I'm not usually too bothered by the odd Facebook post about Herbalife, Juice Plus or any other MLM products. In fact, I can actually foresee that some of these products might actually be the nudge clients need to live a healthier, happier life.
Unfortunately, last night one of my Facebook acquaintances, let's call him "Facebook User" as I'm sure that's how he'll appear on my message feed after he blocks me, put up a generic post inviting users to find out more about Juice Plus.
No big deal, right? Right. As I'm skim reading through the comments I see this response to an interested party comment about PT's not recommending Juice Plus:
This was Facebook Users response to someone asking him why PT's don't recommend Juice plus:
"Claims made are by people jealous that people don't need them for weight loss ie some struggling personal trainers."
I'm sorry but (close your ears, kids) this pisses me off. Not just because I'm a PT myself but I work with 100's of "struggling" PT's within My PT Website and over at the Institute of Personal Trainers and they're heroes!! They're working long and unsociable hours to have some kind of positive influence on what is probably not even in the top ten list of priorities of the clients they do it for!
So now, like an overprotective father, I'm going to share with the world, retaliations to a few common Juice Plus product arguments.
"Claims made are by people jealous that people don't need them for weight loss ie some struggling personal trainers."
I'm sorry but (close your ears, kids) this pisses me off. Not just because I'm a PT myself but I work with 100's of "struggling" PT's within My PT Website and over at the Institute of Personal Trainers and they're heroes!! They're working long and unsociable hours to have some kind of positive influence on what is probably not even in the top ten list of priorities of the clients they do it for!
So now, like an overprotective father, I'm going to share with the world, retaliations to a few common Juice Plus product arguments.
This is one of the strongest arguments Herbalife, Body by Vi and in particular, Juice Plus use. There are thousands of studies that claim the amazing benefits and the strongest one has to be the association between Juice Plus and their founding company National Safety Associates (NSA). Let's look in to this quickly.
The NSA is a privately owned marketing company that originally sold water and air filters, but after forcing 32,000 distributors to buy $7,000 worth of filters that the distributors couldn't sell, they had some legal troubles in 1993 . The company took a serious nose dive and began selling Juice Plus, manufactured by Natural Alternatives International in San Marcos, California.
With their questionable origins out in the open, let's move on to how "You Can't Argue with Science."
A study by the Juice Plus Children's Health Study, a large-scale, multi-year health survey designed to help determine what effect adding Juice Plus fruit & vegetable supplements to the family diet can have on the health and well-being of children ages 6-15. The study was called in to question when there was no control group, questions to parents were vague, parents kept no records of the JP capsule consumption, the number of participants and drop outs were not recorded and the project description stated that no effort would be made to solicit responses. This means any only some of the data was collected.
A study conducted by Julia Sehm, Jürgen Polster and Michael W Pfaffl in the Journal of Nutrition was discredited by Bernhard Watzl and Achim Bub, stating that "although the vegetable blend was made of carrot, broccoli, spinach, tomato juice extract and kale leaf powder, which contain a variety of carotenoids, only caro-tene increased significantly, whereas plasma lycopene and luteinze+axanthin did not change at all. This indicates that the supplemented pure-B carotene was bioavailable, but the native B carotenoids from the vegetable capsules were either not contained in the capsules or were not bio-available."
More B-carotene! Great right? Only Beta-carotene supplements have been associated with increased cancer rates in two large clinical studies (Why megadoses of beta carotene may promote lung cancer. USDA Agricultural Research Service Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, Jan 1999 and
Vitamin supplements. The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics 40:75-77, 1999)
One study concluded that giving Juice Plus to healthy men and women helped protect DNA from oxidative as measured in the the nuclei of white blood cells. However, neither of these studies involved measurement of health outcome.
Two studies have found that taking Juice Plus+ decreased the blood level of homocysteine, a substance thought to contribute to coronary artery disease. The results of these studies were predictable because Juice Plus contains folic acid, which is known to reduce homocysteine levels. However, extensive clinical trials have found that lowering homocysteine has not been proven beneficial so that homocysteine-lowering is no longer considered as part of standard cardiac care.
Another study found that Juice Plus+ reduced the adverse effect of a high-fat meal on the functioning of a wrist artery. Many studies have shown similar effects with supplementation with antioxidant supplements, but whether this has practical value is not known and the effect can be achieved with very inexpensive products.
