Hello, faithful readers. I am going to change the direction of my blog to something that I’m more qualified to speak about than Health. After all, while I deal with health copy and talk to the health experts, my innate knowledge is not deep enough to serve anyone well.

I like to serve well. So, I’m going where my talent and interests lie – in writing about Michigan. Hope you enjoy reading these entries as much as I’ll enjoy writing them!

Look for these changes in about 2 weeks. And the new blogname? My Michigan.

Utah wanted to know about the use of sucralose in our products, so I've asked around.

First here's Utah's question:

Cathy, I was wondering why there is Sucralose is so many of the corporation's products, including ones that have sucrose/sugar. Many people have problems or fears with "fake" sugar. I can understand why for sugar free products, but every time my wife picks up a product with Sucralose, or any of the other fake sugars, it gets put back down. You would think you could buy something from Q/A that was real. Take the sports drinks, some are sugar free, but the rest still have sucralose.

And here's the answer from one of my favorites in the Legal Department, Julie D.: 

Sucralose is approximately 600 times sweeter than table sugar, twice as sweet as saccharin, and four times as sweet as aspartame. The great thing about sucralose is that, unlike aspartame, it is stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions. Thus, it is wonderful for baking and for products, such as our Trim Advantage bars, which require a longer shelf life. In fact, because of these positive attributes, sucralose can be found in more than 4,500 food and beverage products.

Out of all of the approved artificial sweeteners, the World Health Organization says that sucralose is arguably the most safe. Human studies have concluded its safe use for the general population, including such high risk groups as diabetics, pregnant women and children. It was first approved for use in Canada in 1991. Subsequent approvals came in Australia (1993), New Zealand (1996), United States (1998) and in the European Union (2004). As of this year, sucralose has been approved in over 80 countries, including the regulatory stringent countries such as China, India and Japan. I checked the FDA's public documents with regard to sucralose's safety and found a lot of useful information. In determining the safety of sucralose, the FDA reviewed data from more than 110 studies in humans and animals. Many of the studies were designed to identify possible toxic effects, including carcinogenic, reproductive and neurological effects. No such effects were found. FDA's approval is based on the finding that sucralose is safe for human consumption.

Critics of sucralose often favor natural alternatives, such as stevia. However, stevia is an unapproved food additive US. In fact, there is currently an import alert calling for all FDA field agents to block the importation of stevia leaves for foods, extract of stevia leaves for foods, and all foods containing stevia. Over the past 15 years, FDA has rejected three food additive petitions for stevia because its safety had not been adequately demonstrated. The US FDA is not alone in its refusal to accept stevia as a food additive. In a lengthy five page opinion, the Scientific Committee on Food for the European Commission concluded that there is no satisfactory data to support the safe use of stevia in the European Union. The World Health Organization has also expressed its concern that there are inadequate safety data in support of stevia.

Would you be interested in a simple way to get your newest IBOs selling Nutrilite and XS products?

What if it cost just $79, qualified them for Quixtar Business Incentives, and offered free shipping?

What if it included 58 product samples, all attractive to retail customers?

What if there were a profitability calculator they could use to figure out how to make back the cost of the kit, set monthly sales goals, or decide how many customers they'd need for profitability?

Do you think your IBOs would be interested in it? I hope so!

It's the new Health Sales Kit, on advance order right now, and shipping in April.

Take a look at the product page and let me know what you think.

rdknyvr has brought up an excellent point. Gensona Genetic tests vanish from view shortly after purchase, at a rate of 25 to 40% each month. Where do they all go?

They don't get redeemed at Interleukin Labs, that's for sure! Is it possible that people are buying them...and then just forgetting they did?

If you have ever sold even a single Gensona Genetic Test Kit, drop me a line and let me know: What's the story? Have you taken your test? Have you sent it in? Did you get the results? Did you enter them into the online Health Questionnaire? Let us know what's broken, let us know if you have ideas for fixing things. Send an email to nutrilite.products@quixtar.com I promise I'll read every one of them.

