Episode 38: The Ugly Truth Behind Herbalife
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Episode Transcription
Participant #1:
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Upbeat Dietitians Podcast. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we are talking about Herbalife, and this was a topic that kind of not jump started because my YouTube is not very big at this point, but it's a very controversial video I made on YouTube. And so I thought we'd go over it a lot more in detail on the podcast. Get Emily's point of view as well, obviously. So we're going to go over what Herbalife is, if you haven't heard of it, we're going to go over a little bit about the nutrition shop that you may have seen popping up all over the place. And then we're going to go into what MLMs and pyramid schemes and all of those things are and why you should probably be a little bit weary of that. So it's going to be a good one.
Participant #1:
After you go listen to this episode, go watch Hannah's video. Just for the comments. I was going to say, what you're going to hear from Emily and I is probably going to be similar to the content in the episode or the YouTube video. But go for the 300 comments that are on there that are 80% me being roasted, but I don't actually feel roasted because they're in the wrong, but whatever. And then 20% is like people like Emily who were like, yeah, you're right. Yeah, they're not good. You need some good chuckles. Go check it out. Honestly, go to any comment section of anything that I've made that has gone. That is true semi viral, because everything nutrition related is so controversial to people, they just can't handle it. No wild. But let's get into it and chat about our good friend, Herbalife. Oh, Herbalife. So Herbalife is a multi level marketing company. We'll explain more about MLM in a minute and what they are and if they're good, if they're bad, whatever. But Herbalize is an MLM that develops and sells supplements. So they have a humongous selection of stuff. They have protein supplements, they have weight loss supplements. They have, like, sports nutrition stuff. They've got skin care. It's like the Amazon supplements. They have everything on their website. And if you go online, describe it. Yeah, you can't navigate it. There's just so much stuff. It's crazy. And something I think that's very hilarious and really just shows a lot about them is you can't even buy their products through the website. Did you know that? Emily? Have you gone to the website? I did not know that, but that is wild to me. Yeah. So when you go to the website, you can go to products. And if you click purchase products, it will take you to a page that says Connect with a distributor. So you can't actually buy their products through website. You have to get it through someone who is involved in this MLM to your team, and they will sell it to you and probably try to get you to also sell the stuff. That is a red flag right there. Red flag? Yeah. I was on Amazon because in the comments on my YouTube video, everyone's like, what are you talking about? You can get it on Amazon. And it's true, you can get some of it on Amazon, but it's so expensive. Oh, yeah. I'm sure they'd rather you kind of buy from one of their distributors. That's just a fancy name for a boss Babe. Okay. Yeah. In case you are well versed in the MLM world, the distributors are what you've seen as, like, the boss Babes, the Huns. Oh, that just like something in me. They often have entrepreneur and like a weird font in their Instagram bio. Little sparkles by it. Yeah.
Participant #1:
Okay. We're going to get into MLM. We get into what MLMs are first and kind of get more into, like, why Herbalize isn't so great. Yes, exactly. That. So an MLM is a multi level marketing, and typically you hear scheme after that. But it's essentially MLM multi level marketing. These can be legitimate, but oftentimes they're actually pyramid schemes which are scams. And essentially what kind of happens is you have it's exactly what you think of pyramid. There are these people at the top, and then they have these distributors or these other salespeople, and you keep building upon that. And then these sales people get teams where they ask if you can make money just like me. And then you join their team, and then after that, you could start your own team. And it's essentially this branch of people just being on different teams and making sales. But the thing is, I've heard about different. I'm not as familiar with Herbalife. But just from an MLM standpoint, from what I understand is you don't even get all the sales. The people above you get a lot of money. And you have to hit certain quotas to even get your money. Or else you have to give it back. That would stress me out, because I do not want people taking away money from if I put time and effort into something. So you have to be essentially really good at sales or else. That's why they have so many social media accounts. Because they have to be really personable. They have to see really fun. They want to make. You essentially want to buy their product and they'll sell you. And they'll be like, you can join my team. And then essentially you could be making money that they'd get. And then it just kind of trickles up. I know that's the wrong way. It's not goes down. It goes back up to everyone up top. Yeah. And all the money. Yes. But a lot of it is very income based and like, sales based. And that's how you're very successful. But if you aren't really hitting your goals and essentially also, if you're part of a team, that's a part of a team. That's a part of a team, you're not going to make a lot of money. And so many people have joined MLMs and lost money and come out owing. And we're going to get to that with Herbalife. That's why they got in big trouble, because they promised you could make so much money joining Herbalife and being a distributor. And people were like, yeah, no, we can't make a living off this. But we'll get to that. We'll get to that. I have a lot to say. Yeah. But other examples of MLMs are like, Mary Kay, pampered chef, Avon Beachbody. Arbon. Isoenix. Isagenix. Oh, my gosh. I didn't know how that was spelled. I always heard it. That's not what I imagined. I think also other ones I've seen a lot of, like, Monet. I know that's an especially controversial one. That one's huge in Little Row or whatever it's called. