MonaVie vs. Sambazon

how come you don’t comment his and link to yours or at least let him know his errors in his computations?

There’s always someone out there trying to bash the (per Inc. 500) #18 fastest growing privately held company in the United States. #1 in the Food and Beverage Category, and #3 in overall revenue.

No network marketing compant has ever even been on the Inc. 500 list.

The product is legit, the company is legit, and no other “Acai” beverage can touch it right now. It’s not even close.

Those are the facts.

Let me know when Sambazon shows up at the Academy Awards VIP Lounge or on The Doctors Show, or in the clubhouses/locker rooms of professional sports teams, etc….

Not everyone gets paid to drink it. In fact, a majority of the people who sign up as distributors or preferred customers aren’t even doing the business. That must mean the PRODUCT IS LEGIT. HELLO!!!!!

I’m guessing most people in the US spend way more than “500 hours” per year WATCHING TV or doing some other unproductive activity. Turn off your TV people. Stop watching the BS! Get healthy and make a difference.

http://www.aibmr.com/resources/articles-and-reports.php

Let me know when Sambazon’s research gets published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

And if you’re going to watch TV, you might as well watch something educational, right?

Scam, you can get a bottle of Monavie for as little as approx $20-$22

Sambazon is the team drink of which professional team?

Paying for publicity is never a bad thing, right? ;)

And that’s what MonaVie paid for when they commissioned AIBMR to research it. :-)

I don’t think paying for publicity is a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing either. I doesn’t mean MonaVie is better than any other juice.

I couldn’t find anything in the AIBMR studies that compared MonaVie to any other juice. It is expected that juice is good for you. Outstandingly high performance is required to justify MonaVie’s outstandingly high price. Where are MonaVie’s comparisons to other juices so that we can judge that performance? It’s like me asking you to choose car A or car B without telling anything about the cars other than the price. Sorry, I’m going to take the lower priced every time.

MonaVie’s website touts ORAC score as being an important measure of the value of it’s juice. Sambazon’s ORAC is higher and it’s cheaper. In fact an apple is better than 9 ounces of MonaVie: http://www.juicescam.com/monavie-vs-an-apple/. Why don’t you mention that? Again, MonaVie isn’t certified organic.

Also, I don’t believe the AIBMR studies are peer-reviewed. There are studies in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, but I don’t think they were done by AIBMR. Please tell me which journal article you want me to review and I will do so. Also please provide me a link to that article so that I can review it. (Linking to: http://www.aibmr.com/resources/articles-and-reports.php doesn’t count, as the articles are not there.)

I have read all them. The one you mention sounds a little like the one here: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/2008/56/i18/pdf/jf8016157.pdf (PDF file). I have pointed out how badly done that study was in comment 974 here: http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/monaVieArchive.php. So you don’t have to go there here’s what I said:

Looking at the study, here are the things I have issue with:

- Study: “one was excluded on the basis of a high daily antioxidant intake”
My Response: Hmmm, so if I’m already healthy, or perhaps take a daily multivitamin, the study is irrelevant to me. Let’s go back to what I wrote months ago in the original post: “However, [another study] doesn�t compare to less costly solutions, like a multivitamin, V8 juice, or just a handful of mixed berries. I�m putting the burden of proof on MonaVie to show that their juice deserves the premium over the mixed berries.” Seems like the study fails to comparison to the less costly solution.

- Study: “Because the ORAC testing did not result in a trend toward increased antioxidant activity, it was not used in the subsequent randomized controlled trial.”
My Response: Hmmm, does this mean that pages and pages of people professing ORAC as the “end-all”, it’s really not a good measure in the real world? What good is it then? I’m not a scientist, so I may have read this part wrong, but this is my interpretation of what I did read.

- Study: “Thus, the analysis of the pilot study was based on five study participants from whom repeat blood draws were performed.”
My Response: Five people… not exactly a wide-spread study, right?

- Study: “The study participants were instructed to avoid vigorous exercise for a period of 24 h prior to arriving at the clinic. They were also instructed to eat a light meal and to avoid meat, fruits, or greens, as well as to abstain from consuming alcohol, coffee, or melatonin the night before. Subjects were scheduled to arrive at the clinic following an overnight fast and were instructed to consume no food, vitamins, or other nutritional supplements the morning of each study day.”
My Response: Hmmm, so you couldn’t exercise, eat things like fruit or greens that contain antioxidants, or take vitamins. Alcohol and coffee in moderation also have antioxidant properties, so they were eliminated. In short, they are letting one group have fruit (I think that almost everyone agrees that MonaVie is fruit) and another not. I don’t know what they were expecting, but it’s not necessary a win for MonaVie – just fruit in general. If they want to prove MonaVie worthwhile have both groups eat equal amounts of fruit and one with MonaVie. See which comes out better.

- Study: “A recent study assessed the increase in plasma antioxidant capacity after the consumption of either an antioxidant-poor meal or the same antioxidant-poor meal with the addition of a known quantity of whole fruits added (8). This study showed that the consumption of an antioxidant-poor meal results in a decrease in plasma antioxidant capacity and that adding fruits to the same meal not only prevented this decrease but also led to an increase in antioxidant capacity.”
My Response: So they are just proving what they already knew – fruit is good for you. So avoid antioxidant-poor meals and add some fruits and greens to your diet.

They aren’t proving that MonaVie is better is than other juices or fruit. They are just proving that MonaVie is like fruit. You know what else is like fruit? Fruit.

Why not publish a critical analysis in the JAFC? Then you could say you yourself had a study/analysis posted in a peer reviewed scientific journal.

This blog carries no weight.

I have no interest in going through whatever process it is to get an article published in the JAFC. I’m already published here. More people can find this information by searching Google where as the JAFC, doesn’t come up very high.

