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Most of us have received an e-mail or seen an advertisement endorsing the Dr. Oz or Oprah diet using acai (ah-sigh-ee) or resveratrol. When I see their faces, I so want to believe that there is a magic juice to make me thinner, younger looking and more energetic. Now if it was that easy, it would be on my shelf already. I still want to believe.
Is there such thing as an Oprah or Dr. Oz diet or secret weapon?
No, Both Dr. Oz an Oprah are pursuing legal action against the companies that use their name and likeness to dupe people into ordering products that they do not specifically endorse. See Oprah: http://www.oprah.com/article/health/nutrition/20090105_orig_acai.
The companies seem to primarily originate in China and will often try to get your credit card so they can charge you on a monthly basis. Even if it says “free trial” and just pay for shipping. Don’t do it! It is all a scam to get your credit card, and they will continue to charge your card monthly.
What about other juices sold in the United States by individuals or in stores?
There are many products sold by individuals, most notoriously MonaVie, that are part of a multilevel marketing strategy. They rely on many distributors with only a very few at the top making lots of money, as these bottles are very expensive. Their product claims to contain acai and other juices, but they do not release in what amounts, as that is considered proprietary information. I am very wary of these products because there is so much financial incentive in their pyramid system. You can look at their income discloser statement: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:VKOAObEHkKQJ:media.monavie.com/pdf/corporate/income_disclosure_statement.pdf+monavie+disclosure&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a.
Many people claim to get tremendous benefit, which could be from the juice or even placebo, but it is important to know how these things work financially. Please check with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/) before buying any of these products from individual companies. It is very difficult to even research, as you will find so many sites that claim to be giving information but are actually pushing their own product. I would like to see some randomized double blind trials to support their claims.
These products are grouped as antioxidants. What is an antioxidant and how do they help us?
Our body produces something called free radicals, which are bouncing reactive oxygen particles that can damage our DNA, proteins or fat. This can lead to cancer, heart disease and aging.
We use antioxidants to suck up the free radicals and prevent the damage that could be caused to our organs. Antioxidants are mostly found in nature in fruits, vegetables and nuts. Dark cocoa is also a great source for antioxidants. Antioxidants are very important, and we really don’t know the full extent of their potential benefits.
Tell us about the specific antioxidants that these Web sites are targeting: acai and resveratrol.
These are both very good antioxidants. ORAC is the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) and is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities of different foods. This is a relatively new term, and you can compare different antioxidant properties here: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071106.htm. An apple with skin has a very high amount of ORAC.
Resveratrol comes from grapeskin and does appear to have some cardiac benefit, and perhaps some anti-aging properties. Click here to learn more: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine/HB00089. Researchers think that it is one of the ingredients in red wine that makes it so heart healthy. However, we need more studies in humans.
Acai berry come from Brazil and is rich in antioxidants as well as healthy fats. We don’t have a lot of data to support drastic health change from it, but it does look promising. Again, not enough studies in humans yet.
However, there was a recent study comparing the amount of antioxidants in acai to other juices. Pomegranate juice, red wine and concord grape juice all scored higher in antioxidants than the acai juice. Study link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18220345?ordinalpos=11&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum.
Interestingly, in another study, cocoa scored higher than red wine! Study link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14640573?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed.
The bottom line is to eat more fruit and vegetables, and consider one of these supplements to help you increase your antioxidants. Americans eat way too many empty calories, meaning food with little nutritional value. Super juices like acai and resveratrol won’t likely hurt you, they may really help you, but don’t break the bank doing it.
Thanks for checking in,
Dr. Deb
Link to blog: http://www.drdebraines.com/2009/06/03/be-wary-of-the-berry-scams/
Add a Comment49 Comments
When I originally read this article, I thought she was talking about that scam that is found online which will usually show a clip of Dr. Oz on Oprah and another clip- that is a scam. Usually they are blogs "written" by a person and they are usually from your same city or state (if you ask someone else from another state to open the page it will say that they are in THEIR state). They do say "click here for a free trial", but yet they want your credit card number. Now, I can't say that ALL berry products such as acai and the drink monavie are a scam because I have not taken them nor have I researched them enough to make that statement. What I can say is that those particular blog sites (there are way more than one not only on berries but on ways to make money, lose weight, etc.) are simply trying to scam you from your money and their scam has absolutely nothing to do with whether the product works or not-- they just want your money.
Again on the berries note, thanks to those of you who posted reliable sources--I will definitely look into them.
June 11, 2009 - 5:26amThis Comment
Thank You!
