“Balance of Nature” is a fraud company. Claims about “fruits and veggies in a pill” is a scam.

What I hope to accomplish by this title is that when umpteen thousands of folks google something such as,  “is balance of nature a scam” that they will find this page …. and save themselves hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a marginal product which promises the moon, but delivers crap-in-a-pill.

The reason I’m writing this article is because  I’ve been doing extensive research trying to find natural (non-drug) ways to battle my beloved’s bout with cognitive decline — which may, or may not, be Alzheimer’s.  And sure enough, Balance of Nature has testimonials that these fruits-and-veggies-in-a-capsule can alleviate cognitive decline!!

I’m fairly well educated, and well read, and I have the time to do research. I’m writing for the guy or gal in Paducah , KY who has a loved one facing mental decline, does a quickie search, and then thinks he has found an answer that will help his or her spouse. Companies that spread false hope need to be put out of business, and their executives brought to justice. (Dr. Douglas Howard is founder and President.)

WHAT IT CURES OR RELIEVES

Balance of Nature (BoN) advertises very heavily on talk radio …. as in every single day, and several spots per hour.  On weekends they run infomercials that run for several hours in a monotonous repetitive loop.  Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Mark Levin and others whore out their names by personally endorsing and pushing this product during their broadcasts.

Virtually every single commercial is nothing but some customer (wink, wink) giving their personal anecdotes on how gosh-darn wonderful this product is.  Some people claim it has actually saved their lives.  Below are just some of the benefits claimed by users of the product either via the commercials or, the BoN web site:

“… cancer has virtually disappeared, healthy hair and nails, normalizes thyroid levels, reduces blood pressure,  B12 shots no longer needed, diabetes practically disappears, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, acne, makes skin glow, weight reduction, resolves deep cognitive issues, colds go away faster if they appear at all, glaucoma and better vision all around, lowers cholesterol, migraine relief,  etc., ad infinitum ad absurdum.”

That’s their advertising hook; everyone has something that BoN can fix! Although, I haven’t yet heard or read that BoN will heal tooth cavities or cure anal warts. On the other hand, it might even cure anal warts if some customer shoves 3 capsules up their ass for a month, and then submits a testimonial.

TO HELL WITH YOUR TESTIMONIALS!!!  —–   WHERE IS THE SCIENCE?????

Regarding this product and its outrageous claims that it provides for better health by curing just about everything, here are the number of peer-review studies backing such claims and published in reputable medical journals;  ZERO.

It bears repeating; there is no science backing up any of their claims. Instead, they rely on what I will call “imputed science”.  By this I mean that;

— 1) there are indeed studies which show that broccoli (as just one example) is very good for you, and may even help prevent cancer,

— 2) and,  since BoN contains broccoli,

— 3) therefore BoN is supported by science!  (Of course, such convoluted reasoning is illogical on so many levels.)

Yet, even though there are no such studies, they write this on their web page;

“Our success stories are unsolicited. Our research is thorough and reliable. Each study has been conducted by third-party hospitals, universities, or research departments.”

This is an outright lie. This author could not find anything about their “research” nor a single “study” either on the BoN website, or anywhere on the Internet.  They do tell the truth in the “Disclaimers” section of their web site.  They write (CAPS are theirs);

“IT [fruits and veggies in a capsule]  IS NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL OR HEALTH CARE ADVICE, OR TO BE USED FOR MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT, FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM.”

In other words, after bombarding Americans with tens of thousands of testimonials that their product cures everything, and falsely claiming they have studies which prove these claims …. they then basically tell you not to believe any of it!

EGREGIOUSLY DECEPTIVE LABELING — Fruits & Veggies

Image result for balance of nature ingredients

I read all labels before I purchase any food. Although it may exist, I have never seen any other product labeled in the manner done by BoN.

1)- They list their ingredients alphabetically! The standard convention is to list ingredients by amounts — usually, the biggest by weight are listed first, then the next biggest, etc.