I don’t know what you mean by “This blog carries no weight.” I only put information out there for people to read. I strive to make sure that information is accurate. That’s an important thing, because MonaVie distributors are spreading inaccurate information. If you read this article you could easily see the mistakes that the other MonaVie website made. Anyone can come here and use site to research MonaVie. For instance, people may not have realized that they can buy a juice (Sambazon) with 30% more ORAC at 1/6th the price of MonaVie.

LOL at all of that bogus research above.

And Scam, where is that study published? You could be improving your health, helping others get what they want, and getting what you want. I guess this is the “Big Dream” you’ve chosen to go after. Sad sad sad!!! :(

Monavie was dropped as a co-defendant in Oprah’s lawsuit. Do your homework!!!

Bogus research, eh Fred? And Monavie’s completely self-serving research is supposed to hold more weight…why now? Think McFly, think!

C’mon Fred, give it a rest already. More and more, people are coming around to the Monavie lie. Your customer base is already dwindling before your eyes, and it’s just a matter of time before the FDA comes a-knocking, asking Monavie why it continues to allow its distributors monkeys to toss atypical anecdotes about the juice’s alleged health benefits all about the internet like so much textual feces, and you’ll be shut down with nothing to show for your psychotic devotion to the Monavie cult but wasted time and wasted money.

It might not happen today, it might not happen six months from now, but it will happen. Delve into the history of some of Monavie’s biggest players and you’ll see how a similar scam went down not too long ago. This will end the same way, you can count on it.

So hey, take some of your advice and stop wasting your time. This is a losing battle. No matter what you say, or how smug and dismissive you act in the face of it, the truth will catch up to you people in the end.

People just aren’t as stupid as you folks are banking on them to be. Stop insulting us with this bullcrap and grow the hell up already.

MonaVie Scam, That was a great article about Sambazon, thank you!

Vogel, I enjoyed the “Ponzi Berry” article, and your links to other research. The Chagas thing is a bit concerning.

Fred, Nice rebuttal…

“LOL at all of that bogus research above.

You haven’t provided one shred of proof to back up your position! Nothing…It’s such typical MonaVie proponent behavior that it’s now just laughable and expected. Can you provide proof for anything you’ve stated here? Can you show us where and when Oprah dropped the lawsuit against MonaVie?

Just a few things before I officially “go on my merry way.”

Hopefully you all will find the time to find your real calling (I’m hoping what you’ve written here is not it).

The great thing about Monavie is not the money, or that it is helping so many people…it’s the “relationships” and personal growth you experience when you try to help yourself and others. I’ve met and reconnected with so many wonderful people since I’ve jumped into Monavie. It has taken me from the comfort of Ordinary into a place where Dreams can happen.

If Monavie is not the company for you, I hope you all find something that will take you to a place where you are helping others, believing in yourself, and making your dreams happen.

Good luck to all of you.

Focus on the POSITIVE and you will be REWARDED….Focus on the negative and you will wallow in misery and misfortune for the rest of your lives.

POSITIVE POSITIVE POSITIVE!!!!!

Fred

Jacked on the juice.

Vogel found this piece of research,

“Network marketing companies will always be held accountable for the actions of their sales force, regardless if the company condones the behavior or not.
(Source)“

I read that article and found out something interesting… from the article:

“In general, [the plantiffs - Harpo productions] reference credit card fraud, fraudulent use of meta tagging for search engine optimization (which is way over my head), and unauthorized use of copyrighted works.”

The bolded part above is interesting to me because MonaVie lawyers used the same tactic on me. Of course I showed various precident that got them to back away. (I not-so-humbly suggest that I know more law than MonaVie’s lawyers… and I’m not a lawyer). Plus, I’m offering commentary on MonaVie, which gives me the right to use MonaVie’s trademark (it’s impossible not to) in my writing. A person trying to sell MonaVie stands on much more shaky ground when he/she brings in a completely unrelated trademark (Oprah) with the purpose of selling a product.

I’d like to point out that I said what this lawyer did many, many months ago when I compared MonaVie to Napster. http://www.juicescam.com/monavie-is-the-next-napster/

Je, First people only fail if they quit and many people do very very quickly one because they get beat up on the perception of this type of business from family and friends. Two because they come to sites like this and get discouraged…………

He can only fail if he quits if he sticks with it he can make it happen and he will learn about teamwork and being positive in this business.

The price of the juice is a can get around $32 dollars a bottle if he buys two cases a month. Also through commissions earned from the Monavie compensation plan he can pay for his juice within the first month and continue to receive his juice for free because of the residual income he will earn.

While buying a great plethora of different products from Monavie they are also investing into a income opportunity. Again like I stated people can pay for their juice within a month or months and drink their juice at no cost.

So let me see Apple juice for 4 dollars or Monavie for free with the potential of building a nice part time business for myself that could potentially earn me anywhere from 18k-100k in residual income in my first year if I don’t quit!!!! If I quit I fail if I don’t quit I succeed…………Simple as that

Why do many people fail to enroll distributors? Because they quit!!!!! Most people can enroll a couple people after a month or two if they don’t they aren’t trying or talking to enough people. They get discouraged say I can’t do this and quit simple as that.

Monavie is not embarrassed by it’s Income Disclosure according to the rules and regulations Monavie Distributors most show this to disclosure sheet at every meeting. Compared to other Network Marketing companies Monavie is dominating they want to show people the potential of what you can make but at the same time they advise you it takes work! It’s not get rich quick. Please stop posing your opinions as factual………..

I’ll make you a deal Cyber…..Speak from experience before you speak out your beehind or stop posting your OPINIONS AS FACTUAL

Stop posting your opinions as factual means stop scaring off people who could really be helped by the Monavie product and opportunity.

Ignorant HATERS never cease to amuse me

Cooper, if you have any science to back your product, please post. We’ll need citations, of course. Otherwise, the consensus is that it’s nothing more than fruit punch in a slick bottle.

