Read this holistic nutritionist’s Herbalife review and learn whether Herbalife products and shakes really help you with weight loss. 

Herbalife Review: This is what I, as a holistic nutritionist, think of Herbalife products for weight loss!

While recently surfin’ Instagram I came across this hashtag: #herbalife.

So I decided to check out their website and what Herbalife products were all about. It’s shocking.

Are people consuming this stuff thinking they’re making a good move for their health and weight loss goals?

People are selling this and calling it healthy? Disgusting. So here is my unbiased review of Herbalife products.

Herbalife is a scam disguised as healthy living.

According to their website,

Our Mission is to change people’s lives by providing the best business opportunity in direct selling and the best nutrition and weight-management products in the world.

Unfortunately, Herbalife by no means sell the best nutrition products – not even close.

Before it’s asked, this is the protein I use and recommend. I couldn’t find one good enough on the market, so I made my own. Grass-fed collagen with six organic superfoods: kale, spirulina, wheatgrass, broccoli, spinach and turmeric. I drink it in my daily smoothies and it gives me LIFE. Aka a healthy gut, glowing skin, strong digestion and energy for DAYS. Use code 10OFF for 10% off!

Here is the ingredient list for their Herbalife protein drink mix:

ingredient list for Herbalife Protein Mix Drink

Here’s the ingredient list for the Formula 1 shake, which is labeled as healthy but is basically cancer in a can.

Ingredient list for Herbalife formula-1 drink

And the peanut butter protein bars:
ingredient list of Herbalife peanut butter protein bar

The creamy chicken soup, with a side of MSG and hydrogenated oils!
ingredient list for Herbalife chicken soup

*I wrote this article years ago and have since discovered that Herbalife has changed the ingredients in the chicken soup to be slightly less horrible. I’d link to a picture, but it’s very blurry. Find updated ingredients here.

Let’s examine the ingredients of those Herbalife products further.

I wish I could explain to you the full scope of the several horrible ingredients Herbalife uses, but I don’t have ten hours for this Herbalife review. And you likely don’t have the time to read a 20-page blog post.

Soy Protein Isolate

This isolate is the very first ingredient.

In my opinion, soy isn’t even food. You can read more about how much I hate soy here.

Soy is rich in phytic acid, which blocks mineral absorption. It’s rich in goitrogens, which negatively impact the thyroid.

It’s rich in phytoestrogens. These substances mimic estrogen in the body and boast links to cancer.

If you’re looking for a non-denatured protein with recognizable ingredients from grass-fed cows, I buy this protein powder for Scott.

Sucralose

These products contain the artificial sweetener, sucralose, also known as Splenda. From the mouth of the beast,

Sucralose is made through a  patented, multi-step process that starts with sugar and selectively replaces  three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule with three chlorine  atoms.  The result is an exceptionally  stable sweetener that tastes like sugar, but without sugar’s calories.

That’s right, it’s chlorinated. Sucralose destroys beneficial gut flora, thus impairing immune function and promoting obesity.

As for the food recommended by Herbalife, they miss the mark again.

While it’s nice that they advocate fruit and vegetable consumption (I mean, who doesn’t?) they also advocate highly processed low-fat foods that are devoid of nutrients.

Yet again, processed soy rears its ugly head in their breakfast burrito recipe. They do make their own food that people can buy. Like their creamy chicken soup:

Canola Oil

Canola is one of the largest GMO crops and is likely genetically modified in Herbalife products. It is a rancid industrial oil that undergoes an unbelievable amount of processing.

It is extracted with hexane, a neurotoxin, then bleached, deodorized and a slew of other disgusting techniques. Find out more and see how it’s produced in the video below!

MSG

Monosodium glutamate can be tricky because it masquerades under so many different names. Any of the following can contain it: yeast extract, natural flavors, artificial flavors, maltodextrin, corn syrup.

If you’re not concerned with MSG, you should be. The body does not process glutamate the same as naturally occurring glutamic acid. MSG is an excitotoxin and can cause overeating.

Carrageenan

Carrageenan is a processed food additive from seaweed. Experiments reveal ties to cancer in lab rats, colitis, ulcers, and overall terrible consequences for the gut and digestive tract.

Let’s sum up this Herbalife review: 

If you need tips on healthy eating and healthy weight loss, click here, because Herbalife products are not only unhealthy but promote disease.

 I mean really, I can’t even count the ingredients in the Herbalife junk above. These include hydrogenated soy, canola and cottonseed oils, margarine, autolyzed yeast extract (also known as MSG), artificial flavors, wheat protein, and corn syrup.

Is Herbalife good for weight loss?

While Herbalife may be an effective weight loss tool, it is not a safe or healthy nutrition regimen.

There are better ways to lose weight and you should not sacrifice your health to accomplish that. In the same regard, it is also not the ideal product to put on muscle or use for bulking.

There are healthier options, starting with eating real, unrefined food grown locally, organically and sustainably. If you would like a healthy nutrition program, I highly suggest starting with my 21 Day Lifestyle Transformation.

Here is the recipe for the protein shake I make, it is unprocessed and actually good for you.

*I do not recommend most protein shakes and meal replacements, excluding the organic, grass-fed protein powder I linked to in this article. If you have a question about a particular brand of protein shakes and/or meal replacements, please provide a link to the product so I can more efficiently answer your question.

An-Unbiased-Review-of-Herbalife

Sources:

http://az31823.vo.msecnd.net/content/en-us/pdf/catalog/100907_sku1122_us_label.pdf

http://az31823.vo.msecnd.net/content/en-us/pdf/catalog/0291_soupmix_carton_us.pdf

http://az31823.vo.msecnd.net/content/en-us/pdf/catalog/120906_sku0058_us_label.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16965913

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11694625

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/68/6/1431S.longhttp://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/5/10/785.short

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/

Herbalife Review - Read this holistic nutritionist's Herbalife review and learn whether Herbalife products and shakes really help you with weight loss.  #herbalife, #weightloss
Read this holistic nutritionist's Herbalife review and learn whether Herbalife products and shakes really help you with weight loss. #healthyliving #weightloss

750 Comments

      • Ok so it contains isolated soy no the best but a better alternative to a McDonald’s cheeseburger or the bacon you say you love in your other article …it’s pretty difficult for average person to get a hold of GMOs free products or learn the vast knowledge of unhealthy foods you got to learn from
        Schooling or the internet so you can sit there and explain how bad it is but I can do the same with the eggs you used for your food dishes those eggs could have came from chickens that were Gmo fed I didn’t see you write organic home raised chicken eggs next to your ingridients and for someone promoting healthy living and bashing other companies why do you have a brownie recepie?? I don’t care how healthy u make it a brownie is a brownie girl. (They have chocolate=sugar). I keep reading about FDA on some comments well the FDA also approves Kraft cheese twinkies and soda all which is bad for you. As for the shake once your at your ideal weight you don’t have to keep drinking shakes as long as you eat healthy your good. and as for the distributor part which I am I don’t sit behind a computer all day bashing and criticizing others I get up invite people for hikes gym excersice bootcamps so we don’t just promote and teach healthy eating we actually help people encourage them to excersice change their eating habits (direct talking not off my blog). And the satisfaction you get from physically helping someone is amazing or hearing how their borderline diabetic anymore or helped with their cancer I love what i do.Instead of being anti herbalife why aren’t you write about being pro organic growing and tell us how you went out and idk started farming/gardening your own food and actually did something to positively impact people’s lives. like us herbafreaks since we’re just out there spreading venom I hope you actually help people with this blog rather than confuse them now back to your brownie you go πŸ˜‰

        • dani stout Reply

          You and so many other Herbalife pushers say, “Well it’s better than fast food.” REALLY? Is that the standard? No. It’s like saying, “A heroin addict is healthier than an alcoholic.” Well, no…not really. They’re just different and they’re both still unhealthy.

          I get pastured, organic bacon from my local farm. It IS healthy. Healthier than Herbalife, that’s a fact.

          Aaron, you’re really grasping at straws. Just because I didn’t write “gmo-free” eggs doesn’t mean I don’t use GMO-free eggs. I buy majority of my food from the local, organic farmers market. Including my eggs, which are raised on pasture and supplemented with organic feed! Also, my brownie recipe has less than 1 tbsp of sugar from sugar cane. These comments are ridiculous. Yes, I have a brownie recipe, a gluten-free-refined-sugar-free-organic-coconut-oil-rich brownie recipe. I have a lot of other healthy dessert recipes, you should probably check those out as well.

          You’re asking me why I don’t help others? I’m a health coach, bro! That’s exactly what I do.

          Herbalife does not help anyone with cancer, the ingredients in Herbalife are CARCINOGENIC. This is a fact. It’s terrible that this horrible product is pushed on so many unsuspecting people who think they’re doing something healthy.

          • Have you looked into Arbonne’s health and wellness products?? They’re awesome!

          • dani stout

            I just googled Arbonne’s protein powder ingredients, which are actually really bad for you.

          • Nick Howe

            Looking at the ingredients I would rather eat fast food, it’s cheaper than your over priced trash and not much worse. While you can make an impact going out and helping exposing what is not helping can help too, bad companies deserve to be dismantled and boycotted by the people, I would not mind this one, but they tell people they are making them healthy while destroying them, that is not right. Cheap gmo free food is completely available at the store btw, you may have to boil your own rice but the idea that it is hard to get/expensive is complete bullshit.

          • Hi,
            Great blog and well done for spreading the word about this Herbalife scam….What an absolute Joke ,I am surprised that intelligent people believe this shit,but then again people still have imaginary friends too.
            Herbalife is an absolutely poison in a pretty package like Mcdeath..If you truly believe in better health you should read “The China study ” by Colin Cambell and then you wont want to eat bacon organic or not…. any more..
            Oh and I have Nothing to gain from this endorsement ,obviously unlike Aaron.

          • Reading the comment from the person,who seems to be for Herbalife, and reading Dani Stout comments,myself just recently doing a trial run with Herbalife products, where they are setting up a shop in a neighbor hood near you and advertising as Wellness Clubs….So as I did a small venture for a couple of weeks trying a shake here and there , a tea , so I started asking questions,does your product have GMO’s , could not get a straight answer, so I figured no need to ask about herbicides and if they used them or not,since the question’s about GMO’s,was a hard question to answer.Well the internet is a field of information and with any commonsense after finding many many sites pertaining to Herbalife, here’s a question to ask could this product pass a GMO stamp of approval of not having none, does it carry a stamp of organic approval, as far as I have seen on all of there labels ,none of these appear on any of there products. The thing I found most of all the people selling the product do not pry around and investigate the product and they have become indebted to the product….when the warning labeling comes out and is enforced on products Herbalife and products similar to them,they will not be known as heath products. In the 21 Century we have all the tools to search and check out products,there is no excuse to buy into misleading products now a days……Give the stamp of approval,the stamp of organic and NO GMO is stronger than words, can they do it.

          • Great post, I have lots of friends who use it against my advice, I will pass this on & well done on the witty replies πŸ™‚

          • Well said. Shake diets are not sustainable, healthy, safe, smart, etc…It’s a shame that people don’t realize these facts. They just fall victim to the excuse of “Eating Healthy is to Expensive” or “I don’t have enough time to eat healthy”. People just need to educate themselves more about what is & what isn’t healthy. It’s not that hard to eat healthy. The crazy thing is that healthy food taste better also. Eating healthy makes your mind & body stronger as well. Not rocket science just common sense.

          • Girl, you are so righttttt.
            I sold herbalife in college thinking it was a good product when its crazy expensive shit…shit. Most People, excuse me… 99% of people know nothing about nutritional biochemitry so they think organic, nitrate free, organic fed bacon is bad for you. Correctly sourced saturated fat synthesizes youre vitamind d, creates your sex and stress hormones, makes up a large quantity of your brain and your cell membranes. Also a brownie is not a brownie, that was the funniest thing Ive ever read, I guess you dont understand the different between clean ingredients and man made ingredients that get stuck on your arterial wall (Hyrodgenated soybean shit oil). Oh wait you dont because you defend herbalife. Herbalife is liver hell. haha read a nutrition chemistry book I beg of you.

          • Just have to say I LOVE your response to aaron above making the ridiculous and ignorant comment about healthy foods.

            I have a real personal issue with Herbalife. It is a TERRIBLE company and the business model is a pyramid scheme and the products are so far from health foods crazy. Currently there are about 15 people popping up on my facebook newsfeed touting Herbalife and their supposedly amazing transformative powers and I’m angry that these people, my friends, have fallen for this fraudulent company. This quote, “99.92 percent of Herbalife participants lose money, and of that only 0.825 percent of participants make more than $13,028 per year, less than a living wage in virtually every corner of the United States,” comes from this article- http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/7/4074808/juicing-the-pyramid-is-herbalife-an-8-billion-house-of-cards

            Herbalife is currently going to Washington DC to explain their business model to congress.

            http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/us-herbalife-idUSBREA1J27T20140220

          • I think you are so right about what you said that the ingredients in Herbalife are CARCINOGENIC.

            I myself follow a non- GMO diet. I also agree that soy of any kind is bad for you. I eat a soy free diet as well. I lost 100 lbs. the healthy way.

            Sadly lots of people don’t take the time to research about GMOs and how bad they are for you.

          • dani stout

            100 lbs? That’s amazing, congrats!

          • Deanne Morin

            Great post, keep it up people need to know about the snake oil salesmen out there and they are actually confusing a lot of unsuspecting people into thinking it is healthy. One of the biggest scams out there. Keep up the good work Dani!

          • Pip Miles

            I did Herbal lies a few years ago and they always said about at least its not junk food like McDonalds, tbh Id rather eat the MC Donald’s than the Herbal life products tasted disgusting and did bugger all for me . Its just a pyramid scam at the end of the day , What’s wrong with just eating a healthy diet and regular exercise. I’m doing Weight Watchers now and been loosing about 2lbs a week with HL I lost about 2lbs in 2 months

          • Well, that’s interesting. I been using the products for ten years and it has delivered on all the promises it states. Not sure as an advocate for “being healthy” you would care about this at all. You certainly wont take it, and I wouldn’t come and harass you for your choices.

            Just a thought.

          • Perfect response. The standard MLM speak is to make a False Parallel argument and compare their protein shakes and meal replacements not to other (better) protein shakes and meal replacements, but instead to junk food.

