"The Truth About Advocare" by Dr. Czys
Mom0819
Posts: 82 Member
http://www.drczys.com/vits/102/
The Truth about Advocare
DrCzys • April 27, 2014 • 20 Comments
advocare
Of all of the supplement companies I get asked about, Advocare is the most common. I have stopped at Advocare booths numerous times at various trade shows and asked representatives easy nutrition questions; not one of them has ever been able to answer them. A big reason for this is that to be an “expert” in Advocare, all you have to do is pay $79 to become a distributor. After becoming a distributor, a now “expert” can use the sales tactic of supposedly having the best scientists and doctors in the world formulating the best products in the world. I am unaware of any top scientist, doctor, or supplement competition. A truer statement would be that Advocare pays their “experts” to say Advocare is the best. The next biggest selling point Advocare distributors use is that Drew Brees is a spokesman for Advocare, and he does not get paid. Yes, Mr. Brees does not get paid, but the Drew Brees Foundation and his wife sure do. Lebron James endorses Coke, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. Celebrities are not endorsing products because they believe in or even take them; they are doing it for the money! Then you will get the “my brother’s friend lost 24 pounds and 17 inches in 24 days” sales pitch. I will admit there is one good aspect of Advocare: along with taking the supplements, healthy eating and exercise is recommended. But you are going to get great results from healthy eating and exercise whether you are taking Advocare or not. If you lose weight while on Advocare, DO NOT give the credit to those pills or powders. YOU deserve the credit for moving more and eating better. You would be much better served to take the money you are wasting on Advocare, or products like it, and buy more healthy foods. It is not the supplements causing the improvements; it is the change in lifestyle.
Advocare sells a large number of products. I am going to break down a few of their top selling products, so you can understand exactly what you are getting from Advocare. Their top selling product, Spark, is an energy drink. The first red-flag ingredient in Spark is sucralose. While the Advocare salesman I spoke to says sucralose is a slow burning sugar that is good for the body, sucralose is actually an artificial sweetener made by combining chlorine and table sugar to make a chemical your body does not know how to digest. You do not get calories from it, but you still absorb it into your tissues and it can cause health problems. A human’s digestive system has about 75 trillion healthy bacteria living in it; these healthy bacteria digest nutrients, strengthen the immune system, and are, therefore, required for life. Recent studies indicate sucralose kills these bacteria. Sucralose was banned in the US until FDA approval in 1998. It has only been on the market for a very short time, making it impossible to know all the long term effects of sucralose. Reported adverse health effects related to sucralose ingestion range from gastrointestinal problems, seizures, dizziness, migraines, blurred vision, weight gain, and blood sugar elevation to allergic reactions. Just like Trans fats are currently being banned, I guarantee sucralose will be banned from the market in my lifetime.
Capture
Spark’s ingredients list claims a variety of vitamins. Another common sales pitch is “our soils are depleted and you just do not get enough nutrients from food”. Even if this is true, you cannot replace whole food vitamins with synthetic vitamins, because they are not the same. While vitamins that come from food are very healthy, synthetic vitamins are made from chemicals in a lab, are very unhealthy, and should be avoided. One example is cyanocobalamin, which is a chemically made vitamin B12 that does not exist in any animal or plant on the planet. If you ever see this ingredient on a label, you should avoid it. You can get much more of the exact same vitamins found in Spark by buying the cheapest multivitamin Walmart or K-Mart sells. When it comes to food, nature is never wrong; your vitamins need to come from nature. A good vitamin will be made from whole foods and be in the exact same structure as it is found in food.
I will admit Spark gives you energy and makes you feel good for a period of time. This is because each serving of Spark has 120mg of caffeine. To have a point of comparison, a shot of espresso is 40-75mg of caffeine. 120mg is a lot of caffeine! Having this much caffeine multiple times a day can lead to hormone problems from adrenal fatigue. If you want a caffeine rush, you can save a lot of money by buying a bottle of 100 caffeine pills for under $5 at a gas station. If anyone ever recommends you give Spark to a child, be assured you are talking to a buffoon. Would you ever give a child a double espresso?
Another selling tactic used to sell Spark is that it contains amino acids and choline. Amino acids chained together form proteins. Every food you eat has amino acids and protein in it. Eating an egg, nuts, or meat provides more amino acids than exist in Spark.
So in a nut shell, Spark provides: artificial sweetener, caffeine, synthetic vitamins, and a couple amino acids. You can get the exact same feeling by washing down a caffeine and Centrum pill with a glass of sugar-free Kool-aid…for a fraction of the cost.
