Meal Replacements are Not the 'Real Deal'

They are anything but…

At this time of year, we all want to shed the extra pounds we've put on over Christmas. We feel sluggish, fatigued and it's natural to want a 'quick fix'. That is when companies like Herbalife and JuicePlus select you as their target audience and attempt to convince you to buy their supplements, meal replacements and whatever else.

 I too have been sucked into one of these pyramid schemes when I quite frankly didn't know any better and was desperate, as a student, to make a bit of extra cash whilst losing weight. I bought a package of meal replacement shakes and was tricked into believing I could run my own 'business' as and when I chose around my university studies and work. When in fact, it was policed by a 'group mentor' whilst they cashed in and I was under pressure to sell a certain amount of products in the space of a month whilst paying out a £50 annual business fee and £34 a month for products. I was also made to add complete strangers on Facebook to sell these products which to me, is a little peculiar. 

 These sales people unfortunately know who they are targeting. People in desperate need for a quick fix to shred the pounds, get long mermaid hair and beautiful skin. But the frustrating thing is that this can be achieved independently! You can get these results efficiently by yourself but these pyramid sellers will do anything to convince you otherwise because they are desperate to make a buck. 

Here are five things I discovered about meal replacement and supplement products whilst working under one of these companies...

1. You must take these products alongside a 'balanced diet' and 'plenty of water'

When taking supplements such as boosters, shakes and 'vitamins', mentors from companies such as Herbalife, Bootea and JuicePlus+ often say you must take the products alongside a healthy, balanced diet and drink plenty of water, as well as at least half an hour of exercise a day. But doing this alone, without the ridiculously expensive products, is the key to staying in decent shape, have nice skin, nails and hair etc.. So the results that are celebrated on the promotion pages through the countless 'before and after' pictures are the results of a healthy lifestyle and do not demonstrate the effectiveness of the products that were purchased by the customer. If anything, it demonstrates that these supplements have a placebo effect and are a complete waste of money.

2.  A lot of the result photos are stolen. or not genuine

I have known many representatives for these companies screenshot photos from fitness blogger's pages and pass them off as being 'before and after' photos to promote their products. I myself have been asked to share my photos with Herbalife to promote their products and provide a fake statement to endorse how 'amazing' their products are, when I've never even touched their products! This can be extremely frustrating, as I have genuinely worked hard by eating the right foods and exercising and have not resorted to any supplements or quick fixes. I don't want that hard work to be dismissed and I also don't want people being deceived into thinking you just need a chocolate shake to lose 3lbs. 

3  A majority of representatives are unqualified

A majority of the people I have met through working under these companies and who have attempted to sell me their products do not have any qualifications in Personal Training, Nutritional Sciences or Sports and Exercise Science. A majority are people looking to make a quick buck, students, retail workers, people sick of working a 9-5 and under the illusion you can 'be your own boss'. With no real knowledge of what the products contain and the effects they have. Everything, when working for these companies, is completely scripted. You have no free rein of how you advertise the products. It all comes from the top so you can NEVER be sure if the representatives have a clue what they are talking about, because it's not genuine and it's not come from their own knowledge. It's just what they've been told. 

4  'Scientific research'

Speaking of 'scientific research', websites that advocate these products often share journal articles which write about the supposed benefits of the products on sale. However, the research is commissioned by the companies themselves, so obviously their agenda is to sell their products making their research incredibly biased. A majority of the research is focused on the contents of the products. So a journal article has been produced to tell the target market that your meal replacement shakes contain Vitamin C? FANTASTIC. So do oranges, strawberries and watermelon. To add to this, despite having so much scientific research you don't see many personal trainers, specialist nutrition shops and fitness advocates promoting the products. Because they are a pyramid scheme and more focused on making some cash rather than helping people! There is actually a lot of research which disproves these products rather than approving of them. 

• December 2013 Annals of Internal Medicine: Multivitamin vs. placebo showed no difference in preventing dementia.
• January 2009 Journal of the National Cancer Institute: Vitamins C, E, and beta carotene supplementations show no benefits for cancer prevention.
• December 2013 Annals of Internal Medicine: Multivitamin vs. placebo showed no difference in preventing additional heart attack in patients who already had a heart attack.
• June 2011 Family Practice: “No convincing evidence” that vitamin supplementation has any effect on prostate cancer.
• September 2006 Annals of Internal Medicine: Lack of evidence to show that multivitamins prevent cancer or chronic disease.
• May 2012 Journal of the National Cancer Institute: “several expert committees and organisations have concluded that there is little to no scientific evidence that supplements reduce cancer risk. To the contrary, there is now evidence that high doses of some supplements increase cancer risk.”

Credit to James Fell for sharing this research 

5  Lack of nutritional value

A majority of supplement companies are started through flogging meal replacement shakes, which apparently contain 'all the essential nutrients'. I highly doubt chocolate milkshake powder contains the vast amount of vitamins and minerals that can be sustained from actual food! Instead, there is an incredibly high sugar content. Of course, there is a possibility of losing weight on meal replacements, but it is laborious and so much easier to live on physical food that contains more nutritional value than a few packets of powder. Dieting and exercising should be motivating, not boring. Your body will soon go into starvation mode as these shakes are far from filling. Once you start to feel hungry, the diet will be ditched and before you know it you will be in that MacDonalds drive thru. 

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Thank you so much for reading this post! I hope you stick around for more and get some motivation out of this blog. Make sure to follow now so you don't miss a thing and I will be writing the next post as you read this, so keep your eyes peeled!