Metabolife AquaSlim: Weight Loss Water?

Posted By Paul on Oct 7, 2008 | 1 comment

Metabolife is a well-known manufacturer of over-the-counter diet supplements. AquaSlim is a little different than its other products, however. In essence, it’s a diet pill in drink form: you knock back a bottle before each meal rather than take a capsule or tablet. AquaSlim is sold in “on-the-go” 4 packs, similar to many other bottled drinks. It appears to be a stand-alone product…although Metabolife claims it’s a part of its “two-stage weight management program” there’s no info on the site to describe precisely where it fits in.

Manufacturer Description: “Quench your goals! Metabolife® AquaSlim™ is a breakthrough new supplement that helps you hydrate, strengthen bones and curb your appetite in a single serving.*

Staying hydrated is an important part of any diet and exercise plan. New Metabolife® AquaSlim™ is made with spring water containing naturally occurring calcium. In addition, Metabolife® AquaSlim™ contains plant extracts that help curb your appetite, making it the perfect addition to your weight management plan.* Try Metabolife® AquaSlim™ in either mixed berry, or pineapple & orange flavor.

The key ingredient in Metabolife® AquaSlim™ is Super CitriMax®, which has been clinically shown to suppress appetite without the use of stimulants, helping reinforce your efforts to stay fit and trim.* Another benefit of Metabolife® AquaSlim™ is that when taken as directed, you can get almost 50% of your recommended daily intake of calcium. Drink thin with Metabolife® AquaSlim™.”

Product Label:

Comments: I bought a 4-pack of the “Mixed Berry” flavor at my local supermarket for $5.99 US. It was pretty good, actually: thirst-quenching and moderately sweet, with a subtle berry flavor. There was also a slight, “peppery” finish to it, which I assume was due to the hydroxycitric acid (HCA). This didn’t detract from the flavor—rather, the effect was more like light carbonation.

I thought it was mildly satiating…I drank a bottle shortly before lunch, and while it didn’t turn off my hunger completely, it did dial it down a bit.

AquaSlim contains SuperCitrimax, a form of hydroxycitric acid that appears to have some positive effects on fat loss, at least in short term studies. One catch, however, is that the study subjects received 4,667 mg of SuperCitriMax per day (providing 2,800 mg of HCA). Consumed as directed, AquaSlim provides approx. one-half that amount. While Metabolife’s other “Stage One” supplements (which also contain SuperCitrimax) could make up the deficit, there is nothing in the directions or available guidance on the site to confirm this.

In addition, there’s the cost to consider: as Paul notes in his HCA overview, SuperCitrimax itself is pretty cheap. You can get 90 capsules of NOW SuperCitrimax from bodybuilding.com for $9.99 US, and each capsule contains just a little less than a bottle of AquaSlim (750mg vs. 833mg). If you do the math, the NOW product provides the HCA equivalent of 81 bottles of AquaSlim. That’s roughly 12 cents a serving, vs. $1.50 a serving for Metabolife product.

In other words, AquaSlim is a pretty darned expensive way to take HCA.

As a light, decent-tasting “value-added” drink, AquaSlim could be just the ticket: it’s low in calories, and—taken as directed—is a decent source of calcium. But as an HCA supplement, AquaSlim is vastly overpriced: a “straight” capped product like the one offered by NOW would be a much better bet.

Here’s how we rate this product (out of 5 stars):

[usrlist “Taste:4.0” “Quality:4.0” “Efficacy:1.0” “Value:1.0″ avg=”true”]