Is getting online advice for healthy eating, motivational advice, or lifestyle issues the same as going to the doctor, thus requiring a license?

In North Carolina it is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EixDJ25Lc&feature=player_embedded]

Some think giving exercise advice is exercising the first amendment.

A guy in North Carolina started blogging and for a fee sharing ideas on how others could use his diet approach. His approach is exercising a lot and eating fats, meats, nuts, and veggies but skipping the grain and sugar. Essentially a cave-man diet.

State regulators decided this was ‘assessing and counseling’ which requires permission from the government before giving advice.

See more of his battle in the above video.

Here is the link to the video from Institute for Justice:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5EixDJ25Lc&feature=player_embedded

“In December 2011, diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey started a Dear Abby-style advice column on his popular blog (www.diabetes-warrior.net) to answer reader questions. One month later, the State Board informed Steve that he could not give readers advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed, and thus criminal, practice of dietetics.” Watch to find out more of Steve’s story.