The Pink Drink Phenom

So everybody in the world (and by the world I mean my world and by my world I mean facebook....lets cut the crap) is talking about this new weightloss miracle "Plexus Slim" or "the pink drink" (which is not, to the chagrin of a friend of mine, Pepto Bismol).

 From the website Plexus Slim is "an all natural way to lose weight" by adding one "stick to a bottle of water, shake and drink." The page also claims to "help keep blood sugar and cholesterol down."

When used as part of a daily hydration regimen (1 stick pack per day), Plexus Slim promotes:

• Loss of weight and inches by burning fat, not muscle
• Healthy blood sugar levels
• Healthy cholesterol and lipid levels
• Healthy will power over food choices
• Free radical scavenging (reduces oxidative stress)

Plexus Slim is:

• Safe, non-stimulatory and non-thermogenic
• Diabetic friendly
• FREE OF CAFFEINE AND OTHER STIMULANTS.

Oh and by the way, if you like it that much, you can become an "ambassador"(i.e. salesperson) and earn money while you lose weight."
Now, I consider myself fairly open minded. Having said that, I am also not interested in investing time, money (quite a fair chunk might I add) and my health into something based on a few testimonials from people who just started it. Soooooo I did my research...man there is alot big words out there....and then I dumbed it down so I could understand it. This is what I learned....learnt....no it's learned..this will also be a long one btw....so grab a coffee and come back if you'd like....I'll wait. Lastly, if you want to just skip to the bottom, I break it down fairly quick in the conclusion. But don't be so damn lazy, just read it.....GAWD!

Ingredients:
PROPRIETARY HEALTH BLEND*, POLYDEXTROSE, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, BEET ROOT & GRAPE SKIN EXTRACT, STEVIA EXTRACT, LO HAN EXTRACT
*CHLOROGENIC ACID (PLANT EXTRACT), CITRIN K (GARCINIA CAMBOGIA), ALPHA LIPOIC ACID, OXYPREGNANE STEROIDAL GLYCOSIDE (PLANT EXTRACT), CHROMIUM (AMINO NICOTINATE GTF).

Raise your hand if you understand more than 2 of those words....anyone? Yup, me either. So let's dumb it down

POLYDEXTROSE: Polydextrose is an indigestible synthetic polymer of glucose. Basically it's a man made sugar substitue that is high in fiber. Being high in fiber it can help....ummmm....clear things out. (make ya poop)
CITRIC ACID: It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks. Probably used in this to give it flavor...also does contain the same properties as lemon juice, so it's safe to assume there is vitamin c in there.
NATURAL FLAVORS; Beware of natural flavors. I found this awesome quote "Natural flavor is a man-made additive, and it makes processed food and fast food taste outstanding. It’s not the only additive that flavors our (processed and fast) food, but it sure does a great job. So-called natural flavor is produced in laboratories to give flavor to processed foods that lose almost all flavor through the processes of freezing, dehydrating, and canning. It is made from infinitesimal amounts of chemicals, or more so a collection of gases." Aint nothin natural about that. Also for the record, castoreum is a natural flavor...it comes from the beavers sex gland....chew on that for awhile. Beaver sex flavor....yummy.
BEET ROOT & GRAPE SKIN EXTRACT: I searched around and found some proof that grape skin is somewhat of an antioxidant, but when they combine the two the way they did in the list, it is more likely that they are in there as a natural food coloring. No weight loss effects that I can find. It's what makes the pink drink pink.
STEVIA EXTRACT: This is another all natural sweetner that has been touch and go with health canada. There is no proven side effect, good or bad, in using this. There is also no proven or even suggested weight loss applications for this except that it makes things taste sweeter, therefore more delicious, without using sugar.
LO HAN EXTRACT: Thank god this is not an additive extracted from Lindsay Lohan....though that might help with weight loss....i hear crack is a great deterrant from eating and lord knows that girls blood is laced with something....oh snap, did I go there? Yes I did. But no really, it's another sweetner. This time from a fruit as opposed to a plant like stevia, but other than that, nothing healthy or weightlossy (shut up that's a word) about it.
CHLOROGENIC ACID: "Chlorogenic acid, an ester of caffeic acid and quinic acid, is a major phenolic compound in coffee, but is also found widespread in plants and can be isolated from the leaves and fruit. This compound, long known as an antioxidant, also slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal. "(source organic-herb.com) . So this would be an natural antioxidant which is good for cleaning up the blood stream and such which I am assuming is why this was first being studied as a drink to assist in diabetes. So this is good stuff....unfortunately its lower on the list of ingredients which means it is a smaller amount then everything above it.
CITRIN K : This compound has been associated with gradual decrease in body fat, nutritionally supporting healthy cholesterol levels, and suppressing hunger cravings frequently. Thats a quote from another weightloss supplement site
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/12312/lose_weight/a_look_at_weight_loss_vitamins.html...
you dont need to go there or anything, i just dont want any copyright lawsuits...lol. So thats the good stuff. However after looking into it, i saw some scary stuff about how it was linked to liver damage and muscle damage, as well a couple of sites suggested that putting green tea in instead would have the same results with out the negative side effects.
ALPHA LIPOIC ACID: Out of all the ingredients listed this one impressed me the most...unfortunate that it is so far down on the list...according to wikipedia this acid has the potential too:

