As the New Year Resolution season approaches, Herbalife supplements are popular in my area. I’ve had a lot of people ask for my opinion on Herbalife products, so here it is. It’s easier to point people to an article than give the same response repeatedly. Herbalife has a massive number of products, but I’ll focus on the first 3 to pop up on their page, which are the core products.
Now this is just a guess but I’m assuming if an Herbalife distributor approaches you, he/she will claim Herbalife has the best products in the world. This person will have some great personal story on how Herbalife changed his life. He will most likely reference some old guy as the founder and face of the products. He’ll reference some science or medical advisory board (a.k.a. people who are paid to put their image and credentials on the Herbalife website, people who have not done a single outcomes study with the core products that I could find). Herbalife probably has some famous athlete they pay to promote their products. This distributor will eventually try and sell you on the great business “opportunity” Herbalife offers. That Herbalife business opportunity was recently fined $200 MILLION…. yes that’s $200,000,000! He will probably keep that part hush hush. In a nutshell, what you’ll get is the same marketing strategy that all Multi-Level-Marketing companies use. A bunch of personal stories, emotions, and fluff….no science or logic. I’ll give you science and logic below starting with their 3 core products.
Let’s start with their meal replacement shake. FYI: The only thing you should ever replace a meal with is a healthier meal.
For starters, the only time people should really be taking a supplement is if they are not getting enough of a certain nutrient from their diet. Protein is easy to get in a reasonably healthy diet. I’m a 5’9″ 200 pound muscular guy, and I never take protein shakes. I encourage you to read this article where I explain why ,more thoroughly.
Herbalife uses soy protein because it is dirt cheap. Soy protein is one of the worst forms of protein you can buy. First of 
all, soy protein has the highest concentration of saponins of any food source. The term saponin is derived from the word soap. Saponins are anti-nutrients found in almost all legumes and have soap-like properties that punch holes in the membranes lining the exterior of all cells. The effect is dose dependent, meaning the more saponins you ingest, the greater the damage to your body’s cells. If legumes are eaten only occasionally, saponin damage to the intestines will quickly repair itself; however, when legumes or soy products are consumed in high amounts as staples or daily supplements, the risk for a leaky gut and the diseases associated with leaky gut is greatly increased. Soy also contains protease inhibitors. Protease inhibitors found in soy are part of the reason why legume proteins have lower bioavailability than meat proteins. Protease is an enzyme that breaks down protein for absorption in your body. Protease inhibitors found in soy reduce protein absorption which is the whole purpose of taking a protein shake. Add to this the fact that most soy is genetically modified so it will be sprayed with round up. Every plant around the soybean is killed but the soy soaks it up and lives on. Personally I choose to avoid consuming all round up ready foods. If you are an athlete or anyone else trying to increase your protein intake by supplementing with soy protein isolates, a much healthier strategy would be to eat more meats, fish, eggs, and seafood. These protein packed foods taste a whole lot better than soy isolates, and are much better for your body and cheaper than these shakes!!
Next we have fructose, an added simple sugar. No explanation needed there.
Let’s talk about the casein next. Casein is a protein found in dairy products. “Casein has been shown to break down to produce casomorphin, an opioid that appears to act primarily as a histamine releaser.” This is why allergic responses such as congestion and mucus production are so common with milk consumption. This mucus can cause difficulty breathing, as well as snoring. Acne is also a common result of dairy consumption. I have seen countless patients’ acne completely clear up just by cutting dairy from their diet. Kurek M. “a naturally occurring opioid peptide from cow’s milk, casomorphine, is a direct histamine releaser in man”. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 97 (2): 115-20
Casein is often labeled as sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, or milk protein. The purpose of casein in foods is to enhance properties such as whipping and foaming, thickening, emulsification and texture, and to increase protein content. It is often found in protein bars, drinks, soups, ice cream, pastas, snacks and other packaged goods.
Casein has a molecular structure very similar to gluten. They both react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine. No wonder it is so hard for some people to give up their cheese or pasta!
