It’s been a while since I reviewed Arbonne, but Arbonne has recently announced some new products, so I need to keep up to date with them.
For the uninitiated, Arbonne is a company that was founded in 1980. Its products range from beauty products such as creams and makeup to nutritional products and weight loss programs.
I’ve been following Arbonne for a really long time because, like other nutritional MLMs I’ve researched, they talk a lot about sustainability, the purity of their ingredients, how their products change lives, etc. I’ve been concerned about it.
On the other side of the coin, it’s almost always a mish-mash of garbage science, high-pressure sales tactics, diet culture language, and bait-and-switch tactics about how great life will be if you just buy into what the company says. It is.
Apart from the product, I recently discovered some not-so-flattering sales tactics by Arbonne salespeople. They are the backbone of the company, so I understand that they are under pressure to sell their products. Thanks to MLM, they do most of the work and work hard to rake in sales for their upline.
Recently, Arbonne’s coach sent me an email defending the company and her involvement. I ended up writing an article about it, debunking her points one by one. It’s pretty funny if you ask me. Please read here.
Arbonne has a large presence on social media thanks to its sales representatives and coaches. I know it’s annoying, but I’d like to point out that Arbonne’s website has a heading called “On the Gram” to highlight Instagram posts. “On the Gram” sounds like my 13-year-old daughter making fun of people who use that very word.
No, Arbonne, you’re not cool. But this goes to show that MLMs love to shape up to the latest trends, whether it’s the language teenagers are using or the latest diets.
Speaking of which, let’s start with Arbonne’s diet products.
Start with the best-selling Arbonne 30 Days to Healthy Living Set. For $534, you get a 30-day supply of protein shakes, Energy Fizz Ginseng Fizz Sticks (why fizz sticks are like MLM), GutHealth Digestion and Microbiome Support, and of course CleanTox herbal tea. You can also add two more products from the following options: CleanTox Gentle Cleanse, Gut Health Prebiotic Fiber, BeWell Superfood Greens, and InnerCalm Adaptogenic De-Stress Powder.
Without detox teas and fat burners, would nutritional MLMs even exist?
The Arbonne Protein Shake is $94 for 30 servings and is made with pea protein. The company recommends taking it twice a day “with food,” whatever that means (so you’re talking about $150 a month).
Should I drink protein shakes with meals? Isn’t that a bit redundant?
The shaking is fairly inconspicuous. They’re vegan, of course, and contain 20 grams of protein each. And while each shake contains 7 grams of sugar, the newest keto version, Simply1, has less than 1 g of sugar and less than 5 g of carbohydrates per serving. Eh. Nothing special here. I go to Walgreens and buy almost exactly the same thing, probably for less.
Energy Fizz Sticks are $69 for 30 sticks. Contains 50mg of coenzyme Q10 and 100mg of ginseng. Research has not reliably proven that either has a significant effect on energy levels.
Fizz Sticks also contain guarana and green coffee beans, providing 55mg of caffeine. This is equivalent to about 1/2 of the caffeine you can get from one cup of coffee.
Again, nothing groundbreaking.
Arbonne GutHealth Digestion is a large amount of digestive enzymes (probably not useful for most people) and some prebiotics and probiotics (chicory root and Bacillus coagulans 30B).
I like chicory root, which contains the prebiotic inulin, but it can have gastrointestinal effects in some people.
As for Bacillus coagulans, it may be effective in helping people with irritable bowel syndrome, but overall, most of us don’t really need probiotics unless we have some specific treatment. I don’t. When it comes to probiotics, it’s important to consider two things:
Are the bacteria still alive in a form that allows them to pass through the acidic environment of the stomach? Does this product contain enough bacteria to affect the purpose of consumption?
(Do you need probiotics? Read my post here)
Arbonne CleanTox Herbal Tea is like a trash can of laxative BS (aloe vera), which Arbonne claims “aids in the gentle elimination of toxins.”
I’ll say it again to everyone in the back.
We don’t “detox” with tea. Our bodies detoxify themselves, so if you buy this product consider yourself warned that it’s a waste of money.
The year is 2024. Why do we still believe in this detox garbage? Hasn’t it been debunked many times over?
Having diarrhea is not the same as “detoxing.”
Speaking of diarrhea, one of the additional products you can choose from the 30 Day Healthy Living Program is CleanTox Gentle Cleanse to keep everything “moving.” This product is basically a magnesium supplement (contains 210mg, or about 50% of the magnesium you need) and contains flaxseed and pea fiber. Magnesium supplements are known to cause diarrhea, but this is also different from a “cleanse.”
This product is available in a 7-pack for $61. This product is basically an expensive laxative.
One of Arbonne’s new products is OmniGut Daily Probiotic, which costs $65 for 30 servings. It contains two probiotic strains: Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. It also contains PepZin GI® Zinc Carnosine, which claims to reduce bloating and support gut health and intestinal lining integrity.