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Those are the more like current ones you might have seen. But yes, whether they're legitimate still up to. I think it's up for interpretation. Because Mary Kay people sell that. No one's getting harmed by that. I don't think. I don't know. I don't touch date with the Mary Kay drama. I guess if you want the MLM drama, I would suggest going on over to Reddit. It's a wild place over there. And there's people who used to be in a bunch of these that go to the Reddit. Go to the Reddit to share their stories. So if you want other entertainment or YouTube, if you go on anti MLM, YouTube, all kinds of stuff. People will share their experiences, like being from MLM. Some people there's one popular girl, I forget her name. But she shares video calls. Like, she goes into the video calls. Probably not. But she, like, shows you what happens in the video calls. And how aggressive people can be. And she goes behind the scenes. I forget her name. Also find it okay. Anyway, there's obviously one. I feel like she would have had in trouble by now. But I don't understand. Emily and I are not even, like, touching the surface of the anti MLM. No community. There's a whole nother, like, creature. And we're just hanging out with Herbalife today. This is just Herbalife we're talking about. Yeah. So a little bit more about MLM. And I'm going to talk about the FTC a lot today. The Federal Trade Commission. Because that's kind of, like through the whole lawsuit went through with Herbalife. So we'll get to that. But the FTC does talk about MLM. And kind of like why you should be a little cautious about them. And this is from their website. They say that you can make money in an MLM in two ways. So you can make money by selling the products yourself to retail customers. Who are not involved in the MLM. Or you can recruit new distributors. And earn commissions based on what they buy and their sales that they make to reach their customers. That's kind of what Emily was saying with the second one. If I'm at the top and I have three people who work for me, quote, unquote, that are distributors. I'll get a cut of whatever they sell. And so you're at the bottom of an MLM or a pyramid scheme. Rather, you're not making probably anything at all. So you can kind of tell if it's more legitimate. If you get paid based on your sale to retail customers. Without having to recruit new distributors. If the company, or whatever you want to call it makes you recruit, it's likely a pyramid scheme. Whereas if you're just selling and you get some of the funds or some of the money from what you sold. It may be a more legitimate operation. Okay. I really want to get into Herbalize and go ahead. I'm so excited. Okay. So I did make some mistakes in my YouTube video. I didn't really deep dive too much into the actual settlement. I just touched on it because the whole point of the YouTube video is more about the nutrition shops, which we'll get to. And so I really didn't cover a whole lot about this part in the YouTube video. Yes. If you are somehow on this podcast episode from that YouTube video comment that you saw. So I have to post a link of this episode. Be like, for everyone who still is trying to fight me. Yes. Head on over here. I'll pin it. Don't say it like that, though. No, I will phrase it much more nice. But we can also put a link in our description for the podcast to the YouTube video, but it'll go both ways. All it is is the same thing. It's just the comments are hilarious, as we said. Yeah. Okay. But anyway, what happened with herbal life, why they are so controversial is in July 2016, there was a scandal. We all love drama. We all love drama. So there was a $200 million federal trade Commission settlement Because herbalized head pitched that people could quit their jobs and make a whole lot of money by selling herbalized products. But as it turns out, you can't actually make that much money when you sell their products. And I'm going to get ahead of myself here. But they actually changed on their website. I was looking the other day, and they put the very bottom now in tiny font, how much you can actually average, which is probably a result of this whole settlement. And it's like, what did I say? I think I have it right here. Where did I put it? Oh, here it is. Okay.
Participant #1:
So when you go to urban life website, and you click start your own business, be your own boss that has that whole spiel on there, they now had to put at the very bottom, tiny little font what you'd actually make. And this is what it says on there. The quote atypical achievements shown came from hard work, skill, and dedication. Most people work part time, typically earn $201 in a month in their first year before expenses. And they have a whole spreadsheet of, like, who makes what the expenses are and all of that. But the average person who is an herbalized distributor, makes $201 a month before expenses. I don't know what the expenses are. I don't actually know how much you subtract from that to get, like, what your actual pay would be. But they definitely can't make the claim that you can quit your job on $201 a month. No. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I thought it was going to be, like, $1,000 or something like that. No.
