At one Body By Vi website they say “A sluggish metabolism can occur when you cut food intake, yo-yo diet, lack exercise, and even happens with aging.” Well that's true, but can Vi Slim Metab-Awake tablets help you lose weight? ViSlim is a metabolism booster and weight loss supplement made by Body By Vi which has several weight management supplements and even a Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge to help people lose weight and get healthy. Vi Slim is supposed to “awaken your metabolism and help you burn fat naturally.” While technically your metabolism is always working and your body is always burning fat (your burring a LOT of fat right now actually), let's leave this grand claims alone and just focus on the facts. I've previously reviewed the Body By Vi weight loss shake and the 90 day challenge but in this review, I want to specifically look at the ingredients in the Vi Slim Metab-Awake supplement. Does the Vi Slim supplement help you lose weight faster? Does Vi Slim have any side effects? Let's check it out.
ViSalus websites
If you search for information on Body By Vi products be aware that you may or may not be on the actual ViSalus website. ViSalus distributors seem to have all sorts of ViSalus-sounding websites whose names are variations on the Body By Vi name. One of the good things about the distributors Body By Vi websites was that they gave me more information about the Body By Vi products. I say this because when I went to the main ViSalus website – Visalus.com – I couldn't easily view the ingredients of the Body By Vi products.
The ViSalus website does have a “products” page, but in order to dig deeper into the products, I have either to “be a customer” or “be a distributor.” They obviously want to collect my personal information, which I don't like.
Vi Slim Metab-Awake ingredients
Vi Slim – not to be confused with Vi Trim (that's another product they make) – is a 900 mg herbal blend containing:
- Theobroma Coca Extract
- Green Tea Extract
- Coleus Forskohlii Extract (Forslean)
- Yerba Mate Extract
- Evodiamine (Evodiae Fructus, Evothin)
So, what the heck is all this stuff? Here is a basic breakdown of these ingredients:
Theobroma Coca Extract. The tip-off is “Coca”. This is an extract of chocolate that has small amounts of caffeine. Natural caffeine or not – it's still caffeine.
Green tea extract. Green tea also has caffeine
Coleus Forskohlii Extract (Forslean). Another name for this ingredient is “Forskolin”. This ingredient comes from a plant (Plectranthus barbatus) and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for ages. Even though Coleus Forskohlii can be found in other weight loss supplements – and has even been mentioned on “Dr OZ” – there isn't much proof it works. For example, in one Coleus weight loss study from 2005, it didn't help women lose weight.
Considering all the attention coleus forskohlii gets from the supplement industry, I'd like to see some more research on this stuff.
Whether coleus forskohlii works or not is debatable, but even if it does help people lose weight, those who are not “healthy” need to be cautious of this herb.
Coleus forskohlii can cause vasodilation (expanding) of blood vessels. This can cause a decrease in blood pressure. Do not use Forskohlii if you use any medications – especially blood thinners or drugs used to treat heart disease or high blood pressure.
While I have no proof, I would also be cautious if taking Viagra or other drugs or supplements used for “male enhancement. If you are not “healthy”, you should speak to your doctor before using this herb.
Some Body By Vi distributors say that coleus forskohlii can help you preserve lean body mass but I can't find any good proof to substantiate this claim.
Yerba Mate Extract. This herb contains caffeine
Evodiamine. This is also a stimulant. One of the extracts in Evodamine (also called Evodia) is synepherine. In other supplements, this stuff is called “bitter orange.” Synepherine is chemically similar to ephedra. Synepherine can raise your heart rate and blood pressure.
They say Vi Slim Metabo Awake is “ephedra free” but it does contain something that “looks” like ephedra. Since it has no ephedra, distributors say Vi Slim does not cause “jitters.” I can't testify to this since I have not tried the product. I will await to hear from what users of Vi Slim tell me.
Speak to your doctor or pharmacist before using Vi Slim Metab Awake. I would be very cautious of this ingredient if you take ANY medications – especially those used for heart disease or high blood pressure.
For more info on Evodiamine see my review of Apidexin where I show you the studies on it.
All total, 2 tablets of the Vi Slim metabolism booster has 900 mg. But how much of that is caffeine? I honestly don't know but since 3 out of the 5 ingredients in the Vi Slim weight loss supplement have caffeine, I'm guessing it's a lot.
At one Body By Vi distributor website, they say that the Vi Slim Mebabo Awake weight loss supplement can help people burn an extra 85-125 calories per day which, they say, can lead to losing 10-15 pounds of fat per year. Where are these numbers coming from? As far as I can tell there is NO published scientific proof on ANY Body By Vi weight loss supplement.
How much does it cost?
Since the main ViSalus website wanted to collect my personal information, I had to search online for a price for the Vi Slim metabolism booster. At one Body By Vi Ambassadors website I saw that the price was $40 for a 30 day supply. I think that's a lot of money for a product that is basically a lot of caffeine and ingredients that enhance the effects of caffeine.
Here is the Metabo Awake product on Amazon for those who want to compare prices and read comments from others who have used it
What do you think?
