavor. It's what you do when you are too desperate, scared, or stupid to do anything better. Sometimes -- maybe -- war is inevitable. But even then, it's wasteful.

Business shouldn't be wasteful. It should be productive. You begin with a need or desire. You create a product to service that need or satisfy that desire. In place of a void (the need or desire), products, services, and relationships are established. And jobs are created.

You can -- if you like the martial metaphor -- run your business as if you are fighting a war. You can see your market as a battleground. You can hate your competitor. You can try to beat him out of market share and rejoice if he goes out of business.

But if he does, what have you won? A position in a market that has lost one of the agents that was making it grow.

Here's a better idea: Think of the marketplace as a place where you and others in your industry have a common goal: to grow the market itself by creating more value for the customers.

Imagine a market where this idea dominates. How wonderful would that be?

Work first to service your customers. Work second to satisfy yourself and your employees. Work third to help your competitors. All three efforts result in the same good thing: an ever-expanding marketplace of interested, motivated, and satisfied customers.

The next time you have the chance to interact with a competitor, try thinking of him as a sort of colleague -- someone who, though working independently, is trying to do the same thing as you: increase the size of your market.

Try to understand that if he succeeds, the market (your market) will get bigger and you will benefit from that.

Exchange ideas with him. Wish him well. Give him help if you can afford to.

That is how I look at business. And it has worked for me. Making money now -- personally and corporately -- is much, much easier than it was when I started. The reason for that, I think, is that I work in a market where my "competitors" and my "employees" and my "clients" are willing to cooperate with me. And the reason I get cooperation is because they know I'm there for them too.

I was reminded of this issue last night. I decided to have dinner not at 32E, the restaurant my friend BS owns, but at SH, the restaurant next door.

RG, SH's owner, told me that he was selling his business to BS. He had been struggling to make it work but was giving up.

"Why, RG?" I asked him.

"He was there when I needed him," RG said. "I knew he was a good guy. And a fair one. I knew that the price he'd offered would be a fair one."

"So you didn't even bid it out?"

"Nope."

I asked him how BS had helped him out. He said that over the two-year period SH was open, BS would stop by occasionally and chat. RG could see that BS was much more successful than he, and so he'd ask him questions.

"At first, I was timid about asking," said RG. "But BS was so happy to help me. It made it easy to keep asking. He gave me good advice about everything: pricing, advertising, even the menu. He gave me names of vendors that brought down my costs. And he even tried to help me borrow some money once.

"It really helped. I got myself out of the hole I'd dug. But after going through that, I realized I wasn't cut out for the restaurant business. So I called BS and asked him if he wanted to buy me out."

Apparently, they struck some kind of deal that included some cash up front and a back-end payoff for RG. That is obviously just the kind of deal BS would want.

Next month, there will be a new restaurant on the avenue and two businessmen will have profited from it.

Worry about how to make better products and create stronger marketing efforts. My focus is on competing with myself. Can I grow sales by 10% this year? Can I increase profits?

In the short run, fighting with other people in the industry may garner you a few extra sales, but over the long haul you'll do better by trying to be cooperative and helpful.

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WORD TO THE WISE: EBULLIENT

An "ebullient" (ih-BOOL-yunt) guest is an enthusiastic one -- someone who is happy to be alive and bubbling with energy. Ebullient people are good for the spirit … except when you are recovering from too much of the spirits.

MMF
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #786, 01-22-03], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Man has risen so far above all other species that he competes in ways unique in nature. He fights by means of complicated weapons; he fights for ends remote in time."
Charles A. Lindbergh (Autobiography of Values, 1978)

SUMMARY OF TODAY'S MESSAGE:

Don't think you have to claw your way to the top to be a success in the business. In most cases, cooperation works much better than competition. This holds true whether you're dealing with other businessmen or overseeing the internal management of your company.

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ARE YOU TOO COMPETITIVE?

Hollywood would have you believe that successful businessmen are competitive creatures who fight their way to the top. And there are plenty of best-selling business books that support that view.

To further support this view, I can offer numerous tales of lying and cheating, backstabbing and neglect, greed, and even a case or two of downright cruelty.

But I don't believe that all that nasty behavior is good business. In fact, I don't think it's good at all. It's done. And generally horrible people sometimes succeed in business. But what works best -- when it works -- is something else.