Participant #1:
So I have a whole bunch of quotes from the FTC website about what all went down, Because there's multiple almost like blogs from the federal trade Commission, which is hilarious, because someone was really peeking in their blogging. They're like, I just want to keep talking. I know. But this one had said that hundreds of thousands of people signed on for the urban life business opportunity, quote, unquote. But most people made little or no money. And in fact, the biggest FTC complaint showed that half of herbalized sales leaders. Earned less than $5 a month, on average, from selling the product. So instead, the incentives were to recruit more people who would then buy more product, Whether or not there was a market to sell it. So people were recruiting in, like, crazy, but no one's actually making any money. Oh, my God. So then they had to dish out $200 million to all these people to kind of make up for it. And then they had another round in May 2019 where the FTC mailed a whole other round of checks to, again, make up for all people who probably lost a lot of money, put their money, were in a ton of debt just to be an herbalized distributor. That's insane to me. Insane. And the thing is, I feel like because of social media, we're a bit more aware. Like us younger generation people are a bit more aware, even that most young people are more aware. And you're able to look into this and kind of gather your own opinions, of course, and decide that whether this is a good idea to quit a job. And whatnot I was going to say, I don't know the average age of the distributors, because I would say it's probably someone who's either follow someone who they really admire on social media, that's all the distributor, and then they want to do it. That's what I think is most case I've seen where people I've seen have fallen for that MLM schemes. It's because they follow someone who's really into it or, like, they're desperately trying to get a lot of money. But that being said, I cannot say I don't know if this is making me sound biased against age. If it is, I'm very sorry. I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to technological things. But then also, there are so many people our age I know that are involved in MLM ski. I don't even think that means anything because I don't even age matter. The marketing is so good. They're so good at saying, like, be your own boss, start your own business, quit your job. That can be really appealing to someone who doesn't love their job, isn't making a lot of money, whatever. And they see that, and they're like, okay, tell me how. And then it seems so easy, like you just get this kit to get started. You watch a few videos, let's train you, and then you're kind of like, on your own, being an entrepreneur. That's true. Very sexy from the outside. And so really, anybody who is in a situation might be reeled in by that. Yeah, that's a much smarter Bailey failure. Ignore everything I said before. I am not Emily's, not ages. I'm trying to avoid a scandal here on the Touch scandal, our tough scandal, because we slandered Keto or something, and it's just like a bunch of cute people who hate us. I'm okay with that. Yeah, that's fine. I know not everyone's going to love us because we do talk a lot of smack about these kinds of things, but we also have a loyal fan base. We appreciate you guys. Yeah, everybody.
Participant #1:
Okay. Anyway, let's move on before. Yes. Okay. So that is the gist of why Herbalife got in a lot of trouble, why they were in the news for a while. That was like five, six years ago. But to bring us to current dates. So, like, 2020 to 2022. Let's talk about all these nutrition clubs that are popping up all over the place and kind of the problems with those. We're going to get into that. And then we'll also get into, like, why herbal life itself isn't great, along with obvious stuff like they scammed everybody. But in terms of the nutrition side, we'll get into that as well. Yeah. So you might have seen some for raises, like exquisite energy, core energy be. Well, nutrition, elite nutrition, which are all just fun buzzwords to make it sound much more fancy than it actually is. And that is one marketing tactic, and it does work, obviously, two just fancy words for not really meaning much. So if you do, we want to add a little Disclaimer here. If you do purchase some of these shops, we will not judge you. We are here to we're targeting the founders. I don't know the founders. This might be the people who are promoting these products and kind of we'll talk a little bit about the science behind it. All the problems with that all that we are not judging you. If you shop there, you can shop wherever you want. Yes. We want to educate you kind of on what's going on around there. We've just also noticed that a lot of people will purchase from them without knowing what they're buying. And that's very easy to do. I feel like, honestly, a lot of shopping, online shopping in general, Because there isn't, especially with supplements. We've already talked about. We already have an episode about how poorly regulated supplements are. So it's very easy to purchase things that you don't really know what's in them. The whole other issue itself. Go check out the supplement episode, because we talk much more in depth about there. But anyway, there isn't really harm in going, like, you're not going to be really harm from drinking these products. That is not 100% claim right there. Because you're harm. Don't blame us. Yeah, you might have an allergy sensitivity. I don't know. We don't always know what's