Mona Vie

[Aleta]

My husband received a couple of bottles of this product yesterday. It sounded very good. I checked it out on the internet and totally blown back with the price tag. They're selling it for $40 to 45. for a 25 oz bottle and if taken the way they recceommend would last about a week. You would need 4 bottles of this a month. $160. at a minimum for one person would be your cost.

Has anyone used this product with any success? What did you like about it? I didn't know which category to put this under so I thought that a general discussion would reach alot of people.

[disneysteve]

Call me a skeptic, but I consider this and many products like it to be scams. They are sold based on user testimonials and only sold through multilevel marketing schemes. That's right up there with infommercials in my book.

[Aleta]

I went on Dr. Andrew Weil's website to see what his thoughts were on it. He felt like you could get your antioixidants in other ways as in organic blueberries for example. But then I'm skeptical of anyone who sells their own supplements as well.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aleta

I went on Dr. Andrew Weil's website to see what his thoughts were on it. He felt like you could get your antioixidants in other ways as in organic blueberries for example. But then I'm skeptical of anyone who sells their own supplements as well.

Yes, I also think people lose credibility when they are selling their own products. They are no longer impartial.

[sweeps]

I read an article about a scheme like this recently. Don't remember the magazine nor the product (not very helpful, huh? ), but anyway the gist of the article was that these outfits use multi-level marketing to sell the product because the lower-level people make all the health claims. The FDA can't go after the upper-level people because they're not making the bogus health claims.

The people at the top make tons of money on a very questionable product with little-to-no liability.

[Aleta]

I was just wondering if there are any out there that have really had any results with this product. My DIL's mother had a problem with blood pressure and it did come down with this product, so I'm wondering if anyone really has had any success. They say that Dr. Niclolas Perricone has listed the main ingredient of this product as one of the top ten super foods.

There are other companies out there that sell the same product.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by sweeps

I read an article about a scheme like this recently.

Found it. Xango.

Aleta, seriously I would tread carefully. Is this Dr. Perricone paid by the company? Is he even a medical doctor? Did the Mona Via just perform a placebo effect on your DIL's mother? Are there hidden side effects? Is there a (much) cheaper alternative for lowering blood pressure? Etc.

[Taribor]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Yes, I also think people lose credibility when they are selling their own products. They are no longer impartial.

I agree. This whole fad has become like a pyramid scheme. I even had the guy who tiled my floor try to sell me a box and "join the club." No thanks.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aleta

My DIL's mother had a problem with blood pressure and it did come down with this product

Originally Posted by sweeps

Did the Mona Via just perform a placebo effect on your DIL's mother? Are there hidden side effects? Is there a (much) cheaper alternative for lowering blood pressure?

I admit my view may be biased by my being a physician, but it amazes me that people will jump through all kinds of hoops and spend a small fortune on products touted through MLM schemes, infommercials, health food stores, fitness magazines, etc. which are not FDA approved or regulated by anybody and have little to no scientific evidence that they are safe or effective. But these same people will refuse to take a prescription medication that costs as little as $4/month and has undergone extensive, double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies on thousands of patients over 10 or more years and is FDA-approved and manufactured in plants that are very closely monitored and regulated.

People assume that "all natural" means it must be good for you, and that it must be better than something that is produced commercially. People also assume that prescription products are automatically more dangerous than those that can be purchased without a prescription. Of course, neither of those assumptions are true.

[Aleta]

Thanks Sweeps for the article. I just wanted more information about it. My husband seemed interested in it.

Although I understand Disney Steve's concept, I also know that there are a lot of medicines out there with horrible side effects. Sometimes i just scratch my head when I hear the side effects wondering if they aren't worse than some of the problems you are trying to get relief from.

I also believe in holistic medicine and changing your lifestyle to reflect the health that you are trying to achieve.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aleta

Although I understand Disney Steve's concept, I also know that there are a lot of medicines out there with horrible side effects. Sometimes i just scratch my head when I hear the side effects wondering if they aren't worse than some of the problems you are trying to get relief from.

I agree, but I tend to find that people just assume OTC supplements, herbs, etc. are safe because you don't need a prescription to get them. In reality, they also have side effects, interactions and potential dangers associated with them, just as with prescription medications.

Sorry to stray from your original question. The whole "supplement" business is one that I'm highly skeptical of.

[beebop25blue25]

Well, the girls in my office are on the MonaVie ban wagon and they swear they feel better than ever!! Well, it's too expensive for me, so in my local grocery store there is a brand called Zola which has the same ingredients as MonaVie. I must say, I bought the Zola brand and drank it for about a month. I can't tell anything different!

Monavie is a multi-level marketing scheme in my opinion. Why can one company sell thru grocery stores for a "fair" price and Monavie sell the same thing for an outrageous price? It's all about the $$$$ the higher ups make in this kind of scheme!

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by beebop25blue25

Well, the girls in my office are on the MonaVie ban wagon and they swear they feel better than ever!!

I'd be better than ever too if people paid me big bucks for the 2008 equivalent of snake oil.

[disneysteve]

Placebo effect has been repeatedly documented in study after study for many, many years and consistently runs about 30%. That means about 1/3 of all users of a product will report improvement even if the product truly does absolutely nothing. And this applies to measurable outcomes, not just "how do you feel" kinds of things. With blood pressure, for example, up to 30% of patients in drug studies receiving a placebo will show a drop in blood pressure. The difference between the placebo and the active drug, though, is that placebo effect wears off and the symptoms or problems come back. With the active ingredient, the benefit persists.

[Aleta]

I think that it's akin to the fact that people can lose weight on any diet. With each diet, the person definintely loses weight but the mind change hasn't taken place.

As for the supplements, I had alot of pain in one knee and had a hard time getting out of the car. I started taking Fish Oil supplement and within 3 weeks to a month, the pain dissappeared. I think that there are reasons to take some supplements. I can definitely feel the difference when I start taking them after a hiatus. My husband has also had problems and seen them relieved with some of the supplements.

The medicines that we take are plant based as are some of the supplements. My only problem with supplements today is that many are made in China. I read the 90% of Vitamin C is manufactured in China. Now that's scary.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aleta

I think that there are reasons to take some supplements.

I agree. I didn't mean to shoot down all supplements. There are ones that I recommend to my patients in appropriate situations. I was referring more to the mindset I see regularly that supplements are OTC so they must be safe and effective and I can take them no matter what, and if one pill is good, 3 pills must be even better.

[Aleta]

Agreed. The worst case scenario is that the patients that don't tell their physicians about their intake of supplements which could in effect be an interference with their prescriptions.

Like you, if I have to take 50 supplements a day, I beter check in to a hospital.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Aleta

The worst case scenario is that the patients that don't tell their physicians about their intake of supplements

Yep. People don't consider supplements to be drugs or medicines so they don't report them unless specifically asked. I got into the habit some time ago of asking patients if they are on any medication by saying, "Do you take any medicines, vitamins or supplements, either prescription, over the counter, herbal or natural?"

[sweeps]

Speaking of high-priced placebos, expensive sugar pills work better than cheap ones.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by sweeps

Speaking of high-priced placebos, expensive sugar pills work better than cheap ones.

That doesn't surprise me at all. There have also been studies that showed certain colored pills "work" better than others. I seem to recall that red was the most effective color.

This is the same reasoning (or lack of reasoning) when patients insist on brand name drugs. They convince themselves that generics, being cheaper, must not be as good. More expensive = better in their minds.