“Like gluten, casein from dairy has been implicated in autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, and other psychological disorders. “Millward C. Gluten and casein free diets for autistic spectrum disorder. Cochrane database of systemic reviews 2008, Issue 2. Ar. No.: CD00349.
Canola oil is actually hydrogenated rapeseed oil. Rapeseed is not the best name for marketing purposes, so they changed it to canola oil which comes from Canadian Oil Low Acid. It’s usually a GMO which means more round up, and it’s a pro-inflammatory oil that I highly recommend avoiding.
There are a number of synthetic vitamins within this shake. Folic acid which is synthetic B9, cyanocobalamin synthetic B12, and DL- Alpha tocopherol which is synthetic vitamin E. Here is what the research on synthetic vitamin E says. The Heart Outcomes Prevention and Evaluation (HOPE) study reported greater all-cause mortality with ISOLATED vitamin E (tocopherol) supplementation (Yusuf, S. et al. Vitamin E supplementation and cardiovascular events in high-risk patients. The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation Study Investigators. N Engl J Med. 2000 342(3) : 154-160).
And on the vitamer Beta Carotene – Dietary consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids LOWERS risk of lung cancer, CHD, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration. Intervention trials of SYNTHETIC, ISOLATED supplemental beta-carotene INCREASED the risk of lung cancer in smokers (van Helden et al, Free Radic Biol Med. 2009 Jan 15;46(2):299-304). What that means is eat your fruits and veggies (WHOLE FOODS) and avoid the synthetics or vitamers!
Artificial flavors and Carrageenan – I think it is wise to avoid. Personally, I adhere to the “precautionary principle” for anything I eat; in other words, in the absence of proven safety, I choose to avoid foods that have questionable adverse effects.
I don’t think I need to go any further. This stuff is bad news. Can you lose weight with this shake? Absolutely. But you can also lose weight by only eating twinkies if you only eat a few a day. Weight loss should be healthy and maintainable. This is not the way to do it.
The next product we’ll look at is the MADE IN CHINA Multivitamin……
Okay. Now distributors are going to say how great this product is based on nothingness. I’m going to tell you this is an awful product because they use awful ingredients.
You have more of the unhealthy synthetic vitamers dl-alpha tocopherol and beta carotene which the studies I listed above have shown to hurt health, not improve it. I do not think it’s wise to ever take a multi with cheap iron in it. Don’t ever buy synthetic B12 (cyanocobalamin) or synthetic B9 (folic acid), get methylcobalamin and folate. This product uses the same cheap ingredients as the cheapest generic multi you’d find at Walmart. As someone who has formulated products and seen what ingredients cost, I’m telling you this multi would cost pennies to make. Based on the ingredients and the evidence available, I wouldn’t take this multivitamin if I was paid to.
The last of the Herbalife core products is the Formula 3 Cell Activator which supports mitochondrial function. Pardon the language, but Fuck Off. It drives me nuts that these companies can give some good sounding bullshit title that means nothing. Prove it! Which cells are “activated”? How can you prove they are activated? How do you support mitochondrial function? What does that even mean? Show proof and if you are a consumer always ask for proof! Say you don’t want to hear any stories. Ask to see the evidence that shows improved health outcomes in people taking this product.
The only time you should take a supplement is if you are deficient in a nutrient and can’t get enough of that particular nutrient from your diet. The best form of any nutrient is the exact form that it would exist in nature. Always. How could it not be? The naturally occurring form is the way our bodies have been using it for hundreds of thousands of years. If you aren’t getting enough of a nutrient required for health, and you take a naturally occurring supplement that brings you from deficient to sufficient, you are by definition healthier. That can’t be debated.
If you want to watch an entertaining clip on what a scam this “business opportunity” is, check out this video.
The best way to lose weight and maximize your health is through proper eating in proper portions. If you’d like to see my grocery shopping list and a basic plan of the diet I follow, you can get it HERE for free. If you just follow it, your health will improve.