Capture1
The next product we will look at is Advocare’s Omegaplex fish oil. I recently heard an Advocare salesman pitch claiming a lot of inferior fish oils turned to water after you freeze them…. to even mention something so absurd is beyond me. It is not possible to convert any fat to water through freezing. All of the carbons would have to magically disappear in the freezer somehow.
The only reason to take any supplement is because you are not getting enough in your diet. Americans are woefully deficient in consuming enough omega-3 fats and, therefore, need to take fish oil supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids come from eating wild game, grass fed cows, and fish. All of these animals have the omega-3’s EPA, DHA, and DPA. Plant sources of omega-3s are in an ALA form which your body must convert to EPA, DHA, and DPA. Your body is very poor at this conversion which is why the animal source is so much better. When it comes to food, nature is never wrong. It is always best to get all your nutrients from food or from supplements that contain the nutrients exactly as they would exist in nature. If you were to eat a piece of salmon, the omega-3s would contain EPA, DHA, DPA, and they would all be in a triglyceride form. Advocare Omegaplex has EPA and DHA only, and they are in an ethyl ester form. Ethyl ester omega-3s do not exist in any food source on the planet. It is biosynthetic oil that is much cheaper to produce than the natural form. When you read studies about fish oil supplements not having any health benefits it is because they are using the ethyl ester fish oil in their study. Advocare Omegaplex is the same quality as the cheap fish oil you can get at Sam’s Club or Walgreens. Advocare experts will say differently, but all you have to do is read a label to know the truth.
Lastly, Advocare is ridiculously overpriced. With multi-level marketing (MLM) there is a pyramid system where one person sells under another who is under another and so on (they will claim it is not a pyramid…but it is, simple as that). The only way for each person to get a cut is if the prices are ridiculously high to begin with. On a side note, over 95% of people who become Advocare distributors lose money.
Now I realize I only reviewed two Advocare products. I think it is safe to say that if their two top sellers are this bad, the rest cannot be anything too special.
The ultimate goal must be better health. The whole purpose of losing weight is to improve your health, be it physical or mental. Healthy weight loss does not come from taking any MLM product. Weight loss or improved health is not about adding a powder or pill. It comes from finding a powerful reason for changing your life and then committing to a change in lifestyle. This change must be maintained forever.
I 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. Isn’t it fascinating how Herbalife, Advocare, Plexus, and Isagenix all have the best doctors, scientists, and nutritionists developing their products?) Every single MLM distributor I have ever spoken to from any company has said they have the best, safest, most researched, healthiest products available. They are all wrong! I am not trying to sell you anything; I just want you to stop wasting your money on bad products when you could be spending it on food. If you have a friend or co-worker that is incessantly pressuring you to buy their ridiculously over-priced products, feel free to send this to them.
I speak to thousands of people yearly about nutrition. Just imagine how much money I could make if during each presentation I got a handful of people to sell MLM products under me. I would be making money hand over fist. I would also be unethical and scamming the people I care about. I feel it is much healthier to live life with a smaller checking account and a clean conscience.
The Truth about Advocare
DrCzys • April 27, 2014 • 20 Comments
advocare
Of all of the supplement companies I get asked about, Advocare is the most common. I have stopped at Advocare booths numerous times at various trade shows and asked representatives easy nutrition questions; not one of them has ever been able to answer them. A big reason for this is that to be an “expert” in Advocare, all you have to do is pay $79 to become a distributor. After becoming a distributor, a now “expert” can use the sales tactic of supposedly having the best scientists and doctors in the world formulating the best products in the world. I am unaware of any top scientist, doctor, or supplement competition. A truer statement would be that Advocare pays their “experts” to say Advocare is the best. The next biggest selling point Advocare distributors use is that Drew Brees is a spokesman for Advocare, and he does not get paid. Yes, Mr. Brees does not get paid, but the Drew Brees Foundation and his wife sure do. Lebron James endorses Coke, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. Celebrities are not endorsing products because they believe in or even take them; they are doing it for the money! Then you will get the “my brother’s friend lost 24 pounds and 17 inches in 24 days” sales pitch. I will admit there is one good aspect of Advocare: along with taking the supplements, healthy eating and exercise is recommended. But you are going to get great results from healthy eating and exercise whether you are taking Advocare or not. If you lose weight while on Advocare, DO NOT give the credit to those pills or powders. YOU deserve the credit for moving more and eating better. You would be much better served to take the money you are wasting on Advocare, or products like it, and buy more healthy foods. It is not the supplements causing the improvements; it is the change in lifestyle.