            You see a lot of similar false parallel arguments they’ll use, such as arguing that your job is just like working for an MLM in that “people at the top make the most” but there are a variety of differences, including the fact that hourly jobs pay everyone, not just the top few percent of employees.

            This is a great blog post and it’s good to see real information on the Internet.

          • In reply to Aaron’s previous post, I did Herbalife at a point and even if you reach your ideal weight you have to keep drinking at least one shake a day in order to maintain. I saw the label and noticed the amount of chemicals used in their products. I do not like to bash companies like Herbalife, but their biggest flaw is that they do not teach their users about nutrition and how to eat correctly without having to rely on their products. It amazes me how many supplements they have and for so many different things. All of those supplements can be substituted by actually eating the proper foods. Natural weight loss can be achieved, it just takes time and commitment.

          • Herbalife has had known cases of people having to had surgeries to remove gallstones! Terrible!

          • Well, water is chlorinated, and when I asked my Herbalife coach if the soy is GMO, she said absolutely not, and that they grow their own soy. They are also very careful about the aloe and use only a tiny part of the plant (for what that is worth).
            I do have problems with sucralose and any artificial flavors, and I do not want to eat hydrogenated fats.
            Also, how many cases have been reported about Herbalife causing gallstones?
            I’d like to see the references for that, if you have them.
            Thanks.

          • dani stout

            1) the chlorine added to water is minimal and still isn’t healthy, I bought a water filter to filter out chlorine. I recommend doing so.

            2) Your “coach” is a liar. Seriously. She’s lying to you. The soy is GMO.

            Not sure about the gallstone, or if they’d even make that available to the public, or have a way to accurately track that information.

          • Hello Dani, I have few questions to ask you regarding Herbalife because I’m currently in a big dilemma and I hope you can help me solve the problem. This is my email [email protected].

          • Laura Ward

            There is no way that your bacon is healthy, even if it is pasteurised and organic, animal proteins in the form of meat and dairy are, over time, very damaging to your health, the planet and animal welfare. I have 2 degrees in nutrition so know what i’m talking about.

          • dani stout

            Actually that’s a very outdated idea not rooted in science or history. Humans have always eaten meat, if this were true our species would not have evolved, much less thrived. Meat is extremely healthy, but only if it is properly sources. The healthiest cultures around the world all have one thing in common: animal products. I recommend reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

            https://ancestral-nutrition.com/why-bacon-is-a-health-food/

          • Laura Ward

            However, I do very much agree with you that Herbalife is an awful product πŸ™‚

          • Thanx Dani,

            I am obese, just bought a rower which will be delivered in a couple of days – I met someone pushing Herbalife – he showed me his photographs and had really lost weight – but you are right, is heroin addiction better than being alcoholic – absolutely not.

            So, I get rid of my weight, but invite other maladies into my life, I would rather stick to my rower to gain my fitness – even if I don’t lose much weight, at least I will be safe.

            Thank you so much for a marvelous article.

            Cheerios,

            Deva

          • dani stout

            Thank you Deva and best of luck!

          • Now that is called an unbiased review. I am taking this Herbalife nutritional shake from last 2 years. It showed no effect. It was recommended from my relative which is a head supervisor in Herbalife. She just always forces everyone to drink the shake and all those supplements. The truth is people are losing weight in a wrong way. But they won’t accept it. They do not want to look at long term effects. Also, the products are very expensive. I will throw Herbalife products out of my house. Thank you again!

          • Well done and I totally agree.
            I love your recipes
            I’m also a health professional. and totally horrified at what Herbalife is promoting.

          • I am glad you informed me, was at a Herbalife party and the saleslady looked like a skeleton, very unhealthy, not my scene.
            No information was given regarding the ingredients.

          • I’d like to point out that there are several major flaws with your denouncement of this company, based only on the science.

            First, there is no accepted evidence that GMOs are bad. There may be studies out there that say otherwise, but they are few and far between, and are generally shown to be based on unsound science. It is the consensus within the scientific community that there are no currently known ill effects from genetically modified foods. Preaching otherwise is not only stupid, but founded on nothing more than bias.

            Second, chlorinated substances are not inherently bad. Remember that there is a difference between atomic chlorine (aka the poisonous gas) and chlorine ions, which are present in our drinking water, and for good reason. Our bodies utilize chlorine in several ways, most of which are absolutely vital to your being alive. By removing chlorine from your drinking water, you removing a key substance from you body. May I remind you that common table salt, NaCl, is half chlorine, and that all the water in your body is actually slightly saline? Think about how much of that is chlorine ions.

            Third, this popular idea of “if I can’t pronounce it, it must be bad” is ridiculous. People are terrified of “chemicals” and “toxins” when they don’t even understand the actual meaning of those words. Throwing them around the way you do, they are absolutely meaningless. Everything is a chemical, and anything can be a “toxin” if given enough. The word “toxic” just means having an ill effect, and in science, almost always comes with an amount attached. Using your logic, I can say water is a toxin, because if you drink six gallons in one sitting, you’ll probably die.

            Fourth, there is no reason to laud things that are gluten free for no reason. Unless you have Celiac’s disease, gluten will not harm you. Gluten will not make you fat. Gluten will not make you less healthy.

            Fifth, there is some evidence to suggest that yes, sucralose and artificial sweeteners can have an ill effect on the bacteria in your gut, but its widely disputed, and not even near to being proven as conclusively true.

            As a last few notes, MSG is not this awful thing. That’s a myth that people with little education (and Googling things is not an education) commonly believe. As well, there is nothing cited here that would even come close to suggesting that the ingredients are carcinogenic. Finally, “organic” does not mean healthier; they are not synonyms, and most of the time, are not even related terms.

          • dani stout

            Well I’m glad to see that you’re completely ignoring science, studies, facts and even the most basic of nutrition information. I’m not even responding to this, it’s so ridiculous.

          • A lot of the herbalife pushers actually think they are doing a great job and us all a favour. That’s cause they are Dumb f**ks that have attended a herbalife training course or two and have been brainwashed by the potential profits from this pyramid scam.

          • Priscilla

            I know living people that do herbalife.and it has helped them alot.it helped my mom who had a liver problem .my neighbor w her shingles.my supervisor w being enimic.it prevented me from. Getting a sexually transmited disease from my x.and the list goes on. So dont be hating. Appreciate the good it does for people. I do.n im 100 with herbalife 4sure

          • dani

            …did you just say Herbalife prevented you from getting a sexually transmitted disease?

          • dani

            The print in the pictures is too small for me to read the ingredients. I do have an article on my favorite protein powders you can check out. Just do a search in the search bar.

          • Hi, interesting. I have been drinking Herbalife for 20 years…

          • Exactly. Mlm’s are trained to have a comeback that steers away from the issue at hand. I was about to join a place that uses Herbalife and you and other websites just stopped me. Thank you

          • Thanks for saving me from wasting some hard earned money πŸ™‚

          • Im not really sure if your review is accurate or not. Im just looking into Herbalife myself. BUT, it definitely was not unbaised.

          • Dear Dani, it was fascinating reading your scathing report on Herbalife. I wondered if there were a chance you could bring to light any of the discussions qyou may have had with the Herbalife Scientific board. This board is made up of internationally recognised people which include: Dr Steve Henig, PhD, Dr David Heber, PhD, Dr Bill Frankos, PhD, Dr Louis Ignario, PhD and Nobel Laureate, Dr Dana Ryan, PhD and Dr John Heiss, PhD.
            It would be marvellous to get a balanced view point in some commentary raised by you with any of these scientists. Noting, of course that whilst some are also medical doctors, their PhD’s, lie in a broad spectrum of areas which include β€œNutrition”. I would be fascinated by their responses to your significantly unbalanced and one sided arguments.

          • dani

            You really should be taking that up with them, shouldn’t you? How would I know their responses?

            My “one balanced and one sided arguments” are certainly filled with a lot of scientific information to back them up.

        • On your quest to better health , I suggest watching ” FOOD MATTERS” available on net flux. Next Google the ingredients of your beloved Herbalife product line. It’s the blind and not so smart, leading , the blind and not so smart. The truth shall set you free.

        • “Instead of being anti herbalife why aren’t you write about being pro organic growing and tell us how you went out and idk started farming/gardening your own food and actually did something to positively impact people’s lives. like us herbafreaks since we’re just out there spreading venom I hope you actually help people with this blog rather than confuse them now back to your brownie you go πŸ˜‰ ”

          is there any need for this? surely the best thing to do is to educate people on how to eat properly, learn how to cook good quality food using good quality ingredients instead of relying on something that is not natural to consume as a meal? I understand it has worked for thousands of people but its not right!

          People should learn to enjoy their food and still be able to eat in a way that is healthy and going to help them keep the weight off with a little exercise thrown in πŸ™‚ i know i would much rather eat a meal of (for example) chicken/sweet potato/veg than have a shake that is full of god knows what.

          Not here to argue. As I said, if it works for you then fair enough but as you don’t want the pro organic/brownie baking comments coming at you, be a little civilised and have a decent conversation!

          If Herbalife was a healthy way to live then everyone would be doing it. they’re not.

          Fair

          • Herbs life is full of not very good ingredients. If you want an amazing protein drink, why don’t you try organically grown New Zealand Barley grass. It is far more nutritious than anything herbalife can offer you. Google it and you will see what a superfood it is compared to their rubbish.

        • You sound bitter and unintelligent. If you think people’s standard eating is fast food and chocolate equals sugar. Real chocolate actually doesn’t have sugar in it.

        • Look doesnt matter how to choose to live your health part of your life…do what you want eat what you want all this talk about herbalife and its bad that’s bull before herbalife I was a over weight mom I was always sick in and out of hospital why because I ate unhealthy” fast food” I got on herbalife in 2011 been on it since am the most healthiest I have ever been I can care less about your facts its just Internet bull sorry but true I did my research before I started and yes we want to help people get healthy because come on look at this economy over weight number one sorry what they are putting in there body’s is three times worse then all these ingredients you can’t pronounce look them up stop Looking for the negative part of herbalife and the ingredients because that’s what you are doing people so stop talking shit and get full facts because all a reading is what you think is bad well I k ow my facts so stop judging herbalife ok

          • dani stout

            Nowhere in your incoherent babbling of a run on sentence did I read one single thing that made any sort of sense.

            “I can care less about your facts its just Internet bull sorry but true I did my research before I started”

            Yes, clearly you are unconcerned with facts and have no idea what one is.

          • a friend of mine did herbalife, after a few months she was diagnosed with gallstones, the dr asked her if she had ever done a juice or shake diet like herbalife or juice plus she said yes and he said that the herbalife was the cause of the gallstones, the damage was irreversable and at 25 years old she had to have her gall bladder removed, when she was waiting for her operation in the hospital she asked several people what they were having done and each of them said they had gallstones due to either herbalife or juice plus. how is that a healthy diet?

        • Naveen Roberts Reply

          Well put Aaron. I guess where Herbalife went wrong was not pay the owner of this website for writing something good….hence the trash.

          • dani stout

            No one pays me to write anything, I write what I want.

            I understand that you’re upset because I pointed out the fact that Herbalife is complete garbage, but I think we all need to employ some common sense; who would even pay me to write this?

        • Let me tell you a little something about Herbalife here A-A-RON! If you don’t get that reference then you clearly live in a cave. Anyways, I am a 21 year old female who had struggled with an eating disorder and body image issues for years (currently in remission, BOO YEAH!) and part of my journey to get healthy including visiting a nutritionist. Now, as you can imagine beginning a healthy lifestyle after not eating anything and purging anything I did eat was tough. It’s something you have to start off slow so you don’t shock your body.

          Once I got to a point where I was able to have a normal and healthy diet, I wanted to tone down a little bit. Now, when building muscle, protein is muy importante and it was something I was not getting enough of, since I am a runner I generally favor carbs. So of course, I decided to turn to protein powders. I went to my nutritionist and asked him about different brands of products and then I mentioned something about Herbalife and his expression changed completely. Yep, I got a lecture. You see if you’re looking for a healthy protein powder option, you do no want a laundry list of ingredients. With food in general there shouldn’t be a novel under the ingredients (but let’s be honest some of that shit is good). So after using protein powders and products which my nutritionist calls “the lazy way.” I decided to only use them on occasion.

          The best way to actually get protein is to eat foods that have it. WHAT?! THERE ARE ACTUAL FOODS THAT HAVE PROTEIN!? NO WAY! Yeah and guess what else! Whether you’re vegan, paleo (did I butcher that spelling, probably), vegetarian, kosher, gluten free, or whatever there are still foods that fit into your diet that have protein! WOAH!

          In short, protein powders are nice to have, but replacing meals with shakes is not a healthy weight loss alternative. I never tried Herbalife, but I’ve read enough to know not to. Once you hit 70 pounds and have to be fed through feeding tubes you really think twice about what you put in your body. If you really want a good protein powder, find one without flavor enhancements. It’s going to taste like shit, but man up and drink it.

          Also, fuck you and what you said about brownies. If I want to indulge I am going to eat a brownie because that shit is delicious. It’s called moderation. Believe it or not you don’t have to give up the food you love if you learn how to portion control. Of course, you’re just too lazy and frankly probably could not adjust to a healthy lifestyle that way because you have become to addicted to your Herbalife products.

          And you “herbfreaks” are probably going to drink some spiked shake one day and die together. That’s how all cults like to go out. But what do I know. I only had to focus on healthy living and nutrition for 7 years so that I was able to be in remission for and eating disorder, so I probably don’t know anything about eating healthy. (That was sarcasm for those who did not catch that.)

          • Eggs are NOT whole foods, they are animal by-products. Vegetables, legumes, beans, fruits, nuts, grains & seeds are whole foods. P.S. Bacon (as much as you would like to lie to yourself) is not healthy. I don’t care where your fried pig fat comes from, it’s an artery clogger.

          • dani stout

            Maybe you don’t understand the meaning of the word whole, but it’s an unprocessed food from nature. An egg is exactly that – it’s also extremely nutrient dense. Even more so than any plant based food. Don’t get me wrong, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds are good, whole foods as well.

            You clearly don’t understand basic nutritional science. Please refrain from making unfounded comments on my site.

        • Aaron your reply just actually made me laugh! If you enjoy helping people get to “their ideal weight” with chemicals and fake food have at it, but people need to know that it’s junk. The fact that you are comparing an egg (a whole food) to the science experiment that is herbalife is laughable. SMH…

        • I love you!

