eXfuze Review Part I: Some Background

Posted By elissa on Jan 14, 2011 | 7 comments

Ok, let’s take a closer look at the eXfuze line of antioxidant drinks, as I promised in an earlier post. Due to time constraints, I’m going to string this out over several posts, so that I can cover everything in depth… there are some points I’ll be making that pertain to more than just the eXfuze products, so bear with me.

Before digging into the nitty-gritty, let’s “set the stage,” so to speak.

eXfuze is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that markets four products:

• Seven+ Classic
• Seven+ Premium FOCUS
• Seven+ PROformance
• Green Zilla

As the name “Seven+” implies, the first three drinks are based on a blend of 7 different extracts. These are:

• brown seaweed
• acai palm fruit
• goji berry
• noni fruit
• mangosteen
• gac seed
• sea buckthorn

In other words, the “core” of the first three drinks is a gemisch of various trendy and exotic “superfruits” and botanicals. The FOCUS and PROformance drinks contain additional extracts:

FOCUS:

• grapeseed extract
• brown rice milk
• fermented yamabushitake mushroom
• periwinkle
• club moss
• aloe
• nisin
• “Shilajit”

As noted in the “supplement facts,” linked above, some (all?) were “processed with proprietary chaperone molecule.”

PROformance:

• astragalus
• eleuthro
• ginseng polysaccharide

This drink also contains a proprietary peptidoglycan complex and “chaperone molecules,” which are here identified as trehalose, trimethylglycine and “NSE” – which is claimed to be a “naturally occurring Coenzyme Q6-10” (note: I’m assuming this means “naturally-occurring source of CoQ6 – CoQ10).

The above drinks are formulated using a base of “ultra-purified functional water,” agave nectar, and a few other ingredients such as grape concentrate and blueberry extract.

The fourth product, “Green Zilla” represents a departure from this formula. Green Zilla is an energy “shot” drink composed of a range of amino acids/peptides, caffeine, blue-green algae, ribose, ginseng and several other ingredients/additives.

Looks complicated, eh?

Yes, but for many commercial supplement formulas, “complicated” isn’t a bug – it’s a feature. In my experience, there’s no better way to impress naive consumers, than to hit them with a label that’s difficult to sort out.

Two logical fallacies come into play when average folks see a “busy” supplement label:

I. Science is complicated and difficult to understand. Thus, the reverse is assumed… that complexity is evidence of scientific thought and planning.

II. “More is better”

Both of these assumptions are incorrect. As I’ve noted in various reviews of bodybuilding supplements, the effectiveness of a supplement does not necessarily increase with the number of ingredients. For example, USP Labs’ “Jacked” is an effective pre-workout booster. So is BSN’s “NO-Xplode.” Jacked contains 7 active ingredients. NO-Xplode contains ~30. Does having 30 ingredients mean NO-Xplode is the better choice? Having used both, I honestly can’t say that I noticed a difference. But this shouldn’t be surprising… the more ingredients you have, the more difficult it is to optimize the amounts of each one, relative to the others.

(As an aside, “more is better” is a fallacy when it comes to ingredient amounts, too: dose-response relationships can be quite complicated in real life. In addition, something that’s beneficial in low doses, may nonetheless have unintended consequences in high doses… as research on pro-carcinogenic activity of beta-carotene has confirmed. Toxicologists have also raised concerns about potential “pro-oxidant” effects of large doses of green tea extract. Direct toxicity isn’t the only thing to be concerned about when looking at the effects of supplements – even “natural” ones.) 

So here’s the first question that pops into my mind when I look at those “supplement fact” labels: Is there a purpose to the complexity? Is there some sort of synergy between the different nutraceuticals in the eXfuze drinks? Or does the complexity exist for “cosmetic” reasons? Are there good reasons to prefer – say – Seven+ over a much simpler concoction such as POM Wonderful’s Antioxidant Recovery, Novelle International’s Maqui Superberry or other (less expensive!) superfruit concentrates available?

There are other questions to ponder here, too, such as…

• dose: are the active components in the eXfuze drinks provided in useful amounts, or are some of them “label decoration?”
• quality: are the extracts standardized for their active ingredients?
• benefits: are the perceived benefits of the product (if any) real… or due to the “placebo effect?”
• “bang for your buck”: are you paying more for the product than it’s worth, relative to competing products?
• need: is the evidence that you need them compelling… or simply suggestive?
• information: does the company (or distributor) provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice?

Of course, these are questions you should ask yourself before buying any supplement… and it goes double for “superfood/fruit” formulas – not just eXfuze. For the record, this is a category of supplements with an impressive record of fraud and deceit behind it. And even ethical, well-known companies have little but short-term tests to support their “superfood” products. Various ads and articles imply that users will live longer, healthier, more energetic lives, but there’s virtually no proof beyond testimonials for this. And as for those testimonials… well, what can I say? You can find glowing testimonials for homeopathic products, which contain no detectable active ingredients at all.

Beyond that… eXfuze is an MLM product.

What’s the deal with MLM? As Dr. Stephen Barrett of MLMWatch wrote in “The Mirage of MLM“:

More than a hundred multilevel companies are marketing health-related products. Most claim that their products are effective for preventing or treating disease. A few companies merely suggest that people will feel better, look better, or have more energy if they supplement their diet with extra nutrients. When clear-cut therapeutic claims are made in product literature, the company is an easy target for government enforcement action. Some companies run this risk, hoping that the government won’t take action until their customer base is well established. Other companies make no claims in their literature but rely on testimonials, encouraging people to try their products and credit them for any improvement that occurs.

Every company I have looked at has done at least one of the following.

• Made misleading statements that could frighten people into taking dietary supplements they do not need.
• Made misleading statements of product superiority that could induce people to buy products that retail stores sell more cheaply.
• Made unsubstantiated claims that their products would prevent or remedy health problems
• Uses research findings to promote products without noting that the findings are not sufficient to substantiate using the products.
• Uses deception by omission by making statements about the biochemical properties of various substances without placing them in proper perspective. An example would be stating that a certain nutrient is important because it does this or that in the body but omitting that people who eat sensibly have no valid reason to take a supplement.
• Exaggerated the probability of making significant income.

Hmmm…

Sure, there are MLM companies that have been “mainstreamed” and/or market products that appear to be adequate, if unexceptional… but I’ve yet to see the MLM product that was truly superior to competing products readily available through conventional retail channels. But who knows… maybe eXfuze will be the first.

In the next installment, I’ll take an in-depth look at Seven+, the first of the 4 eXfuze products.