Let me explain by putting forward a postulate. Bad behavior limits your potential. Good behavior enhances it. Furthermore, competitive business practices are generally self-destructive. Cooperation is the true key to long-term success.

I can tell you from personal experience that in the jewelry business, the art business, the contest and sweepstakes business, the astrology business, the academic-book-publishing business, and many others -- sharing ideas with your competitors works much better than trying to take advantage of them to further your own ends.

This principle is also true when it comes to the internal management of business. One of the mistakes Steven R. Covey (the "Seven Habits" guy) sees some entrepreneurs make is trying to get their people to compete inside the company. "They think this will enhance productivity," he says, "but what it really does is create conflicts and interdepartmental rivalry."

He's absolutely right about that. I know. I have done it both ways. My earliest instinct was to set good people against one another, hoping it would drive them to achieve more. Instead, what I got was a lot of negative, unproductive behaviors -- managers withholding vital information from one another, taking potshots at each other, and spending a lot of energy beating people down instead of making better products and selling them more effectively.

I recently returned from a day-long "roundtable" of top executives in the financial publishing industry. Twenty-four executives, representing most of the most successful business in the market, sat around a table in a small London hotel and told one another many of their best secrets. Why did we do it? Because most of us are old enough to know that:

* Most of the important business secrets -- in marketing, sales, motivation, management, and so on -- don't need to be coveted because they can't be copied exactly. In every business, they need to be reinvented to fit and then executed. In so doing, they become distinct.

* Usually, you will do better if your competitors do well. Success creates success. Markets expand when good ideas are adapted by all. Great marketing ideas are meant to be copied. They create more demand, increase the market, and provide dividends for everyone.

* Most of your best secrets will never be copied anyway -- even if you beg your peers to copy them. That's because only you really understand how powerful they are. And even when your colleague does "get it," he'll have a hellish time getting the people in his business to understand it, let alone implement it.

* An exchange of ideas ultimately benefits everyone.

I'm going to write a book on this subject. It's too big to deal with in a single ETR message. But if the premise makes any sense to you, you'll want to start thinking about your own competitive instincts by mulling over the following questions:

1. Are you motivated primarily by the desire to do better than someone else?

2. Are you suspicious of your competitors?

3. Are you suspicious of your colleagues?

4. Do you secretly enjoy it when a competitor fails?

5. Do you like to see your peers fail too?

If you answered "yes" more than once, you are probably overly competitive. I know it doesn't feel that way. You see yourself as "realistic." You suspect that I am naïve. In future messages, I'll attempt to prove to you that you are wrong and that your feelings, fears, and beliefs are slowing your progress and stunting your future.

If you answered "no" to all five questions, you don't have a "competitive problem." That doesn't mean you are destined to succeed. You still need to work hard and engage in all the get-ahead behaviors. But at least you won't waste any time and energy trying to slow other people down when you should be pushing forward with your plan.

MMF
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #451, 10-10-01], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

“Competition is the offspring of fear; cooperation, the child of confidence.”
MMF

HOW TO PULL AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS BY COOPERATING WITH THEM

If you remember the movie Wall Street, you may recollect the character Gordon Gecko (played by Michael Douglas) – a viciously ambitious stockbroker who broke every ethical rule and took advantage of every relationship to further his career. (KY reminds me that a gecko is a lizard that has adhesive pads on its feet, allowing it to climb vertically.)

After that movie was released, there was a lot of talk in the media about “cutthroat businessmen” and the competitive nature of Wall Street. “Funny thing about that movie,” JSN said to me after seeing it. “My experience on Wall Street was nothing like that. It was much more like ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.’” JSN should know. He was one of the red-hot wonder kids during the “go-go” ‘60s, and the youngest ever (at that time) to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since that discussion, I’ve paid attention to this phenomenon in my own business life. I hear plenty of talk about how cutthroat business is, but most of what I see is softer. I do know businessmen who are rude and crude. I know some who lie and cheat. But most of the worst ones don’t do very well. They score a couple of scams, but then word gets out. Before long, they can’t find anybody but new, dumb meat to do business with.

Put differently, most of the business successes I’ve known or have seen firsthand were achieved by some form of cooperative behavior.

Take My Life . . . Please

Take the direct-mail publishing business as an example. When I got into it more than 25 years ago, there were many small-business owners around who were covetous both of the names they owned and the marketing secrets they had discovered. They wouldn’t rent out their names, and they wouldn’t talk to you about what they did. There were also business owners who recognized that by sharing ideas and cross-marketing names, they could grow faster.