I thought that I was the only one reading this article and then wondering why this all turned to talking about MonaVie in the comments when it's actually something different.
The person really going after MonaVie and then telling people to read for comprehension should follow their own advice.
June 11, 2009 - 9:55amThis Comment
Did you not notice all the irate comments that were posted by Monavie distributors, claiming that Dr. Deb didn't get her facts straight? It was they who first shifted the focus to Monavie. I'm following up on their comments because they were extremely misleading and factually inaccurate. You can scroll past the TRUTH if it offends you so much.
June 11, 2009 - 10:09amThis Comment
You've done plenty of that yourself. Like for some reason you assume all the Anonymous posters are the same person (just like I am right here!). Some outright state they are not customers or distributors. Yet, to you they all are religiously defending MonaVie.
You hate MonaVie, we all get it. Let's move on.
June 11, 2009 - 10:23amThis Comment
The issue here is that accusations were flying against Dr. Deb, suggesting that she did not do her research and that she (and other reporters on Monavie, such as the one at CNBC) were biased and uninformed. Quite the contrary. Only someone who is extremely biased (finacially motivated) and misinformed would attempt to defend Monavie, given the reams of criticism the product/company has received from reputable independent sources.
I don't hate Monavie, but I am disgusted that people are illegally flogging this nutritionally valueless garbage juice as a disease cure.
June 11, 2009 - 11:11amThis Comment
Help I looked at all of the articals you have listed. I even went to monavies corp. site I did not see where they said it cures something / anything . Please help me find it. Which site is it? Even on the blogs. Where are the claims? Please give me their Monavie I.D. #
June 10, 2009 - 10:19pmThis Comment
"Help I looked at all of the articals you have listed. I even went to monavies corp. site I did not see where they said it cures something / anything . Please help me find it. Which site is it? Even on the blogs. Where are the claims? Please give me their Monavie I.D. #"
Well then, either (a) you didn't actually read the articles (b) you didn't understand them, or (c) you are purposely plugging your ears and pretending to be deaf. Below is a quote from Monavie's executive VP, Randy Larsen (company co-founder and brother of the CEO) that was published last month in Bloomberg News (it was included in the list of links I provided yesterday):
"The company is struggling with independent distributors who promote the juice as a miracle drug, said Randy Larsen, executive vice president."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=ai8WCgSJrhmY&refer=latin_america
The message couldn't be any clearer. Monavie IS being deceptively and illegally marketed a cure/treatment/preventive measure for diseases.
June 11, 2009 - 9:38amThis Comment
I can see that we are dealing with someone who had a bad personal run in with a rep. Now their mission in life is to save the world from MONAVIE! LOL! SOMEONE WHO IS STUCK IN MENTAL HELL hoping that the person who hurt them doesn't make it to the top. Which would show them to be a BIG FAT LOSER!
June 10, 2009 - 9:10pmThis Comment
"I can see that we are dealing with someone who had a bad personal run in with a rep. Now their mission in life is to save the world from MONAVIE! LOL! SOMEONE WHO IS STUCK IN MENTAL HELL hoping that the person who hurt them doesn't make it to the top. Which would show them to be a BIG FAT LOSER!
Is that how they teach customer service at Monavie? Anyone who doesn't like your product is a "big fat loser"? Monavie is glorified nutrient-deficient fruit punch and it is being sold illegally by distributors as a disease treatment, at the outrageous price of $45 a bottle, to unsuspecting customers. It's hard to top that on the loser scale.
June 11, 2009 - 9:44amThis Comment
> Monavie is a valueless product that is aggressively marketed as
> being something that it clearly is not.
Based on what? Your opinion? Something other than company literature?
The rest of us are missing some data here and you simply appear bitter and angry. Were you ripped off by them? What's your deal?
You can't really make that statement based on what the company actually says...
http://www.monavie.com/Web/US/en/product_overview.dhtml
http://www.monavie.com/Web/US/en/science.dhtml
What they say isn't any different than other nutrition products sold through other channels. And since there are SO MANY questionable nutritional products - SO MANY overhyped and under "facted" potions and pills - it's fair to ask why this has to be specifically about MonaVie?
And let's not forget that the sale of grocery store brands of Acai, Mangosteen, and Noni all benefited from the hype created by these MLM companies.
> THIS IS AMERICA! It's your money, do with it as you please.
I agree. And publish your opinion too if you want.
If they are really fraudulent make your complaint with the FTC (they shut down plenty of vitamin scams) and your states Attorney General even the FDA.
Then go back and read the last paragraph of the article again.
June 10, 2009 - 3:49pmThis Comment