in the products, but typically, they will not actually boost your metabolism or lead to weight loss, as promised. Yes. So if you guys have seen the shops, the ones that Emily listed are all names from my area. There's like, one, like, every part of my city. It's crazy. They're all over the place. It's wild. I don't think I've seen these, but I think they're just hidden. That's what I think exactly. I was going to say, like, I have not seen herbal life anywhere, but I'm sure I've seen. Okay, that's a great segue. So they can't actually market themselves as herbalized. That's like, one of the weird things about it. So I'm going to read the whole list of rules. I am so into this right now. If you can't tell, I like, okay, so first of all, I'll go over the rules. But what they have there if you haven't gone to them or heard of them, they sell all these fun flavored shakes. So they have like fruity pebble, protein shakes and all this stuff. Which is fun. Yeah, it's fun. Again, it's very appealing to someone who is just looking for a healthy snack or whatever. But what's weird is that they don't work as herbalized. So that's like super sketchy. But they also make you do, like this aloe drink to go with it to boost your metabolism. And you better metabolize the protein shake or whatever. And you have to do, like the tea to go with it. So you often walk out of there with like a huge protein shake and like this weird tea thing. And as we know and Emily and I always tell you guys, nothing that you need or drink is going to just boost your metabolism or lead to weight loss or give you crazy energy or whatever, which they claim all their products do. Okay. So that's what they are. If you haven't heard of them yet, I'm sure they're in your town. Oh, yeah. I'm going to do scouting now. Yeah. But they have a ton of rules, like to follow. And I do wonder if some places don't follow these rules, and they probably don't follow them all, typically because no one is monitoring them. They're like some weird sketchy shop. They're not FDA approved or anything. But I'm going to read through this list of the rules and regulations they have to follow based on Herbalize. Herbalize makes these rules for these shops to follow. Okay, I can't even explain this yet. The first one I already have to give a Disclaimer. Okay. So oftentimes with these shops, you aren't actually paying for a product because that would require them getting checked code to be up to if you sell food and drinks. But they typically don't sell the product. They sell a membership to Herbalize. And you get a product when you buy a membership.
Participant #1:
Yes. Okay. So the price that you're paying for that smoothie and the tea and the aloe or whatever, it's actually the membership it's you paying to be for the day. This is like a perk of being a member. Exactly. Because they can't technically sell a smoothie or a shake without being regulated by the restaurant association or whatever. And so that's where the first rule comes in. The first rule that Herbalize kind of places on these clubs is that membership fees may not be represented as the price or cost of products offered to members or their guests for consumption. All I'm getting is membership. What you're paying for your membership might not equal the price or the cost of the products you're buying. So it sounds like they're trying to get more money out of you. But I don't understand how that works because you can't buy the products specifically if you buy a membership. So then you pay more for the members. It's all together. It's just like really amazing. Anyway, that's like the first regulation. Take it for what it is. I'm not involved in this, so I don't actually know every rule in and out. I'm just very intense about learning about this. Yeah. Okay. The next one is that the nutrition club. They call themselves Nutrition clubs, which I hate. Nutrition clubs must offer. Sounds like a rave, right? Where it's actually just this weird thing. Everyone drink their protein shakes. Anyway, the club must offer their members regular opportunities to socialize as well as frequent educational and coaching sessions. Group and one on one on nutrition and weight management. I think our problem with that, I was going to say I'm like, oh, they want to hire more distributors. But then the second half of that came and I was like, oh, you're giving out nutrition advice. Yes. So if you go to their website and you apply to be your own boss or whatever, I was looking at what you kind of get when you do this, and when you sign up, you get all these online trainings on nutrition. So people who distribute Herbalize think that they know a lot about nutrition because they do some online training. Now, maybe I shouldn't say this on the record, but I'll say it because if ever life comes after me, I just want. I'm gathering research. I kind of want to make a different account now and try to watch the trainings. Well, you have to pay to be a distributor. No, I'm not doing that. You have to buy their whole bundle. Oh, my gosh. I just want your money. Exactly. But I have stocked some of the Facebook pages which will get to this. They don't have websites. They have Facebook pages for the most part. And some do have websites, which is why I don't think they always follow the rules. But anyway, I follow or I don't follow. I have stock some of the Facebook pages, and they do have events all the time. It's like a 4 July to lose or whatever. You can come based on my area, I assume. Probably, yeah. Okay. The exquisite energy in my area will do like a 4 July lose, though. Perhaps. I