Or you can listen to this. I explain exactly what to eat, why to eat it, and how much. It’s basically dozens of nutrition books crammed into a 70 minute audio program. You’ll learn a lot, get better results, and save a LOT of money.
Angry distributors – before you start firing off hate mail sending a bunch of personal attacks, as much as I enjoy reading them, don’t get mad at me. You were duped by clever marketing. It happens all the time. If you can find any evidence, not personal stories, but evidence to show these 3 products improve health I’ll gladly change my opinion.
Comments (36)
Very nicely reviewed great help to man kind.
I have actually gound success with these peoducts. I have less allergies, I’m less sick, and my liver and kidnets along with my respetory system are at great levels
Which products did u use for allergies cause I have a problem of histamine which cause me to breakout in hives
Follow this advice in this book.
Thank you for this very insightful post! I was once a part of the Herbalife family. I did see a lot of results, but I believe that excessive use of the shakes caused me to be one hypothyroid. I have since discovered that soy has a detrimental effect on the thyroid. I am unable to say for sure, to be fair to Herbalife, but I suspect this to be the case. I am now involved with redox molecules which are backed up by science.
What are your credentials Steve?
Bachelors, Doctorate, a plethora of certs, read 100’s of books and thousand of articles post grad, published a book that’s sold in multiple countries, spoken to groups across the country, but most importantly….. created a health club that gets back to the basics and teaches people how to eat and exercise the right way. That has now grown to 7 locations and drastically improved the lives of 1,000’s of people.
Thanks – Herbal life products are even worse than I expected I appreciate your thoughral review of this crappy powder and unethical business
I appreciate you enlightening us all! One of these shops recently opened up near me. Once after trying one of their protein shakes, I got a terrible stomach ache & felt nauseous for hours. Glad to know it’s a bunch of BS. Like you said, eat healthy, get plenty of exercise. Basic but effective!
It seems to have made your spelling worse though.
Thanks for this article! Believe it or not, there is actually a store opening up in my town selling this crap. It is marketed as a “shake shop” with “healthy” meal replacement shakes, coffees and teas. And they even sent out coupons to the local schools for money off “Kids shakes”. Crazy that someone with no dietary education can push this stuff–even on kids.
Yep – unfortunately these little shops are popping up all over. They won’t last long….
Herbalife Nutriton does not open or sell via shops as it is a multilevel marketing company and is not allowed to. This is just another non factual thing you are saying.
There are 3 just around my area. They are “juice and smoothie” bars that sell Herbalife shakes. I’m sure they also recruit hard for their downline.
That thing about no shops. Every city here in Socal has a shop. Blockhead.
There is a shop in my town and several where a friend of mine lives. He’s telling the truth.
Haha well done.
You are trashing a great company with healthy products just to try and sell your audiobook at the end
No – I just wrote an article stating the facts. If you can dispute anything I wrote with facts I’d love to see it.
The fact that you have not even tried Herbalife Nutrition products or as you say use any supplements shows just how little you know about Herbalife Nutrition or the fact that we all need supplements in our lives to fill in the nutritional gaps that the food you get in supermarkets these days does not provide. Your ‘facts’ are based on nothing except what you have read and believe you know (nothing in this case) I would suggest you try our plant based nutrition for 21 days with the right coaching and support, and then write an honest opinion, instead of trying to sell your audio book at the end which is the only truth about your article. People like you always have their own agenda my friend!
I haven’t tried heroin either….but I can tell you it’s bad news. Just like I can read the ingredients on a label and tell with certainty the product is bad news. My ‘facts’ are in fact ‘facts.’ If they weren’t you’d prove me wrong, which you can’t. The audiobook at the end…it’s free. Definitely not getting rich from that 😉
This kind of Gen Z / Nazi haircut rant also can not get Trump out of office. Keep paying your self employment tax. For me. Buy a Honda and drive too fast. Dont try to sing Besame Mucho because can’t get paid for that my friend. Shmerbaldeath
The one who needs to study here is you my friend. You clearly are brain washed to believe these so called “Healthy shakes” and those other supplements herbal life makes are actually good for you. Smh. Read up! We were not created to drink these shakes. This is why there are so many diseases. Back in the days before all these shakes and supplements were invented there weren’t so many sick people.