One study found that taking Juice Plus+ provides a benefit in patients with gum disease. The study was preliminary and did not include an assessment of the patient's nutrient blood levels to see whether the benefits were related to taking the products. But even if these findings hold up to further scrutiny, I believe that any such benefit will be equally achievable with inexpensive vitamin supplements.
I can go on but I think you can see what I'm getting at. To date, there is not a single study that supports the health benefits of taking Juice Plus, and the health benefits that you can obtain from taking Juice Plus can also be obtained from taking cheaper, standard vitamin supplements.
The NSA is a privately owned marketing company that originally sold water and air filters, but after forcing 32,000 distributors to buy $7,000 worth of filters that the distributors couldn't sell, they had some legal troubles in 1993 . The company took a serious nose dive and began selling Juice Plus, manufactured by Natural Alternatives International in San Marcos, California.
With their questionable origins out in the open, let's move on to how "You Can't Argue with Science."
A study by the Juice Plus Children's Health Study, a large-scale, multi-year health survey designed to help determine what effect adding Juice Plus fruit & vegetable supplements to the family diet can have on the health and well-being of children ages 6-15. The study was called in to question when there was no control group, questions to parents were vague, parents kept no records of the JP capsule consumption, the number of participants and drop outs were not recorded and the project description stated that no effort would be made to solicit responses. This means any only some of the data was collected.
A study conducted by Julia Sehm, Jürgen Polster and Michael W Pfaffl in the Journal of Nutrition was discredited by Bernhard Watzl and Achim Bub, stating that "although the vegetable blend was made of carrot, broccoli, spinach, tomato juice extract and kale leaf powder, which contain a variety of carotenoids, only caro-tene increased significantly, whereas plasma lycopene and luteinze+axanthin did not change at all. This indicates that the supplemented pure-B carotene was bioavailable, but the native B carotenoids from the vegetable capsules were either not contained in the capsules or were not bio-available."
More B-carotene! Great right? Only Beta-carotene supplements have been associated with increased cancer rates in two large clinical studies (Why megadoses of beta carotene may promote lung cancer. USDA Agricultural Research Service Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, Jan 1999 and
Vitamin supplements. The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics 40:75-77, 1999)
One study concluded that giving Juice Plus to healthy men and women helped protect DNA from oxidative as measured in the the nuclei of white blood cells. However, neither of these studies involved measurement of health outcome.
Two studies have found that taking Juice Plus+ decreased the blood level of homocysteine, a substance thought to contribute to coronary artery disease. The results of these studies were predictable because Juice Plus contains folic acid, which is known to reduce homocysteine levels. However, extensive clinical trials have found that lowering homocysteine has not been proven beneficial so that homocysteine-lowering is no longer considered as part of standard cardiac care.
Another study found that Juice Plus+ reduced the adverse effect of a high-fat meal on the functioning of a wrist artery. Many studies have shown similar effects with supplementation with antioxidant supplements, but whether this has practical value is not known and the effect can be achieved with very inexpensive products.
One study found that taking Juice Plus+ provides a benefit in patients with gum disease. The study was preliminary and did not include an assessment of the patient's nutrient blood levels to see whether the benefits were related to taking the products. But even if these findings hold up to further scrutiny, I believe that any such benefit will be equally achievable with inexpensive vitamin supplements.
I can go on but I think you can see what I'm getting at. To date, there is not a single study that supports the health benefits of taking Juice Plus, and the health benefits that you can obtain from taking Juice Plus can also be obtained from taking cheaper, standard vitamin supplements.
"You Can't Argue With Science"
"It's Endorsed by Celebrities"
The initial success of the product was due to a video tape of O. J. Simpson, who was tried and acquitted for murdering his wife and her friend in 1994, claiming that the product had cured his arthritis, improved his golf game, and freed him from using anti-arthritic drugs.
However, during his criminal trial in 1995 and civil trial in 1997 (and in his 2007 book If I Did It) Simpson claimed that he was too incapacitated by arthritis to have committed the murders and that he had continued to take a variety of potent anti-inflammatory drugs, including sulfasalazine and ibuprofen. After controversy surrounding Simpson erupted, NSA cancelled his endorsement contract and stopped using the Simpson videotape to promote Juice Plus.
