This post is in response to one of our follower’s questions: what are your thoughts on Vemma®? If you haven’t heard of Vemma® (don’t worry, we hadn’t either), it is a “nutrition” line that offers various liquid supplements including protein shakes, antioxidant drinks, and let’s not forget, energy drinks (because the world really needs another brand of energy drinks). In the past few years, many types of “healthy” drinks have been marketed. Most of them are fruit based and are marketed as “superfoods”. While some of them are OK in moderation, the majority of the western world doesn’t need to consume any more calories in the form of liquid. If we, as a society, are undernourished, I don’t believe these antioxidant drinks are the answer to our problems. In fact, I think they are part of the problem…providing another avenue for consumers to get lost in, only to find themselves right back where they started: lost, confused, and undernourished.

At first glance, Vemma® may seem promising. Like many other products out there, Vemma® seems to be scientifically proven. Mangosteen, the main ingredient studied within Vemma®’s products, has been thought to protect the body against free radicals, increase energy, and promote a healthy digestive system. The problem is, most of these studies have been methodologically weak. In other words, their study may not lead to the most reliable or valid results due to their small sample size and short duration. Additionally, most of the research on the antioxidant effects of mangosteen has been conducted in-vitro or in animal studies, which does not always translate to humans. To be clear, in-vitro is where scientists test an organism (usually cells) in an artificial environment rather than in its original environment. Vemma® is a classic case where the marketing claims overstate the significance of the findings, which can mislead consumers.

Lastly, we can’t ignore the obvious: every company wants a good looking ambassador (usually a celebrity of some kind) to market their product. Typically, this type of marketing is very successful. How else can you explain millions of people flocking to stores to buy shoes that literally make them walk as if they have some sort of abnormality with their gait? So Vemma® may not have Kim Kardashian by there side telling the world to drink their products, but they have Chris Powelle.

Some of you may recognize Chris as the trainer and “transformation specialist” on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition”. According to Powell, Vemma® will “feed your body the nutrition that it needs, and it will go to work burning the fat that you no longer want”. When asked about Chris’ shake line of Vemma® products (Bode), he states: “it’s a meal…it’s practically a multi-vitamin infused into a shake”. Well Chris, if it is “practically a multi-vitamin”, why not just take the multi-vitamin and spare the extra calories included in the shake?

It’s frustrating to me when fitness “celebrities” endorse products that don’t belong in this world. Both Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels sold their souls to weight loss pills, and although this is not nearly as dramatic, Chris has basically done the same thing. By being an ambassador for a company which sells a product that essentially replaces fruits and vegetables, he is sending yet another mixed message to the average Joe (or Jane of course): why eat whole, real foods when you can drink your nutrients from a can? Vemma® argues that their product is more convienient, but please tells me, what is more convenient than grabbing a piece of fruit?

Lastly, at the very bottom of the page reads the following:

“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

Last I checked….obesity was a disease. In which case, let’s not try to cure this disease by creating false hopes. Rather, let’s get back to a place where we eat nutritionally dense food thus eliminating the need for canned antioxidants/nutrients.