SUGAR, ADDED FLAVORS, MILK, etc…. are all disgusting for our bodies. Causing Inflammation, mucus, diabetes and other illness.
Again READ UP! We can get everything out body needs by actually eating healthy. Consume your greens, fruits and power foods.
It’s interesting that many of the comments on this post are from this year. I am actually an Herbalife Distributor but I made a decision to quit doing the business starting January 2018. Because of that my discount rate dropped February 2018 from 50% to 42% and it may drop to 35% this February because I have maybe one person still buying the product in my down line. I repurchased this month for my shakes because I am doing intermittent fasting and so I drink mostly water in the day but I use the shake after morning workout. I am concerned that there are not more products produced that doesn’t include soy, which is how I came across your article. And I tried doing Keto in May 2018 and realized that the Majority of shakes have 9g of sugar in AMERICA but if you get it in other countries due to their sugar regulations it doesn’t contain as much, so that was also a concern of mine because I don’t really like taking most of my sugar for the day in a shake.
I get that being a distributor and needing to continue to bring in money, it is a disadvantage to truly look at these things without bias. But I think the greatest concern should be for your true health and well-being.
Also I never took the formula 3 that much but I was consistent with the multivitamin until I started using a multivitamin from a different mlm company which their core products are essential oils…I felt way better using their multivitamin than I ever did with the Herbalife ones. No, I’m not sharing the name because I just use their products and I am not selling them, I love the way I feel with them and I don’t think I need to mention the company here. It’s my personal experience.
It’s a pity that people will criticize a product based on its market model. Network marketing is the future. Instead of Herbalife choosing to cell their products in pharmacies or local Shops paying rental fees, they have decided to choose a model to reward people for using and referring the product. The person who sold these products is a living testimony. She doesn’t even have to beg people to buy. We run after her because of the evidence. Ofcourse there are distributors that are just in it for the business and don’t give their clients the proper nutritional information they gain from their workshops. And if you buying from such a person then find a new health coach. It’s that simple! The the product and make a personal decision if they work or not. It’s your body after all. You should be able to feel or see the benefits of using the product for a certain need.
The products are bad, I explained why, prove me wrong……. Do NOT take health advice from anyone that got their “health coach” education from friggin Herbalife.
Agreed. It’s upsetting that people take advice from someone that has no real education on nutrition and don’t go see a dietitian with ~6 years of advanced education including biochemistry, organic chemistry, metabolism, etc. Not to mention the FDA doesn’t regulate any dietary supplements. Herbalife can put whatever they want in their products and can write whatever they want on the nutrition label. People really don’t believe this but literally these are facts. Straight from my college education, Americans have dealt with this kind of conflict of trusting these dietary supplement companies the way they trust pharmaceuticals but the fact is they aren’t regulated the same way. As a blanket statement, all dietary supplements can contain whatever the person making them wants even if they claim to be 1000% of your daily Vit C recommendation. It could contain 2% or none at all and they can still say this. The FDA does no regulating/reviewing these products until people report the adverse effects of the supplement. In some cases, people die of liver toxicity (overdoing it with certain vitamins like ADEK for example) and then the FDA looks into the certain company. All they do, literally look on the FDA website, is send the company a letter saying “we think you should stop selling your product but there’s nothing we can do if you still try to.”
Don’t even get me started on the caffeine pill products..
Do you know the difference between pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements?Pharmaceuticals have to be proven to work effectively in various trials. This is very expensive and time consuming. Dietary supplements are not even regulated/reviewed by the FDA. The only supplements that should be taken are the ones recommended by your dietitian to ensure safety and efficiency of the product and to make sure you actually need it. Anyone can make and sell dietary supplements and can put whatever they want in them and write whatever they want on the label. Just facts
My liver enzymes went through the roof after 3 weeks of taking these products. 2 weeks later after stopping ALL products, I am happy to say my enzymes are perfect. Thank god I had to go for another blood test for my annual physical!