          People surfing for ‘negative’ information about Herbalife, per say, will find Dani’s site.

          I’m sure growing up, she was fed a McDonalds burger once or twice and its particles are still trapped somewhere in that 100yards of intestines of her lower GI tract! Ouch.

          I myself, a college-educated military vet, alongside my husband, LOVE LOVE LOVE Herbalife!

          Imagine sitting in a world where all you do is count calories, or carbs, or wonder if EVERY particle of what you’re eating is a GMO.

          I didn’t serve in this country to have someone like Dani try and tell me that the company, Herbalife, with the #1 Meal-Replacement Shake in America, is a Scam, or Bad for You, or a Pyramid scheme.

          BTW: Pyramid Business – Lets take your local police department:

          You have the Chief of Police, Deputies, LTs, SSgts, etc.
          The folks at the bottom can never make more than the folk at top.

          Now Herbalife: I got into this business because we LOVE LOVE LOVE the shakes and green tea!

          Pyramid? I make more than the two people that sponsored me by bringing me to my first Nutrition Club!

          We are HELPING people that are diabetic, have high cholesterol, obese, lack energy, and the list goes on!

          This includes my family! We aren’t giving our money away to GNC, or Cost Plus, or Vitamin Shoppe, we are investing in our HEALTH and FUTURE.

          Now Dani, go have your hostess donut!

          Hoorah to Herbalife!

          This message has been approved by two American military vets!

          • dani stout

            I’m not sure if constant your constant Hebralife intake has hindered your ability compute basic information – but who here is eating Hostess Donuts? Because it sure as hell ain’t me. My website is about real food and nutrition based on science, history and fact. Something you clearly know nothing about. And are you unable to read a basic ingredient label? Because no one who has even a basic level of nutritional information would look at these ingredients and think they’re healthy.

            So let me ask you what I ask every single other Herbalife supporter (that not a single one of you has been able to answer):

            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain GMOs?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain hydrogenated and trans fats?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain artificial sweetener?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain soy?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain MSG?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain rancid vegetable oils?
            If Herbalife is healthy, why does it contain processed ingredients and preservatives that are devoid of nutrition?

            I look forward to your response.

          • Yet another MLM fanatic who thoroughly believes everything that’s pushed at her. And of course because she’s making more than anyone else on the planet that negates all other qualities about the product and the business.

            The hostess Donut is no different in quality than the crap you tout. Although there’s possibly less shit ingredients in the Donut.

            Your qualifications mean nothing CharlySue and I loathe individuals that pull the whole military thing with a passion!!!!!!!!

            “I didn’t serve in this country to have someone like Dani Tell Me”…

            No and we don’t want someone like you CharlySue using and abusing the fact of a military background to come on here and sound off the way you have. Your career choice lady nobody else’s, is that all you can bring to the discussion CharlySue? it’s pathetic.

            Belief and fact, proper unbiased, scientific peer reviewed fact, are two entirely different things CharlySue. But when the bucks are rolling in the facts don’t count, isn’t that another classic MLM line trotted out at the monthly meetings and big events CharlySue???…usually by the big earners and high level pins stood on stage being treated like gods and celebrities. Pyramids within pyramids is what MLM is all about.

          • What a moron! Lol!100 yard of intestines! That’s 300 feet! And I love that because you’re “supposed ” military , that makes you a nutritionist! Lol! Go drink some more Herbashit hopefully you’ll all do yourselves in! Lol!

          • Hi,
            Im just wondering if you read your post? It just doesn’t make much sense.
            Well done for serving your country, I have friend and family in the forces.

          • Just the fact of being in the army (unless for strict financial reasons) makes you not reliable enough to read the rest of your post. πŸ™

          • Your a disgrace to the Military, first off by being involved in ruining other peoples health by filling them lies about a product. But, you also just brought local police departments into it. What a disgrace….I have upmost respect for our military and our police, but for you , I have none.

        • Well actually if you are into the health thing why aren’t YOU doing it for a starters instead of inciting people who don’t know better to eat herbalife gunge which damages the DNA of the body! – Its hard to replace the damaged DNA and it gives people cancer as well as makes you look older faster. Never mind the fast track way of dieting.

          Its good we have criticsim from health people, that is how we stop people eating stuff thats bad for them.

          Get educated in what you are doing.

        • Calling soy a better alternative to McDonalds is like saying that a sore throat is better than AIDS… I could do without both.

        • Aaron, surely you’d be better off promoting a way of consuming healthy nutrition other than the completely processed product that you do?

          You’ve replied to Dani’s post the same way as every other MLM distributor/Independent Business Owner/Health and Wellness Coach does when their business is called into question. If you are a qualified nutritionist then that’s great but I’m going to stick my neck out here and say you’re not. In which case you have no business going anywhere near anyone with your snake oil.

          Even if you were, I’d call that into question as the standard nutrition advice handed out today is completely incorrect. Get to know your field my friend and how human biology really works. While you’re about it look into human genetics and discover how we’re no different genetically than our ancient ancestors from 10,000 years ago. Then perhaps you can tell me if when our ancestors awoke each morning, and left their cave or shelter to search or hunt for food, if they popped down to their nearest corner shop and bought a loaf of bread and a pint of milk. Or maybe they visited their local Herbalife distributor and purchased a wholesome tub of genetically modified, processed powder.

          I know, I know Herbalife backs it all up with some science but it’s not hard to apply science to a product to show it’s beneficial when you’re selling it. EVERY MLM company does it, the Healthy Chocolate one, the air purification systems one, all the other nutrition based MLM’s out there they all do it. Why? because if science says works then it must be right…. err right??

          The fact is Aaron we didn’t start consuming these types of food throughout our entire species evolution except in the last 5,000 -10,000 years and then the stuff you’re touting, in less than the last fifty years. So pleeease do tell me how, if for around 2-4 million years we ate foods available to us from nature and in whole form, the crap you are touting is beneficial to the human species?

          Don’t follow the herd mentality Aaron all it will do is lighten your wallet considerably and at the expense of the health of others.

        • I couldn’t agree with you more Aaron. Why spend your time trying to make other companies look bad just for you to stand out? That’s like screaming for attention and wasting your energy on people that are actually making positive impacts on other people’s lives like how mine changed. I know people that have been on the products for 35 years! and look better than you and I together. So, my suggestion would be, to really focus on the positive and not on the negative. Actually how you see others is just a reflection of you. Herbalife does not only promote healthy lifestyle but also personal development which honestly I think this girl is lacking (constructive criticism) If you really believe in what you do then go for it, keep helping others and keep sharing what you know, but I don’t think its necessary to talk about things that you don’t really even know about. At the end, there’s no perfect product or company or us. We are just humans trying to improve this planet. We can’t for sure know what is true and what is not.

          • dani stout

            How in the world am I lacking honesty? What am I being dishonest about?

            I’m not the one promoting toxic ingredients, trans fats and GMOs and selling it to people who don’t know any better. You are a just a human trying to improve this planet…by destroying it with GMOs? Clearly, I’m not the one hear talking about things “you don’t really even know about.” Which is pretty pathetic, considering you likely consume or sell Herbalife – and have no idea about the basic ingredient list.

            I wrote this article for the people who are duped into thinking this is a healthy product. For the people unknowingly consuming hydrogenated oils, preservatives, processed and carcinogenic ingredients. If you are too daft to understand the simple facts I have presented here – that’s fine. But do not ever call me dishonest.

          • Carolina – if you think Aaron’s reply has some value…. you seriously need to take a long hard look at yourself.
            Everyone has the right to be informed of the risks and what the products actually contain.

            I HAVE used the products after being persuaded by someone who is clears brainwashed and after using them for about 4 months with no results I too started to investigate.
            ALL of the products are FULL of garbage and are NOT meal replacements. No one should be replacing food with this shit. If someone told you to replace food with air, as someone they knew did and it worked would you believe them? I’m sick to death of these ” coaches” talking like that are nutritionists and personal trainers. NO one I met though Herbalife was either of the above. Where do these people get off handing out information about healthy lifestyles, and fitness when they actually have no backing. Going to a meeting and listening to people talk about how much money they have made from selling them isn’t helping anyone apart from themselves!!

            These said “coaches” pray on people who are at their lowest, and looking for solutions – including me! They literally poses no moral compass whatsoever. How can they even be allowed to sell these products at wedding fairs and on facebook etc. I’m pretty sure if the people knew about the fact that their so called friends and coaches were making money every time they purchased these over priced loads of shit they’d be horrified.

            Id’ be interested to see how many people have had serious medical condition’s from using this and what this CULT has to say about it!

          • Wow good job Herbalife! Able to suck money from someone for 35 years!

        • Thank you Aaron!! I only clicked this article because it said “unbiased” but right off the bat she was bashing Herbalife…thought this was unbiased? Neither at any point, during her rant, did she ever provide her own or any data backing up her claims…true or not. So right away I knew the post was crap…just wanted to see how deep it was. Good thing I wore my boots!!

          • dani stout

            You do realize you can remain unbiased and still provide a negative review, right?

            You also don’t seem to realize that I provided several studies. Not sure how considering I directly provided links that you wouldn’t seen had you actually read the article.

            I’ll ask you what I ask literally every single other Herbalife supporter that NONE of you have been able to answer:

            How is processed soy healthy?
            How is gluten healthy?
            How are GMOs healthy?
            How are artificial sweeteners healthy?
            How is MSG healthy?
            How are hydrogenated oils healthy?

            I eagerly await your reply, though I doubt I’ll ever receive it. The only “crap” here is your ignorant comment.

        • i love herbalife. i’ve been a client for alomst 4 years and do the business for 3. i have my own nutrition center where i help people improve their health. most come for weight loss other for simple nutrition. and a few to gain healthy weight. there are just soooo many amazing testimonials out there that you should listen to. i have met so many amazing people along the way. it’s helping me health wise and financially. it’ truly is a wonderful company to be part of. and if you didn’t know. herbalife formula 1 shake is the #1 meal replacement taken more around the world!! 94 countries and growing. eventually you will find out.

          • dani stout

            You don’t have a nutrition center where you help people, you have a diet center where people lose weight through dangerous and detrimental means.

            If Herbalife is as healthy as you say it is, please answer the following questions that NO Herbalife supporter has ever been able to:

            How are GMOs healthy?
            How is processed soy healthy?
            How are trans fats healthy?
            How is MSG healthy?
            How are rancid, omega-6, inflammatory oils healthy?

            Eventually you will find out how unhealthy this garbage is.

        • a brownie is a brownie, and chocolate=sugar, what about your “chocolate flavoured” shakes, bars etc then? if we’re going by that logic.

          Herbalife workers might say some seemingly good things like avoiding sugar and processed food but what do they sell? Most of their products have about 20g of sugar in them per serving and are processed, containing toxic chemicals. Despite all the sugar, you still lose weight, why? yes you would if youre replacing 2 meals a day with 200cal shakes, meaning your daily intake barely even hits the 1000cal mark. Just like some people are skinny living off of chocolate and sweets etc, because they don’t pass their daily requirement of calories, yet what little they eat is full of sugar and has no nutritional value

        • I am a personal trainer with nutrition qualifications and an experienced psychotherapist. I life in the UK and am deeply concerned at the influx of so called healthy weight lose products (herbalife, visalus, forever, etc) that are being pushed/shoved and miss sold to vulnerable people. The information being given is misleading. Aaron I understand that herbalife run get fit days but only with the intention to sell the product, which is deficient nutritionally, and it isn’t about long term health changes with the client in mind. Im disturbed by the amount of people that have half a day of training and then are branded as wellness/wellbeing coaches, see the truth that it is a multi level marketing scheme with money and not health as the focus.
          Im pleased that you get satisfaction from what you do and Im not suggesting that you are evil.
          Im assuming that you have trained in some form of sports or fitness instruction?
          Bacon and other real food is better that herbalife as it contains
          complete essential amino acids from a natural source.
          I realise this is an old post however I have been looking into these fad diets and so i have only come across it now.

          Dani stout I look forward to reading more of you work

          Luke

        • Aaron. Healthy eating is not that complicated. Start with Raw lean meat. Cook it without adding fats. Add fresh veggies… Low Cal health meal.
          If you buy Chicken and the poduct lists 20 ingredients something is wrong.

        • I’m just coming across this article now, but I have to say the thing with fad diets and diets that require people to eat their products is junk. Once a person no longer eats the food or follows the fad the weight comes back. Diets are designed to fail. If a person wants to lose weight and maintain that weight they need a lifestyle change, not a diet.

        • thats a good response, but my main question wich goes for many people who blog against a product.. have they ever tried the program or products ??
          its not that expensive to give herbalife a go & make up your own decision, I DID & i may not agree with everything on herbalife, i do know the program & products i use are AMAZING & have changed my life.
          thank you. HERBALIFE

          • dani

            I don’t need to try crack to know it’s not good for me.

        • My mother just went out and purchased multiple Herbalife products. It took one look on the ingredient list for me to realize there was absolutely nothing healthy nor natural in there. Aaron, your comment cannot be taken seriously as it is obvious you are biased. Research your own product.

        • But why does herbalife use random people who know nothing about nutrition to be distributors? Why not health professionals? Why not teach general populations how to create healthy products, why just sell them? Some of the distributors are fat themselves and never changed but are good sales people who sell sand at sea. Not good at all.

        • Crista Carroll Reply

          I’m very confused now because I just got my free Herbalife seeable and I was in love and now she’s telling me that it is so bad for you I don’t know what to do now and my cousin’s in love with it she’s a promoter

        • You drank the Herbalife koolaid! Can I throw a luluroe party at your house? Will you buy my itworks hair strengthening serum? You are my type of sheep!

          • dani

            That was one of those asinine comments I’ve received on this article.

        • PLEAASEEEEE explain the “or helped with their cancer…” DID YA”LL KNOW HERBAL LIFE HELPS CANCER?! Don’t let the secrets out…. BIG PHARMA WILL BE PISSEDDDD.

          Freakin’ idiots.

          Lets talk about Herbal Life rebuild that has 14 g of sugar in it. And if you want legitimate fiber which is necessary for an actual MEAL REPLACEMENT shake, the highest amount of fiber you’ll find in any one of their over priced shakes is 3g… but don’t worry, you can buy their additional over priced fiber supplement as well….