Zinc carnosine is used to treat peptic ulcers and mucositis caused by chemotherapy or radiation therapy, as well as certain types of intestinal damage that can occur with ulcerative colitis. Masu. For the rest, probably nothing will happen.
Regarding the two types of probiotics, a recent study found that Bifidobacterium longum was not very effective in treating constipation in older adults, and the probiotics administered in this study The amount was much higher than the Arbonne product.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus is a widely studied probiotic that Health Canada has approved for use in the prevention of traveler’s diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
There is no reason to take probiotics if you don’t actually need them. And if you do, you need to make sure you take an effective load and dose. So many people just take probiotics for no reason, and it’s useless (and expensive!).
Arbonne has a line of nutritional products called FeelFit (FeelFit’s brand name was previously “Arbonne Essentials”). In addition to the protein shakes mentioned above, there are also snack bars and appetite-control chews under the Arbonne FeelFit label.
Honestly, while the FeelFit Iced Cinnamon Crumble Protein Snack Bars sound delicious, I realized they only cost $35 for 10 pieces. Arbonne claims these snack bars are “low-glycemic” and have “little effect” on blood sugar levels.
Except sugar is literally the first ingredient listed on the package. And while the bar itself can be “low-glycemic,” so are Snickers bars. That doesn’t mean they’re a great option for people looking for physically healthy snacks.
(We will talk about glycemic index in this article)
FeelFit also has “appetite suppressant supplements”, ironically listed under the banner that talks about your happy weight (see below).
Wildly claiming that if you have to use appetite suppressant products to achieve your “happiest, healthiest weight,” your body is telling you something completely different about your actual happiest weight. Masu.
Also, appetite suppressant supplements are not required.
What is the underlying message that we need to control our cravings and appetite?
I have some feelings about this kind of thing. Primarily, the desire is often emotional, and no amount of chewing, supplements, or shakes will solve it.
As I talk about in my book, Good Food, Bad Food, if you have cravings that appear at certain times of the day or around certain emotions, you don’t need to “control” them. What you need to do is understand why you eat in response to these emotions.
If your cravings aren’t emotional, you may not be eating enough carbohydrates or protein. But then again, adaptogenic chews that cost $1 each ($30 for a bag of 30) don’t solve that problem.
It’s about eating properly.
And what about appetite control? Ridiculous AF. The only thing that controls your appetite is food, people.
You will not be able to control your urge to urinate. Appetite is just an innate signal your body sends to let you know it needs something, and hunger shouldn’t be ignored.
Needless to say, companies selling fat burners (aka Arbonne “Metabolism Support”), appetite controllers, cleanses, detox teas, etc. while claiming to be all about health need some serious explaining to do. I think so.
If any of these were effective for weight loss, the diet industry would cease to exist.
It seems very true to the brand that Arbonne also sells a collagen supplement called “Skinelixer” and a vegetable powder called Bewell.
No reliable research has yet shown that neither collagen nor green powder is necessary for health (or to affect the skin), but of course Arbonne is appealing to the “wellness” demographic with these trendy products. There is. of course.
(Is green powder good for your health? Read my post about green powder here)
One thing I want to talk about is the Arbonne coaches and their predatory nature.
This is not unique to Arbonne. We’ve all talked to nutrition MLM salespeople who pretend to be everyone’s long lost friends just to make a few bucks, or in a non-sales related setting (*ahem* funeral *ahem *) I am aware of their sales tactics, which include throwing myself at.
But recently I learned about the worst sales strategy ever: targeting people in recovery. This is a screenshot of someone telling a story to @antimlmnicole on Instagram.
There is nothing more disgusting and disgusting than selling nutritional MLM garbage to vulnerable people, trying to abuse them and cause even more anxiety.
Let them know you can own your own business, make money, and get all the support you need from the #girlboss team.
Apparently there was a group of nutrition MLM salespeople who were themselves in recovery and were targeted at the time as well. Those people turn around and do the same to others.
Nutritional MLMs are all about “health,” as explained in this article on MLMs and recovery. People in recovery are often in the midst of overhauling their health habits, so joining an MLM may seem like a good choice.
But that’s not the case. Yes, until now. sorry.
As I wrote about the problem with MLMs and their coaches in this article, very few people involved in MLMs actually make any money. The odds are stacked against them from the beginning.
It is unconscionable to drag someone into such a situation, much less a vulnerable person.
Arbonne says it’s all about health. I just can’t see it. All I see are companies and their sales reps that sell nutritional products that fall into one of three categories:
1: It might be okay, but it’s similar to something you can buy in the store, like a protein shake.
2: Products that no one needs, such as probiotics and green powders with digestive enzymes.
3: These are garbage products like fat burners, detox teas, and cleansing powders (which we didn’t touch).
In other words, the next time an Arbonne salesperson slides into your DMs, it’s probably in your best interest to ignore them.