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I noticed that your products also haven’t been evaluated by the FDA. It says so on the bottom of your page. Something also not mentioned is the other food that people are consuming or what a dietary change entails for your body.
No supplements are evaluated by the FDA. A supplement company must choose to pay a company like Eurofins to do 3rd party testing on their products. All the FDA monitors is the claims made by a company.
I have been using these Herbalife products for about 3 weeks now. This past week I was slowly dying because my stools were yellow, and I couldn’t eat or drink anything. I ended up at the doctor. He asked me when I was taking. I mentioned Herbalife. He asked what the ingredients were. I said a bunch of stuff I can’t really pronounce. He said that’s the biggest red flag! Throw it all away! Within 48 hours of discontinuing with these products I started feeling better. I’m not knocking Herbalife, because it may actually work for some people. But it wasn’t successful for me.
Ingredient lists don’t lie.
There are worse things you can put in your body.
There are also far better thing to put in. Herbalife is an MLM that promotes sub par products.
Really this article is very useful to me bcz my friend suggested me to take this HL product. So, I used to try abt 8 days and I lost 2 kgs then I quit tat trial so again I gained 3 kgs in 5 days. I was really shocked…so thank you so much for your article to prove it to my frnds and other HL buyers
[…] do not benefit in any way whether you do or do not spend your money on Advocare, Herbalife, Isagenix, Plexus, Amway or any MLM product. (P.S. They all use the exact same sales pitches. […]
Wow, I am really getting some great information from your emails and your website that are really game changing to me. A friend of mine goes to your gym and asked me to come with. I didn’t really think I was going to join but I enjoy the short workouts more than the long ones I was doing by myself at the y. I just ordered the supplements you recommend. And the meal plan is great! I’m following it pretty well, and have gotten the jist of avoiding grains, dairy, soy, and sugar. Cutting bread and cheese should’ve been harder for me than it was, but I must just be ready to make the change. I’m not experiencing the digestive issues I once was. I’ve only been doing this for 3 days and I can already feel that difference through the nutrition. I’ve been doing the gym for 3 weeks now and I already feel stronger.
One thing that led me to this article was the mention of Herbalife and I was hoping you would mention their collagen and liftoff teas. I had been going to the shake and tea place that popped up in my community. I am not a fan of the shakes and I know they’re not that good for me (I took them when I was nursing my daughter- it was basically a dairy bomb that caused her major issues with her stool.) I do like their lift off teas. I love the taste of coffee so I’ve been drinking a cup in the morning and when it’s gone I make myself an iced energy tea with two scoops of their strawberry lemonade flavored collagen and a lift off tablet. I like the flavor and I think it helps me with focus. I don’t sell it to anyone I just buy it for personal use. Ok Dr. Czys, give it to me straight, are these bad for me? I have two boxes left so if they are maybe I’ll just take them til they’re gone and quit. But dammit I am enjoying them!
Also I got a kick out of your “fuck off” comment LOL. I’m glad you just say it like it is. Your no nonsense approach backed up by science is refreshing. I am learning a lot! I am taking my aunt who is 70 to your gym as my workout buddy lately and she is gaining a lot from it too. She didn’t think she would join but she said it is more helpful to her and makes her feel stronger than her current workout.
Thanks for all that you do!
Hey Justina,
I wouldn’t spend a penny on either of those products. The collagen is basically synthetic vitamins and a couple grams of collagen. If you are eating the way I teach you are getting plenty of collagen via your diet. The lift off is ridiculously expensive garbage. It’s cheap vitamins, an artificial sweetener, and caffeine. Focus, mental clarity, energy, etc… all mean added caffeine. So many products are really just a caffeine delivery system. You could buy a 100 caffeine pills from walgreens for a few bucks.
I think the healthiest caffeine options are so organic black tea or organic dark coffee made with an aeropress.
In a nutshell, take that hard earned money and spend it on quality whole foods 🙂