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?