guess it's like a work event. Yeah. But you go there and I try to shake you down to become a member, to buy their products and to become a distributor. Yeah. Okay. Let's just continue because I'm going to be getting more upset. So the next rule. You probably already have guessed. Non herbalized products may not be provided, sold, or promoted on the club premises. So they have to sell only herbalized stuff. Obviously. Makes sense. Okay, next one I also don't think is enforced everywhere because I've seen people carrying around the containers. But the rule is that carry outs must be an unbranded containers of not more than one single serving. So you can't buy like six or seven shakes and take them to work for your friends or whatever, which is, again, maybe more proof about the whole membership. Then you can only buy one membership at a time, which means you can only get, like, one shake at a time. I'm guessing this one. I don't know. I haven't actually tried to buy them that one. I'm speaking just on what I'm reading. Right. Okay, this one's my favorite. This is my favorite. The nutrition club must ensure that the interior of the club is not visible to persons from the exterior by use of window and door coverings. And external doors must remain closed. I feel like they're, like, kidnapping people. Right? Like, what is going on? How is this still an established company? Right? That's what I'm not getting either, because it was very big in the news. Like, herbalized scanned a bunch of people six years ago. People are still, like, being distributors, opening these shops everywhere, buying their products. I have patients all the time tell me they're drinking an herbalized shake for breakfast or whatever. I'm like, where are you even getting that from? Who do you know is the distributor? It's insane, because now I know when they say that they couldn't buy it online. I had to get that from someone. And then I'm like, are you a distributor? Are you being scammed? Do I need to tell you about this? Yeah. This is all very suspicious. I'm the time of my life right now. I could do this all day. I think we found my new niche, and it's going to be just Herbal. Yes. Okay, a couple more. That should be your life. Like, get on Netflix. There is one I haven't watched yet. It's called betting on zero. There's literally a documentary about Herbalize. Yes. We need to watch that.
Participant #1:
Okay. Yeah, good idea. Okay, we'll do a part, too. That'll be so good. Someone else who shares your passion. Yes. Well, the MLM telling you or the anti MLM people are very intense. This is only the surface. Yeah. Okay. We have two more rules that I'm going to get through, because I have so much more to say. Okay, this one's a little wordy. So stay with me. But nutrition clubs are social gatherings publicized exclusively through word of mouth and attended only by persons who are personally invited by the club operator, another independent distributor, a club member, or a customer, either through oral conversation or through conversation accompanied by the provision of a written invitation. So, again, they're not advertising on, like, a website. They don't have ads on Facebook. Like, you just hear about it. How do people word of mouth. It's crazy. At my job, my day job, there's a couple of my coworkers, not dietitians, but a couple of coworkers who like to go. And so they'll go together and get them as, like, a lunch or a snack or whatever. And so it's all just word of mouth.
Participant #1:
This is some wild stuff like this does not feel real. I know. It's like a different world. Yeah. And then this last one is perhaps one of the most confusing that I don't quite understand, like, why this is a rule. But owners may not use the word Herbalize in the name of their club or on the exterior of their store. And oftentimes not all the time. But sometimes the herbalized products inside the shops will be, like, kind of hidden. They won't like advertisements herbalized. And some of the comments on my YouTube video, people were saying, like, they would ask what's in the shake? And they wouldn't say it was herbalized, but some would. So I don't think every shop is the same, but they don't advertise it as herbalized, which is very odd. So, like a liability thing. I don't forget why you wouldn't want to. Well, it's probably because Herbalize is hot garbage. And they know if they label their nutrition shop as an herbal life shop, that's true. They just call it core energy. And suddenly everyone is, like, lining up around the block. Yeah. This is a wild world we live in. So a couple more points on this and then we'll get into the supplements and nutrition and all that. But a few more points on the stores, like, these rules just explain why these places are often in weird dark spaces and strip malls. And they're not going to be like nice buildings, like mom and pop shop kind of stuff. It's not that, again, they don't have websites. Usually they just have, like, weird Facebook pages. There's so many red flags. But anyway, lastly, one of the big problems with these shops is that most of the owners who open these up can't really make a lot of money off of them. And so it's, like, nearly impossible to turn a profit. Their goal is to just get more distributors. And it's not even to make a profit on the product. The goal is to just get more distributors because it's the payment scheme. It's not like an actual. I know it's a business, but it's not like your typical business where you try to make money. You can grow the business. The goal is not to make a lot of money. The goal is to