Anecdotes from unverifiable sources will carry no weight here.

I’ll add that Cooper should keep on trying to be quarterback for the New England Patriots… if he quits that he fails. If he doesn’t quit, does he succeed? Well, after wasting his life he might look back age 70 and realize that he never was quarterback or the New England Patriots. Is that success? I don’t think so.

Sometimes it’s good to know when to fold them, and when nearly everyone is making minimum wage, well it’s a sign it’s time to not just walk away, but time to run.

Cooper Simon/John Feldow (how many screen names do you need?):

So, in your own words:

“It’s not get rich quick, Monavie advises people of this it takes work and patience and if you give up you will fail that is the bottomline. If you stick with it you will get stronger and overcome obstacles and succeed just like in most walks of life.”

Of course MonaVie tells you to stick with it…as they bleed you dry with their required autoship of grossly overprice white grape juice.

If you “stick with it” and “become stronger” and “overcome obstacles” and “succeed just like in most walks of life”, show us your success. Proof is in the pudding, and without it your words are just vacuous ramblings. Show us how you’ve stuck with it and how you’ve been financially rewarded…show us how you are making more than the guy who got laid off from the airlines and went to work selling cars from 10-8, show us how you have more financial success than he, through MonaVie, as well as more time with your family than he has.

You won’t because you can’t.

And kindly adhere to your MonaVie contract and provide your distributor ID number, please.

Cooper/John said: “Most businesses you are investing over $10,000 in this business you invest less than %2 of that and get started. So it may not feel like a business because of the minimal investment but you better treat it like you did invest $10,000 or else you probably won’t succeed.”

You just jeep pulling statements out of your arse that have no basis in fact. I started my first company when I was 14. My dad co-signed the application for a retail business/vendors license. That allowed me to buy model kits at wholesale prices and I turned around and sold them to stores in my neighborhood for a decent markup. Total investment was probably about $100 and I made a tidy profit for a couple of years. When I got older, I started an S-Corp — total investment was about $1,000 to have my accountant file the articles of incoporation. My gross revenue in the first year of business was about 250 times that.

Cooper/John said: “You don’t have to buy tools from Orin Woodward to help you in this business that is up to you. I do not purchase any tools from him at all. I have bought product and some information which has been very minimal in cost.”

We all know that selling tools is the real-end game for the Monavie executives. They reverse engineered this scam by pondering what product they could use to support a sales tools scam, and they came up with Monavie (an unimaginitive redux of Royal Tongan Limu). The shitty juice is an afterthought — a loss leader.

Have a look at R3Global’s video. This makes it pretty obvious what they’re really selling (in addition to group baptisms in motel swimming pools) and who’s really getting rich as a result — about a dozen Black Diamonds.
http://www.brighart.com/videogallery.aspx?id=videogallery/WhatIsR3G

These Black Diamonds did not “build their businesses” in the way that the average Monavie distributor is asked to build the business. They brought existing downlines with them from other companies, and in some cases, were paid to do so or were enticed with a slice of the sales tools pie. So can their “success” really be emulated by the average person? Not unless they can start their own pyramid scheme in which they own the rights to sales tools profits, and if they have an existing downline that they can exploit.

For any one person who succeeds in Monavie, about 98 people have to fail; this isn’t because they aren’t trying hard enough — it is because they MUST fail (i.e., pour their own time and money into the pyramid) or their upline cannot succeed. Monavie, unlike licit businesses, is a zero-sum game

And by now Cooper/John, you are aware that you have been busted here for posting under two different user names and trying to create the illusion of strength in numbers. That too attests loudly to the fraudulent nature of the Monavie organization.

On a closing note, I want everyone to look at the latest product that R3Global is flogging to its distributors: it is the R3G/Monavie money roll band. Do I even need to explain the many levels of irony here — selling a rubber band for $1.25 as a money roll band to people who have no money — because they are wasting it on $1.25 money roll bands.
http://www.r3global.com/catalog/partdetail.aspx?PartNo=103283

Pearlman 7 said: “Vogel, First off Niles was never convicted of rape and just because one guy out of 3 million distributors makes this a bad company? Haha ……..I guess we should stop watching Kobe Byrant as he is a rapist too right? Or Big Ben?”

The military court transcript proves you wrong:

“On February 16, 1992, appellant (Louis B. Niles), a member of the California National Guard on active duty in Title 10 status, was tried by a general court-martial composed of officer members at Fort Clayton, Panama. He was convicted, contrary to his pleas, of making a false official statement; conduct unbecoming an officer (3 specifications); and indecent assault, in violation of Articles 107, 133, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 907, 933, and 934, respectively. Two days before commencement of this trial, the Additional Charge and its specification alleging rape in May of 1987 at Fort Hamilton, New York, in violation of Article 120, UCMJ, 10 USC § 920, was referred to trial. Appellant waived the 5-day waiting period prescribed by Article 35, UCMJ, 10 USC § 835. He was also convicted of this offense, contrary to his pleas. He was sentenced to dismissal from the service, confinement for 6 years, and total forfeitures.”
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/opinions/1996Term/95_0738.htm

Aside from ignoring Niles’ convictions, general court martial,6-year confinement sentence, and expulsion from the National Guard, you are also ignoring the FACT that your company’s executive Black Diamond, Jason Lyons, had Niles pretend to be a doctor specializing in the treatment of cancer patients and go before an audience of prospective recruits to tell them that Monavie can be used to treat cancer. They produced a video of this travesty and posted it on the internet so that distributors could use it to flog Monavie as a cancer cure.