By listing them alphabetically you, the consumer, have absolutely no idea which fruits and veggies are most prevalent in their formula. You have absolutely no idea whether or not your fruit pill is 90% apple, or some other cheaper ingredient. You have absolutely no idea whether or not your veggie pill is 90% soy, or some other cheaper ingredient with less nutritional value than an expensive vegetable. This is so deceptive (and, unhelpful) that it seems reasonable to conclude that this deception was done on purpose — to hide something (for example, you fruit pill is basically an apple!).

Worse yet, their veggies contain soy! Again, you have no idea how much soy (a very very cheap product). What if it’s 50% soy?  You would be very hard pressed to find any nutritional experts who think that people would benefit from more soybean in their diet. Yet, there it is. And what does BoN say about soybeans on their webpage?  Unbelievably, this …

“Conclusion: Eat Soybeans. They’re good for you. There are no studies that have been conducted on whole, unprocessed, natural soybeans that show negative results.”

 

2)- BoN does NOT list any Minimum Daily Requirement (MDA) percentages!

This is utterly astonishing. Keep in mind that BoN claims that when you take their pills you are eating the equivalent of more than 10 servings of fruits and vegetables.  Anyone eating ten servings of fruits and vegetables would expect to see about 100% MDA in several key areas; Vitamin C, Vitamin A, etc.  Yet, you, the consumer has no idea if you’re getting 100% of your MDA — or 10%, or less.   Again, one has to ask; “What are they hiding?”

The label does not even contain common percentage information about carbohydrate, sugars, protein, or fat.

EGREGIOUSLY DECEPTIVE LABELING — Fiber & Spice

Image result for balance of nature spice ingredients

Fortunately, their Fiber&Spice label does contain some minimal information.  Again, the spices are listed alphabetically. I’ll bet you’re getting a whole bunch of Allspice (a cheap spice), and just fractions of a gram of Cardamon (a very expensive spice).

But, notice the first three ingredients are psyllium husk, flax seed, and whole apple.  Then notice that fiber is 40% of daily value! In other words, it’s a safe and reasonable assumption that around half of you spice pill is nothing but husk, flax, and apple … leaving you about one measly gram of all the other spices!  (Now we’re starting to understand what they are hiding.)

Why isn’t the product labeled “organic”?

What’s interesting about their labeling is what they left out. The product is NOT “organic”.  This is somewhat odd considering the great lengths they go through on their web page telling you they use only the best ingredients, from reputable farmers, picked only when ripe, etc., etc.  Also interesting is their response (which I find rather cheap and hilariously pathetic);

“Balance of Nature will not use a symbol on our labels and marketing material we feel cheapens it.”

THE ASTRONOMICAL PRODUCT COSTS — $$$

A question many people have is “how do they get all those fruits and veggies in a pill”?

One of their radio commercials informs the listener that it’s because fruits and veggies are about 85% water.  Okaaaay …. 15% of one carrot is still a lot of carrot to fit into one teeny pill, not to mention the 20+ other veggies that need to be added!  Their web page gives a little more info;

“Think of an orange. An orange represents one serving. Once the orange has been flash dried and ground into powder, it will be in the volume of about 1 teaspoon. Everything is there except the water and the air. Perhaps a fraction of this teaspoon would be found in a daily dosage of Fruits.”

Did you get that last sentence? Once an orange (or, whatever) is dried out, and ground into powder, you’re getting a “fraction” of what’s left over.

In other words, it doesn’t matter if they dehydrate a billion pounds of veggies and turn it into fairy dust.  What YOU get is whatever fits into that teeny tiny capsule.  And how big, in weight, is that capsule?  It’s right on their label …..

2.4 grams

That’s less than 8/10ths of one ounce (specifically, 0.084 ounces).