Thank you all so much for this dialogue!

Last year, when I practiced blogging in our "sandbox," I made some snarky remarks about the 7 habits, exposing my ignorance by assuming they were targeted at people who wanted to manage their time better and implying I was a lost cause in that skill area. Wow! Was I wrong, and boy, do I love it when that happens.

Seriously, what better way to really learn than to come face to face with the depth of your own ignorance? A little ignorance is easy to gloss over or fix on the fly. Something you can take in stride is just a minor course correction. Turn the steering wheel a little, and keep on driving. But to be flat-out wrong -- and come face-to-face with it? That's a full stop sign at a busy intersection. My turn signal's on and the engine is ticking over. Clutch pedal's in, I'm in first gear, and my foot's on the gas. Looking both ways...

It's that time of year when I shake off the icy doldrums and get amped for spring. I don't need no XS, honey, I'm revved enough.

And when I'm in the mood to move, I move! Just joined the fitness center at my alma mater. It has who-knows-how-many square feet of fieldhouse and pool, with approx. 2.4 billion machines that you can do anything on. And enough basketball courts so I don't have to hang at the edges waiting for the horde of men to tromple down to the other end b4 I can sneak in a shot.

My DD is 14 and finally interested in exercise, so we go together and boy, is that fun! Secret agenda: Get her interested in all the opps. available to the college-bound, shake her loose from the grip of this materialistic cohort she hangs with who think ain't is in the dict., and had went is, too, and that high-school graduation and MySpace are just about the pinnacle of any smart person's career. <: - O

Like most kids, DD will try anything and that makes me reach beyond my comfort zone. The classic youth/age dichotomy. And I hear it from myself that nanosecond after it escapes my lips: Wise old person speaks from the summit of experience>yawn<.

For the last year she's been trying to tell me, sometimes not so subtly, it's time to make way for this young duckling. She's gonna cross that road -- bcs it's there. I can chase her up and down the sidewalk all I want to, but eventually she's going over, no matter how many cars are coming.

I guess it always comes too soon, long before you can imagine you're done inculcating your values.

Good thing exercise helps with stress management!

I’m so excited to finally join my fellow bloggers and all the contributors in the “O” zone! I’ve been lurking for the past few weeks, sizing everything up and there are some interesting discussions going on. Hope my blog will contribute to the forum overall.

So, hey, everyone. I’m Cathy Lawrence, Health Editor at Q. It’s a sunny, blue-sky day here at the opportunity company, and we’re coming up slowly out of the dredges of a Michigan winter.

Back to at least 10 hours of sunlight a day, which means the cardinals are calling territory, swift red against the snow or outlined in bare branches against the bluest sky of the year.

Last night, I left at twilight and the sky was purple to the east, moon rising, wheels sticking and pulling free from wet pavement. A moment like that makes you breathe deep and stand taller. And that’s (not coincidentally) a perfect segue into the topic of health. Sweet, huh?

If you’ve ever had the privilege of meeting Dr. Duke Johnson, at the Nutrilite Center for Optimal Health, you know one of his big interests is Optimal Health.  He lectures and writes on it, he consults on it, and he believes in it.

This blog is written in the spirit of a lot of his precepts, that health is not a condition; it’s a destination. And that at least 8 – and maybe more – contributing factors are at play, so there are very complex dynamics at work. I want to take a look at all of this, the individual aspects of it and the complex interactions between them.

And if somewhere along the line something catches your eye or raises a question, jump in.

By the way, I like to do things by the numbers. (OK: big lie #1) In any case, I’m going to put a number you need to match with one correct answer from several. The correct match will tell more about me. Today's number is 33. And it’s the answer to which question?

1. My lucky lotto number
2. The times I’ve hit my thumb while nailing and not sworn
3. The number of places I’ve lived in
4. How old I am.