I could conceivably muster up a crumb of forgiveness for your disgusting company if someone — anyone — had the decency to step up and apologize; condemn this for what it was — fraud, and an extremely poor decision on the part of Jason Lyons and the Monavie organization. That you don’t do this, and instead loudly defend Niles, shows that you too are scum of the worst kind — a menace to society. For that, I will never forgive Monavie and I will work tirelessly, through this blog and with the help of the FDA and FTC, to make sure that your company is buried 6 feet under, as it deserves to be.

Back to the original Topic of this post…………

“#1:Sambazon is a vertically integrated company meaning that they have total control from start to finish. They buy their acai direct from a co-op of growers (Mona-Vie does not, they go through a middle man which Sambazon used to have to do). The importance with this is the quality of acai varies greatly depending on the season, when it was picked, ect.

Directly from MonaVie Product Support: “Our acai comes from a supplier. Independent certificates of analysis are issued for the raw ingredients and finished MonaVie product. A certificate of analysis accompanies each raw ingredient. Certificates of analysis validate and verify purity, quality, and safety.” “The açai that MonaVie uses is not from a farm or plantation. It is from wild açai trees within the Amazon Rainforest. We do not buy from any type of farm. We choose to buy from the local Amazonians who literally climb the açai tree to the top and pick the berries.”

#2: Sambazon is NOT freeze dried after it is bought. the skin and pulp is removed from the seed and it is immediately frozen in large drums to be sent to the US to make it’s juices. The frozen packs of acai they sell at natural food stores is frozen @ the plant in Brazil. this process keeps it extremely fresh for us consumers.

Direct from MonaVie’s Product Support:
“Either way is fine. Freeze-drying acai is a different process from freezing. The studies we have are just on our freeze-dried acai. We use both acai puree and freeze-dried acai in our blends. There are many benefits to freeze-drying, such as:

Freeze dried açai:

MonaVie uses freeze-dried açai and is the first to use this form of Açai in a juice. This same form of freeze-dried Açai with its proprietary process and associated claims has applied for patent protection in the U.S and 10 international countries. While MonaVie is not the patent owner, the company has been given full access and rights to the patent’s intellectual properties.

Freeze drying benefits:

Low temperatures of freeze drying ensure that the powerful phytonutrients remain intact. Other processing methods destroy a significant portion of phytonutrients. Air drying destroys 55 percent phytochemicals and spray drying destroys 70 percent phytochemicals content of açai.

1. Retains original characteristics of the product, including:
- color
- form
- size
- taste
- texture
- nutrient

2. Cold storage not required

3. Reconstitutes to original state when placed in water

4. No waste

5. Shelf stable at room temperature

6. The weight of the freeze-dried products is reduced (70 to 90 percent) with no change in volume

7. The product is light weight and easy to handle

8. Saves on shipping; shipping costs are reduced because of weight and lack of refrigeration

9. Low water activity virtually eliminates microbiological concerns

10. Offers highest quality in a dry product compared to other drying methods

MonaVie has tested freeze dried Açai powder nine months after its production date and the nutrient levels were still at the same levels they were at when the freeze dried powder was tested after production.

Freeze drying process:

Once picked from the vine, enzymatic degradation deteriorates many valuable nutrients from the berry. The harvested berries are processed within 48 hours to preserve their nutritional content. The Açai fruit is then processed into a pulp containing 14 percent solids. The pulp solids are immediately frozen and placed on trays which enter a freeze drying chamber. This process has many benefits. By freeze drying the Açai fruit, the powerful antioxidants such as polyphenols are preserved.”

#3: it’s organic. mona vie is not.”

Direct from MonaVie’s Product Support:

“The acai used in MonaVie is wild crafted and comes directly from the forest, therefore organic certification would be unnecessary. MonaVie is not certified organic. However, to ensure safety the finished MonaVie products are regularly tested for dozens of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides by an independent, third-party analytical laboratory. Each test performed has repeatedly found the products to be free of any of these potentially harmful substances. This added step in MonaVie’s quality control process ensures our consumers are getting a safe, pure, and high-quality product.”

#4: it’s sustainable..aka they only buy from growers that keep a natural ratio of acai palms to other natives on their property. if they start planting all acai, Sambazon won’t buy from them anymore.

Direct from MonaVie Product Support:

“What ensures companies such as MonaVie to continue to harvest açai berries in the Amazon Rainforest?

Total consumption of the Açai fruit including what is consumed in Brazil is approximately 160,000 tons per year representing approximately 20 percent of the açai that is actually available for harvesting. The challenges are not in the amount available but in the effort that is involved in harvesting the berry. Açai grows wild and is harvested by climbing the açai palm tree and picking the fruit much like you would imagine picking coconuts from a palm tree.

Saving the Rainforest:

Thank you for your questions about MonaVie and its efforts to preserve the Brazilian Rainforest. MonaVie does all it can to promote and save the rainforest. Here are some astonishing facts about the Rainforest. Fourteen percent of the Earth’s land used to be covered in rainforest, today it is only a mere six percent.

In 2005 alone 10,088 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest were destroyed. Many of the pharmaceutical drugs used today were originally discovered in the Amazon Rainforest. Because of the abundance of plant life, this area of the world is called appropriately the “lungs of the planet.” We need to do all we can to preserve this section of land and prevent further destruction.

MonaVie has taken great efforts to help preserve this essential area of the world. The açai that MonaVie uses is not from a farm or plantation. It is from wild açai trees within the Amazon Rainforest. We do not buy from any type of farm. We choose to buy from the local Amazonians who literally climb the açai tree to the top and pick the berries.

Many of the locals that we buy from have used in the past the açai palm tree specifically for the hearts of palm. The hearts of palm is a section of the trunk popularly used in salads. When the hearts of palm is removed from the açai palm, the açai tree will inevitably die. We have chosen to use many of the same hearts of palm harvesters to now help harvest the açai berry. This helps decrease the production of hearts of palm and destruction of the rainforest.

