CreVax Review: 35 lbs. Of Weight Loss In A Month?
With their claims of rapid weight loss—35 lbs. per month—CreVax retailers apparently have no problem pushing the “reality” envelope when it comes to promoting their product.
Because despite claims of being the only Swiss-formulated, all-natural, 7-ingredient blend that promotes rapid fat burning and appetite suppression there’s nothing particularly special about CreVax. Certainly there’s nothing here that will deliver anywhere near the sort of results advertised.
In fact, it is products like CreVax that the the U.S. Federal Trade Commission & The Competition Bureau of Canada were targeting with their “FatFoe” bogus product web site, viewable here!
If you check out this fabricated site, you’ll see the claims these governemental agencies warn against are exactly the sort of claims made by the retailers of CreVax.
The silliness doesn’t end with the claims, of course.
There’s the obligatory picture of Oprah Winfrey with the slogan, “As featured on the Oprah Winfrey show”— a little misleading, since CreVax has never been promoted by Oprah (I did a search on the Oprah web site, and CreVax doesn’t even show up… anywhere!).
Nor has it been featured on NBC, CNN, Fox News or 60 Minutes — despite these logos being featured prominently as well.
There are, of course, plenty of impressive looking but totally unverifiable testimonials. The ingredients are revealed, but we have no idea how much of each is included in the CreVax formula. This is important; often retailers will include minimal amounts of promising ingredients in their formulas, referencing clinical trials that were performed with a zillion times more potent a dose. The formula is claimed to be “clinically proven”, but no peer-reviewed, double blind, placebo controlled studies have been performed on CreVax.
So what is in CreVax?
1. Hoodia: If there’s one ingredient that’s synonymous with hype, it’s hoodia. Currently, there is no independently verified clinical data that hoodia suppresses appetite. Additionally, hoodia is an endangered species and takes years to grow and cultivate; it has been estimated that the vast majority of hoodia products on the market are counterfeit and do not contain any hoodia (see the full review for more on hoodia).
2. Green Tea: Yes, green tea is one of a few substances showing some real promise for weight loss (see the full review for more information and clinical references).
Whether the Crevax compilation contains enough green tea standardized for the appropriate catechins and polyphenols is another matter altogether. And boy oh boy, do the makers of CreVax have a bit of an issue deciphering the science behind the weight loss mechanics of green tea. They say this about it, for instance…
“An herbal ingredient that aids in weight loss due to its high amount of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants have the ability to break down stored fat molecules, and fight the free radicals your body releases during significant weight loss.”
Antioxidants break down fat? Who knew? If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to spend $69 for a bottle of CreVax to lose weight… you could just stock up on one of the cheapest antioxidants available, vitamin C.
Wow. This really lends credibility to the claim that this is a “scientifically-formulated” product.
3. Red Sage/Dan Shen: Typically, Dan shen is used for circulation problems, angina, and ischemic stroke, and there is a small amount of evidence validating its evidence in this regard. But there is no evidence to indicate it has any weight loss benefits at all—it’s inclusion in this formula, quite frankly, is a bit perplexing.
4. Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum): Again, more with the “antioxidants fight fat molecules” silliness, and little in the way of substance—there’s nothing in the way of clinical evidence that shows this ingredient has any benefit for weight loss. There is, however, one benefit offered by this ingredient (and it’s completely ignored by the retailers of Crevax); it can decrease total cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol levels in people with high cholesterol levels (Fujian Med J 1988;10:4-6, Hunan Med J 1991;8:259-60).
Here’s something else that’s interesting. See the description for Jiaogulan as posted on CreVax.com (if you can’t read it, the full text is below)…
“Adaptogenic herbs are nontoxic in normal doses, produce a nonspecific defensive response to stress, and have a normalizing influence on the body. They normalize the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). As defined, adaptogens constitute a new class of natural, homeostatic metabolic regulators. However they are also functional at the level of allostasis which is a more dynamic reaction to long term stress, lacking the fixed reference points of homeostasis. Jiaogulan is a calming adaptogen which is also useful in formula with codonopsis for jet lag and altitude sickness.”
It seems that the retailers of CreVax have simply copied this text directly from Wikipedia (click here to check for yourself). Copying information from WikiPedia is not illegal—provided you adhere to the rules of the GNU Free Documentation Licence—which the CreVax retailers do not have appeared to have done. What it does do, of course, is further call into question the “scientific veracity” of CreVax. It’s a product designed by scientists and bio-chemists, and they are copying and pasting material from Wikipedia? Yes, and I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. Puuuu-lease.
5. Wolfberry (lycium): Apparently added to the CreVax formula to boost your immunity so you can “stay healthy during weight loss.” Animal studies do confirm wolfberry’s immune stimulating effects. However, the makers of CreVax have missed out on Wolfberry’s true benefits; its active constituents have been shown to have cholesterol and blood-sugar lowering effects as well (see Life Sci. 2004 Nov 26;76(2):137-49).
6. Peony Root: Included for its “calming” characteristics, there is prelimary evidence peony constituents demonstrate antidepressant-like effects in rats (see J Ethnopharmacol. 2008 Sep 26;119(2):272-5. Epub 2008 Jul 18).
7. Taurine: An amino acid, the makers of CreVax have this to say about Taurine…
“An organic amino acid that can release muscle fatigue caused by increased activity during weight loss. It’s also used to give energy and relieve anxiety.”
In Elissa’s review of Taurine on UltimateFatBurner.com she says…
“Although human data is limited, animal experiments have shown taurine depletion is associated with impaired exercise capacity and age-related loss of muscle function.
And…
“Red Bull itself has been studied, and reports confirm that it’s effective for enhancing mental and physical performance, but there is little information on what—if any—role taurine plays in producing these effects.”
And…
High dose experiments with rats and mice have shown that taurine can influence mood/behavior by acting as an “anxiolytic”—meaning that it reduces anxiety.
In other words, taurine is a promising amino, but it’s benefits are largely in question, and most studies have been performed on animals (with extremely high dosages) and have not yet been duplicated in humans.
OK, so that’s the CreVax formula in a nutshell.
As you see, there is only one ingredient (green tea) that has any proven benefit for weight loss, and we don’t even know whether its included in the formula in a dosage potent enough to elcit a response. It’s not as if the other ingredients do not offer benefits; it’s just that for the most part those benefits have not been demonstrated in human studies. Worse, these ingredients do not appear to offer any fat burning characteristics – certainly nothing that would justify the “lose 35 lbs. per month” claim.
And again, we don’t know the dosages at which they are included in the formula, either.
I also find it a bit odd that the retailers of this “scientifically proven” product aren’t even aware of the relevant benefits offered by some of the ingredients included in this formula (see Wolfberry and Jiaogulan). It’s hard to claim your product is scientifically proven when you’ve obviously done a minimal amount of research into the benefits offered by the various ingredients.
Couple that with CreVax’s outrageously high price ($69), unsubstantiated claims and advertising inconsistancies, you probably are not going to be surprised to find that I can’t think of one good reason to recommend this product.
