herbalife

No I won’t be buying your Herbalife products

So I have a LinkedIn account and until last year I kind of did nothing with it. But since January 2016 I’ve been more or less active. Adding connections, posting articles, generally keeping myself occupied. But with added connections comes the constant barrage of Herbalife MLMs (Multi-Level-Marketers), if you don’t know who these people are … Then you’re very fortunate.

The idea is that you take a product, mostly meal replacement shakes but there are also make-up and beauty products. And instead of selling it to a shop, you sell it to all of your friends and family and if you really want to make some money you can also get your friends and family to become a seller, and sell your products to their friends and family (With you getting a share of their products).

Essentially it’s pyramid selling, and it is a fucking plague! It wouldn’t be so bad if the products themselves were any good, but they’re not. They are distinctly average, and are not good value for money. What really irritates me though, isn’t that the MLMers are trying to sell me a shitty product, it’s the fact that the ‘seller’ knows absolutely dick all about nutrition! How can you sell someone nutritional products when you haven’t spent any time learning about if it works or not?

Because if they had, they wouldn’t be selling this shit in the first place! Now don’t get me wrong, I have gone back and forth on the subjects of meal replacement shakes and currently I am of the belief that they have their place. Study [1] after study [2] has shown that meal replacement shakes can be effective for weight loss in overweight and obese people, they are also more effective at keeping the weight off and preventing weight-regain. Something that is criminally underrated in most diets.

This is because meal replacement shakes are low-calorie, nutrient dense, and high in protein. But the main reason for their success is that they are simple and easy to add to a routine. Cleverer diets are great for the truly obsessed. But most diets are almost impossible to follow long-term – with most diets lasting less than 2 weeks! **Made up stat alert**

Alternatives to Herbalife

But a meal replacement shake can be any form of protein shake, and absolutely does not need to be from Herbalife! One company that seems to have a really decent product is Huel. And no I am not being paid to say that. If we compare the two products in their protein content per serving:

  • Huel has 37.45g per serving
  • Herbalife has 9g per serving

Now as we know, high protein diets have many benefits. Including increased metabolism (protein is harder to digest which raises body temp and therefore metabolism), increased muscle, increased strength, and improved body composition. If you had 3 servings of Huel per day you would hit 112g of protein. Compared to just 27g of protein if you had 3 servings of Herbalife. This is a bit unfair on Herbalife as they actually recommend eating 1 x meal per day and 2 x shakes, but I’m just trying to illustrate a point here.

Bottom Line

Herbalife can be effective as a meal-replacement shake, but there are other more effective meal replacement shake companies out there (such as Huel) or alternatively you could just buy a regular protein shake. Remember though, this is a very effective tool for people who are very overweight or obese. This doesn’t mean that it will suit everyone and there are many other methods out there, personally I prefer the flexible dieting approach to nutrition.

From a business perspective, Herbalife is one of the worst business models out there. The majority of “entrepreneurs” end up out of pocket. Please avoid this as it will not make you a quick buck, and as mentioned above it is a shitty product. But if you do end up selling it – Don’t fucking try and sell it to me!

Talk soon

Matt “Replacement Shake” Smith

 

[1] Konig, D., Deibert, P., Frey, I., Landmann, U., Berg, A. 2008. Effect of Meal Replacement on Metabolic Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Subjects. Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 52(1): 74-78

[2] Noakes, M., Foster, P., Keogh, J., Clifton, P. 2004. Meal replacements are as effective as structured weight-loss diets for treating obesity in adults with features of metabolic syndrome. The Journal of Nutrition 134(8): 1894-9

About the Author Matt Smith

Matt Smith is the owner of Beer N Biceps. He has a degree in Sports Science, 10 years of experience working in the fitness industry, and has written for hundreds of fitness websites. He is a lover of good quality beer and believes that drinking in moderation can form part of a healthy lifestyle.

Leave a Comment:

11 comments
Connor says January 26, 2019

As a nutritionist, I searched for a good shake to recommend to my clients, and Herbalife is honestly my top choice. (taking price into account, overall without looking at price, it’s my 3rd favorite still. The amount of protein in a shake is not a determining factor of whether it will be good nutrition ( though 1, per gram herbalife shakes have more protein, so the whole serving thing is misleading, and they also have pure protein to add if you do want more protein), it’s the fact that herbalife shakes have a high amount of phytonutrients, which huel has virtually none of.

Though the annoying aspect of MLMers posting all the time, I totally agree with haha. But I would choose herbalife over huel any day, and I’ve been a studied nutritionist for 6 years now.

Reply
    Matt Smith says May 1, 2019

    Huel has plenty of phytonutrients so I’m not sure why you said it has virtually none. Cannot think of a single reason why you would choose Herbalife over Huel, as Huel contains just as many vitamins and minerals and the same amount of phytonutrients. Now I sound like a Huel spokesperson! I don’t sell either btw

    Reply
Iae says May 1, 2019

Ok you are right about the 9 grams, that is why they suggest you to add the protein booster to the shakes. Between both you are able to get 24 grams of protein per serving . They also have the high protein iced coffee with about 15 grams per serving which you could add to your formula 1 shake.
The products are not expensive if you compare to those of GNC it is $10 less by the way. They also have the Achieve protein bars with 4g of sugar and 20g of protein. It is bot so bad if you look better. By being a distributor I get discounts that progressively goes up to 50% off. So not bad at all!? Why pay other companies and make advertising for Huel if u r not even getting a discount!?

Reply
    Matt Smith says May 1, 2019

    I promoted Huel because I think that it is a much better product overall. I don’t think that Herbalife is terrible and I agree that with the added protein it can be improved.

    Reply
      Iae says May 1, 2019

      While I discuss this with you I have just received a new email from Herbalife with a new product from Herbalife 24 that has:
      24 g of protein
      Amino acids help reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery and repair*
      B vitamins support energy metabolism*
      0 g added sugar
      No artificial flavors or sweeteners
      Like I said I get with now a 42% discount. So why all the hate? Embrace it!
      https://buyherbalif.goherbalife.com/Catalog/Product/Details/en-US/1120

      Reply
        Matt Smith says October 21, 2019

        Seriously, fuck off with your promoted links on my website

        Reply
          Alex says February 18, 2020

          Just delete his. Link instead of keeping it up and telling him not to do it

          Reply
          Matt Smith says February 18, 2020

          The link doesn’t even work lol. I’ve deleted like 30 spam comments on this article, but for some reason, I like having a big “fuck off with your links” message still up.

          It’s quite cathartic.

          To be honest, I’m surprised that people keep commenting on this article. I wrote it 3 years ago. Nobody ever comments on anything else!

          Reply
John david says October 21, 2019

You are such a dick head. Your talking through your arse. Get a life you loser.

Reply
Alan best says October 21, 2019

You are a twat. Dick head

Reply
    Matt Smith says October 21, 2019

    I can’t believe you actually signed out of one email and logged into another just to insult a 3-year-old article. Amazing how the IP address is the same for both comments. By the way, it is “you’re” not “your”. Go home, practice some basic grammar and then come back with something better.

    Reply
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