Eroved Fat Burner Review: Do Eroved Weight Loss Kits Work?
Eroved weight loss productsare sold online at Eroved.com and also on eBay. When I visited the Web site to investigate the Eroved product line, I was a little dismayed to find absolutely no company information — no “about us”, no privacy policy — effectively nothing is revealed about who is retailing this product, where they are from, or what their commitment to the customer entails.
I found this very worrisome. After clicking around for a while I managed to get somewhere — I actually had to add a Eroved kit to my shopping cart before I could find any links at all. Unfortunately the “privacy and security”, “shipping information” and “return policy” links all opened browser windows that didn’t contain any information.
That’s a bit unsettling.
I did find a “contact us” link though, and that led me to a new web site, DietPillDiscounts.com.
This site appears to retail many of the fat burners sold primarily on eBay — most of which I’ve reviewed on this site, and most of which make outrageous and ridiculous product claims. I then found that the eBay retailer who is retailing both Lipovox (reviewed here) and Leptovox (reviewed here!) is also retailing Eroved. This retailer has received some “less than stellar” comments from visitors to this site who purchased Lipovox — you can read those comments here!
Well, isn’t this great. I haven’t even looked at the products yet, and already I can tell you it would be a cold day in you-know-where before I’d be handing my credit card over to these folks. With that said, how does the Eroved fat burner measure up?
Eroved is sold in kits — ranging from $125 for a 60 day kit, $175 for an 80-day kit, all the way up to $200 for a 30-day kit (for some reason, the cheapest kits are not available in 30-day kits. Go figure.)
The kits contain a variation of 4 different products…
1. SF-11: Contains greatest amounts of hoodia, carnitine and super citrimax. It also contains a blend of ingredients included no doubt to stabilize mood (5-HTP, magnolia bark and theanine), plus fat burners coleus forskohlii and guggelsterones in smaller amounts.
Hoodia (reviewed here) is probably the most hyped weight loss product on the market today. Currently, there is no evidence it does anything for appetite suppression.
Carnitine (reviewed here) is a great supplement, but studies showing it has any benefit for fat burning are in short supply.
SuperCitrimax is an extremely potent form of hydroxycitric acid, and may indeed offer some benefit as a carb blocker (a full review of Citrimax, or hydroxycitric acid, can be found here).
Coleus forskohlii is a cAMP regulator that may help speed intracellular processes, and possibly therefore, the metabolism. While the effects of coleus forskohlii and a corresponding positive effect on weight loss have been established in one study (Journal of Obesity Research August 2005, “Body Composition and Hormonal Adaptations Associated With Forskolin Consumption In Overweight and Obese Men”), the results were not overwhelming.
There is some evidence that guggulsterones do stimulate thyroid activity, and therefore may be helpful for weight loss (Planta Med 1988;54:271-7, Curr Ther Res 1999; 60:220-7).
2. CB-7: A combination of glucomannan and white kidney bean extract along with a decent blend of blood sugar moderators — alpha lipoic acid, chromium, banaba, vanadyl and gymnema sylvestre.
Glucomannan: A fiber supplement. It does show some promise for dieters, as it seems to reduce serum cholesterol and blood glucose levels in individuals with Type II diabetes. It also seems to improve insulin resistance syndrome. Fiber, of course, fills you up without adding calories — it also keeps you feel fuller, longer.
White kidney bean extract: Included in most fat burners for its “ability” to inhibit the activity of the enzyme alpha-amylase, needed to break down starches into simple sugars (i.e., to act as a “carb blocker”). Unfortunately, clinical data for kidney extract is pretty ambiguous. A recent UCLA clinical study on phaseolus vulgaris concluded…
“Clinical trends were identified for weight loss and a decrease in triglycerides, although statistical significance was not reached.”
3. T-10: A blend of antioxidants, friendly fats, oat fiber, caroteniods and other “healthy” ingredients. I would describe this as a general, overall health tonic. Not specifically a weight loss product — more than likely included to promote the sort of healthy body environment conducive to weight loss.
4. Nuphedra: Apparently, the potent “fat burner” element of the kit. Nothing here to justify the “potent” part though. This blend of caffeine, b-vitamins, synephrine, octopamine, evodia, yohimbine and a few other energizers (tyrosine, glucoronolactone, etc) is fairly ordinary. You wouldn’t know that by reading the sales copy though. For example, about evodia, it says…
“Evodia is vanilloid receptor agonist that utilizes the same receptor as the red pepper ingredient capsaicin, which increases body temperature and caloric expenditure.”
Only problem with this is that there are no credible human studies that confirm this statement. Other miracle ingredients, like citrus aurantium (synephrine) are far from the fat loss winners this company portrays. This PubMed abstract has this to say about citrus aurantium…
“An extensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, and the Cochrane Collaboration Database identified only 1 eligible randomized placebo controlled trial, which followed 20 patients for 6 weeks, demonstrated no statistically significant benefit for weight loss, and provided limited information about the safety of the herb.”
Nuphedra is an average fat burner at best, containing only a few ingredient that have any credible evidence validating their effectiveness as fat burners.
So, what’s the bottom line on the different products?
To be honest, they are better than I thought they would be. CB-7, for instance contains a nice blend of blood sugar moderators and glucomannan. T-10 is a decent blend of “healthy” ingredients. The rest are pretty ordinary. However, the main problems I have with the Eroved products are…
1. Cost and daily number of pills taken: Let’s face it, these pills are not cheap, and you’ll be taking 40 of them a day with the “Ultimate Kit.” I also wonder just how much of the ingredients are assimilated by the body when such a large dose of different ingredients are taken at any one time.
2. No money back guarantee: Instead of offering a guarantee of any sort, the Eroved sales site states…
” Due to the extreme discounts of on average $300 per kit we do not offer a money back guarantee. We do this to allow you to buy Eroved kits at the lowest price possible.”
To which I respond… exactly what sort of refund rate are you expecting? If its high enough to cut into product margins, perhaps its time to revise the formula and make it more effective? Perhaps its time to change product claims so they more accurately reflect reality? The fact of the matter is, it’s not the first time I’ve seen this “hugely discounted product” as a reason for not offering a guarantee. Its a totally bogus claim (where exactly, do Eroved products retail for $300 more than the price offered on the web site?) and no reason for not offering a guarantee.
3. No company information, no posted policies, no “about us”: Although not necessarily the case with Eroved, the only reason I’ve seen for companies to hide information about themselves is to avoid accountability to the consumer. If you don’t know who they are or where they are, it makes it very difficult to obtain recourse for an inferior product. And check this out, from their well-hidden contact us form…
“We are an internet company and handle our customer service 100% through emails. We do not currently have a telephone contact.”
What sort of company does not have a telephone contact, exactly? Hardly the sort I’d put my trust in, or entrust my credit cards to.
In the end, compilations and products aside, there are simply too many “red flags” with the way this product is marketed for me to recommend it.
