MonaVie is not meant to replace apples or any other fruits or vegetables in your diet. It is meant to supplement these foods and offer additional nutrients essential to your body. Below are the approved claims for benefits of MonaVie.
General Claim
Experts agree that by eating well—a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—a person may reduce their risk of certain serious diseases.
MonaVie General Product Claims
MonaVie delivers a blend of 19 fruits, including the premier açai berry.
Açai is one of nature’s top superfoods.
Consuming MonaVie helps maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
People who regularly consume MonaVie have reported an increase in energy, better health, an overall sense of well being, and a decrease in minor aches and pains associated with exercise, overexertion, and everyday living.
MonaVie products offer a simple and convenient solution to help meet your body’s nutritional needs.
MonaVie’s fruit juice blend delivers antioxidants and phytonutrients.
MonaVie’s superfruit blend delivers antioxidants and phytonutrients to help maintain and promote good health.
Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals, which can damage healthy cells. Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that have been implicated in the aging process and in many health related issues.
Free radicals can damage cell components such as membranes, proteins, genetic material, and lead to cell death through oxidation. The oxidation process can be compared to the rusting of iron or the browning of a cut apple.
Four ounces of MonaVie has the equivalent antioxidant capacity of approximately 13 servings of fruits and vegetables. (Based on ORAC)
Phytonutrients, nutritionally important compounds found only in plants, have many functions, including antioxidant activity to help prevent cell damage.
MonaVie contains polyphenols, anthocyanins, proanthocyanins; these nutrients may:
a. Help support and maintain healthy cellular processes, including growth, proliferation, and function
b. Help support and maintain a healthy immune system
Açai Specific Claims
1. The açai berry has been prized for centuries as a source of health, energy, and longevity.
2. MonaVie freeze dried açai is unparalleled in its antioxidant strength. MonaVie’s freeze dried açai boasts more than 15 times the antioxidant capacity of whole blueberries and more than 20 times the antioxidant capacity of whole raspberries.
3. Acai contains a broad range of antioxidants including polyphenols, proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins.
4. Pre-clinical research on the freeze dried açai used in the MonaVie products shows it to have:
A high antioxidant capacity, especially against superoxide free radicals
i. Superoxide free radicals are known to target healthy joint cells
ii. Freeze dried açai in a Superoxide activity assay had one of the highest antioxidant capacities of any fruit or vegetable to fight superoxide free radicals.
A high antioxidant capacity, especially against peroxyl free radicals
A nutritional analysis of freeze dried açai found it to have anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and flavonoids.
MonaVie Active Clinical Study
1. In a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover clinical study, subjects taking MonaVie Active—which contains a blend of 19 fruits, including açai—had a significant increase in their antioxidant capacity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation.
2. Fats like cholesterol circulating in the blood stream are easily oxidized by free radicals. This is called lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation has been shown to be damaging to the circulatory system. Studies have shown that reduction of lipid peroxidation has been associated with improved cardiovascular well-being.
3. 83.3% of study participants had a statistically significant increase (relative to placebo) in antioxidant activity within their cells.
4. This study also supports that drinking 4 ounces of MonaVie Active daily helps increase the antioxidant capacity in the body.
Note: This study was conducted in a relatively small number of healthy adults. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed before these results can be generalized to the population-at-large.
MonaVie General Health Claims
1. MonaVie is designed to help maintain a person’s overall health and well-being as part of a concerted effort to practice balance-variety- moderation. Consequently, MonaVie contains a blend of healthy fruits, with no added sodium, sugar or fat.
Vitamins in MonaVie Claims
MonaVie products are an excellent source of vitamin C.
Vitamin C is a highly effective antioxidant.
Vitamin C supports the maintenance of healthy joints, both as an antioxidant and through its role in collagen synthesis and other enzymatic reactions.
Vitamin C supports and protects healthy cell function throughout the body acting in various tissue types – everything from the heart, and brain to skin and nerves.
MonaVie products are an excellent source of vitamin K.
MonaVie Active Structure/Function Claims (Glucosamine)
1. MonaVie Active contains the additional benefits of glucosamine, a natural substance found in healthy joint cartilage.
2. Glucosamine helps build glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans, which are essential to making and maintaining healthy connective tissue and joint cartilage.
3. Glucosamine, when taken regularly at 1500mg per day, may help maintain healthy joint function and improve joint comfort.
4. Glucosamine, when taken regularly at 1500 mg per day may help with minor aches and pains associated with post exercise recovery.
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2 comments:
I'll just address the points that are actually relevant to the discussion. Most of their response is nothing more than general information.
ACAI CLAIMS: They keep bringing up the characteristics of the freeze-dried acai concentrate. This is only one ingredient added to MonaVie, and apparently, not much is used. The ORAC score of the acai concentrate is 1,027 umoles/gm. The ORAC score of MonaVie is 22.81 umoles/ml. If we look at that alone, we know that the acai concentrate is tremendously diluted.
To corroborate this, we can look at the Chromadex analysis (2008), which found a anthocyanin level of 0.095 mg/ml in MonaVie.
Compare that to red grape juice which has an anthocyanin level 8 times higher (0.71 mg/ml).
As mentioned in their response, acai has a high anthocyanin level. Yet, in Chromadex lab's analysis, it was very low.
Therefore, in MonaVie we find a low ORAC, and a low level of anthocyanins. The simple conclusion is that the acai level is very low.
Thus, their discussion of the antioxidant bioavailability studies of acai are meaningless.
MONAVIE ACTIVE CLINICAL STUDY: Lots of deception here. 83.3% had an increase in antioxidant levels? There were only twelve subjects.
The test was suspect from the start. They gave each subject a 4 oz. dose of MonaVie. The label clearly states 1 to 2 oz. twice a day. So, they should follow their own instructions rather than start off with a double-dose.
Next, the study is ended after two hours of checking the blood levels for bioavailability. That leaves 22 hours from the day that we have no idea what the blood levels are.
VITAMINS IN MONAVIE CLAIMS: They state that MonaVie is an excellent source of vitamin C.
Not according to the lab analysis sponsored by The Men's Journal. It found MonaVie's vitamin C level to be 5 times lower than Welch's Grape Juice.
MONAVIE ACTIVE GLUCOSAMINE: You can get glucosamine in a number of products at the drug store. And it'll be much cheaper than $21 to $45 per bottle. ($1,168 to $2,628 per year per person)
ANTIOXIDANT EQUIVALENTS: I wanted to address this seperately. They claimed that 4 oz. of MonaVie has the ORAC of 13 servings of fruits and vegetables. They left out a word that belongs in the claim. That word is "common" fruits and vegetables. Useing that vague reference, they will be able to locate 13 fruits and vegetables that have a very low ORAC value. They can then make this claim.
What they don't mention is that of the 143 fruits/veggies found on the USDA ORAC Table of Selected Foods, 55 of them have a higher ORAC than MonaVie.
The bottom line is: no matter how many general nutrition statements the company makes, it still falls far behind the common apple in ORAC and polyphenols (phenolics).
As for any other phytonutrients that they claim to have, there are no studies or simple lab analysis on MonaVie that support their claim.
Food Tech in CA
Wow! Thank you for taking the time to write all of that out. I am going to send it to them to see if they have anything to say. I can't wait to hear their response to this one. Thanks again.
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