We pay the harvesters substantially more to harvest the açai berry than they would otherwise to harvest the hearts of palm. Also, the education we have given to the harvesters of the hearts of palm has shown very beneficial results. Many of these harvesters have begun planting more açai trees when one has died. In this way we have contributed to the preservation of the rainforest and helped the economy in these regions.

In addition to this, when an açai tree dies naturally (they will live about 100 years), about five seedlings are replanted. The açai berry can be harvested within a few short years. In 2007 alone, we have already helped to preserve over 1,000 acres of the Amazon Rainforest.

Total consumption of the Açai fruit including what is consumed in Brazil is approximately 160,000 tons per year representing approximately 20 percent of the Açai that is actually available for harvesting. MonaVie is the largest consumer of açai in Brazil. The amount of açai in the rainforest is overwhelming, but we still feel it necessary to continue to preserve this abundant supply.

Does harvesting the açai berry destroy the Amazon Rainforest?

No. In fact, MonaVie is helping to preserve the Amazon Rainforest by harvesting the açai berry. Each week, poachers illegally chop down 5,000–10,000 palm trees to obtain and sell a 12-inch section of the palm known as the “palmito.” As a result, the entire tree dies. On the other hand, by harvesting the açai berry, the palm tree continues to thrive and the natives have an incentive to preserve the açai-bearing palm tree.”

#5: it’s fair-trade. mona vie is not. they pay the growers a higher than average pay for their acai as well as support many side ventures for others in the community.”
Direct from MonaVie’s product support:

“MonaVie seeks to conduct its business ethically and responsibly and expects its independent distributors to do the same. MonaVie has implemented the practices and policies for ethical conduct required by the US Direct Selling Association (http://dsa.org/ethics/) and the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (http://wfdsa.org/world_codes/index.cfm?fa=modelCodeLanguage). These ethical codes and MonaVie’s policies and practices are consistent with fair trade laws and regulations in all jurisdictions in which it operates.”

In terms of giving back to the local community, click here to read about The MORE Project, a project whose operational costs are funded 100% by MonaVie.

“#6: as you said, THE PRICE!!! $2.99 for FRESH, ORGANIC acai juice in most major retailer across the country. i live in southern california so i buy it from Albertsons and Vons. Easily accessible.”

- The price is not comparable when you look at it on a per serving basis. The nutrient claims for both products are based on a per serving basis, so to not compare the price on a per serving basis does not make sense. Click here to review the cost per serving from the original post. MonaVie Original’s retail per serving cost (keep in mind you can purchase it for even cheaper as a distributor for wholesale and even cheaper for bulk pricing) is around $1.56/serving, Sambazon is $2.30/serving.

- In terms of being easily accessible, MonaVie will show up at your front door step. I don’t think you can get any more accessible than that.

“#7: there is no water in sambazon. yes, some of the juices are blended with other fruit concentrates…just like mona vie, but once again, these are ORGANIC fruits that are healthy for you.”

Direct from Distributor Support:

“MonaVie fruits are purees and concentrates. This is shown on the ingredient label.

MonaVie Original Juice Ingredients: Proprietary blend of açai (freeze-dried powder and puree); Fruit juice from concentrate (white grape, apple, acerola, aronia, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, cupuaçu, prune, kiwi, blueberry, wolfberry [goji], pomegranate, lychee, camu camu); fruit purees (pear, banana, bilberry); natural flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate.

Concentrating is a way to remove the water from a product for ease of shipping.”

In regards to the organic issue, here is more information direct from MonaVie’s Product Support:

“The acai used in MonaVie is wild crafted and comes directly from the forest, therefore organic certification would be unnecessary. MonaVie is not certified organic. However, to ensure safety the finished MonaVie products are regularly tested for dozens of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides by an independent, third-party analytical laboratory. Each test performed has repeatedly found the products to be free of any of these potentially harmful substances. This added step in MonaVie’s quality control process ensures our consumers are getting a safe, pure, and high-quality product.”

#8: they use agave nectar as a sweetener which is much for your body than cane sugar used elsewhere.”

Direct from MonaVie Product Support:

“MonaVie doesn’t use sweeteners in Active, Original, Pulse, and Kosher. The corn syrup solids help emulsify the plant sterols in Pulse.

Corn syrup solids are very safe. They are used as a carrier in the emulsification process of plant sterols. By emulsifying the plant sterols, they are more easily dispersed into MonaVie Pulse and MonaVie Pulse Gel. This process guarantees you will receive the correct amount of plant sterols in each serving you consume.

Each serving of MonaVie Pulse contains about 200 mg or 0.2 grams of corn syrup solids, which equates to 0.2 grams of carbohydrates or less than 1 calorie. This is a very small amount. Corn syrup solids should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup, which is often added as one of the first ingredients in sodas and fruit drinks for sweetness and flavor.”

Also, as far as the sugar goes per serving in your comparison, look at the serving size. For Sambazon it’s the entire 10.5oz bottle, some of which contain 30 grams of sugar per serving and a serving is 8 ounces! So that’s over 30 grams of sugar in one bottle. MonaVie’s serving size is between 1 – 2 oz./serving depending on which drink you are drinking and the range in grams of sugar/serving is between 3 -7 so even a diabetic can, in most cases, safely drink MonaVie.

MonaVie’s serving size offers a comparable nutritional value in one to two ounces compared to Sambazon’s 8 ounces for a comparable nutritional value (i.e. ORAC units/serving).

“#9: and last but not least…i could go on for days, acai is EXTREMELY perishable, hence all of sambazon’s products, minus their suppliements need to be refrigerated or frozen and have about a 3mo. shelf life. think twice when you buy that bottle of 1-2yr old mona vie.”

I have to agree with you here, I too would not want to be drinking a one year old bottle of MonaVie or a 3 month or older bottle of Sambazon. This is the shelf life of the product however, it does not in any way imply that you will be drinking 3 month old Sambazon or 12 month old MonaVie, it is simply stating that after this period of time it is not recommended for consumption. So obviously the sooner you drink it the better.