Aetna U.S. Health Care was "recommending" Juice Plus after they added JP to their list of discounted products. But when they found out they were recommending them they added to their website:
"By making these discounts available, Aetna U.S. Healthcare does NOT endorse these providers or vendors or their services or make any guarantee as to availability or quality of providers or discounts under this program"
Juice Plus can't even get an honest recommendation and the recommendations they do get are either financially backed or by a poor ill advised celebrity.
"It's Been Approved"
Juice Plus distributors often brag about the approval of Juice Plus by NSF. The Public Health and Safety Organization, making it seem as though the NSF recommends Juice Plus as a product. But a quick visit to the NSF website reveals that they're actually only involved in testing the safety of products.
To clarify, by being approved by the NSF means that your product is safe, not that it works.
To clarify, by being approved by the NSF means that your product is safe, not that it works.
"I Recommend It To All Of My Friends"
Multi Level Marketing (MLM) is a form of direct sales in which independent distributors can make money not only from their own sales but also from those of the people they recruit.
Until the mid-1980s, claims made for health-related MLM products were conveyed mainly through direct personal contact in which the salesperson's personal success story (health or financial) played an important role.
MLM's growth can be attributed to deceptive marketing that plays upon treasured cultural beliefs, social and personal needs, and some economic trends, rather than its ability to meet any consumer needs. The deceptive marketing is nurtured by a general lack of professional evaluation or investigation by reputable sources.
Consequently, a popular delusion is that MLM is a viable business investment or career choice for nearly everyone and the odds of financial success in the venture are comparable or better than other trades, professions, employment or business ventures.
The Juice Plus recipe for success is very simple: Add endorsements, testimonials, a pinch of fear, a scientific veneer, and several dollops of deception. And harness the power of multilevel marketing to spread the word.
"My Personal Trainer Recommends It"
Personal trainers are especially susceptible to the predators that are MLM distributors. In fact, we're basically gold mines. If you become a distributor, the person who recruited you takes a percentage of your profits! And who better to endorse a health product than a certified personal trainer!
In my experience there are 3 types of PT's who sell Juice Plus:
So, what if you're a member of the public and your personal trainer sells Juice Plus or any other marketing product? Does it mean he's a bad PT? He's not educated? No, not at all. He's just mis-informed and/or new to the game. He might even be of the same opinion as me; Supplements of any kind are a great way to get people started and give them the psychological boost they need to start their own journey to better health and well-being.
The next time you're approached by an MLM distributor of any kind, ask yourself this; Why is this personal selling this product to me? Because they've spent a considerable amount of time on accredited courses learning about the benefits? Because they have and still use it themselves? Because they want to help you live a happier, healthier life? Or because they have something to gain financially?
I'm awesome at personal trainer marketing but I'm so passionate about this subject that I'm not even going to search engine optimise this page so it appears high in search results, pay for Google ads in the hopes someone is Googleing it or even add my subscription form sign up box with an irresistible incentive. Instead, I'm going to rely on you guys, the PT's and those with the same vision as myself to share it.
In my experience there are 3 types of PT's who sell Juice Plus:
- The new PT who is struggling to get more income and not fully educated when it comes to MLM schemes or business in general.
- The PT, who through lack of interest, time or experience has not researched the devastating effects of MLM products on the clients psychological well-being when it comes to long term health.
- The PT who started selling Juice Plus when he/she was one of the above and is now actually making money from it.
So, what if you're a member of the public and your personal trainer sells Juice Plus or any other marketing product? Does it mean he's a bad PT? He's not educated? No, not at all. He's just mis-informed and/or new to the game. He might even be of the same opinion as me; Supplements of any kind are a great way to get people started and give them the psychological boost they need to start their own journey to better health and well-being.
The next time you're approached by an MLM distributor of any kind, ask yourself this; Why is this personal selling this product to me? Because they've spent a considerable amount of time on accredited courses learning about the benefits? Because they have and still use it themselves? Because they want to help you live a happier, healthier life? Or because they have something to gain financially?
I'm awesome at personal trainer marketing but I'm so passionate about this subject that I'm not even going to search engine optimise this page so it appears high in search results, pay for Google ads in the hopes someone is Googleing it or even add my subscription form sign up box with an irresistible incentive. Instead, I'm going to rely on you guys, the PT's and those with the same vision as myself to share it.
