Juice Plus is a whole food based supplement that has been on the market for 25 years. It has recently been taking off in New Zealand and there is a lot of controversy surrounding it. I was inspired to delve deeper, after my own amazing results and reading/watching the personal testimonials from so many people all over the world.
These two articles are nearly identical, with identical names http://blog.fooducate.com/2014/06/26/4-ways-juice-plus-is-scamming-americans/ and http://britishy.com/4-ways-juice-plus-is-scamming-britons/
What the articles say: The “clinical studies” supporting Juice Plus were all funded by…Juice Plus.
The truth:That’s right folks, Juice Plus funds most of the research - and they do it proudly. Much of today's scientific research IS corporately funded (but a lot of that research, such as from the pharmaceutical companies, is done in-house - and is not done by some of the worlds' finest institutions and hospitals around the world). Juice Plus work with reputable institutions and researchers, and yes, they participate in posing the questions, but they do not and could not BUY the answer. So, ultimately, they buy the question, yes, but not the answer. The research is peer-reviewed by academic and scientific experts who beat up the study - analyze it - and see if it belongs in their journals before they will publish it. Juice Plus has over 30 independently published journals.
What the articles say: Preying upon your guilt for not consuming enough fruits and vegetables, Juice Plus claims it can fill the gap for you. However, concentrated high doses of nutrients in pills may not always be bio-available. Which means you are most likely peeing away the nutrients you paid so dearly for.
The truth: Notice the words “may not be” and “most likely” in there. Apart from this, Juice Plus has clinical studies proving the bio-availability of their products, that have been published in peer reviewed journals. Ever taken a man made isolated multi-vitamin before and peed out bright orange? Guess what? This never happens with Juice Plus.
What the articles say: There are no shortcuts to getting healthy or avoiding disease. The company actually makes claims of protecting DNA and improving heart health.
The truth: Juice plus is not legally allowed to make these claims without scientific evidence to support it. Juice Plus is listed with the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia (which also covers New Zealand) as a therapeutic medicine, and they will not do this unless the claims that Juice Plus makes can be backed by clinical research.
What the articles say: On an ethical level, multi-level marketing creates financial incentives to lie to your friends, relatives and peers in order to get them to buy something.
The truth: There may be some people in network marketing who lie (although I’ve never met one). There may also be people who lie in retail sales, selling supplements or other products (used cars salesman anyone?) Millions of people buy products on advice from people they don’t know every day, yet they have a hard time trusting the advice and experience of someone they know and love. The fact is, Juice Plus would not have lasted in the market for 25 years if the hundreds of thousands of customers who order and re-order every month did not feel the benefit from the product. Besides, the only way to truly know if the product works is to try it for yourself. My own personal experience of the health benefits from the product have been nothing short of amazing, and I have been helped by many people in the company who stand to gain no financial benefit by helping me.
What other articles say: Juice Plus is just an expensive/overpriced Multi-Vitamin.
The truth: Juice Plus isn’t a multi-vitamin. It is whole fruits and vegetables, which have been carefully washed, dried and tested to make sure there are no heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives or insecticides present. This means dealing with weather conditions and working several months and years ahead with farmers to ensure a quality product (which it is, because each batch is independently tested and has NSF certification). This is much harder than producing man made isolated supplements in a lab, so yes, it is more expensive than a multi-vitamin! There are also claims that Juice Plus capsules only contain Vitamins A, C, E, and Folate, but to have an NSF certification the product must have what they say is on the label actually in the product. It does only contain those added vitamins, but it also contains 26 different fruits, vegetables and grains which are in the form of a concentrated powder.
What other articles say: That our studies are not up to scratch.
The truth: All Juice Plus clinical studies carry the gold standard certification. This means they must have four key things. They must be prospective, randomised, placebo controlled and double blinded. I’ve also seen people reference their own “studies” to somehow dis-prove Juice Plus studies, which do not have the gold standard and have not been published in quality peer reviewed journals. It seems to me that bloggers know this type of controversy is going to get them a lot of website hits, so they post about things they have no understanding of! Here are the studies http://www.juiceplus.com.au/content/JuicePlus/en_au/clinical-research/juice-plus-clinical-research.html#.Vcgwk3hUREI
Now let’s look at Wikipedia.
What it says: That some of the studies have small control groups, and that the nutrients “may not be” present and that the levels of phytonutrients “may not be” bio-available.
The truth: Notice those words “may not be”! Again, I come back to the research. Do you really believe that Universities and scientific journals from all over the world would risk their own reputation by publishing studies that are not up to scratch? Here are all the journals Juice Plus has been published in http://www.juiceplus.com.au/content/JuicePlus/en_au/clinical-research/published-medical-and-scientific-journals.html#.VcgwcXhUREI
Wiki also references MLM watch written by Stephen Barrett – just Google this guy to see what he gets up to. He advocates for multi-national pharmaceutical companies, has been thrown out of court, and hates anything alternative like chiropractic medicine. Furthermore, The Sloan Kettering publication is not written by MDs, and you have to sign disclaimer that the information may not be accurate to read this publication. It is also well known that the guy who keeps the Wikipedia page updated has a personal grievance with the company (we will leave it at that!)
Now let’s look at you tube and a few other well known articles.
There are several people touting their own personal opinion about the company on you tube. Many skeptics of Juice Plus have become skeptics due to their own failure as network marketers, or they have an ulterior motive, such as the fact they are selling their own supplement (so many articles I have come across blatantly have multi-vitamins for sale at the end).
Guess what? Network marketing isn’t easy. We get told NO. Some people can’t handle being told no, so they give up. Does that mean that people can’t make money in this business? Absolutely not. Juice Plus has hundreds of distributors at National Marketing Director level. How did they get there? By hard work, determination, ignoring the “no’s” and never giving up. Besides, if we were all good at the same thing, wouldn’t the world be a boring place?!
So perhaps Google might not be the best of research tools after all. Network marketing doesn’t use conventional advertising methods, so media coverage is skewed against them. It’s possible to find a bad review about just about anything on the internet! I would also like to point out, that pyramid scams or schemes have been illegal since the 80’s, and just because some other companies may give network marketing a bad name, that does not mean that Juice Plus isn’t an amazing company filled with amazing people who are inspiring healthy living around the world. Who doesn’t want to be healthier and wealthier?
© Copyright Anna McConnell 2015. All rights reserved.