        • I agree with you, Aaron. Herbalife was investigated as being a pyramid scheme and CLEARED of these charges. From my personal experience, (Herbalife does NOT claim to prevent, treat, or cure disease) I can say that my mother and sister – both with hypertension – have had their blood pressure become much better controlled since a few months after starting the shakes. My mother is diabetic and her glucose became so much better she was able to have her insulin reduced. She also has congestive heart failure and her Cardiologist says she CAN have Herbalife products.
          My biggest note from this article is that it is entitled as an “unbiased review”. I have yet to find a negative article about Herbalife that does not promote another product. This one promotes burn TS.
          Oh! One more thing.. HERBALIFE IS PROMOTED BY A UNITED STATES SURGEON GENERAL.. RICHARD CARMONA. NO OTHER PROTEIN SHAKE OR NUTRITION COMPANY IS BACKED BY A U.S. SURGEON GENERAL. (Caps are for emphasis, not for yelling).

      • She is so right this stuff is toxic look at the reports of liver damage I did not make that up. Why would anybody use that crap If you don’t know what the hell is in it why would you put that in your body period.

        • dani stout Reply

          Could you provide a link to the ingredients you’d like reviewed?

      • i am not going into a long winded reply, i am a normal everyday person…i use herbalife and i have never felt better in myself..it is for nutrition that i use it…i know what my body felt like years ago & during the time i had breast cancer not long ago & how i feel now whilst using herbalife…yes i agree it would be better if we could get all our nutritional needs from food, but unfortunately good food is more expensive that junk food…as a holistic coach are you not advising people on what they require in their bodies, does this not cost money…i also noticed that you may receive monetary or other benefits for what you put on this blog…there are many weightloss products in chemists, supermarkets etc…am i going to be able to read imformation on these as well to keep things even…

        • dani stout Reply

          Aren’t breast cancer patients supposed to be on low estrogen diets?

          • Only certain types of breast cancer are considered estrogen positive. I know because I am almost 4 years post diagnosis of aggressive stage 3 breast cancer – ER, PR and HER-2 positive. After my diagnosis, I did a ton of research on nutrition and was shocked that what I THOUGHT had been a healthy diet was filled with genetically modified foods, chemicals and more carcinogens than I care to mention. Since then I have worked to overhaul my diet and do what I can to prevent a recurrence.

            I was recently introduced to Herbalife when I attended a Zumba class they hosted. Before consuming a shake, I asked all the appropriate questions and got (what I thought) positive answers. I drank the shake (4 over the course of 2 weeks) but noticed I felt horrible afterwards. I finally asked to see the ingredient list. (My bad for not doing so beforehand.) The reason I felt so terrible is the shakes contain dairy. And I am allergic.

            I had informed the Herbalife rep that I was allergic to dairy and soy was not an option for me. I was assured it wouldn’t be a problem. That while some of their products contained dairy, one product would perfectly fit my needs.

            I naively (again, taking 100% of the blame) believed what I was told. I thought I had finally stumbled upon a cool new option for the occasional protein shake I like to have after a workout.

            To make my long story even longer, I decided to purchase a canister of the product to have at home. I didn’t look at the ingredient list until I got home. I was SHOCKED! Not only was the lengthy list riddled with ingredients I couldn’t pronounce, it also contained dairy!

            Once again, I have no one to blame but myself. No one. However, my eyes were opened to several things that day. One – ALWAYS investigate and read ingredient lists. Don’t take someone’s word for it. Two – Not everyone’s idea of “healthy” is the same. Three – Not everyone will understand nor appreciate my nutritional choice. Most will make fun of them. Four – I am proudly one of “those” people. The kind of people who possess a passion for sharing the truth about the good, the bad and the ugly of what we consume in the name of healthy eating.

            One more point, and this is the one that saddens me the most. When I returned the products for a refund, I was told “not to worry…several cancer survivors were using the products and seemed to be just fine.” The only response I had was to say “I once seemed to be just fine too.”

            Thank you for posting the truth. For standing strong against opposing views. Consider me a fan.

          • dani stout

            This comment seriously made me tear up. Thank you so much!

        • Natalie Robson Reply

          Might I just suggest something…As normally when you buy these products, you get given a meal plan and a plan which helps you to exercise? try doing both of them without the products you’ve brought. I’m pretty sure that what some people need and what the distributors try to do is tempt you in with all the support and plans already done for you. If there was something out there, that just went with a healthy and exercise plan which was provided to a person, along with all the support, then people would still lose weight and be healthier at the same time.

      • Thank you so much for the information packed resources that has helped me tremendously in my research of the complicated long list of Herbalife ingredients. If I may just offer one word of advice. The cursing detracts from the information and professionalism that it deserves. It is highly valuable information that should be viewed with the utmost professionalism. Many thanks again!

        • dani stout Reply

          Thanks for comment! Are you referring to my saying “hell”? I really don’t even consider that a curse word.

      • Well you areasking continously asking about GMO’. I personelly contacted the health autauthoriti
        es where they clearly statedd that they are using proteins from NON GMO sources. Health ministry of every country do keep eyes on them so they have to go through every test. And remember dear its your illusion that whenever we design the diet , we always pull them to have shake all the time. Nope. I personelly see that what food i can personelly introduce into their diet with combinationof shake. For your info just recieved a good compliment from 60 year old lady who had ggouts 2 months back. Now her reports are ok and she can freely walk on her knees. πŸ™‚

        • dani stout Reply

          It’s difficult to understand this barely coherent comment, but no – Herbalife does not use NON-GMO sources, at least in the US. They specifically use GMO soy, corn and canola. I’ve made this abundantly clear and have confirmed it with the company.

          • I am not a fan of Herbalife. Quite the contrary. But this mantra you keep repeating that GMO’s are not safe is getting old. There is no evidence to suggest that GMO is bad for you. That does not mean that soy protein GMO or non-GMO would be good for a diet.
            I see you have a lot of good arguments, but this anti-GMO stance is ridiculous considering you have no evidence for it.

          • dani

            Actually I provided a myriad of evidence, including scientific literature and peer reviewed studies. The World Health Organization has even labeled glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. If you’re unable to comprehend the studies, the information available regarding GMOs and the basic fact that they are proved time and again to be unsafe for human consumption, well, I don’t really know what to tell you.

        • If they’re using proteins from non-GMO sources, then why do they have a new formula 1 shake that is labeled as their “non-gmo” option?

      • All of your so called information is biased, and comes from the internet. You say bacon and brownies can be healthy you have credibility and like i said all your information is from the internet which is public domain, which means people like you that “hate” certain things can site off and sound smart, when half your sentances contain curses. Also lets see you deny all the results said company has helped make, and lives they changed, if its not one company its another, and another thing there is 0 solid proff that GMOs cause health problems.

        • dani stout Reply

          You realized that medical journals, universities, nutrition journals, etc. post their information on the internet, right?

          This isn’t 1968. I don’t need to go to a library for accurate information. Are you suggesting I get my information elsewhere? Because I also provided links to books…

          And did you not even look at the studies I linked to regarding GMOs? There’s a reason they’re banned in over 60 countries.

          And yes, pastured bacon is healthy. It’s an organic piece of meat full of vitamins and monounsaturated fats. My brownie recipe is grain-free, GMO-free, sugar-free, vegetable oil free and preservative free – UNLIKE HERBALIFE.

        • How could you not lose weight, when twice a day you’re drinking a shake instead of eating real food?! I could get any protein powder and have it twice a day and lose weight! Herbalife is horrible!

      • I don’t know where everyone lives; but if you have ever visited Los Angeles, you will see one of the biggest herd of Herbal Life sheeple ever. One of the corporate offices is in Carson, CA (Los angeles) area. Redondo Beach + South Bay is full of the sheep pushing their products like crack at the weekly “Fitness Group” gatherings right on the beach with all their green shirts everywhere. (although they offer free fitness on the beach, its where they will up sell products and recruit) Every time I see them, I just snicker; knowing they are recruiting their next sucker.

      • Lol@author Reply

        I usually don’t respond to junk blog articles but felt compelled with this one as it is a sitting duck. I’ve been with Herbalife for five years and have been a nutrition specialist and strength and conditioning coach for the l last decade. Articles like this are nothing but obstacles to progress. We’re all trying to help people, there are dozens of other MLMs around and Herbalife has been around for 35 years. Since it is direct sales it would take a mind encased in concrete not to see the obvious; a direct sales company does not goodish for over the decades, even through a tough economy, without a high quality product. It simply would not happen. I’ve used the products myself and am in the best shape of my life. I do not get sick. I do not get injured like every other tendonitis-prone gym rat out there. I have amazing energy. I have helped people lose over 50 lbs routinely, get off medications and increase energy. I have seen enough results to be convinced. As for your arguments about ingredients, there’s not a whole lot of point in arguing as we could both find evidence supporting our views, thus the age lf problem with online blog articles, full of hazy studies and polarized views. As for GMO soy, go ahead and mark that one of the list, as ours is all non-gmo if you would have done your research, which you have not which is glaringly obvious. You may be able to hook the clueless 99% but not myself. I researched every ingredient in the products before signing up, as I share your passion for knowledge. And you know what? I was shocked at how healthy the ingredients are. While you hinted at all the “bad stuff and chemicals” you obviously don’t have a firm grasp of chemistry as not all are that bad. You failed to list the numerous cancer preventing super antioxidants in the products. So this is in fact the opposite of an unbiased article as the only sources I see are .gov sites, the pinnacle of corruption, and three food labels. What outstanding research you deserve a round of applause, or laughter. I really get a good chuckle out of mainstream “nutrition experts” that demonize companies they know absolutely nothing about. Did you know about our “seed to feed” program? I would venture a guess of no. I mean this more as an educational response but I’m sure it won’t come off this way. You’re not the first keyboard expert to confront me about the products. I’ll tell you exactly what I tell the other extremists who seek to find any way to justify hating other people because they don’t do what you do, and the same thing I tell nitpicky and negative potential clients: you can keep your problem, we’ll keep our solution.

        • dani Reply

          It’s really sad when I know more about the product you sell and dupe people into buying than you do. You might want to actually contact your company about their use of GMO soy. I’m fully aware of the seed to feed program – which uses GMO seeds.

          If someone has actually researched all of these ingredients and still sells it, there’s just a lack of integrity there that is beyond words.

        • To LOL@author,

          You say you are a strength and conditioning coach and a ‘nutrition specialist’ (which I assume is just a Herbalife label, as that is neither a dietician or nutritionist)… yet you are promoting Herbalife… that must be embarrassing for you. I can only assume that is why you haven’t added your name to your post, can you imagine the respect you would lose amongst your educated peers if they knew you were associated with that junk? Lol

          Aside from the horrible ingredients all weight loss from these shakes can be attributed to a calorie deficit. Through time this reduces your BMR as you lose lean tissue making it harder to maintain and even harder to adjust in future to a healthy diet/lifestyle.

      • Ben Regardo Reply

        Hi…
        I don’t know how you called this ‘unbiased review’. I am not herbalife, I came here looking for an answer, but this article is a very biased in every way. Especially when you have a shop and subscription on your blog so people can get to you as their health coach.

        So here’s my unbiased point of view: You sounded like you’re doing some marketing move targeting ‘herbalife consumers’? I believe you’re a great health coach, but your marketing is so unethical and unprofessional. This is even a hate blog post yet your comment replies. Just because you believe you can offer the best answer in nutrition or healthy diet, but your lack in professionalism (esp in this article) will never convince people. If you think you’re doing good because non-herbalife people are leaving Pros in the comments? Let me ask you these: Is there any herbalife-independent member convinced by this article? Or did they send you a thank-you email? Dear Dani, Despite that herbalife is organic or not. Did you run a research or investigation of your own before publishing this article (cause I swear I’ve seen similar articles stating the exact statements)? Where did you get those nutrition labels (did you bother to shot them by yourself)? Did you consult with hundreds of Phds/doctors working at the herbalife on how did they extracted their soy protein (and other ingredients)?

        So for those people who really concerned about GMOs, soy, and corn, and more GMOs.
        What about the fact that they actually care about their customers need, that they have a line of product that are GMO-free even non-soya? Here’s a real label from herbalife product. They’re using non-GMOs soya and also not the kind with estrogen-imitating in it. Did you count it as well? You didn’t even mention any alternatives (herbalife only outside herbalife).
        https://cdn.empowernetwork.com/user_images/post/2013/05/01/f/74/a720/540_293_resize_20130501_f74a7203585dc8dbc5067d539dbad375_png.png

        If none of the above, then there is no investigation involved, I mean a real professional one. Then no solution is organically produced by you. So, how is it unbiased? You probably saw something on the internet, reposted and retitled. I’ve done my research and I’ve found internet and press articles, from independent organizations, even official press released by Herbalife that can beat your poor journalism away from people who really can’t be fooled.

        Good luck

        PS:
        And for the business model: would you rather buy from some companies who sell products on the shelves, gaining profits for themselves, possibly paying the workers with minimum wage. Or, a company which gives opportunities for people to have income. Okay shit, it’s pyramid scheme, but opportunities for everyone, equally to have one. And I believe those MLM have training especially a mega-global like herbalife.
        Wayne Dyer β€” ‘The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about’
        You gotta do alot harder to convince: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1o5Bd1HKmI

      • I am a fat man in the process of losing weight. I came here to get an unbiased review of Herbalife. Which I recently started, and doing some homework to see if I should continue. I am by no means a herbazealot, for you to title this blog an “unbiased” review is totally invalidated by suggesting us readers to check out your 21 day plan. You also don’t offer a look from both sides (not that you have too). Your unbiased title would carry more validity if you did. To sum up, some of what you’ve said make sense, but because I can’t take it as “unbiased ” and you seem more bashing and a “Herba-hater” I now have wasted time reading and writing this response because you titled it Unbiased. Plus I also now feel as if I need to do more research which is what I was hoping an Unbiased blog would resolve. Do me and others who are real people change the title.

        • dani Reply

          Even if it is a biased review, I provided plenty of scientific literature to back up all of my statements. The ingredients in these products are not healthy.