Advocare sells a large number of products. I am going to break down a few of their top selling products, so you can understand exactly what you are getting from Advocare. Their top selling product, Spark, is an energy drink. The first red-flag ingredient in Spark is sucralose. While the Advocare salesman I spoke to says sucralose is a slow burning sugar that is good for the body, sucralose is actually an artificial sweetener made by combining chlorine and table sugar to make a chemical your body does not know how to digest. You do not get calories from it, but you still absorb it into your tissues and it can cause health problems. A human’s digestive system has about 75 trillion healthy bacteria living in it; these healthy bacteria digest nutrients, strengthen the immune system, and are, therefore, required for life. Recent studies indicate sucralose kills these bacteria. Sucralose was banned in the US until FDA approval in 1998. It has only been on the market for a very short time, making it impossible to know all the long term effects of sucralose. Reported adverse health effects related to sucralose ingestion range from gastrointestinal problems, seizures, dizziness, migraines, blurred vision, weight gain, and blood sugar elevation to allergic reactions. Just like Trans fats are currently being banned, I guarantee sucralose will be banned from the market in my lifetime.
Capture
Spark’s ingredients list claims a variety of vitamins. Another common sales pitch is “our soils are depleted and you just do not get enough nutrients from food”. Even if this is true, you cannot replace whole food vitamins with synthetic vitamins, because they are not the same. While vitamins that come from food are very healthy, synthetic vitamins are made from chemicals in a lab, are very unhealthy, and should be avoided. One example is cyanocobalamin, which is a chemically made vitamin B12 that does not exist in any animal or plant on the planet. If you ever see this ingredient on a label, you should avoid it. You can get much more of the exact same vitamins found in Spark by buying the cheapest multivitamin Walmart or K-Mart sells. When it comes to food, nature is never wrong; your vitamins need to come from nature. A good vitamin will be made from whole foods and be in the exact same structure as it is found in food.
I will admit Spark gives you energy and makes you feel good for a period of time. This is because each serving of Spark has 120mg of caffeine. To have a point of comparison, a shot of espresso is 40-75mg of caffeine. 120mg is a lot of caffeine! Having this much caffeine multiple times a day can lead to hormone problems from adrenal fatigue. If you want a caffeine rush, you can save a lot of money by buying a bottle of 100 caffeine pills for under $5 at a gas station. If anyone ever recommends you give Spark to a child, be assured you are talking to a buffoon. Would you ever give a child a double espresso?
Another selling tactic used to sell Spark is that it contains amino acids and choline. Amino acids chained together form proteins. Every food you eat has amino acids and protein in it. Eating an egg, nuts, or meat provides more amino acids than exist in Spark.
So in a nut shell, Spark provides: artificial sweetener, caffeine, synthetic vitamins, and a couple amino acids. You can get the exact same feeling by washing down a caffeine and Centrum pill with a glass of sugar-free Kool-aid…for a fraction of the cost.
Capture1
The next product we will look at is Advocare’s Omegaplex fish oil. I recently heard an Advocare salesman pitch claiming a lot of inferior fish oils turned to water after you freeze them…. to even mention something so absurd is beyond me. It is not possible to convert any fat to water through freezing. All of the carbons would have to magically disappear in the freezer somehow.
The only reason to take any supplement is because you are not getting enough in your diet. Americans are woefully deficient in consuming enough omega-3 fats and, therefore, need to take fish oil supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids come from eating wild game, grass fed cows, and fish. All of these animals have the omega-3’s EPA, DHA, and DPA. Plant sources of omega-3s are in an ALA form which your body must convert to EPA, DHA, and DPA. Your body is very poor at this conversion which is why the animal source is so much better. When it comes to food, nature is never wrong. It is always best to get all your nutrients from food or from supplements that contain the nutrients exactly as they would exist in nature. If you were to eat a piece of salmon, the omega-3s would contain EPA, DHA, DPA, and they would all be in a triglyceride form. Advocare Omegaplex has EPA and DHA only, and they are in an ethyl ester form. Ethyl ester omega-3s do not exist in any food source on the planet. It is biosynthetic oil that is much cheaper to produce than the natural form. When you read studies about fish oil supplements not having any health benefits it is because they are using the ethyl ester fish oil in their study. Advocare Omegaplex is the same quality as the cheap fish oil you can get at Sam’s Club or Walgreens. Advocare experts will say differently, but all you have to do is read a label to know the truth.