just get more distributors. And then obviously that doesn't pay the bills. And so they shut down, screams pyramidsky. And then people are like, it's not. You don't know this, though. If you go to Core energy, you just see a cool fruity pebble smoothie, and you're like, Yum. It's high in protein and low in calories. Something a great snack. And again, no one's getting hurt. If you and I went into a core energy right now, we got a smoothie. We wouldn't probably get colon cancer or anything, but we'd be supporting a pyramid scheme. And that's where the issue kind of. Yeah. Morally. Yeah. And isn't evidence based has random people teaching, education yeah, but that's a bit more into our boys specifically, but yeah, I agree. How do you know those shops? Herbal life. Word of mouth. That's literally how I've heard about it. People know. Yes. How come no one's telling me these things? I've never northwest Chicago, suburbs. People tell me the names of these stores Because apparently I had no idea urban life was around. And I'm sure it's around me too. I'm sure it is. I'm not aware of it. Even in my tiny hometown, there's a couple of them, like, where there's, like, no point. Blows my mind. Yeah. So I live in a bigger city now. My small hometown even has one or two of them. They're everywhere. Yeah. So bottom line is the shops, like, if you want to go, we're obviously not going to stop you, and you're not going to probably be harmed by going there. We just know what you're supporting. And maybe if that's not what you actually intend to do, stop going. Yeah. Let's get into potentially one of the best parts. Is the main objective of today the main event. Why I have no words. We're recording this on a Friday. So, like, weeks. We took a week. Forgot how to do it. I'm blinking on words. That was just the before show. Like, the opener. Maybe that's something. That was the opening act. This is the main event. Why herbal life is no Bueno. If you have not picked up on those vibes already, but specifically from a registered dietitian point of view, why? So first and foremost, they scammed a lot of people. Obviously, based off what the FDC showed, Even after they change their infrastructure, they still somehow scam people after getting in trouble. Well, I'm not going to say somehow they knew how to scam people, but they did it again. Yeah. What's a scammer? Always a scammer. Yeah.
Participant #1:
Don't support people who scam people. It's not nice there's Shakespeare. I haven't gotten the ones in the smoothie shops Because I don't want to go in those and get shaken down. But I have to, like the Herbalize powder, and it's just, like, not even good. There's so many good protein supplements out there. As someone who loves protein shakes, and that's just not one of them. Along with that. Yes, they've restructured. Yes, they're still scamming people, but in terms of nutrition, you go on their website and you click on the protein powder they have, for example, they don't even have the supplement facts label listed on there. And as we know, you can't just buy it and check for yourself. So I can't just buy it and say, oh, okay, that's what's in there. You have to literally get it from a distributor, and then you get to know what's in the product. But they simply just put on the website, like a few key components, Things they want to mention. So, like, how much proteins in there? They say it has 21 vitamins and minerals, 170 calories, no cholesterol, a lot of fiber, whatever. But they don't actually have the Fax label on. There could be so much other stuff. And it also not even. I would bet my wife that they are not third party certified. I love they're not. So like everything on their website could easily be a lot. They have seen people before. I didn't mention this, but they actually got in trouble for having cases of liver toxicity and death because of their products. What are they putting in there? Yeah, I forget it was like metals or something like that. They had metal contamination. Oh my gosh. How are they still functioning? That's what I'm saying. That's why I get so crazy about it, because people are still buying this stuff. They're not their priority tested. They literally have studies done, like had liver toxicity and some even died. They don't post anything on their website about the stuff they sell, but they promise weight loss and boosting your metabolism and all those other things. And we all know that that sells. And people are instantly attracted to that. Oh my gosh,
Participant #1:
the audio. The woman was too stunned to speak. I thought it's right now. Oh my gosh. I know. It's like everything bad that we ever talk about in one company. Yeah. And of course they have weight loss programs, and we all know how those probably turn out. And they put you on a 1000 calorie diet. They make you drink the shakes, and then boom, you lose weight, but then boom, a month later, you get it all back. They have all the things that they talk about. Exactly. They literally are. This is the final boss in our game. This is everything put together. Oh my gosh. Also, I just realized in your notes, you put products are not third party tested. I know that you don't see them. I like the dramatic effect. If I swear on my life that they're not third party test, I'm glad I can keep my life now. I'm blown away. I knew it was bad, but I did not realize how much worse it gets every time I heard more. I know. I was literally telling Emily I was giddy to record this episode because I knew Emily would be in shock. And I can't wait for you guys to hear this and hopefully be in shock.