      • Disgusted by your opinion Reply

        Where in god’s name did you even find all these sources that aren’t even right. You claim to be unbiased when in fact your very biased from the start of your article. If this what you wish to call it but I’ll refrain from calling it that. Herbalife has a board of independent doctors that checks the products, the safety of them and what’s in them and they have on their board two I think it is noble peace prizes on the board of doctors. If it doesn’t do what they claim then kindly explain why they have multiple well known sport players using the products all over the world who have exceptional muscle mass. Herbalife never approaches anyone to be a face or be an ambassador for the company. They come to herbalife themselves. I’d suggest you know more about something before making your opinion up prior to writing in future. I myself have been on the products in the past and they are mind blowing and beyond amazing. I’d suggest nothing other or no other company on the market. You shouldn’t be allowed to blog or write for the public if your views are very biased already. I actually laughed at your reasoning by comparing herbalife with a druggie and someone who is always drunk.

    • A multi-level marketing company is not a “pyramid scheme.” The definition of pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Just because a business is set up like a pyramid, which all businesses are set up that way even corporations, doesn’t make the above definition true. There are actually specific things that have to be met for it to not be one and shut down by the FTC which Herbalife and hundreds of other direct selling companies in fact meet. I do not sell or even like Herbalife but it just makes my blood boil when comments like this are said because they aren’t true and take away credibility from those that spew them.

      • dani stout Reply

        I haven’t said anything about Herbalife being a pyramid scheme. I am more concerned with the damage it does to people and the fact that they use GMO ingredients, which are destroying the environment.

        • Yes you are right, GMO products are destroying the environment and aren’t very good for your health. Raw foods are the best for the body, they keep it in an alkaline state where disease is far less likely to start. I read a book many years ago called ‘Fit for Life’ by Harvey & Marilyn Diamond which talked about the principals of ‘Natural Hygeine’. I have lived by these principals ever since and find that things only go wrong, ie weight gain, fatigue, illness etc, when I stray from them. Please buy a copy if you can, it’s very interesting. I have found it very interesting reading all your opinions. Good for thought x

    • You and the writer obviously need to go back to school to learn what a pyramid schemebis and investigate properly before publishing your false statements and accusations. Once more, due to your ignorance, you do not understand how nutritionbin your body works or the indepth detail of the products

      • dani stout Reply

        I never said it’s a pyramid scheme, seems like you’re a little insecure about that yourself. I don’t understand nutrition? Is that a joke? Please explain to me how genetically modified ingredients, denatured proteins full of phytoestrogens, processed and toxic ingredients and trans/hydrogenated fats are good for you??

        • I know herbalife contains gmo”s but doesn’t that bring the majority of the big gym brands (I use the term widely) down? They all contain gmos too, pretty much any supplement in a tub will do so. Therefore shouldn’t your argument be with not just herbalife butany other brands?

          • dani stout

            No. You may have noticed that the protein powder I linked to is 100% organic and grass-fed, and only contains one ingredients. Furthermore, I was specifically asked to do a review of Herbalife which is how this article was born.

          • dani stout

            Hells yeah I eat bacon. I’ll take an organic piece of meat full of vitamins and monounsaturated fats over GMOs, processed soy, hydrogenated fats and MSG any day.

            Duh.

          • Bacon contains real fat from real pork and real protein. Unlike the carcinogenic ingredients found in Herbalife products.

        • Hi dani I live in turkey, I was sucked into becoming a distributor, what i mistake that was.Ive watched how my so called sponsors push the products onto people without really noing the ingredients themselves, they class themselves as wellness coaches surley a wellness coach should no what the product is.When i asked my sponsor what do i do if asked about the ingredients there answer was tell them to read the lable.They know nothing about the products yet when advising people who are on a diet they push the shake, thermo complete, herbal tea, aloe vera, lift off and niteworks.All in the name of making money i am sickened by this.My question to you was in europe the shakes are soya protein in turkey it is pea protein do you have any information on this. Thank you for this great post and goodbye to Herbalife. Please excuse my english

          • dani stout

            I know they change the ingredients from country to country but I’m not positive what they use in Turkey. You can contact customer service, they should be able to tell you.

      • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalife

        Pyramid scheme allegations[edit]
        In November 2011, the Commercial Court in Brussels, Belgium ruled that Herbalife was an illegal pyramid scheme.[4]
        Herbalife responded to the Belgium decision by stating “Herbalife believes the judgment contains factual errors and is based on misinterpretations of the law and its direct-selling sales model. Herbalife remains committed to its multi-level direct-selling sales model and is confident that, with clarifications in certain aspects of its business, there will be no doubt as to its compliance with all applicable Belgian laws.”[81] The company filed an appeal on March 8, 2012.[82]
        On May 1, 2012, a well-known short seller David Einhorn asked pointed questions about the company’s business and sales models during the Q1 earnings call, setting off suspicions that Einhorn had a short position.[83][84] These suspicions were proven correct in January 2013 when at an investor meeting Einhorn revealed that he had profited through a short position against the company. Einhorn said the short had been closed before the end of 2012.[85]
        On December 20, 2012, Bill Ackman (of Pershing Square Capital) presented a series of arguments outlining why his firm believed that Herbalife operates a “sophisticated pyramid scheme”.[8][10] Ackman has alleged after a year-long investigation that the majority of distributors lose money, that the chance of making the testimonial-implied headline income is approximately one in five thousand, and that the company materially overstates its distributors’ retail sales and understates their recruiting rewards, to the point that he concludes it is a pyramid scheme.[86]
        Ackman claimed that Herbalife distributors “primarily obtain their monetary benefits from recruitment rather than the sale of goods and services to consumers.” His firm estimates that, since 1980, the scheme has led to more than $3.5 billion of total net losses suffered by those at the bottom of the Herbalife chain. He said on CNBC that millions of low income people around the world, hoping to become millionaires are being duped with this scheme and if they knew that to make hundred thousand dollars, what Herbalife calls the “millionaires team”, there is a fraction of less than 1%, no one would sign up for it.[87]
        According to a number of financial commentators, Ackman put on a roughly $1 billion bet against the company;[88] soon after remarks to the press the price of the stock decreased such that Ackman would have made $300 million if he had closed his short position then.[89] Ackman stated that he will donate all of his profits from the trade to charity, taking the financial incentive out of the equation.[87][90] A few months after Ackman’s initial comments, billionaire investor Carl Icahn refuted Ackman’s comment in a very public spat on national TV. Shortly thereafter, Carl Icahn bought a huge stake in Herbalife Intl. As Carl Icahn continued to buy up HLF shares, the stock price continued to show strength. Carl Icahn now owns 16% of Herbalife Intl. Furthermore, Investor George Soros bought up a large percentage of Herbalife Intl. The HLF stock is now above $64 a share (as of August 13, 2013), and Bill Ackman now is showing a paper loss of over $300,000,000.
        Herbalife Responded to Ackman’s presentation saying “Today’s presentation was a malicious attack on Herbalife’s business model based largely on outdated, distorted and inaccurate information. Herbalife operates with the highest ethical and quality standards, and our management and our board are constantly reviewing our business practices and products. Herbalife also hires independent, outside experts to ensure our operations are in full compliance with laws and regulations. Herbalife is not an illegal pyramid scheme.”[91]
        The New York Post, through a Freedom of Information Act request, reported that HerbaLife is subject to a pending probe from the FTC.[when?] The FTC released 729 pages containing 192 complaints received over a 7-year period in regards to the New York Post FOIA request. After reviewing the now-public complaints, which the FTC put on its website, Ackman told The Post: β€œI have a lot more confidence in our government’s regulators than those who own the stock.” [92] The following day, the New York Post published a report that the FTC claimed that the wording the New York Post reporter interpreted to indicate that Herbalife “is the subject of a law enforcement investigation” was incorrect and said that it could not confirm, or deny, an investigation into the nutritional supplements company.[93]

        • The Dubious Promotion of Herbalife’s Niteworks

          Stephen Barrett, M.D.

          Herbalife would like you believe that taking Niteworksβ„’ will benefit your heart. The product was formulated by Louis J. Ignarro, PhD., professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the UCLA School of Medicine, who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system [1,2]. This article tells why I believe that Niteworks is being promoted with improper claims and Ignarro’s conduct has been highly questionable.

          • Ignaro’s Promotion

            In June 2003, Ignarro was featured at Herbalife’s Extravaganza in Las Vegas, where he talked to thousands of enthusiastic Herbalife distributors for more than an hour. As part of Ignarro’s introduction, Herbalife’s CEO MIchael O. Johnson played a video in which Ignarro said: “We’ve done a lot of work to show that one does not have to take prescription drugs to be effective in treating cardiovascular disease. One can just engage in natural sorts of thingsβ€”dietary supplements . . . exercise, diets that are low in fat, and so on. All of these things increase or enhance nitric acid production in the body; and the more nitric oxide that is produced, the more protection you have against cardiovascular disease.” [5] The video ended with a plea from Ignarro “take this message to tens of millions of people out there.”

            Ignarro’s walk to the stage was accompanied by loud music, rhythmic clapping, and audience cheering that resembled what happens when boxers and wrestlers are introduced at championship events. Before and after speaking, Ignarro spent several minutes giving autographs to distributors who pressed toward him with papers held high. His talk covered his research; the physiological characteristics of nitric oxide; his Nobel award; his beliefs about Niteworks; and what taking the product has done for him, his wife, and his friends. During parts of his talk, he seemed euphoric. The audience lapped it all up; many portions of his talk were met with applause and enthusiastic shouts.

            Click for video clip

            The “scientific” part of Ignarro’s talk was centered around a slide show titled “No More Heart Disease: The Nitric Oxide Story.” After promising to provide “easy steps you can take to prevent cardiovascular disease,” and “what we can do to reverse this process,” he stated that Herbalife’s “Cellular Nutrition Program nourishes all the cells in the body” and that nitric oxide can do the same. He went on to describe how nitric oxide allows cells to “communicate” with each other and can help prevent a wide variety of diseases. He claimed that among other things, it can help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, inhibit clotting (to prevent strokes and heart attacks); prevents against early stages of atherosclerosis; prevent vascular complications of diabetes; protect against ulcers and Alzheimer’s disease; and affect erectile function.

            Click for video clip

            Ignarro further claimed that “cardiovascular disease is associated with localized nitric oxide deficiency,” and that production can be increased by a low-fat diet, mild-to-moderate exercise, smoking cessation, and better “cellular nutrition.” Niteworks, he said, contains the amino acid arginine, which the body converts to nitric oxide; citrulline, which the body “recycles” to arginine; and the antioxidant vitamins A and C, which protect against the destruction (oxidation) of nitric oxide. Although arginine is found in common foods (such as meat, poultry, fish, nuts, cereals, milk and certain vegetables), Ignarro told the audience:

            You probably don’t get sufficient amounts of arginine from your diet. . . . To really get the increased production of nitric oxide that I’d like to see . . . you’d probably have to eat the whole leg of a cow every day or as a barrel of fish. . . . So you should supplement your diet with arginine . . . and the same thing goes for citrulline, which is another amino acid. It’s found together with arginine but is present in much smaller amounts. That’s why it’s particularly important to supplement with citrulline. And, of course, our Niteworks product contains both arginine and citrulline.

            After finishing his “chemistry lesson,” Ignarro focused on the personal experience of himself, his wife and his friends. Among other things, he bragged that after taking Niteworks, he and his wife greatly improved their treadmill performance and that he slept better and generally felt better. He also said that friends had lowered their blood pressure and become less depressed, that “everyone” he knows who took the product had reported substantial benefits; and that he really believes that “soon there will be no more heart disease.” (This statement was followed by a standing ovation from the audience.) The fact that mouse studies and haphazardly collected anecdotes do not provide an adequate basis for Ignarro’s conclusions was not mentioned to the audience.

            A few months after the Extravaganza, the Washington Post published an article in which Ignarro told the reporter that the ingredients in Niteworks generate nitric oxide slowly over a prolonged period so that it can be provided when the body needs it. However, he said that this had been shown so far only in animal studies and test-tube studies with human cells. Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., who directs the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and shared the Nobel Prize with Ignarro, said that Niteworks’ blend of ingredients makes sense, except for l-citrulline, which he said acts only marginally in recycling l-arginine and is probably in the product for patenting reasons. Murad also said that Niteworks’ $90-per-month price was obscene because the vitamins C and E are available for pennies a day and arginine is obtainable for about a dollar a day [6].

            Questionable Conduct

            In May 2004, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published an article by Ignarro and 11 co-authors about a study in which mice with high cholesterol levels who exercised and were given arginine, vitamin C, and vitamin E were compared to sedentary mice and to mice who exercised but did not get the supplements. The researchers found that the supplemented mice developed fewer problems with their coronary arteries [7]. Scientific journals require authors to disclose any financial interest they have in the subject matter they write about. However, the article did not disclose Ignarro’s tie to Herbalife or his financial interest in a product related to the study. In fact, the lack of disclosure and extent of the connection did not come to light until David Evans, an investigative reporter for Bloomberg News, learned how much amount of money was involved as reported in documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of Herbalife’s application to become a publicly-held company. After further investigation, Evans reported:
            β€’In January 2003, Ignarro and David Brubaker formed a consulting company called Healthwell Ventures LLC to receive royalties for the sale of Niteworks. Brubaker told Evans that Herbalife pays Healthwell 1% of Niteworks sales revenue. Since June 2003, Healthwell has received $1 million, some of which represented an advance payment.
            β€’When the mouse study was published, UCLA issued a press release in which Ignarro claimed that “what’s good for mice is good for humans” and that the study “shows that supplements work well even in the absence of exercise.” The release didn’t name Herbalife and didn’t disclose Ignarro’s financial interest in Niteworks.
            β€’Pharmacologist Robert Furchgott, Ph.D., who also shared the 1998 Nobel Prize with Ignarro said that Ignarro’s claims of effectiveness are improperly founded. “They jumped the gun,” he said.” I haven’t seen any properly controlled studies. It just seems to me a mouse model isn’t transferable to humans.” He also said, “I think with the sort of money they’re raking in, they could have done some human studies.”
            β€’Former New England Journal of Medicine editor Marcia Angell, M.D., agreed that Ignarro needs more than mouse studies to support his claims. “There’s a way to find out if it works in humans,” by conducting clinical trials on people, she said. “You can’t assume it will work for people.” [8]

            Brubaker, who was also an Herbalife distributor, sells Niteworks and other products from his HealthWellLife Web site from 2004 through 2007. Shortly before Evans’s exposΓ© was published, I downloaded a video that contained Ignarro’s Las Vegas presentation followed by an invitation to order Niteworks via Brubaker’s toll-free number. Ignarro’s presentation, combined with the introduction shown at the Extravaganza, has also been promoted through the Herbalife Broadcast Network (HBN), which Herbalife International uses to communicate with its distributors.