Lastly, Advocare is ridiculously overpriced. With multi-level marketing (MLM) there is a pyramid system where one person sells under another who is under another and so on (they will claim it is not a pyramid…but it is, simple as that). The only way for each person to get a cut is if the prices are ridiculously high to begin with. On a side note, over 95% of people who become Advocare distributors lose money.
Now I realize I only reviewed two Advocare products. I think it is safe to say that if their two top sellers are this bad, the rest cannot be anything too special.
The ultimate goal must be better health. The whole purpose of losing weight is to improve your health, be it physical or mental. Healthy weight loss does not come from taking any MLM product. Weight loss or improved health is not about adding a powder or pill. It comes from finding a powerful reason for changing your life and then committing to a change in lifestyle. This change must be maintained forever.
I 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. Isn’t it fascinating how Herbalife, Advocare, Plexus, and Isagenix all have the best doctors, scientists, and nutritionists developing their products?) Every single MLM distributor I have ever spoken to from any company has said they have the best, safest, most researched, healthiest products available. They are all wrong! I am not trying to sell you anything; I just want you to stop wasting your money on bad products when you could be spending it on food. If you have a friend or co-worker that is incessantly pressuring you to buy their ridiculously over-priced products, feel free to send this to them.
I speak to thousands of people yearly about nutrition. Just imagine how much money I could make if during each presentation I got a handful of people to sell MLM products under me. I would be making money hand over fist. I would also be unethical and scamming the people I care about. I feel it is much healthier to live life with a smaller checking account and a clean conscience.
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Replies
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I respectfully disagree with this entire post. I took the 24 day challenge and as a matter of fact I am days from completion. I have searched for products, gone to personal trainers and everything trying to get myself back in shape. Nothing has worked as well or as easy as Advocare has. I love the products, I feel more energetic and alert. My overall wellness has improved greatly. I also lost 15 pounds so far and 8 inches! Nobody is twisting your arm to take Advocare and most people will buy it after they see a friend have success with it. If you feel that is unethical then so be it but don't slam products I'm sure you haven't even given a try. Just my two cents.0
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Before I begin, I’d first like to say CONGRATULATIONS for taking control of your health. That’s a major success and one to not ignore.
There is no doubt that you have been successful with your weight loss goals while following the Advocare program, but please don’t overlook one of Mom0819’s important arguments. Nowhere in her article does she say that the Advocare program doesn’t work:
"I will admit there is one good aspect of Advocare: along with taking the supplements, healthy eating and exercise is recommended. But you are going to get great results from healthy eating and exercise whether you are taking Advocare or not. If you lose weight while on Advocare, DO NOT give the credit to those pills or powders. YOU deserve the credit for moving more and eating better. You would be much better served to take the money you are wasting on Advocare, or products like it, and buy more healthy foods. It is not the supplements causing the improvements; it is the change in lifestyle. "
Give yourself the credit! Moving more and eating better alone, without any of Advocare’s expensive supplements, will get you the same results. And one might argue that leaving the supplements out altogether will give you even better results in the long run. We have absolutely no idea what effects any of these supplements have on our bodies long term—they could easily be causing more harm than good.
Advocare is a marketing company that sells the promise of health, wealth and good fortune in pill form. If we break down their sales pitch—even a little—we can start to see that marketers blow more smoke than the Marlboro Man. For an eye opening experience, I highly recommend the new “Fed Up” documentary—an examination of America's obesity epidemic and the food industry's role in aggravating it. At a minimum, it will help shine some light on the seriousness of Mom0819’s “sucralose” comment. (If anyone watches the documentary and has any feedback to share, I would love to hear your comments.)
In the end, We get one body in life. Why put our future health in the hands of money-hungry companies with agendas far bigger than ours?0 -
Thanks for this.
And this, which sadly also applies to my GNC vitamin. Ground up bugs for coloring and cynadide with my B12, GNC? Really? I know it's a minute amount, but really? I expect better.One example is cyanocobalamin, which is a chemically made vitamin B12 that does not exist in any animal or plant on the planet. If you ever see this ingredient on a label, you should avoid it.0 -
I've heard of Advocare but never really saw the gullibility of it in action until I moved somewhere where people actually buy it. The supplement industry is one thing but how people will pay more money for a product they could get %50 cheaper is beyond me. It's no different than walking in a GNC or Maxx Muscle that will sell you a $75 protein that you could have purchased for $45 online.0
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I respectfully disagree with this entire post. I took the 24 day challenge and as a matter of fact I am days from completion. I have searched for products, gone to personal trainers and everything trying to get myself back in shape. Nothing has worked as well or as easy as Advocare has. I love the products, I feel more energetic and alert. My overall wellness has improved greatly. I also lost 15 pounds so far and 8 inches! Nobody is twisting your arm to take Advocare and most people will buy it after they see a friend have success with it. If you feel that is unethical then so be it but don't slam products I'm sure you haven't even given a try. Just my two cents.