Prevent organ dysfunction (take that citrin k), treat or prevent cardiovascular disease, reduce inflammation, prevent or slow Alzheimers, prevent erectile dysfunction (active component in the little blue pill maybe?) and a bunch of other beneficial stuff. It is essentially an antioxidant.

OXYPREGNANE STEROIDAL GLYCOSIDE: Back to the liver damage....this is the active component in the Hoodia cactus which is widely sold as a proven appetite suppressant...in animals....it also caused liver failure and damage to animals...though apparently it was injected into thier brains. So whatever you do, don't do that. It's also stated that it has a low bioavailability score and high elimination rate which basically means your body doesn't asorb this well and therefore you poop and pee most the good stuff out.

CHROMIUM: For those of you who watched Erin Brokivich, don't worry...we aren't talking (I seriously seriously hope) about the toxic stuff in the water ( I hope). We are talking about the mineral that all humans require in trace amounts that has been linked to weight loss and increaseing lean muscle mass. And diabetes control btw. However (theres that word again)  a recent review of 24 studies that examined the effects chromium on body mass or composition found no significant benefits. Another study done found some weightloss benefits, but they were so slight that the results were arguable at best and the study was uncontrolled.

IN CONCLUSION:
So here is what I am gathering. We have a drink that has lots of sweetners and colorers (is that a word) that are all quite natural, but non-beneficial to weight loss. We have some minerals and acids that have positive anti oxidant effects, and as far as that goes you certainly arent hurting anything and in fact are helping some things, but not neccessarily weightloss . The one or two things that have any effective weightloss componentshad further studies done either debunking the theories/studies, or showing some potentially dangerous side effects. Lastly, you will be paying out the nose for this. From the Plexus slim website, here is the summery chart of thier most recent trial.

Source: www.plxusslim.com/testimonials

I was actually thinking that this was pretty positive until i looked at the dates. The final total was after 5 mths. If in 5 mths I only lost 5 or 10 or even 16 lbs i think I would cry...alot. In 30 days I have lost more weight than 75% of these "patients" by what? That's right folks, healthy diet and moderate excercise. I also love the loss of fatty inches column...how many inches, which fatty areas? No specifics, just Yep....they sure did. This chart actual angered me....

So in conclusion, I will not be partaking in the expensive "Pink Drink" because from what I have personally researched, I see absolutely no benefits other than the same ones I can recieve by following Canada 's Food Guide and excercising 30 min a day at least 3 (i do 5) times a week and a glass of green tea and some lemon water. And seriously, I think my liver has taken enough damage, i don't think i should be beating on it any more. Don't get me wrong my friends, if it works for you, then by all means go for it. Just don't expect any miracle results, realize that this is a temporary assistance and if you don't change your habits, you will gain it all back again anyway, and consult your doctor. Some of these ingredients interfere with some prescription drugs. Thanks for your time and hopefully Plexus Slim doesn't sue me. Also I would love any comments, good or bad about your experience with it. Let me know if it worked, how it worked, if it sucked, and how it sucked. It's great to have comparrisons out there.