To the writer of these comments: I just want the answers, like you, and I am tired of researching all over the internet listening to people pull facts of nowhere that have no references whatsoever. This is why I started this blog in the first place and why I refuse to post anything that came from a source other than MonaVie corporate or wikipedia.

I am responding to your comments in the form of a post so that we all can benefit from all of the hard work and time and research you and I have dedicated to learning more about these products. I have no problem with Sambazon, I like their products, although I do find their juices to be way too sweet for me. I feel that Sambazon and MonaVie are fairly comparable products for the most part, however Sambazon will never pay me to drink their product and MonaVie will. Sambazon will never give me the wholesale price as a regular consumer, MonaVie will. Sambazon will never allow me to get a bulk order discount as a retail consumer, MonaVie will.

Pearman are F-ing serious with that cut and paste load of BS? Are you going to cut and paste the phone book next? Just make a succinct point and then post a link to back it up. It would take a week to rebut every single misstatement in you regurgitated post.

It’s quickly becoming obvious that your purpose here is to drown us with noise.

Hi All – Wow, a whole lot of confusion out there about acai.

Keeping it really simple, There’s about as much acai in a $40 bottle of Monavie as a $3 bottle of Sambazon acai juice- but with sambazon it’s USDA organic & fair trade – sambazon juices are kept refrigerated to protect the taste and nutrition- with Monavie there are artificial preservatives and a host of other non organic juice concentrates plus the need to enroll in a network marketing company… friends don’t let friends MLM : ) Sambazon has Pure, unsweetened frozen pulp if you want super potent, unsweetened acai too. All Sambazon products are available at Whole Foods and the juices are also available at most conventional supermarkets these days including some Walmarts, Costcos.

First of all I found this article helpful and would like to thank you for taking the time to support an intriguing debate none the less taking time to inform others of the research put together. There are just so many viewpoints that honestly whether it’s Sambazon or Monavie as the superior product it solely depends on the consumer. (That’s capitalism for you :P) However, I understand this argument is based on factual evidence incorporating ORAC Score and cost per ounce.
I’m new to the “acai movement” and wanted to learn more about the superfood as much as possible. After learning about it’s potency as an amazing source of antioxidants and the growing publicity the fruit receives linked to other health benefits backed with scientific research, it is very easy to acknowledge why people especially the health conscious want to get their hands on this berry. Unfortunately too many businesses out there figured it was an easy profitable trade and are destroying the reputation of the acai berry causing more confusion than necessary. I was disappointed of all these “scams” especially when these businesses boast the effectiveness of their product. We’re all aware of them and are on the constant look out for the best product out there so we just use what exactly works for the individual. There is nothing wrong if a person swears by either Monavie or Sambazon but some people need to understand how to debate openly and support their view.
Anyway back to the point of this post. This research stated that a 10.4 fl oz. serving of Sambazon’s juice or smoothie had anywhere from 5,000 – 15,000 ORAC score. But when I went on Sambazon’s website it never stated an exact measurement of volume that contained these ORAC scores.

Q: How much Acai should I eat per day to get the benefits?

A: There is no USDA guideline on how much Acai one should consume in a day. Antioxidant research suggests we should get at least 3000-5000 ORAC units per day to significantly impact antioxidant activity, and reduce as much free radical damage as possible to your body’s cellular structure. On average, most Americans are only taking in about 1200 ORAC units per day, well below recommended levels. One Pack of Sambazon Acai has about 6000 ORAC units, one of our Acai smoothies or juices have anywhere 5,000- 15,000 ORAC units.

http://www.sambazon.com/footer/faq

Sambazon sells two completely different volumes of 10.5 fl oz. and 32. fl oz juices/smoothies.

How do we know if the 10.5 fl oz bottle contains the minimum ORAC score of 5,000 and the 32 fl oz. bottle contains 15,000?

If I have made a mistake please inform me of it. Hopefully you can prove 10.4 fl oz. or 10.5 fl oz. version of the bottle contains the maximum ORAC score of 15,000 of course. Regardless, the 32 fl oz bottle cost about $8.00 so it’s still more cost effective than Monavie’s $40.00 bottle.

By the way I tried my first bottle of Sambazon 100% acai juice and was definitely satisfied. The taste was great surprisingly but it’s only my first day so I’ll keep using it for a while to further evaluate my overall experience with this product. I intend to get the Monavie version as well later on since I’ve never tried it.
Thank you

Gambit said: “I’m new to the “acai movement” and wanted to learn more about the superfood as much as possible. After learning about it’s potency as an amazing source of antioxidants and the growing publicity the fruit receives linked to other health benefits backed with scientific research, it is very easy to acknowledge why people especially the health conscious want to get their hands on this berry. Unfortunately too many businesses out there figured it was an easy profitable trade and are destroying the reputation of the acai berry causing more confusion than necessary.”

You sure are taking a lot for granted. What exactly is the “acai movement”? Is that a new political party? Acai’s “reputation” is built on marketing fluff (and quite a few lawsuits, but we’ll ignore those for now). The “movement” seems to consist mostly of victims of false advertising and financially-motivated rubes and conmen who profess that processed acai cures medical conditions. What exactly do you think it is that makes acai, or for that matter Monavie, a “superfood”? Because some talking head on the Oprah show might have said so? Where’s the evidence to support the claim that acai (or acai juice) is “an amazing source of antioxidants”. And where on earth is there even a stitch of evidence that acai/acai juice has “other health benefits backed with scientific research”. Why are you parroting empty sound bites and why do you sound so much like an acai brochure/salesman?

