NMBJ News

NMBJ 14 July 2008 Publisher's Perspective 1,541 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

By Dr. Keith B. Laggos

Last issue I asked, “What’s new?” I commented on the increasing number of companies who offer a nutritional beverage/juice and energy drinks. I stated it was about time for the network marketing industry to find new products and explained that the network marketing industry is renown for introducing innovative products. Although I mentioned that these juice and energy drinks were superior to those in the retail market, I failed to explain the impact that they are having on the retail market. Just because I would like to see new innovations, it does not mean that there is anything wrong with any of the products we now offer. Quite the opposite is true.
Just a few years ago, you would never find noni, mangosteen, acai, goji, amalaki or many other high potent antitoxin and nutritional fruits or juices in a major grocery store. You probably would not find them in the organic section or even in a health food store. Few people would consider purchasing them if they were sold. They did not know or understand their nutritional value. Thanks to network marketing companies that have introduced the extraordinary benefits of these juices to their distributors and their customers, a demand for them is now being created.
Most of these exotic juices and fruits were unknown to the general American public. Their medicinal benefits were known to the indigenous people where they come from but were often even unknown to the food industry if not also the scientific community. The network marketing companies researched and discovered these foods and juices. They found or often conducted themselves scientific studies to verify the benefits. The network marketing companies took great pains in formulating these foods into consumable products that maximize the medicinal benefits. The network marketing companies then had to educate their distributors and customers of the beneficial properties of these juices and nutritional drinks and create a market for them.
However, the retail market has responded in its usual way. Many of the retail copycat products have just a miniscule amount of the juice. I recently saw a vitamin-enhanced water drink product that marketed itself as an acai health beverage. When I read the fine print on the bottle, it revealed that it contained less than three percent juice and acai was listed as the third juice. This meant that it probably only contained a fraction of one percent acai juice. These products are usually spiked with synthetic vitamins that offer only a fraction of the benefits that the natural juices offer.
Another product in a health food store had a noni juice product. It listed noni as the first ingredient, but upon further research, I discovered it was made with reconstituted, dehydrated, powered noni. Such a product probably retains very little of the nutritional benefits. Most retail products try to make up for their mass processing techniques that destroy any health value of the original juice or for the lack of the actual juice in the product by spiking their products with synthetic vitamins. Again these synthetic vitamins are often far inferior. Our bodies may not absorb much of the synthetic vitamins. Other properties of the fruit, including enzymes, are usually lost in the processing of these retail products. In other words, most retail products are poor knock-offs of the network marketing products. It seems that these retail companies are mostly interested in capitalizing on the research and marketing efforts of network marketing companies. Many retail companies seem more interested in profits than providing products with true medicinal benefits.
Not all nutritional/juice beverage products are created equal
Of course the quality of the juice and energy drink products offered in the network marketing industry vary too. Last issue, I pointed out that some of the energy drinks, although still better than other retail market products, were packaged in aluminum cans that could cause harmful health effects and may have other harmful ingredients. The nutritional/juice beverage products also are not created equal either.
Each network marketing company has its unique story. You need to review the story and research yourself. I would advise to search past the initial presentation, marketing materials and label. Yet you cannot always believe what others say either, especially on the Internet. They often have their own agenda. Recently NatualNews.com Web site ran a review on the Zrii juice product. According to Zrii’s formulator, Daniel Rhoda, this site was inaccurate and refused to use information Zrii provided to them.
As you will discover, each company promotes a particular approach to nutrition that supports the medicinal benefits of their fruits and nutritional beverage formulation. Many of the products have curative properties. However, the pharmaceutical industry is lobbying the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict the network marketing companies to just promoting only the general health benefits, which provide preventative support. People receive benefits from consuming all of the network marketing nutritional juices and drinks without the harmful side effects often experienced with the pharmaceutical drugs. Therefore, it is not should you consume a network marketing nutritional juice or beverage, but which one and how can you choose?
There seems to be four criteria for you to start your review of a network marketing nutritional juice or beverage. Even these four criteria are not as straightforward as you would want and the criteria do not preclude review of each company’s approach to nutrition.
1. Packaging: This is perhaps the easiest criterion to start with. Glass bottles, especially dark-colored glass, such as XanGo and MonaVie uses, are the safest choice with the least health hazards. If a beverage is packaged in plastic, you should look for the triangular recycle symbol with a number one or two in it. There are at least seven standards with the seventh being less desirable because of possible contamination of toxins including BPA, bisphenol A, a compound in hard, clear polycarbonate plastic.  An April Time Magazine article based on a University of Cincinnati study said that plastic bottles with a number-two rating, such as Zrii’s plastic bottles, was better than the number-one rating because the reuse of plastic bottles with the number-one rating could leach toxins, including the cancer-causing BPA. Since network marketing bottles are not meant for reuse, this is not a factor. So a rating of one or two is fine.