They want you to take 3 pills a day.  That’s a quarter of one ounce of veggies. (They want you to believe that a quarter of an ounce of powder is the same as 10 servings of actual food.)   The entire bottle of 90 capsules weighs a mere 7.7 ounces.

Regular customers pay $90 PER bottle …. for 7.7 ounces of powdered vegetable.

So, if you are married with two children, you will be paying $360 for 30 ounces of dried powdered vegetable and fruits.

If this isn’t the definition of insanity, then I don’t know what is.

A COMPANY WITH A VERY BAD REPUTATION

The National Advertising Division has referred Balance of Nature’s internet advertising to the FTC after the company failed to respond to the group’s inquiry despite repeated attempts to engage the company in the self-regulatory process. Claims at issue mirror those that comprise the following ad alert, published nearly a year ago, including the implied claims that the health benefits in a serving of Balance of Nature are equivalent to 10 servings of real fruits and vegetables and that Balance of Nature prevents cancer.”  —— more info  here.   

And to top it all off ….

BALANCE OF NATURE GETS A BIG FAT “F’ RATING FROM THE BBB

CONCLUSION

BoN sells false hope in a capsule and at an enormous cost to you — in both your wallet and shattered emotions (when you discover you were sold snake oil promises).

Here is the simple truth:  taking a fruit and vegetable pill  is NOT the same as eating actual fresh produce. BoN wants to trick you into believing their lie that pills are equivalent to real food. It is anything but. Please, don’t fall for it.

“The key question is whether a purified phytochemical has the same health benefit as does the whole food or mixture of foods in which the phytochemical is present . . . We propose that the additive and synergistic effects of phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities, and that the benefit of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is attributed to the complex mixture of phytochemicals present in WHOLE FOODS [emphasis added].”  —-– read more here.

Here is the ultimate simple truth.

— EAT JUST ONE APPLE (or, any other fruit) and you’ll be far better off than taking a fruit pill.

— EAT JUST A FEW FLORETS OF BROCCOLI and you’ll be far far better off than taking a veggie pill.

And you’ll also have a lot more money in your pocket.

God Bless.

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Author: Stucky

I'm right, you're wrong. Deal with it.

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Anonymous
Anonymous

My wife used this stuff religiously for a solid six months. She and I each read all the guidelines that are designed to give the most positive experience possible. We made sure that everything everyday was done by the book. The result: Absolutely nothing. Drinking vodka and smoking cigars at least gives a result.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Thank you!

Ron
Ron

Thank you for this post. Their ads are poorly written, extremely insulting and their claims are infuriating. Who in the heck do they think they’re writing down to? The Liberty Mutual ads are first class and highly creative. The same for Paine Factor. But not these people. They’re in-your-face crude. I wouldn’t buy their product if hell froze over. I just wish Fox would monitor how many people switch channels or turn off the TV when viewers are hit over the head with outlandish claims,

Ron
Ron

Finally, I told my wife “do not turn on Fox News” in the morning. I can’t stand it anymore.
The ‘in-your face’ ambush style of ad is infuriating; ramming their product name into your face within the first few seconds or,worse yet, making false claims about some old guy who was restored to life by virtue of their product. They must think we’re uneducated hillbillies

The ads are like drive by shootings that you can’t escape. Turn on Fox and get hit over the head. Walk by the TV set and get nailed again, and again. The product bottles are pushed into your face before the channel gets changed. I wouldn’t buy that product if Hell froze over.

There has to be ad blockers for TV and I’m either going to buy one or build one. Enough already!!

Anonymous
Anonymous

There has to be ad blockers for TV

There is a free one. It is the power cable at the back. Unplug it.

Anonymous
Anonymous

All I know, these SATURATION BoN ads are killing talk radio. Day and night, they NEVER EVER end. I can’t stand it anymore!!! Especially the Motorcycle Kathi Gifford ones!!