Participant #1:
I remember I posted something on TikTok, like months ago about herbal life. And the comments were, I have much nicer comments than Hannah, but that's just because I've not really gone in on the boss, Babe. Jim Bro site of Tic TAC. And people are like, I thought herbal life was gone. It's awful. And I was like, I thought so too. But then I went to your comments literally, like, I remember your YouTube video. And then the most post I made on TikTok, they were within at least three months. And then I go onto your comments. And I was like, it seems like it's alive and kicking somehow. It is under the radar. Yeah. Which is so sketchy. Awesome. Everything about it. Yeah. They were like, you have no idea what you're talking about. Herbal Life is a great company. I lost XXX pounds. How that goes, you lose weight and something. You're an expert. But yeah, the comments were just that people backing up Herbal Life with their life. Everything I said triggered them in every way. They could not handle it. They took it so personally. Yes. I knocked on their door and told them they were a terrible person. No, I was bashing the company that they're supporting that is going to put them in debt. But, yes, blame the messenger. I feel on fire today.
Participant #1:
Oh, my gosh. Yeah, we should definitely. All right, team, vote of two. Raise your hand. This is really dumb. I have no trick.
Participant #1:
Raise your hand. If we should do an episode after watching the documentary, I can't see any of you raising your hands, but I'm going to assume you're all raising your hands because this is wild. And I'm sure the documentary has to have gone, like talking to people who are involved. This is all just something I Googled. This is just like my Google. Can we bring the documentary people on? That'd be wild. I don't know who these people are even more wild. It's like I was talking about. It came out like probably five years ago, if I guess. Here, I'll Google it. This all went down so long ago, but Herbalife is still kicking. Yeah.
Participant #1:
They're making money because people are distributing. They have so many distributors. All right, we should just get the final thoughts, because I'm not processing this fast enough while we're talking. I can talk about it all day. I believe it's too fun to speak. I have about 18 million more things to say. So we should just cut it off right here. Yeah. More parts to come, though. Don't worry. Yeah. If you guys like this MLM content, I will gladly dive deeper into other things. Like Beachbody. Beachbody. Let's do Beachbody, Beachbody. Isogenics. All of those. I always do Iogenics just because I never knew how to spell that before. Now I want to type away. Now you're inspired. Yeah. So, yes, Herbalife is just another fucking company. Literally. Anybody can make a protein powder these days. But they also have everything else under the sun you could ever want. But anyway, that's all they are. That's my company. Who doesn't actually care about your health or care if you lose weight or care if you get enough protein or anything like that. They are just trying to make money. They don't care about people that they are hiring or whatever. Like, even then, they're just hiring people to make money for themselves. The Spearman team. Yeah. And then going back to the beginning, if you remember, most people will not make profit, any type of profit. And they might even come out like in debt. There's a varying based off the numbers. Like $201 a month, maybe before expensive, before expensive. So maybe it's that $5 a month and people are coming like people are selling their souls for these companies. I don't care about them. And that's like upsetting because I know we talked about the people that defend the company and there are some times where you will be a part of something and you won't see the flaws and that is understandable, like good loyalties and whatnot. But also, if you're doing so much, this is not just MLM, this is real life. But if you are about to sell your solar company, that would replace you in 2 seconds. We need to do some critical thought, do some reevaluation. Yeah. That's not just MLM, that's real life. Your job is not everything. I'm a very passionate. I love working. I love what I do. And I want to own this giant business one day. Like I have dreams and I love working. But you also have to realize that there are things that matter more than that. You can be very passionate and disciplined and all of that. But there are things that still matter more than that. Yeah. Next point is these products won't give you energy or lead to weight loss that they promised. I would say they might give you energy if they have calories or caffeine, but the extreme claims they have, especially if they're not third party certified, we don't even know what's in that. How much caffeine is actually in your energy bombs or whatever. Yeah. Like is it an unhealthy amount? That's like nerve wracking too. What if there's like 600 milligrams of cap? Well, they have a whole sports performance line and I'm sure they have actually. I know they have like energy stuff like sports performance, like pre workouts and all that. Yeah. Which is like caffeine anyway. And then lastly, our final thoughts. This is in terms of the nutrition shops, support local restaurants and smoothie shops rather. And like coffee shops, they often sell smoothies, go to those places or make your own. I have a whole bunch of protein supplements I actually do really recommend and really enjoy that. I eat and drink daily, support those rather than some pyramid scheme that is making people poor. If they're not going to tell you what's in their product, that's a red flag right there. Right. Very scary. And they've literally been shown to lead to liver struggles and people have actually died.