Aluminum may contribute to Alzheimer’s, muscular dystrophy, sleep apnea and other medical conditions. Aluminum containers with an interior inert barrier can lessen the harmful effects, but aluminum may still be consumed from the opening and especially drinking directly from the can, if it has an aluminum top.
2. Pasteurization: Long-term high heat pasteurization can cause deterioration of most, if not all, of the medicinal benefits of a juice. Many retail companies use this method, often referred to as “cooking or stewing” and then try to spike their products with less effective synthetic vitamins. Short-term or flash heat pasteurization uses the minimum heat for the shortest time possible to retain most of the medicinal benefits and vitamins. Most network marketing companies, including XanGo, Tahitian Noni International (TNI) and Zrii use this method. They spike their product with additional fruit (not synthetic vitamins) usually before the flash pasteurization to achieve desirable nutritional levels per serving after minimum expected losses. This method delivers the true medicinal benefits and natural vitamins. Cold filled or cold pressure pasteurization method used by Jús International and others may cause even less deterioration.
Another consideration is how well does the particular fruit hold up to heat. For instance, Zrii’s amalaki is grown in southern India and the noni fruit is grown in the South Pacific in hot climates and holds up well to heat.
Basically, the less heat for the shortest time with immediate cooling afterwards maintains a greater percentage of nature nutrients. Network marketing companies usually ensure quality and full medicinal benefits by starting with more of the fruit product in contrast to retail companies who usually cook the products and then simply add a dose of synthetic vitamins.
3. Organic: Juices whose fruit is organically grown are desirable. The reason why is the organic label usually indicates little or no pesticides and synthetic ingredients. Therefore, being organically grown is not the real issue. Does the product have pesticides or synthetic or artificial preservative ingredients; that is the question. However, these can be tough answers to ascertain. The products may meet the criteria to be considered organic, but because of where they are grown, they may not have the same criteria, if any, and it could take eight years to meet U.S. standards. LifesMiracle, OceanGrown and ForeverGreen all have products, that come from the sea. So obviously they don’t use pesticides, but there is no organic classification for food grown in the sea. Yet it is probably as organic as you can get.
Even if the label has the word “organic” on it, it does not ensure that most of its ingredients are organic. To be considered as an organic product, only a small percentage of the product must be organically grown.
Tom Mower Jr. of SISEL explained that if a product does not show any synthetic ingredients or artificial preservatives on the label, it does not mean that one or more of the ingredients could contain some. It just means that they did not add any directly. You must look to see if the company claims that its products contain no preservatives, pesticides, artificial or synthetic ingredients. If they don’t make such a statement, then you should ask that question. Tom stated that SISEL screens all of its ingredients carefully to ensure the company meets the highest of this standard.
4. Quality: Network marketing juice and nutritional beverage products are expensive. They often cost $20 to $45 per bottle, which usually has a 30-day dose in it. Therefore it is proper to be concerned if you are getting a fair nutritional value for your money.
TNI’s noni product contains up to 89 percent of the noni fruit. It includes the rind where much of the nutrition is derived. The rind is bitter, so it is necessary to add sweeter juices for flavor. On the other hand, Zrii’s juice product contains much less of their seven primary fruit and botanical ingredients. Although Daniel Rhoda from Zrii would not provide any percentages because he stated it was proprietary, it seems apparent that the seven juices and botanicals are a much smaller percentage than TNI’s. However, Mr. Rhoda claims that each one ounce serving contains a full dose of nutritional value needed from their primary fruits and that the other juices serve more than a masking for flavor. He stated that raspberries and pomegranate are powerful antioxidants. He also stated that pear juice is alkaline and helps balance the juice’s pH.
Also, companies’ beverage products that have more than one juice in it, such as Zrii and Jús International, which has a blend of 23 juices, may be able to offer a full spectrum of antioxidant defense and medicinal benefits.
In any case, if you are serious about your health and that of your family’s, you should be drinking one of these nutritional juices or beverages, such as Eniva’s, that network marketing companies have researched and developed and not one of the cheap retail copycats.

Keith Laggos has been in the direct sales industry for 37 years, half of that time as a successful distributor. He is one of only three people worldwide chosen for the Hall of Fame Award. He is president of a 23-year-old, multi-level company, which he founded. He is a board member of an industry association as well as other companies, an expert witness and an industry consultant.
His publishing company is the largest in the industry and produces Network Marketing Business Journal (NMBJ), formerly Money Maker’s Monthly, the first direct sales college textbook, Direct Sales – An Overview and Higher Than The Highest Mountain, an inspirational, warm and humorous fictional account of how a Christian family’s love and faith overcome all while facing everyday challenges in today’s society. It also provides a positive example of how network marketing helps families at various aspects and junctures of their lives. Most recently, he has published How to Recruit & Sell in an Over-commercialized Society, a how-to textbook on marketing. The MLMIA, “the association for network marketing,” has awarded Laggos and NMBJ’s predecessor Money Maker’s Monthly, several prestigious awards, including its Global Vision Award, Supplier of the Year and President’s Spirit Award, among others.
Laggos has also been published and quoted in other publications and academic journals around the world. Laggos has a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science, a master’s of business degree in management and marketing, a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate (abd) in public policy analysis and a doctorate in business economics.