            Ignarro notified the journal editor that he thought that disclosing his financial connection to Herbalife was unnecessary because (a) the study was conceived before he teamed up with Herbalife and (b) he had only played a minor role as a reviewer of the article [9]. However, I believe that (a) the connection was established before the article went to press and (b) if Ignarro did enough to get his name on the article, he did enough to require a disclosure. Moreover, the news release associated with the article should have made the disclosure.

            In 2012, a Pershing Square Capital Management report noted that since 2004, Herbalife had paid Ignarro and his affiliated consulting firm more than $15 million since 2004 [10]. In 2013, the Los Angeles Times noted Herbalife’s support of UCLA medical school’s Center for Human Nutrition [11].

            Competition

            Ferid Murad, Ph.D., the third scientist who shared the 1998 Nobel award, has cast his lot with another manufacturer. In December 2004, Leiner Health Products announced that it had created Cardio Discoveryβ„’, which it said was “based on 28 years of research by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Ferid Murad.” A company press release stated: “Cardio Discovery helps support the cardiovascular system by increasing production of nitric oxide. Naturally produced in the body, nitric oxide helps to maintain the flexibility of veins and arteries so that blood flows freely. Cardio Discovery contains the amino acids l-arginine and l-glutamine. l-arginine is one of the body’s key nutrient sources for nitric oxide production, which is necessary for the maintenance of a healthy cardiovascular system.” [12] The list price was $32/month, but some distributors were discounting it. Now called Cardio Support, the product retails for $39.95.

            Applicable Laws

            Under federal law, products (except for devices) intended for the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease are drugs, and all drugs must be labeled with adequate directions for use. Labeling includes any written, printed, or graphic material that accompanies a product; and intended use is determined by the facts at hand. Drugs not generally recognized as safe and effective by experts are considered β€œnew” drugs that cannot be marketed in interstate commerce without FDA approval. It is a federal crime to market a new drug that lacks approval or does not bear adequate directions. The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) permits dietary supplements to be marketed with “structure/function” claims that are truthful and supported by scientific evidence [13,14]. It appears to me that Niteworks is intended for the prevention of disease but is not generally recognized by experts as safe and effective for this purpose. I also believe that many of the claims made by Herbalife and Ignarro go beyond what DSHEA permits for a dietary supplements. Thus, for example, the claim that Niteworks can lead to “no more heart disease” appears to be illegal as well as preposterous.

            In 1985, the California Attorney General sued Herbalife International and its founder/president Mark Hughes for making false claims about several products. The case was settled in 1986 with a consent agreement under which the defendants paid $850,000 in penalties and were permanently barred from making unsubstantiated health claims for any product [15].

            In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission took action against the marketers of another arginine-containing product (HeartBar) that was claimed to protect its users against cardiovascular disease [16]. The consent agreement [17] prohibits unsubstantiated representations that any such product:
            β€’ Substantially decreases leg pain for people with cardiovascular disease;
            β€’Reverses damage or disease to the heart caused by high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, estrogen deficiency, or any other medical condition or health risk;
            β€’Prevents age-related vascular problems, including “hardening of the arteries” and plaque formation, or reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease;
            β€’Reduces or eliminates the need for surgery, such as a coronary bypass or angioplasty, or for medications, such as nitroglycerin, in patients with cardiovascular disease; or
            β€’Improves endurance, circulation, and energy for the general population.

            Arginine Research

            As far as I know, Niteworks has never been studied studied in humans to determine whether it can help people with cardiovascular disease. But three studies suggest that one of its key ingredientsβ€”arginineβ€”might do more harm than good for people with impaired artery function:
            β€’One study found that giving 9 grams of arginine per day for 4 days to 28 patients with coronary artery disease did not improve the function of the inner lining (endothelium) of their arteries [18].
            β€’Another study found that subjects with peripheral artery disease who took arginine supplements for 6 months did worse than that imilar people who received a placebo [19].
            β€’The third study found that 9 grams of arginine given every day for 6 months did not improve arterial functioning among 153 people who had suffered a heart attack. But during or shortly after the trial, death occurred in six of the arginine-takers but none of the placebo-takers [20].

            The Herbalife Science Web site mentions a clinical trial in which 16 healthy elderly men who exercised regularly were given either Niteworks or a placebo for three weeks. The study was supported by an NIH grant and done at UCLA’s Center for Human Nutrition. The researchers reported that the men who received Niteworks were able to do strenuous exercise a bit longer before they got tired [21]. Whether this finding has any practical significance remains to be seen.

            The Bottom Line

            Niteworks is promoted as a powerful preventive against cardiovascular disease even though, as far as I know, the product has never been studied for this purpose in humans. Nobel Prize winner Louis Ignarro, Ph.D, who has a substantial financial interest in the matter, is using his prestige to facilitate the sales process. Although research into nitric oxide may lead to some practical use of arginine supplementation, it seems unlikely to result in “no more heart disease.” Meanwhile, I believe it is foolish to spend $90 a month for a product that is overpriced, has no proven value, and might even be harmful.

      • Anthony,

        It is you that needs to go back to school and study nutrition. Ask yourself this who or which organization paid for the science that’s applied to Herbalife products? If they’re telling you it’s independent you’re being lied to as much as the people that purchase this deadly stuff.

        Or do you take the info that’s shoved at you by all MLM companies as gospel just because they wheel out an “expert” that says it’s so. When you’re in a room full or people whooping and cheering and you’re being told you’ll be a millionaire inside a year you suddenly become the most knowledgeable person on the subject.

        Finally look at all MLM’s and tell everyone here who the top guys are in each one. Then tell us who the next levels down are! Then tell us the names of all those at the bottom…then look at the shape of each organization and tell us all what that shape looks like. Please come to an argument with some reasoned and sensible debate, then you can sound off in a fit and proper fashion.

        Dani, apologies for hi-jacking your posts and sounding of myself but the MLM Nutrition crowd really get up my nose. Go Paleo!!

    • My research tells me the products are engineered at UCLA by the team of world renowned leading doctors in the field of nutrition science, all MD’s and Ph.D.s. (Google Mark Hughes Cellular & Molecular Nutrition Lab at UCLA). And by the way one of them is a Nobel prize wining medical doctor/researcher at UCLA (Google Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.)

      The Nutrition Advisory board consist of more then 25 world renowned doctors an Ph.Ds from around the world (Google Herbalife Nutrition Advisory Board). So, please share what your medical or Ph.D. is in and what college or university you do research or teach at or do you just have a certificate. The products and business model has already been check out by more then 80 countries, the FTC, and the US Congress (Google it) and has been found to be in a legal business. Oh and by the way you probably have products that are marketed though the same type of business model and don’t know. So, now tell me you have an MBA or what that gives you expertise to call it a scam that these other groups don’t have. What you did is commonly called opinion and really smart people keep opinions not based on facts to themselves so they don’t sound really ignorant.

      Dr. Gregory T. Lawton the founder of the certification program you attended would probably have advised you not to be so ignorant by posting comments like you did online. But then do you even have a college degree or just this certificate.

      • dani stout Reply

        I’m aware of who is on the board of Herbalife: people who want to make money. Not people who care about health.

        Re-evaluate your very first sentense, “…the products are engineered.” Health food is not engineered. It is grown locally, organically and sustainably.

        If you are convinced that Herbalife’s products are good for you, please answer the following questions that NO Herbalife pusher has been able to:

        1. How is Herbalife good for you if it contains GMOs?
        2. How is Herbalife good for you if it contains processed ingredients?
        3. How is Herbalife good for you if it contains trans and hydrogenated fats?
        4. How is Herbalife good for you if it contains artificial sweeteners?
        5. How is Herbalife good for you if it contains toxins like soy, corn and canola products (that are all genetically modified)?

        These are not just my opinions; these are facts. Google the difference and take a look at the ingredients in Herbalife products. You may want to do some actual research before blindly trusting a corporation whose only intent is to make money.

        • I cannot agree with you more Dani. Herbalife is not about making people healthier, it’s feeding off people’s ignorance.
          This is why we have chosen Isagenix.
          It is a natural alternative that doesn’t contain artificial sweeteners, preservatives, GMO ingredients.
          Please look into it as this is obviously something you are very knowledgeable and passionate about

          • dani stout

            Hi Simon,

            I took a quick look at Isagenix. Unfortunately it is not ideal as it is full of processed ingredients, isolated vitamins that are not bioavailable, fructose, etc. I appreciate your comment!

          • these products will always exist. the fact is so many people look for a short cut to health, these companies use people with no nutritional knowledge to sell, they especially target new personal trainers!

            when i first started out as a pt i was contacted by so many of these, specifically herbalife and body by vi
            i ended up saying no and i’m glad i did!

            a lot of trainers get in to it because they have no clue about nutrition and rather than pay out to go on nutrition courses and go to nutrition seminars/workshops they can just simply use these products provide nutrition and earn extra money

        • I love this, β€œβ€¦the products are engineered.” Health food is not engineered. It is grown locally, organically and sustainably.” Anything that is engineered is NOT natural, did not come from the earth. Artificial sweeteners does more harm to the body than people realize, that’s why they experiment on lab rats first before putting it on the market. I am always discouraging people from using artificial sweeteners.

        • herballife is not just about their products they are about promoting a healthy lifestyle through nutrition and excersise, did you know that herballife run free excersise groups all over the world, they dont force you to take their products but they also teach you, if it was not for my herbal life coaches i would be dead but now i am loosing weight and eating properly and no i dont always have their products and as this gentleman said what is your medical backround??? and how could 89 countries get it wrong?????

          • dani stout

            Herbalife and people that sell Herbalife know very little about actual nutrition, they advocate eating soy and low-fat diets which are extremely detrimental to health.

            I clearly state my background on my About page, please read it.

          • Just because a company is “open” in 89 countries does not make it right. Get real. I am thankful to be off the Herbalife train I was stupid enough to hop on for a month a few years ago. My body could not handle it. I am thankful for the healthy LIFESTYLE change I have made and the product line I use now that fills my nutrition gaps that I may have and have dropped 51lbs.

            Thank you, Dani, I work at a call center where there are about 7 very overweight girls [I am still overweight myself] who claim to be nutritionists and dietitians because they have a blender bottle on their desk with “Herbalife” on it and I cannot wait for them to approach me.

        • Joseph Wengel Reply

          Dani Stout – I fully agree with you and your stance on how Herbalife’s ingredients are unhealthy and even damaging to our bodies. I just wanted to comment and tell you that you are an awesome person and that you are right with what you are saying. You have facts, they have opinions. I’ve noticed whenever you ask someone for proof and to answer your small list of questions, you NEVER get a reply. Keep up the fantastic work and I appreciate you!

      • The world has 7 billion people , I can find someone with any degree that will say anything for me if i have money,lets take the fact that Gmos are banned in 40 countries, countries don’t ban things that generate trade lightly.

      • Richard,

        Studies carried out by eminent scientists here in the UK into whether sugar makes you overweight or not established that the majority of the studies concluded that sugar doesn’t make you overweight.

        The fact that seven of those eminent scientists are supported financially by the sugar industry obviously carries no credence whatsoever (please know that this is written with massive amounts of sarcasm).

        If your research tells you who and what the board of Herbalife is then I applaud your research ability. Having a board full of people that do what they do does not a healthy or beneficial product make!!

        Apply that amazing research into the human species and see how we’ve developed over the last 7 million years!!!!! Fortunately up until the last 50-100 years Herbalife products or anything of their ilk, produced by world renowned experts, weren’t consumed by our species.

        I know in which direction I’d look for nutrition advice…my ancestors!! not some “expert” shill on the board of a corporation with nothing more than an interest in financial gain.

        DO YOUR RESEARCH!! There is a vast quantity of it on ancestral/paleolithic/primal eating and lifestyle and the vast majority is also backed up with massive amounts of scientific and archaeological study.

      • That funny, cause I was not only told by my Primary Care MD, but also my OBGYN to discontinue Herbalife only after 1 month of trying it, cause of all my headaches, fatique, etc. They were then ones that had me bring in the bottles from Herbalife so they could show me why. My body was not getting what it needed, cause the ingredients in Herbalife are processed and not natural. Ones body can not process these so called processed ingredients, manufactured fake ingredients. within a week of stopping Herbalife, I felt great again. Oh and by the way, eating healthy and exercising helped me lose my weight, more than all my uneducated family and friends , still taking Herbalife.

    • I’m into my third week and I feel terrible I am so tired I can’t work I just want to sleep. I’m constipated and bloated. I feel awful so does my 21 year old daughter. We were both told its our bodies de-toxing . I can’t concentrate or focus on anything. I have lost 6lbs my daughter lost 4lb the first week and gained 1 lb the next. You are so right I can’t believe the sugar that is in it. Can you recommend an alternative healthy eating diet, herbalife suited me as I don’t eat veg or salads. After reading your blog I truly believe it is a scam

      • dani stout Reply

        Hi there, I’m so sorry you’re feeling awful because of these terrible products. My approach to health is whole, unprocessed foods for optimum weight and health. I offer an eight week program called Ditch The Diet as well as personalized coaching.

        • Ah, your advert just popped up on this page, now I know why you are so vocal in pulling down a competitor.

          • dani stout

            I’m a health coach. It is literally my job to offer my services and educate people on true nutrition.

            Isn’t that obvious?

          • HAHAHAAHAHA SAME THOUGHT HERE. HE’S JUST SELLING HIS PROGRAM.

            EVERYONE IS IN BUSINESS. DDUUUUUUUH!

      • Hi, I have just started looking into Herbalife, as I was considering selling their products. After attending one of their online webinars, I have to say, I think the product really does work and has a unique approach. It looks like the ingredients are not at all ideal for someone who really cares about what they put in their body, but also, to be fair, it sounds to be very effective in losing weight, especially for those who do not have the discipline to stick to other methods. Just because you feel bad, does not suddenly make the whole thing terrible, it makes you want to give up, it actually sounds like its working and if you stuck with it you would probably do quite well in your weightloss. I think if you are giving up now, you will probably give up on any other program, because they all involve discomfort or sacrifice in one way or another.