Participant #1:
So that's herbaligh. We will definitely come back for a part two because as you can tell, I have a lot to say about this. Yeah. Good. This is good to talk about.
Participant #1:
I did not know how damaging it was Besides the Piccolo MLM supplement life. Exactly. Even beyond that, which is crazy because the supplement, as we talked about in the supplement episode. Those can be dangerous on their own in a lot of ways. Herbalize everything in one, everything's bad about nutrition in one little company. Yes.
Participant #1:
I'm excited for this one. So the bonus question for this episode is what is your favorite type of pizza? Hannah, you can start. Some examples are Chicago pizza, New York pizza, then crust. I think Detroit has a pizza. I don't really know what that is. I don't really know what theirs is, but I know that they do have a style. And there's also different Italian styles, like Neapolitan and a bunch of other ones that I can't think of. Yeah. And I don't know the name of my favorite because it might be like an Italian one, but it's like the one where would you get it at? It's like when you put it in the fire oven, it gets all bubbly. Like those burnt bubbles are on there. And it's like really stretchy and doughy. I don't know what you would call that style of pizza, though. It's not Chicago. It's not New York. It's not like a Ben crust. The dough is stretchy or cheese is stretchy. Stretchy was the wrong word. The dough is like chewy, I think. Chewy Margarita pizza. You get a Margarita pizza. Yes. I know you're talking about it's like kind of flat but still like. Yes, but it's like a ton of bubbles on it. Yes. I have no idea what that style is called, but that's my favorite kind of pizza. I do not either. That's a really good style of pizza. Okay, now I want Margarita pizza. Me too. I love Margarita pizza. I love basil. Yes. Give me all the fresh basil. Yes, that's a good choice. What's your favorite? My favorite is New York, and I am praying Chicago. But Chicago is something that I have to be in the mood for. New York. I am telling you, when I went there and had their pizza, it was a mind blowing. I always can eat Suncrust, but I don't even know how to describe why it's so good. The ingredients were so good and fresh. I don't know. It was incredible. I can't even describe what was good about it. It was just unreal. And I was like, was it like everywhere you went you could get a good piece of pizza or certain places. I actually only went to one place. Okay. Because I think we just weren't really hungry that much. But we went to some random pizza place. I would assume pizza really anywhere would be good because it was like this small little corner shop, but they had this huge line. And I was like, either we lucked out and found a really good place randomly or places are good, but it was just like unreal. And I got like a huge chain of pepperoni and cheese because I was like, I want two huge pieces of New York pizza. And I did not regret it. For 1 second. I don't think I've ever regretted getting pizza, but definitely not in this case. I was like, I could go eat more pizza if I could want to take more. My fullness cues now, but I'd probably not be happy. But it was like, I cannot describe to you what was so good about it, except for it just brought me sheer happiness. That's all you have to say. That's reason enough to go get some. I've been to New York City, but it was when I was too young to appreciate it. I think we have to go there and eat all the food. Emily and I have a long list of things that we need to do together. Yeah, we need finsy to be in New York, so that would just solve no problem. Then we wouldn't have to schedule a different trip. But also, I want to go on a totally different trip. That's true. Wow. Well, that's going to be shocking to those of our listeners who know that you're a Chicago Gal. I know. I would tell you, up until July of 2021, my favorite pizza was Chicago style pizza. But then I went to New York and I couldn't deny it. This is who I am now. I'm a strong advocate for New York style pizza. That's okay. Okay. You don't have to for everything from your city. Yeah, I still like deep dish. It's just any cafe. Have we talked about yet that Hannah had Luminati? Hannah. I had my first actual authentic Chicago pizza because we have Gigardano's here where I live. But it's obviously not in Chicago that I was eating it. So, yeah, it was so good. She got the loo. I think a lot of people on your Instagram saw it also in December, so I don't know,
Participant #1:
seems so long ago. But yeah, anyway, I've had Chicago, I've had New York, but again, it was like 15 years ago. And so I think mine is like an Italian crust, but I don't know the name of it. So if you guys know, let us know. Well, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of your loving season three so far. We will again definitely revisit this. We'll watch the documentary and do a part two and even more if we need to, but listening. Yeah. Well, see you next week. Yes, we will. Okay. Bye, everyone.