Where is the evidence that “the health-conscious want to get their hands on this berry” (or that they should or ever would get close to an actual acai berry)? From what I can see, the people who have tried to “get their hands on this berry” consist mostly of (a) the thousands of people who were ripped off by online acai diet pill scams (prompting the FTC to intervene); and (b) the thousands of distributors (aka victims) of Monavie who were required to buy acai juice as an admission fee for participation in a pyramid scam.

The people who aren’t out there running acai schemes and scams consist of simple consumers who might occasionally buy some inexpensive pure acai juice or acai juice blend form the supermarket (V-8 Acai, Bom-Dia) or health food store (Sambazon, Kundsen’s). They probably buy these juices because they taste OK and are reasonably priced, and maybe to some extent because of the influence of wildly exaggerated marketing myths about acai’s antioxidants, “superfruit” status, and “other health benefits”.

Sambazon has probably stretched the truth a bit too and they have definitely benefited from all the acai hype (they might have even been involved in creating it). But in fairness they’ve never used illegally medical claims as the conerstone of their marketing, their product’s aren’t stupidly expensive like Monavie’s, and they aren’t an MLM. I don’t really have a beef with Sambazon; they aren’t pushing the limits any more than any other legit company. Agree or disagree?

MonaVie is in a sleaze league by itself. The nonsense their distributors come up with is astounding. You can look at these companies from two perspectives. One from a legal and ethical point of view, where, hands down, MonaVie rules the underbelly. The second is from a pure numbers comparison for nutritional value. In this case, all of the so-called “superjuices” fall flat on their faces when compared to fresh fruits and vegetables. MonaVie is no deal when compared to Sambazon, and Sambazon or MonaVie is no deal when compared to a simple apple.

Ed,

On May 24, 2010, someone commented as “Simple Acai Truth” with your email address. I presume it was you or someone else who you disclosed your email address to. When a comment is posted you can click the area that says, “Subscribe to Comments on this” (or something similar). These emails come with direction to unsubscribe if you choose to.

I’m just trying to clear that up and make sure you know that it wasn’t done by me as the owner of this website.

Your participation here is greatly welcomed. It is probably best to answer the questions in a public forum rather than privately through email or phone as others might be interested in the answers.

Thanks for pointing out that May 24 post from Ed, Lazyman. No one ever responded to his post, but I remember thinking at the time that there was nothing said that I would disagree with; all the points made were legitimate. Looking forward to some interesting discussion from Ed going forward; and as you pointed out, it would be best to conduct it here on this forum rather than offline.

Ed,

I honestly think that if anything, we have spoken positively of your company and have given it an honest review (Vogel’s comments say it all). I know it sucks to have to be compared to MonaVie but in all honesty when I view this page I think “buy Sambazon instead”.

…but if he doesn’t come back and talk to us, that might change!

In terms of being “superjuice,” iI probably wouldn’t recommend it. In terms of being juice, as long as it is competitively priced to other fruit juices (and tastes good too!), I wouldn’t mind drinking it. After all, juice is juice. I drink it when I’m thirsty. And I wouldn’t mind a couple of ORAC points for drinking ssomething id drink anyway. It doesn’t replace anything in my diet, but it never hurts to have a bit extra for the days I forget to buy apples at the store (and am too lazy to do so!)

I know Ed’s getting these emails. He stated that already, unless he unsubscribed himself. I don’t see anything wrong with this article; if anything, it says “drink Sambazon instead of MonaVie!”then at least you can go, “hey you know that juice MonaVie? I have a juice that’s better than it and cheaper!”

Lazyman is pretty much advertising for you, Ed!

BTW, Ed, I should add that I purposely avoid buying ANY acai-based product based on all the senseless hype and BS. Fix that, and you might make a customer out of me someday. Blame Monavie and the supplement scammers.

I agree, if the customer is getting a product at a reasonable price, then I won’t have any issues. Freedom of choice on that. But like Vogel said, drop the marketing BS. Describing ORAC and superjuices, tend to make the consumer think that they can get away from eating fresh fruits and vegetables because these “superjuices” are better for you. They aren’t. But if you want to supplement your diet, it certainly is better than sodas. And yes, the mainstream food and beverage companies are just as guilty as the specialty products. We need tougher food labeling laws, not weaker.

Hey Guys,

Very sorry for the delay in getting back to you! I’ve been out at the American Dietetic Show in Boston and am now at the Yoga Journal conference in Florida…

Just after receiving your replies to my latest email, I wrote for an hour hoping to answer all the concerns expressed on this blog only to loose it all just as I was wrapping it all up (classic).

Firstly, I’d like to confirm that I was the sender of the email from back in April/May… I’d forgotten writing it.

Now on to attempting to address some of the questions brought up in the posts… BTW I was only bummed when I happen to read the rat comment but know better than take it personally… We certainly aren’t perfect anyways!

With respect to using the word superfood or superfruit… yes, this is obviously an unscientific word/phrase. I do think it is fitting with respect to acai in that when I first visited the Amazon to research acai (back in 2000), I was told that of the 200+ edible species of fruits in the local amazon ecosystem (the floodplains), acai was considered to be the most powerful (I know, powerful is also an unscientific word and I feel the pain of those of you who are academics – I was educated as a Biologist). In addition, when you eat acai, you’re only eating the skin and what little pulp lies beneath it; and so, the anthocyanin portion of the resulting pulp is concentrated by virtue of the fruits anatomy… you may also be familiar with the richness of fatty acids coming from the fruit, the ratio of which very closely resembles that of olive oil… I do think it is novel that acai delivers both a richness of anthocyanins and healthy fats; that is to say, acai can be justified as being called a superfruit for delivering these two nutritional benefits from one fruit… also noteworthy – acai has the essential amino acid ratio of an egg and is a dense source of micronutrients.