Sargon
Sargon

Yes, BoN is BS, clearly. They cant suspend the laws of physics (ie, the meager amount of dried produce per capsule is completely worthless). But one would have to be an “uneducated hillbilly” to think that “Liberty Mutual ads are first class and highly creative”. “Liberty, liberty, LIB-ER-TY, liberty” The creative minds behind those ads must be brain dead. Some of the worst drek on TV

Robert Lloyd

I have joking told my wife while being inundated by Balance of Nature ads that they have the finest ad campaign and agency working for them in existence. The beautiful and rich colors and design of the labels in the commercials are absolutely brilliant. The wholeheartedness of the testimonies along with (for some reason) handicapped people (with no story line as to why they are in this commercial, which I suspect for sympathy towards the product). Then it dawned on me how could people pay for a pill of dried out and crushed produce when we live in America and right down the street is one of the finest grocery stores in the world with fresh fruit and vegetables OVERFLOWING in the aisles. Now I just read this fine article and feel I’m not alone in my common sense approach to this fraudulent marketing campaign and company. This campaign and product is mere hysteria in this liberal world of nonsense. Fox should reconsider taking their ad money. They can do better. Hey, just go to your local grocery store!

John
John

Yes, as a retired psychologist I was struck, from the outset, at how cleverly these commercials and packaging and the narratives they create are some of the most powerful uses of psychology I’ve seen in advertising of this kind, and no doubt this gives this worthless stuff a GREAT deal of placebo value. (And, incidentally, I can’t get away from these ads on MSNBC, either, so it’s not just a Fox thing.

S
S

Just wanted to say I really appreciate you being comprehensive what you’ve written here for people like me, who are asked by family after my telling them its nothing but another scam, “Why is it so bad? Fox News advertises it all the time.” I am like a blue island that is unfortunately in the middle of a red ocean, with other islands around but hard to find locally at times. Thank goodness for the Internet, where I can graze my keyboard for a few moments and find direct articles that have more succinctly been written out then my trying to get every point across myself off the top of my head via on-the-spot speech. I’m fairly skilled at math, and the simple observational geometry alone that three pills that size & mass aren’t the same as even half the recommended servings of fruits/veggies per day (not to mention that one is only 2.4 grams) was an automatic red flag for me the first time I ever caught wind of one of the BoN commercials and the stuff they were actually saying. I’m glad to have found another island who is also on the same page as I am, if even only when it comes to something like the question of any validity of BoN. Thanks for your post!

George Ussery
George Ussery

Have you actually tried it? I have and had good results. I drink, smoke and party a little too much so therefore I do not eat right. When I tried it I got regulated and had very good energy and good bowel movements. Maybe its just me but I like it. I do however think they are overpriced. Good day all!

Anonymous
Anonymous

people and I mean any people who think you can substitute fruits and veggies with a dumb pill are buying snake oil from a shoe clerk.

You cant fix STUPID

Anonymous
Anonymous

VA VA VOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROFLMAO

Anonymous
Anonymous

I always look to Kathy Gifford for nutritional advice

John
John

I am a retired psychologist, and I am not at all surprised at all the positive comments people make about their experience with this stuff. It’s due to a very genuine and powerful effect on health called the “placebo effect,” and the surest way to increase the placebo value of a product is to create overblown expectations, put together an attractive narrative, repeat the claims ad nauseam, charge people a bloody fortune for the stuff, and ask them to make a long-term commitment to it. Few people have the ego strength to admit even to themselves that they just blew the budget on sugar pills, which is exactly what the “Fruits” pill itself is. As I noted elsewhere, read the label. It’s 2 g of sugar in the 2.011 g of “active ingredients,” which makes it 99.5% sugar. Do the math yourself. Not to mention the fact that if you feel bad about not eating better, which is quite normal, doing something daily that you think is going to help and costs a bunch can ease your mind, which has positive effects on health even when the thing is of no medical value. So hell no, I won’t try it. I get my sugar in my morning coffee, thank you, and a hell of a lot cheaper, and I try to make up for my own dietary deficiencies with actual vitamins. Which is not to say the alleged veggie capsule is any more nutritious, although it claims to be “only” half sugar and starch. Most of the rest of this is simply cellulose, aka empty pulp. These folks won’t change medical history, but their having figured out how to get otherwise rational folks to plunk down $100 a month on sugar pills will go down in the annals of psychology, and the Propaganda Hall of Fame.

