[jamixoxo]

Gosh, I bet you could get a medical transcription cert in no time... But then you'd have to work for the demon lords of big pharma
I understand it pays ok and is pretty much a 'set your own' hours/dress code gig.

I assume you've looked into crowd funding for your diet/nutrition efforts - might be worth a look if you haven't.

-j

I'm not even sure what's involved in medical transcription?

And yeah. I do plan to crowd fund production, but I can't really ask for crowd funding for the research can I? I mean. I'm a nobody and if I get that much resistance from "friends" why would anyone ELSE take me seriously?

I love the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medica...onists.htm

Yes, you can use crowd funding for research - many people use it for ONLY research... The only outcome (assuming success) is knowledge.
As far as being taken seriously - I would say that you have an honest gift of writing and comprehension. 99% of grant application is being able to succinctly summarize your end goal, the path you intend to follow to get there, and what potential outcomes you expect. I would say you've already written a complete grant proposal outline, and close to 60% of the complete proposal, just within this thread.
The way I understand some crowd funding models, is that they are not about "investing" in your idea with some (however fleeting) assumption that there will be material return. The flip side (in my mind) is that you owe the crowd some effort and a result. Don't do the work - fail; do the work (on schedule and budget) but don't prove your hypothesis - success!
Realistically, what do you need? Break it down, divide the total by 100 people - is it less than $50/person? If so, and you've got a solid proposal, I'd say you might have a good shot... Or break it down in stages and sell them one at a time. "success" in one stage improves your worth as a funding target.

Without doing any work: http://crowdfunding.com/ (check under weddings/honeymoons and prove to me you can't do something better!)

As always, do your homework whenever money is involved

One disease of friends is their desire to play 'devils advocate' with your opinions and ideas. Sometimes you just have to love them for it, dontcha?

Look, if YOU believe in your idea, and you've exhaustively investigated it to your own criteria with the means available to you, then YOU deserve the benefit of doubt... And maybe even material support to investigate it further, until actual and verifiable evidence to the contrary becomes available.
Since you've a proven willingness to accept evidence contrary to your own hypotheses, I don't see any issues - and neither should your friends. If they are not inclined to put in the effort to come up with reasonable refutations then give them a couple free shots (letting people do this is good penance) and ignore them on the subject afterwards. You can still love them without needing their support in this one area.

-j