Today, none of the former are still in business. (Or if they are, they have dropped off my radar screen.) But several of the latter have gone on to become extremely successful.

Among the “cooperators” is BB who has built a $100 million, international publishing empire by deploying many skills, not the least of which is a very accommodating nature. One example: BB spent six months resurrecting a failed British publishing company without any contracted compensation . . . only the hope that they would appreciate his help and allow him to buy half (and eventually all) of the business. They did – and now it is one of his most profitable businesses.

I can tell you from personal experience that in the jewelry business, the art business, the contest and sweepstakes business, the astrology business, the academic book publishing business, and many others . . . cooperation works much better than competition. And for large businesses, cooperation can work wonders.

There’s a story about Grolier Encyclopedia that I’ve told before. Here’s the short version: . Grolier’s publishers were hanging on by their fingernails when their primary competitor invited them into his offices to see how his company was succeeding at something Grolier was failing at. (It was a bounce-back telemarketing program.) Yes, this sharing saved Grolier – but it also provided the competitor with a continuous supply of Grolier’s names that he could mail his offers to.

How Competition Can Destroy Business From The Inside Out

This principle is also true when it comes to the internal management of business. Steven R. Covey (the Seven Habits guy) has recently become a business expert. (Why not? He’s a thoughtful man.) One of the mistakes he sees some entrepreneurs make is trying to get their people to compete inside the company.

“They think this will enhance productivity,” he says, “but what it really does is create conflicts and interdepartmental rivalry.”

He’s absolutely right about that.

I know. I have done it both ways. My earliest instinct was to set good people against one another, hoping it would drive them to achieve more. Instead, what I got was a lot of negative, unproductive behaviors.

For one of my businesses, this is still a major problem. We have managers withholding vital information from one another. We have managers taking potshots at others, creating conflicts that go on forever. We have energy spent on beating people down instead of on making better products and selling them more effectively.

I discussed this with JG, my close friend, former business partner, and fellow ruminator. He was, as usual, serenely in tune with this line of thinking. The ultimate purpose of martial arts, he made me understand, is not victory but peace. You learn fighting techniques not so you can go out and beat people up but so you can live in tranquility and not have to worry about being beaten up yourself.

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ARE YOU TOO COMPETITIVE? TAKE THIS QUIZ:

1. Are you motivated primarily by the desire to do better than someone else?

2. Are you suspicious of your competitors?

3. Are you suspicious of your colleagues?

4. Do you secretly enjoy it when a competitor fails?

5. Do you like to see your peers fail too?

I could go on, but you get the point. If you answered “yes” too many times, you’re probably wasting a lot of energy doing things for all the wrong reasons.

If you scored poorly on this test, don’t chastise yourself. These feelings and desires are very normal, especially for ambitious people. And although I’m suggesting you stop thinking this way, it’s not because I think it’s intrinsically evil (though I kind of do) but because I believe you will have much more success by being more open and cooperative.

If you are already cooperative or determined to be so, here are two caveats:

1. First, don’t expect to get back everything from everybody equally and in equal proportion. The benefits of cooperation are universal. They come to you generally, not specifically.

2. Second, don’t be a giving fool. Extend yourself first – and even twice – without some kind of reciprocation. But don’t keep giving indefinitely. This is a self-defeating proposition. Just because you have decided to evolve yourself into a symbiont doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of lizards around.

MMF
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #149, 08-11-00], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Can Red Wine Really Help You Live Longer?

By Dr. Ray Sahelian

A red wine extract called resveratrol has been shown to help mice live longer. What does that mean for us humans?

First, some background. Resveratrol is a protective compound produced by grapes, berries and other plants in response to environmental stresses. Resveratrol has potent antioxidant activity and also has the ability to inhibit platelet aggregation, thus making the blood less likely to clot. In addition, it has anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-infective properties. Resveratrol may even by helpful in preventing neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease.

What made resveratrol popular was a November 2006 study published by Harvard University researchers that reported mice lived longer when given a resveratrol supplement. One group of mice ate a normal diet. The second was fed a high-calorie diet and the third had the same high-calorie diet but was given resveratrol supplements. By the time the mice were 114 weeks old, about 60 percent in the high-calorie group had died, compared to about 40 percent in the low-calorie diet group and the group with the high-calorie diet supplemented with resveratrol. The mice taking resveratrol had healthier heart and liver tissue, decreased blood sugar levels, better insulin sensitivity and were more active than the other rodents.