Stop Scammers
Stop Scammers

A lot of the ads for health supplements that run on cable news channels are scams and that target seniors, many that are in the early stages of dementia, and the companies get them to sign up for auto delivery in exchange for a preferred customer discount. Then they make it very difficult for them to cancel because they have to call and then the phones are almost always busy and if they leave a message, companies claim they never received their message to cancel.

Most of these types of products sold on cable news channels are sold at 3x or higher than the cost of similar products. People lose hundreds of dollars before they cancel because the companies make if very difficult for you to cancel. Balance of Nautre required you to call and then people received automated messages and could never reach customer reps. If they left phone messages, Balance of Nature almost always claimed they had already shipped their next scheduled order, or they claimed they never received their message. Eventually after a lot of complaints were filed on online complaint boards, the company finally set up a way for customers to cancel through their online ordering system, but that doesn’t help those seniors who aren’t tech savvy. BTW – when customers do reach a live person and ask to cancel, customer reps use heavy pressure to try and convince them that they haven’t taken the product long enough and convince them they need to keep taking it.

I feel that companies like Balance of Nature exploit seniors, especially seniors in the early stages of dementia and people that any placebo would work on.

Rob P.
Rob P.

First off, it’s a product allegedly developed by a Chiropractor, not a real doctor or scientist; this should give anybody pause. Second, it’s merely freeze dried food stuffed in a capsule, sold at outrageous prices. Not since Gary Null has there been such outright quackery based on glowing testimonials and slick advertising, not real science. How they are allowed to continue selling this without any disclaimers is baffling. Where is the FDA?

Anonymous
Anonymous

It’s not food and it is not a drug.

lisa burton
lisa burton

Worst of all the Balance of Natur veggie formula contains SOY which is a powerful hormone disruptor! A phyo plant estrogen that interferes with testosterone and causes weight gain, breast swelling, brain fog and possibly cancer. Give this to your children and you will disrupt their hormones. The Fiber & Spice contains flaxseeds.. flaxseeds are the most estrogenic of all plant foods. What is is the company trying to do? Why are they manufacturing their low grade product with plant ESTROGENS? Estrogens will cause weight gain they are feeding SOY to all livestock now it fattens them up and its a cheap feed. We are estrogenizing the American people. This is wrong. This product needs to be pulled by the FDA. They’ve been lax on it. Let’s beat them to it and don’t order this junk

lisa burton
lisa burton

Balance of Nature veggie formula contains SOY which is a powerful hormone disruptor! A phyo plant estrogen that interferes with testosterone and causes weight gain, breast swelling, brain fog and possibly cancer. Give this to your children and you will disrupt their hormones. The Fiber & Spice contains flaxseeds.. flaxseeds are the most estrogenic of all plant foods. What is is the company trying to do? Why are they manufacturing their low product with plant ESTROGENS? Estrogens will cause weight gain they are feeding SOY to all livestock now it fattens them up and its a cheap feed. We are estrogenizing the American people. This is wrong. This product needs to be pulled by the FDA. They’ve been lax on it. Let’s beat them to it and don’t order this junk

Mon
Mon

This is fantastic. Thanks for debunking their bullshit claims.

Also, basically, if it comes from a Utah-based “enterpreneur”, it’s a scam, outright fraud, or just your garden variety fleecing. Utah is rife with snake oil salesmen and scam artists who rely upon their “faith” to provide their sheep’s clothing. They’re so used to being lied to (dumb dumb dumb dumb duuuuumb) that they just think fleecing and lying is how life is.

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