Kathy says
All of these replies have been quite interesting, so I thought I’d put in my two cents. As far as thyroid issues, I don’t have a thyroid and I’ve struggled taking weight off for years! Before starting on the Vi shakes, I was on an 1100 calorie diet a day and lost a pound a month. Agreed, I was probably not eating enough to keep my metabolism going enough to burn the calories. After starting the Vi Sakes 6 weeks ago, I’ve lost 6 pounds…. a pound a week.
I’ve added the cereal as a meal replacement and sometimes as a snack but have not taken any of the pills, and probably won’t ever. I just have a “thing” about taking pills anyways!! But I feel great drinking the shakes and I’m satisfied losing a pound a week.
For the record — pyramid schemes are illegal!! Why can’t people conduct this as a business like anything else, without it being called a pyramid????? MLM’s are not pyramid schemes and this is becoming the future marketing platform. Other companies have done it for years and like any business, there are good and bad business owners/employers. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and understand how the dynamics are changing not just in this country, but worldwide.
Professional Network Marketing people understand this shift that has been going on for years, but the Pro’s also know the right and the wrong way to present their products, whatever it may be! Education and understanding is the effective way to conduct your business, not attacking them with negative approaches making them feel defensive or stupid.
I’m just saying there are those who truly care about people and I can see that the Vi Products have helped a lot of people, there is just no denying that! Everyone is different and the products work in that way….individually.
I think we have all been effected with decreasing food value in todays foods and inundated with preservatives, so give a company a break who is trying to make a difference in lives and helping to beat obesity! They are not out to make it worse or hurt anyone. Breath for goodness sakes and take a break!!
Joe says
Kathy, I had to remove your visalus distributor link as its against my site policy but I truly do appreciate you writing. What you say is true about “pyramid schemes” being illegal. I don’t think MLM has to mean the same thing as a pyramid scheme but I do believe the incentives of making more money by signing up more distributors naturally entices some people to get into the business who may not be honorable. I dont feel you are one of those because I can tell you spoke from the heart.
I think, this is the biggest obstacle for MLM to overcome. I have not yet found a MLM company that had a vetting process to screen potential distributors in an attempt to weed out people who might give the product/company a bad name. Does visalus vet their distributors?
In the weight loss MLM business I also believe there is a pressure on companies to diversify their product line to increase sales. This might introduce products that have no evidence or contain ingredients that may cause problems. When it comes to visalus shakes, I didn’t see anything exotic in them to make me think they were bad so that’s a plus. The Metab Awake product on the other hand is an example of what I believe. Besides just being mostly a caffeine supplement (caffeine alone does not cause weight loss), it also has some controversial ingredients such as green tea extract. There are case reports of liver failure from products having green tea extract. Yerba mate may be linked to throat cancer when consumed in liquid form. I dont think a pill form would do the same thing but, why even add it?
I didn’t know Visalus had a cereal so thanks for that info.
Martha says
So Joe, I love your review. I want to ask you what do you recommend as an appetite suppressant that REALLY will not cause jitters or alter the blood pressure. If such thing exists. I would love you opinion.
Joe says
Hi Martha, a lot of wt loss products have a fiber called glucomannan. if you search for it in the search box here youll see all the products that have it. I also mentioned this in my review of wt loss products and other things on my personal site here’s the link
http://www.joe-cannon.com/what-weight-loss-supplements-work/
lee says
just wondering y you are so down on visalus if you yourself joe has never used any of the product. how can you give advice on what it can or can not do. that’s almost like ordering a steak and saying u don’t like it yet u never hv eaten one. I hv not read one good thing u hv said about visalus.
Joe says
Hi Lee, That’s ironic because I thought I was fairly nice to visalus (the shake). Me trying a product does not add to the conversation as that would be a testimonial. Th web is full of visalus testimonials. If I did what you ask, how would you know I wasn’t making stuff up if I said “this is good” or “this is bad?” I prefer to look mostly at the science – the studies performed on the products or their ingredients – and let you decide. For what its worth, I don’t think it tastes bad – in fact I thought it tasted better than shakeology. Hows that 🙂
Carl J Speed II says
Hey Joe,
Came upon your site while searching the ingredients. Im doing Visalus after I haven’t been able to stick to any program for 13 years (and steadily gained weight over the years). Almost done with my first 90 day challenge, down about 50 lbs, feel great and in no danger of falling off.
That being said, I bought the Vi Slim for $40. Back in the day (mid 90s) I used to take a lot of supplements, and I remember discovering how many of them were based on bs science (vanadyl sulfate, etc) that weren’t worth what they charged you. I did find one peer-reviewed article about forskolin, ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16129715 ) but thats hardly adequate as far as studies go. Leave it to the industry to get a glimmer of light on a product and run with it.
I haven’t got the jitters. I take one a day and to be honest, I dont notice any discernible difference (so I honestly don’t know if it aided my weight loss, but I’m more inclined to believe that going from 4000 calories a day to 1300-1800 had more to do with it). I guess its buyer beware, and as you’re making so many changes, it’s hard to actually attribute what success this may or may not be responsible for.
Joe says
Carl, thats fantastic -50 pounds!