Previous studies had found that resveratrol had a similar longevity benefit on yeast, flies and worms. This was the first evaluation of resveratrol on survival extension in mammals.

Red wine, particularly pinot noir, has a high concentration of resveratrol (about 1.5-3 mg per liter). Much of the resveratrol sold in supplement form is from the herb polygonum cuspidatum. The most common dosage is 10 mg of resveratrol per capsule or tablet.

More research needs to be done to determine the ideal dosage of resveratrol and how it would interact with other supplements or medicines. I plan to take one 10 mg capsule once or twice a week until more research is available. And I also plan to drink one or two ounces of red wine most evenings with dinner.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, M.D., is a practicing physician and best-selling author. He is a leading authority on natural supplements and nutrition.]
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Exercise & Fitness:
3 Common Ab Mistakes -- Exposed!

By Craig Ballantyne

Here's my list of the most common mistaken beliefs people hold about abs -- and the truth about getting that six-pack you desire.

Mistake 1. Exercise is more important that nutrition.
Fact: Diet is first and foremost the key factor when trying to get six-pack abs. Plan your nutrition in advance to avoid dietary downfalls. Focus on protein, green vegetables, fiber-rich fruits and zero-calorie drinks such as green tea and water. Avoid all sugar.

Mistake 2. You can "spot reduce" the fat on your abs with crunches.
Fact: No matter how many crunches you do, you won't be able to get rid of your ab fat with crunches alone. You need a good diet and an increase in your calorie burning from strength training and interval training.

When I trained athletes, most of them had six-packs, yet they didn’t do a single crunch in their programs. Instead, the total body movements of their sports and quick, intense workouts helped them shed the fat and build enough muscle to help them achieve the coveted six-pack.

Mistake 3. You must do ab exercises every day.
Fact: You don't need to do direct ab training every day. Instead, train them twice a week and use unconventional exercises such as Mountain Climbers and Stability Ball Jackknives to reduce the stress on your lower back.

[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine.]
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Natural Remedies:
Treat Heart Disease With Antidepressants? Let’s Get Real

By James LaValle

There is a significant correlation between chronic stress and heart disease. Low serotonin, a side effect of chronic stress, is seen in pre-heart disease conditions.

What does the medical community offer as a potential solution for low serotonin as a contributor to heart disease? A category of antidepressant drugs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s.)

The problem with SSRI’s is two-fold:

1. They do not increase brain levels of serotonin, but only attempt to get more activity from existing serotonin.

2. The side effects of SSRI’s could themselves contribute to heart disease. Insomnia, weight gain and sexual dysfunction are some of the side effects of SSRI’s. Insomnia and weight gain both can contribute to progression of heart disease.

Survey results have determined that 1 in 2 people are concerned about the level of stress in their lives. Some of the commonly felt effects of chronic stress and/or low seretonin are intense food cravings, mental fog, inability to concentrate, insomnia, headaches, tooth grinding and weight gain.

Reducing life stress can be difficult. A comprehensive approach to stress should not only help increase serotonin, but would also look at correcting other imbalances. The nutritional supplements listed below offer safe symptomatic relief, and can reduce the negative impact of stress on our health.

. Relora® -- an extract from magnolia and phellodendron that balances cortisol and stress hormone output, leading to more relaxed, less anxious responses to stressors. It also reduces stress-related food cravings.
. Theanine -- an amino acid from tea that reduces nervousness, helps calm the mind, improves immunity and has been reported to lower blood pressure.
. Rhodiola -- a well-studied plant extract that dampens the effects of norepinephrine on cardiovascular tissue and helps support adrenal function.
. 5 HTP -- an activated form of tryptophan, the amino acid that converts to serotonin, that shows effectiveness in treating depression and may improve sleep and reduce food cravings.

[Ed. Note: Jim LaValle is an educator, clinician and industry consultant in the field of integrative healthcare. He is a licensed pharmacist, board certified clinical nutritionist and doctor of naturopathic medicine with more than 20 years clinical practice experience in the field of natural therapeutics and functional medicine. Named one of the "50 Most Influential Druggists" by American Druggist for his work in natural medicine, LaValle has authored 13 books, including his latest, Cracking the Metabolic Code.]
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 09-07-07] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com