        Mmm, so will I join Herbalife? Not sure, it seems like there may well be money to be made, and well, the product is good for what it is, after reading this I cant well tell people its good for them, but certainly effective for weight loss.

        • dani stout Reply

          That’s the problem with people who do not understand nutrition, they end up selling these products and convincing others to sell them.

          “Just because you feel bad, does not suddenly make the whole thing terrible, it makes you want to give up, it actually sounds like its working and if you stuck with it you would probably do quite well in your weightloss.”

          NO. Feeling bad is the body’s way of telling you something is not right. It’s not that people need to stick it out, there is a reason Herbalife makes people feel sick, and it’s because people are loading their bodies full of toxins.

        • Yes! Join Herbalife and pay no attention to this money seeking fraud trying to destroy a company that actually know what they’re talking about (unlike her – and she’s not the first to take them on thinking she knows better). You’ll love it and the feeling you’ll get from helping your friends and family with the products is second to none πŸ™‚

          • Go Andy!!

            I have just read through these comment in disbelief at the ignorance and misinformation that is forming this debate. Herbalife soy in Non GMO and has been for over 10 years.

            The highly acclaimed Medical Advisory Board members are already top of their game, at a point where financial gain comes low down on their list of wants, and have selected Herbalife to carry their work further.

            The UCLA have proven the positive benefits of the Herbalife nutrition, along with 34 years experience and over 100 million product users world wide.

            Herbalife distributors are some of the healthiest, most vibrant and caring people you could meet, they have a high integrity and are doing an incredible job in transforming the health of many. Oh and the lady who said she felt ill, Herbalife products are just food, time and again anyone who feels ill when starting Herbalife, the cause is almost always caused by and increase in milk consumption, not drinking enough water or caffeine withdrawal. In my 14 years experience as a user and distributor myself, I have seen hundreds of people’s health dramatically improve and my own health restored after serious illness.

            So, people on here, get your facts right before you try to pull down a company like Herbalife. Put that energy into making a difference where it matters.

          • dani stout

            Right, you’re an Herbalife pusher which is why you support their completely unhealthy products. If you’re going to sell products, you should probably have the faintest grasp of nutrition. So please answer the following:

            How are rancid and hydrogenated oils good for you?
            How is MSG good for you?
            How is gluten good for you?
            How are artificial sweeteners good for you?
            How is denatured protein good for you?
            And lastly, how are GMOs good for you? Because Herbalife DOES contain GMOs.

            So what exactly is the misinformation here? I highlight the fact that Herbalife uses toxic and unhealthy ingredients. It’s not my fault that you push complete garbage.

        • What a can of worms ….I went to a Herbalife meeting last night for the 1st time. Like you, Stephan, I was looking at it from a view of helping people while making some money. I see masses of potential to make money. However, at the end of the day I have to live with myself, my conscience & principles are all I have that mean anything to me. I had a cup of their tea & a protein bar & instantly knew I’d had artificial flavouring & sweetener. All night the taste wouldn’t go from my mouth even after 2 glasses of water. I asked the person who took me along what was in the products & he said he didn’t know but it must be good as it was designed by Drs. He DID NOT KNOW! I’m afraid I don’t like many of the ingredients I’ve found in my research today that they are using & will not go any further with it. The testimonials of the folk who take it was absolutely amazing, but you know what? Not one of them looked HEALTHY! They were trim & looked great in their clothes but heaps of them had really bad skin on their faces, large blemishes or sallow looking skin, dry skin & hair. Give me pure, clean (certified organic) fresh & natural food & exercise every day i.e. walking, bike riding & deep water running/swimming any old day. I’d rather not make money out of products I don’t have any confidence in being good for you long term. They work, but at what cost?

        • your last paragraph is the clincher there Stephan. Not to mention the 4th line down for 3 sentences of the first paragraph.

          You don’t give damn about the fact that this product is rubbish and bordering on dangerous. This is disgraceful, how dare you.

    • Yes it is an MLM, that is NOT a Pyramid scheme. Look at regular job in corporate America. They are Pyramids as the ONLY one who really benefits is the Top guy, in MLM everyone benefits and the bottom people can work real hard and pass the top guy.

    • Just eat the best you can, lots of fruits, vegetables and salads… skip the crap at the food shrines (McDonalds, Burger King, etc). You don’t need spending your money on all that artificial junk… it will in the end… cause you disease.

      Your body is a living breathing machine… give it some good fuel…

    • Pyramid schemes are illegal!!!!!! Can not be listed on NYSE and 91 Countries gov will not allow it, but is it only the HIGHEST trees that catches the wind?

    • I have been taking herbal life for sometime, I see my cholesterol has come down. What’s the ingredient that cause this to happen?

      • dani stout Reply

        This is a very loaded question. Cholesterol isn’t bad.

    • hola , no se porque no senti asombro de lo que se refiere a ese pruoducto , ya que vi que es puro negoio. le pregunto, hasta hace menos de 2 aΓ±os mi hijo de 18 aΓ±os ahora ,no tenia ningun problema, comenzo hace menos de un aΓ±o a rengear, con la pierna izquierda.depues de haber visitado muchos medicos y placas, correspondientes a las cuales me decian que hera una madre exagerada, consulte a un fisiatra. a lo cual consulto a su vez al fisioterapeuta y dijeron que hera probable un tema neurologico, antes de tomar los 3 frascos de el producto que ud. menciona, nunca tuvo problemas , podra incidir eso.? gracias por la repuesta?.

      • dani stout Reply

        Mi espaΓ±ol no es muy grande pero estos productos podrΓ­a haber causado eso, no hay manera definitiva que contar. Hay un montΓ³n de ingredientes tΓ³xicos que pueden tener un efecto negativo tanto en el cuerpo y el cerebro.

    • Lisa Farmer Reply

      well well well…….what a load of nonsense…..Richard braverman well done on your fantastic statement about all the doctors involved with the testing on herbalife products….I couldn’t of put it better myself……haters will hate unfortunately, you will always find negativity around herbalife….herbalife is global in 80 different countries millions of people use the products including myself….ive met real people who have lost up to 10 stone using these products and are perfectly fine….ive lost 2 and a half stone in 14 weeks and I don’t feel hungry at all…in fact I feel healthy, energetic, and my fitness levels are through the roof…..so dani stout you have no idea what your talking about and spouting off your rubbish to anyone who will listen….you have your opinion I have mine….you don’t really have the proper facts and clutching at straws with your rubbish

      • dani stout Reply

        Cigarettes are in 80 countries, using your logic, that makes them healthy as well!

        I actually provided facts, not opinion. If you feel so strongly about Herbalife, please answer what no other Herbalife supporter has been able to:

        How is processed soy good for you?
        How is gluten good for you?
        How are synthetic vitamins good for you?
        How are hydrogenated vegetable oils good for you?
        How is MSG good for you?

      • Lisa Farmer or any other herbalife supporter please answer dani`s question. How is processed soy good for you? How is gluten good for you? How are synthetic vitamins good for you? How are hydrogenated vegetable oils good for you? How is MSG good for you? How interesting that not one herbalifa has commented,

    • I don’t know where everyone lives; but if you have ever visited Los Angeles, you will see one of the biggest herd of Herbal Life sheeple ever. One of the corporate offices is in Carson, CA (Los angeles) area. Redondo Beach + South Bay is full of the sheep pushing their products like crack at the weekly “Fitness Group” gatherings right on the beach with all their green shirts everywhere. (although they offer free fitness on the beach, its where they will up sell products and recruit) Every time I see them, I just snicker; knowing they are recruiting their next sucker.

      Keep up the great work- have you blogged about Advocare crap products? Please do!

    • Johnny Aloha Reply

      I also don’t like HerbalLife for other reasons but mostly because they lie but I also have a very hard time when someone says they are ‘unbiased’ or ‘fair and balanced’ when they state ‘I hate soy’, sorry, that is not unbiased. The Japanese, with the third longest longevity on the planet, eat soy as a staple!! soy beans, edamame, tofu, they eat it with EVERY meal!
      Sorry, when you write something really unbiased, maybe I will give it some credence.

      • dani Reply

        Actually they don’t. The Japanese traditionally ate soy as a condiment, soy sauce, natto, etc. Now like everywhere, soy is very popular. But it wasn’t always.

    • good review. I am working on my own review. As a educated Health Professional. I really don’t like the added sugars in the Herbalife products. Basically the products look like a chemical cocktail. The herbal drinks — man– when compared to real herbal tea — wow. Caffeine — for energy– really a energy crasher with sugar being the same as well with respect to energy spikes and crashes. I did some live fb videos on the subjects of sugar, caffeine and other chemicals — also organic? Cant see any organics so far. .Again thanks for being a educator.

  1. Thanks for the great article! It was about time someone took the time to expose all the unhealthy stuff they put into their “healthy products”. I will share this with everyone I know. People need to read labels and learn how to prepare their own food again. Shakes can’t replace whole nutritious meals.

    • “People need to read labels and learn how to prepare their own food again. Shakes can’t replace whole nutritious meals.” EXACTLY. Thank you for sharing!

      • Do you still live in DC? We live in Silver Spring, MD and have been looking for a local place where we can buy meat from. So far we have been getting from Whole Foods, but I think there’s gotta be an even better option.
        Thanks!

      • Hi,
        Great blog, I have enjoyed reading it. When you say

        “Shakes can’t replace whole nutritious meals”

        are you just talking about these herbalife shakes and things like slimfast? what about the shakes I sometimes make for my dinner, or as a “snack” eg Banana, Mango, natural yoghurt & honey? Is it a bad thing to have this for lunch instead of a meal? I’m usually in a rush so I prepare something like this in advance.

        Looking forward to reading more of your blog. πŸ™‚

        • dani stout Reply

          I’m also not a fan of fruit smoothies, they contain A LOT of sugar and are generally low in protein and healthy fat. For the shakes I make my fiancΓ© after he gets back from the gym I use raw or coconut milk, 2-3 egg yolks, 1 tsp of fermented cod liver oil, 2 tbsp of gelatin, and then maybe add a small amount of fruit, spinach, cacao, etc. This is much more like a meal.

    • Tell that to the 60 million obese Americans out there. Just because you have it all figured out, doesn’t mean they have any idea how to lose weight without a little help. I lost 40 lb using herbalife shakes and I have never EVER felt better. I may have used some shake to lose weight and get healthy, I guess you consider that lazy, but in my opinion (and since I’m the one walking around in this body, it is a hell of a lot more valuable than yours) herbalife saved my life!

      • Shashi Kant Garg Reply

        Gr8….Danielle…..herbalife also saved my life ,thanx to this wonderful nutrition n thanx to mr.mark for creating a mind bogling compensation plan ….

      • You seem angry. It’s a picture of h.l. ingredients. All these h.l. people seem really angry. Why? Maybe it’s the effect of corn syrup solids whatever that means and hydrogenated oils. Of course you will lose weight on a liquid diet w. exercise it is a numbers game,increase metabolism create a caloric deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound of fat. These people sound like they are in a cult.

        • A 3500 calorie deficit will make you fat. Not getting nutrients will make you fat. I don’t care what you think it’s in the products because it doesn’t matter when you clean it off immediately with our tea and aloe. People lose weight while gaining muscle with our products, try doing that with water. good luck.

          • dani stout

            You don’t care what I think is in the products?

            It’s not what I THINK is in the products. It’s what IS in the products. The ingredients were pulled directly from the Herbalife website. Did you misunderstand that?

            “it doesn’t matter when you clean it off immediately with our tea and aloe.” What does this even mean? That you think eating the toxic, processed, cancerous Herbalife products is somehow mitigated by then consuming tea and aloe? You very clearly do not understand nutrition or how the body works.

            “People lose weight while gaining muscle with our products, try doing that with water.” So the only options people have are Herbalife or water? Who in the world would try to gain weight by drinking water? This entire comment is nonsensical.

      • @Dani Stout – she / he makes a good point.

        I get that you are passionate about food and natural ingredients, so am I, however, I think that there is a place for this product.

        It may have carcenoginic ingredients (not meaning that you WILL get cancer from having the products, maybe that you will be at increased risk if you consume a lot over a long period), but all the same, if it is helping people to EASILY lose wieght, who may otherwise not have the discipline or inclination to do so, then it has a role.

        I am suprised to hear myself saying this, as I have always tended to have a somewhat ‘puritan’ approach to food and health, but a lot of people have a lot of trouble losing weight, and many more just do not have the focus and discipline to lose weight, monitor their diet and exercise. I say, if for these people it is allowing them to easily lose weight, and enjoy a better quality of life then why not? If they do get cancer, well obviously that is not a good thing, but then again, if they would have already died long ago, or ended up with Diabetes, then it is much of a muchness.

        In the case where people are not prepared to fully take responsibility for their own eating habits, I suggest that this product actually seems quite good.

        And furthermore, from what I heard on their webinar, the product supposedly cleaneses the small intestine cells to absorb nutrition, that are otherwise blocked and not functioning correctly. That sounds like a healthful and effective thing, shame you have to use chemicals to do that, but I dont know of any natural products that do this??

        • dani stout Reply

          “I get that you are passionate about food and natural ingredients, so am I, however, I think that there is a place for this product.”

          That’s contradictory, Stephan. It’s like saying, “I don’t approve of my child smoking meth, but meth has its place in my child’s life.”

          Your logic is that it must be okay since it helps people lose weight. So does anorexia. So does only eating cabbage. Do you adovate this as well?

          “And furthermore, from what I heard on their webinar, the product supposedly cleaneses the small intestine cells to absorb nutrition, that are otherwise blocked and not functioning correctly. That sounds like a healthful and effective thing, shame you have to use chemicals to do that, but I dont know of any natural products that do this??”

          That is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. The only way to increase nutrient absorption is to make sure the gut is function properly in the first place (not backed up or damaged), strong and sealed, as well as full of beneficial gut bacteria. Herbalife products do the OPPOSITE of this. Furthermore, they use syntehtic vitamins that are NOT bioavailable.

          After reading this post I sincerely hope you decide not to sell Herbalife. People that buy it are often lacking in any nutritional knowledge and are unsuspecting victims. It would be wrong to sell it to people who don’t know any better.

          • Roy Mysterio

            Dani,these people dont realise u are just trying to help them…they live in their own pathetic fantasy…

          • dani stout

            I am just trying to help! Thanks Roy.