Now, with respect to the paradigm of, why wouldn’t I just eat fruit from the produce section and save my money… a very valid point!.. Being vegetarian and having the utmost respect for the principles of macrobiotics, one certainly can’t go wrong making such a choice…

When you look closely at our juices, you’ll see that the cost/oz does not compare well to eating raw fruits and veggies. This being said, the juices do deliver a high degree of potency and authenticity when compared to packaged juices in the premium juice category. The range of antioxidants stated for our juices is due to the different blends we use… some blends yield higher ORACs than others. We process all our own acai at our plant that is situated right on the equator away from the city of Belem… truly in the center of the acai harvest… use google earth if you’re interested to see Amapa, BR. I’m confident that if you all hung out for us for a week at our corporate offices in San Clemente or at our factory in Brazil you’d be super stoked!

So, the juices are a finished packaged good that were designed to be potent, delicious and convenient. What I eat is 2 packs of our Pure pulp or Pure Fuzion in my blended acai bowl each morning. I’d love to be able to blend you all bowls each morning for a couple weeks, take you through a yoga and or surf session so you can see why we love acai so much. There’s an ephemeral and unquantifiable quality/power to the fruit that goes beyond deduction. This is what we try to convey through our brand.. this sense of inspiration and positivity rather than trying to make unnecessary claims…

And lastly (for now), we started Sambazon when we realized that the native people in the amazon make more money selling the fruit that wood… it was this fact that gave us the real light bulb moment. We realized that if we could create a market for acai in N. America, we could have a dynamic of market driven conservation. We named our company sambazon as an imperfect acronym for saving and managing the brazilian amazon so we’d be constantly reminded of our intentions… since the company began what was about a decade ago, our extractive reserve has grown to 2 million acres and there are around 10k people harvesting under fair trade.

I’m sorry for my typos and run-on sentences and for not answering all of your questions but I have to run for my evening meditation and dinner before serving more bowls to the yoga crowd over the next few days. I’ll see if I can post an antho score for our pulp as well… BTW – We avoid using ORAC in our marketing because it’s so easy to fudge and we know people are doing it by virtue of everything from sodium benzoate to grape seed extract… we just try to serve up the freshest, most potent products possible.

Your in all things Acai,

-ed

Nice, I can see now that my second long one did post – hurray!

-ed

Ed, I’m a bottom line numbers person, so I’ll get right to it. There was a study by the Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. It was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2008, 56, 1415-1422. Comparison of Antioxidant Potency of Commonly Consumed Polyphenol-Rich Beverages in the United States.

One of the products tested under the acai juice category, was Sambazon Mango Uprising (lot ASA07029 APR 2007, lot 0610T HA16PTK13, 4/7/2007, lot ASA07073 12 JUN 2007).

The study found that this product had an ORAC average of 17.1 umoles/ml. That’s even less than ORAC-anemic MonaVie (22.81 umoles/ml.), and well behind Black Cherry Juice (25.3 umoles/ml.), Blueberry Juice (20.6 umoles/ml.), Concord Grape Juice (25.9 umoles/ml.), and Pomegranate Juice (25 umoles/ml.). I can see why you don’t advertise your ORAC. The average phenolic content of acai juices (all brands) was 2.1 mg/ml. Blueberry juice was 2.3 mg/ml., Concord Grape Juice was 2.6 mg/ml., and Pomegranate Juice was 3.8 mg/ml.

One red delicious apple (150 gm. avg) will give you an ORAC value of 6,413 umoles. An 8 oz. glass of Sambazon Mango Uprising will give you an ORAC value of 3,034 umoles.

So, again, fruit juices do not compare to fruits. Please stop insisting that these are some type of super juices. They are not. If anyone wants to drink your product, I have no objections, because the price is far more reasonable than MonaVie. But super, it is not.

Skanda, please read the study. The comparisons are for juices, iced tea, and red wine. No fresh fruit was compared, nor were any dry powders analyzed. The study seems to be valid, in my opinion. If you have some issues with the methodology, please be specific.

As for your pure pulp smoothie pack, please cite the analysis which validated your claim. Also, if you wish to post ORAC scores from any of your any beverages, please do so. Again, no offense, but I need verifiable data, not marketing propaganda.

Forgive me for not believing any of the nonsense the fad juice people throw around. Show me the facts.

Great argument Jeremy, I didn’t realize Sambazon is the s–t. If I had known, I would have prostrated myself to them as well.

Compared to MonaVie, Sambazon is saintly, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t stand up to scientific analysis. What we are trying to do is cut through the BS and as Food Tech said, get real data instead of marketing propaganda.

That being said, I do drink Sambazon from time to time, and I have no real ill will towards it, so I am not sure where your belligerent attitude comes from, as no one has really said anything about the product other than to put it on the testing table.

I have been drinking Monavie for over a year now. I am financially sound so the money making part was of no interest. I suffer from Crohn’s disease which I have had for over 15 years. With this I can become very tired, I have lots of stomach pain and arthritic type symptoms. I am one of those people that will try it for myself and if works it works if not I will move on. After a week of drinking the Monavie Active and (m)Mun I felt better then I have in years and then tried their weight loss stuff and lost over 25lbs. After a month I started to cut back on some of my meds and have had less issues and pain then ever. Mornings use to be the worst time of the day now its my favorite. Yes the stuff is very expensive and I spend upwards of $300 a month by the time I buy for myself and family.

Now to my question: Has anyone in this blog tried both Monavie and Sambazon? If so, can you tell me if you had the same response from Sambazon as you did with Monavie? If so please respond. I’m no idiot, if I can spend less and get the same results I am happy to switch to Sambazon or any other product that will effect me as much as Monavie has. I don’t give a crap about numbers, this and thats and who say’s what. I just want results and if I can do it at lower cost then great, maybe I will spend the extra money on more product to give away and spread the word because yes “acai” is a SUPERFRUIT!!! in more ways then I would have ever believed.

Respectfully,

J.