So you're losing an unsustainable amount at a potentially unhealthy rate (roughly 5 lbs per week) and you're touting that as a good thing? What your post shows is exactly what Advocare counts on for sales ... a person wanting immediate results so they'll do anything to get them. When the customer returns to more healthy eating, the pounds return ... then the rush to buy more fad products ensues. But look at the bright side .. you stimulated the economy with your support of a MLM plan.0 -
I 100% agree with this post. Unfortunately, I found myself in a rut with my health, and out of desperation I decided to give Advocare a try. I'm a few days away from finishing the 24-day challenge and I don't even want to. I am though... just to say I did :-/
I have been really into using nutrition and exercise to maintain my health and physique for the last 8 years. Due to a crazy schedule and traveling constantly for work, I sadly put on a good 20 lbs. Since this is the heaviest, busiest, and most stressed I've ever been, I thought I would try Advocare to get me back into my health kick. In retrospect...what was I thinking??!! It's day 20 and so far I lost a whopping 2 pounds..even with 6 days/week of 30-60 minute workouts. And I think I totally get why. Even when I am not "watching what I eat," I'm still watching what I eat compared to most people. I avoid artificial ingredients, bad carbs, sugar, pesticides, packaged foods, etc. I gained weight because I ate too many calories and didn't exercise. So getting back to my theory, Advocare is actually putting more artificial things into my body and suggesting a diet that doesn't work for me. I actually can't wait to stop drinking those shakes and have a real, nutritious meal for breakfast consisting of REAL & natural foods. Not to mention that I already do a natural cleanse every few months, so I didn't have any build-up of junk in my gut to lose. I AM definitely not judging anyone who has tried it and liked it. In fact, I think it could be a good START to a healthy lifestyle if you don't know where to begin (and everyone has been there). But my suggestion is to spend the money on seeing a nutrition specialist and learn how to use real food and exercise to improve your health and lose weight!0 -
I deal with this and clenses and all other type of things at work, its frustrating. Its all I think part of the mind game that comes with losing weight. The pills and drinks give the person the water weight loss and convince them that its better and therefore they put in more effort. Its reinforement if they lose 5 pounds you increase your efforts etc. There is NO magic pill, shake, wrap or anyone other crap that can make the body healthier and lose weight at a "healthy" pace. Eat less move more, is the only "recipe" and trick you need. But the mind game is 90% so I guess as long as you have time and money to spend, whatever helps you lose weight and be healthy. I just feel bad for the people that dont have the money to waste and people get rich off desperation0
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Is it any surprise that America has an obesity problem? How many of our population needs convenience, ease-of-use, simplicity, user-friendly, and whatever it takes to "make our lives easier and better"? Kudos to any company that can package and market a product that meets the needs of so many Americans - solution in a box. Clearly, the alternatives suggested by Dr. Czys are not working . . . so, let's promote and encourage what does work!0
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Is it any surprise that America has an obesity problem? How many of our population needs convenience, ease-of-use, simplicity, user-friendly, and whatever it takes to "make our lives easier and better"? Kudos to any company that can package and market a product that meets the needs of so many Americans - solution in a box. Clearly, the alternatives suggested by Dr. Czys are not working . . . so, let's promote and encourage what does work!
Strong first post. Necroing a thread to promote snake oil! Nice job!0 -
Mom0819, thank you for your Advocare post. I have been looking at their supplement as well as a few others and hesitate because they are expensive. Currently, I am attempting to have a whole food, low-no processed foods diet. Because of my medical condition, I am encouraged to buy/use Fish oil, Chromium Picolinate, and B-Complex by my physician. He doesn't dictate where I buy, so I try to buy based off of quality of products rated via independent researching companies. There is so much conflicting information about what is considered healthy it makes my head spin sometimes.0
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I notice the good Dr Cyzs advocates nutritional products. Having been to a professional who promoted products, I know the products generate far more revenue than they admit. So before you listen to him, take the time and do your own homework. Don't use his post - or the copy here - as justification for using or not using a product.0
This discussion has been closed.
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