          • Dani, to be fair, Stephan has a point. While you are thinking of health in terms of black and white, Stephan is saying that health can also have shades of grey (which it looks like you missed, due to your metaphor of meth for a child, as this metaphor clearly only works in black and white situations). And to be honest with you, it does have shades of grey, because no one can have a perfect diet (although we can come close!). So, in the perspective of health in only black and white, there is no pure white. This is because there are two dimensions of health: 1) quality 2) quantity. It is possible, however, to have supplements that are wholesome (as you attached your link above for organic whey–thank you for that recommendation! just wish it came in a bigger package), but some people consider ANYTHING that is processed (which would include your whey) to not be healthy. They think you can only get 100% healthy diet from whole foods. Well, that is partially true! If one has a diet consisting of only whole foods, they will NOT be getting the QUANTITY of nutrients that their bodies need, although they will certainly be meeting the QUALITY of nutrients that their bodies need. I think where some of the non-anti-herbalife people are coming from (I did not call them pro-herbalife because some of them aren’t–some of them just don’t think HL is from the devil) is that, although they see that it does not have the QUALITY of nutrients that our bodies need, it focused on providing the QUANTITY that our bodies need. For example before HL someone had 5 servings of processed carbs, 1 protein, maybe 0 phytonutrients (as a basic example). With the shakes, there is significantly more protein offered to them in their diet, as well as carbs and phytonutrients (depending on the shake). [Now I am not going to comment on soy here because growing up I drank it all my life because my brother was allergic to milk, and I never experienced all of your horrible side effects, so I am pretty indifferent to soy really. I have heard both sides of the debate and would like as much as anyone else for the debate to come to a conclusion. But I am sure there are phytonutrient properties to soy].

            So, I hope this makes sense. They are just saying, HL provided the opportunity for these people to go from diets with bad quantity and bad quality, to good quantity and bad quality. There is a “win” there.

            Personally, I can understand this only because I started out with poor quality and poor quantity. I would eat maybe twice a day and, although not snack-like junk food, it was certainly processed and certainly not getting all of my vital nutrients. Then I became aware of the importance of healthy fats and proteins and have been eating my veggies minimally and using other gym brands to increase my protein intake with fish/chicken/beef. I am gradually improving my diet and recently understood the value (yet difficulty) of a well-balanced diet. Now that I am ready to improve to the next level, I recognize that there is no way that I can get EVERYTHING into my diet through whole foods, and so I will need to supplement if I want to meet the quantity of nutrients that my body needs. So, I am on the quest for some supplements that incorporate everything. HL has claimed to provide that quantity, and I was interested in it, until tonight when I decided I would take a look at its quality… and found your blog πŸ™‚ See, HL is quite possibly the next best thing for a diet that is currently like mine as it is only improving by allowing me to meet my quantity needs, but it is certainly not the best for my diet as I will need quality. See, I am moving up gradually in shades of grey. This is why the word “healthier” and “healthiest” exist, because there are varying degrees of health. But, considering that the rest of my whole foods are almost all completely organic (I did this gradually, as well– I call it my gradual conversion!), and HL is not an inexpensive product, I might as well shoot all the way for organic supplements that provide the quantity and quality I am looking for. I am just having a hard time finding for what I am looking.

            Sorry, I agree with you, but I think you failed to see exactly WHAT this non-emotional poster was saying (as well as a few others who said something along these lines). They actually had a decent point. Although HL is not providing the best diet, it is offering a BETTER diet (from what most people eat).

            I hope this makes sense.

            In conclusion, I know you know your stuff when it comes to quality, for sure. The ingredients on the list for these supplements are organic, but the certified organic stamp is not there πŸ™ http://www.healthyfutures.net/ADD-Plus/products/products/freggies.php?PHPSESSID=855afc86fdb05cfb397ba3a828f823fc and this one http://www.rejuvenan.net/sprouts.html What is your opinion for something like this, then? Have you any recommendations of something with great quality that parallels the purpose for which this capsule was made? And, to go along with your recommendation for an organic whey protein supplement, what is your opinion of this also? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XXSHDM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B009XXSHDM&linkCode=as2&tag=foobab-20 . I was thinking about alternating that protein source with this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031JK96C/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0031JK96C&linkCode=as2&tag=foobab-20 for a great variety of protein sources. Of course I will be eating at least 4 meals a day as usual, each of which will have protein in the form of bean, dairy, or meat, along with these shakes and phytonutrient capsules! I feel like I am leaving something out, though. PLease tell me if I am. I am still learning all of which I will exactly need for maintaining a balanced diet.
            Your feedback is very much appreciated πŸ™‚

          • dani stout

            Hey Tina,

            The capsules are okay, no terrible ingredients or anything. But to be honest, you can’t supplement your way to health. If you were eating a healthy diet, you really wouldn’t even need to buy them. Of course, there are supplements I recommend people take and I take personally, but if you aren’t going to change your diet, buying supplements do very little. Both of those protein powders are fine though. Let me know if you have any other Q’s. Take care!

        • I noticed, Stephan, that you talk about “losing weight” at least six times in your two posts. Just to be clear, and in case anyone else missed the point, no one needs to “lose weight”. What you should be concerned with is losing body fat. Big difference.

          It’s rather pointless to lose scale weight if you don’t know where that weight came from. Are you losing body fat? Muscle? Water? Do you know or even have a clue? It’s muscle that burns fat – the stuff you want to lose. It’s muscle you have to preserve and you sure don’t do that by guzzling sugar laden Formula 1 diet shakes. If you just “lose weight” just for the sake of being lighter on the scale, all you end up doing is becoming a smaller version of your former fat self. Think “body recomposition”. That should be your goal.

    • I guess you’ve never made a shake in a blender of whole foods. That was a really stupid, generalized comment you just made. In fact, a lot of people are making comments like that on this thread and Aaron is just responding “exactly!” or “couldn’t agree more.” Listen, Aaron, the point of this thread is good. But just because someone is agreeing with you doesn’t mean that what they are writing is not erroneous. Please take a moment to straighten people out completely. You know that a shake can very well be very healthy! I understand you get excited when a person agrees with you, but seeing someone as intelligent as yourself agreeing with numb-chucks like this is irritating.

  2. Thanks for confirming! I have been dealing with leaky gut and parasites for a while. A friend of mine (a distributor) suggested I try Herbalife and it was awful! I was exhausted all the time — so much so that I wanted to lay down in the middle of the sidewalk and go to sleep. And in the San Francisco Tenderloin too! I was literally in tears by the thought of my usual 1.5 mile walk home. She said it was detoxing, but I had done an elimination diet before and this was wildly different.

    Fortunately I started focusing on eating real whole foods (with paleo-leaning tendencies) and have been feeling so much better. Still not 100%, but I’m voluntarily taking the stairs again πŸ™‚

    Great post.

    • Yikes! Sounds like your friend is grossly misinformed. Is she still selling this stuff? Herbalife cannot cause a detox effect because it is full of toxins – that must have been frustrating. That’s great that you’re feeling better though! Have you looked into GAPS at all for healing leaky gut? It may help.

      • You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. If their products contains all of this so called “junk” why did my father and many other people I know who used it lose over 50 lbs?? Also, it isn’t just about losing weight, it is about living a healthier life. Their 24 line helps athletes build muscle mass and have more energy. They have amazing doctors working on these products, including one who has won a Nobel prize. Before you trash a company or a product, get your facts straight.

        • Brady. Did you bother to read this post at all? I didn’t say it was an ineffective weight loss tool. I said it’s an unhealthy weight loss tool. Just because your dad and people you know lost weight using it, does not make it healthy. Using that logic, anorexia is healthy, or the cabbage soup diet, or any of the other ridiculous diets out there. What say you to the genetically modified soy in Herbalife? Or the sucralose? Or the chemicals? Or the fact that there is not a single real-food, unprocessed ingredient in Herbalife products? Before you comment on my blog, get your facts straight.

          • exactly, you can lose weight by eating a few almonds a day and does it mean its healthy? um no.. and yes. I agree with Dani & do an extensive research on Genetically modified food like corn and soy and see what the side effects can cause on the human body in the long run. Its like taking an aspirin, you may feel great at the moment but if you keep taking them everyday you will eventually damage your body.

          • Felicity Dreyer

            I can’t believe their chicken soup doesn’t contain ANY chicken! Just chicken flavouring – wow! How much better to eat a piece of chicken instead and reap all the benefits of eating real food instead of food substitutes. Just because we CAN make these things doesn’t mean we should – and it certainly doesn’t mean we should eat these products!

          • No, she said it is “Undoubtedly” Which means she didn’t actually research the Soy source that Herbalife uses. They remove the phytoestrogens, it’s a Soy Isolate. Herbalife also grows their own. The company is completely translucent. You can find the exact location where all of the products are made from the seed to the store. So, do a little research on that and then come back and make comments. Herbalife has a board of over 30 doctors, one of them voted the best doctor in the US for the last 6 out of 10 years, another who has won a Nobel Prize for his research in Nitric Oxide, and the CEO represents the company to the T by living a Healthy Active Lifestyle, he just competed in a race yesterday! The products may contain things like sucralose, but the 24 line is completely pure, (this is the line I use). To the person who commented and said the Shakes make them tired, but now that they are clean eating they feel good… more than likely you are completely intolerant to soy, as am I. Herbalife is great for people who are overweight, obese, and very unhealthy. Herbalife will provide them with all of the vitamins that they need, and they can easily adjust to the products after living so unhealthy. The multivitamin is the best on the market, the Cell Activator is an amazing product that promotes maximum absorption, along with many other products such as our heart health and digestive health line. Just because Herbalife has a few products that contain some “unhealthy” ingredients, that doesn’t mean the whole company is completely trash. Herbalife is revamping every day to product the best products in the market. Soon, I’m sure, they will be completely clean. They have been around for 33 years now, and have evolved SO much.

          • dani stout

            Herbalife absolutely uses GM soy. NOWHERE does Herbalife state that they use organically grown soy. If soy is not specifically organic, and often when it is, it can still contain GMOs, because the genetic modification is so prevalent (close to 100%) that it’s next to impossible to separate the two. Soy isolate does not mean phytoestrogens are removed, that is completely false. The only way phytoestrogens can be completely removed is via alcohol extraction. Where exactly can you find the “exact locations location where all the products are made from the seed to the store?” Please provide a link. Because Herbalife also uses GM corn and canola.

            The only thing Herbalife is actually good for is causing degenerative diseases and helping people lose weight by starving them of nutrients. The bioavailability of the “vitamins” in Herbalife products in non-existant.

            The 24 lines is also complete trash. The ingredients in Formula 1 Sport include milk protein concetrate (overly processed milk substitute that most likely came from GM dairy), fructose (which is HIGHLY toxic and causes fatty liver disease), maltodextric (a derivative of corn that is also genetically modified) and a ton of other highly processed and toxic ingredients.

        • Shashi Kant Garg Reply

          Gr8…brady…..herbalife also saved my life ,thanx to this wonderful nutrition n thanx to mr.mark hughes for creating a mind bogling compensation plan ….keep it up…herbalife is based only on fact since 1980. jan 2013 to march 2013….increased quaterly sales by 13%…..gr8 co. gr8 leadership,Best NAB & MAB as you told. Even best national international brand ambassadors…really they r not in search of money like david becham to mispresent any brand.

          • I can’t take your comments seriously, they are incoherent. I’m not sure if you’re joking, though either way I appreciate the use of “gr8.”

            Thought if you go back and actually read my article, Herbalife isn’t saving anyone’s life. It’s slow poision that tricks people into thinking it’s healthy because it assists weight loss.

          • Herbalife founder Mark Hughes died of a drug and alcohol overdose. And the Belgian courts found that Herbalife is indeed a pyramid scheme and it is now forbidden to be sold there.

            Now distributors of this non-food are targeting children as their latest attempt to foist this deadly crap off onto unsuspecting parents. I hope the FDA soon follows the Belgian example and removes this toxic product from American diets.

        • Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize, we won’t be seeing peace for a long time will we now…it is fundamental that artificial ingredients, especially artificial sugars, cause cancer. People lose over 50lbs because the ingredients in herbalife prevent your body absorbing any nutrients, so you shit all the fat out over time, as long as your stomach is full, you’re not going to feel hungry, you could eat potatos forever and not go hungry, but you’ll soon die all the same as an example. You’re literally starving your body to death of REAL essential nutrients and replacing it with carcinogenic materials. I suppose this Nobel winning doctor is extremely rich too due to his positive statements about the company and has alot to say as long as he’s a board member and raking in at least quarter of the profits much to people’s expense when they head for an early grave.

        • Some folks are just made to be fooled. They are born with what almost seems like a gene for stupidity. They are why corporations spend millions of dollars on false claims, then they pay a few doctors to say “yeah, it is absolutely the best healthiest product on the market”.The top argument herbalames ever make is that a Nobel prize winner is onboard … So what ? That somehowmakes them trust worthy and ethical individuals? The funny thing is half of these morons don’t even Really know what a Nobel prize even is, they know it’s a big deal and they fail to see how all these medical experts are paid by herbalife to endorse their garbage. Most herbalife pushers that I encountered have no prior understanding of health before the herbalife seminar, then they belive themselves the authority on health. You want to really show how intelligentyou are? Google the ingredients in that herbalife soup you feed your friends and family and see for yourselves what the science community as a whole has to say about these substances. These are not opinions , these are facts known by scientists on every continent on this planet . Soy, sucraloseetc are al garbage , period. Thats like saying drinking motor oil is healthy,nomatter what anyone says ,it is not. Anyone that truly knows health will tell you that medical doctors are nowhere near qualified to instruct people on nutrition . They study medicine , and even hospital nutritionists are misinformed on real nutrition. Remember disease and medical doctors fuel the pharmaceutical industriesin this world.

        • OMG really. She is awesome, knows her stuff and that company has you fooled.

          People lose weight on these trash products because they go from eating crap all day a few meals a day and now they are drinking a shake. One of the shake makers has people drink two shakes a day and little to know food the rest of the day. Of course they lose weight.

          Keep up the great work Dani. I get grief ALL the time when I tell people the truth, about the CRAP they are eating. Like when they share a photo of all the CRAP food they got for little to nothing with coupons. I am the one that says that is great but look at all the crap and unhealthy food.