Frutaiga...is it a Wonder Drink?

Question: from Selbourne

My friend has introduced me to this antioxidant drink named "frutaiga", What is your take on this supplement? Thanks.

Answer: from Joanna (Medical Nutritionist for Xtend-Life)

This is one amongst many so-called 'superfood' drinks on the market. These types of drinks are OK and can contain good ingredients, if you are unable to maintain a normal healthy diet with fresh fruits and vegetables. They will provide a reasonable ‘top up’ but they are very much full or marketing hype in terms of their claims.

The ingredients in this particular one are a couple of herbal extracts plus pomegranate (readily available) and bilberry (again readily available). So my take on this product and on similar types of products is that if you can get hold of the fresh fruits themselves, blend them in a drink at home, you have a ready-made and much cheaper solution!
 
If you look at sites like this you will notice that there is always a business opportunity attached, showing that this is their main aim. Costs are very high for these products when you consider what you actually get.  , and in this case it is no different.  Some of the hype such as 5000 year old secrets is a bit over the top.
 
Their ingredients and supplement facts pages are not working on site and I haven’t been able to access them elsewhere, so I cannot be specific in an analysis of what they are offering. However, as a general discussion, the benefits of fruits and vegetables have been known for a long time and are used in nutritional practice everyday. There is no secret!
 
When looking at this and similar products, bear in mind that yes, you are getting a product that will do you some nutritional good. If you are not able to get a good average healthy diet, then adding something like this would be good. But you will still need more for optimum health.
 
However you can get similar benefit by eating and drinking a normal healthy diet. Now, if you are looking for something more - which let's face it we do all need, as it is not possible, rarely possible, to achieve complete nutrition now from food alone - then you could get all of the things advertised in these 'business opportunity drinks', and much more, in something like our Total Balance formula! A much more comprehensive dietary supplement that will provide much more long-term and value for money benefit, with over 75 essential and speciality ingredients.

Reader Comments (7)

Oral Chelation. Is it a viable solution to cleaning out the circulatory system.
Joe

October 30, 2007 | Joe Ligon

Hi Joe,

Most oral chelation products rely on EDTA which is an inexpensive synthetic amino acid. EDTA is designed to chelate heavy metals in the system and it does little to actually cleaning out the circulatory system.

However, you would need to take a lot of it orally to get any benefits, and even then it is far from certain. EDTA is generally given intravenously. Some people swear by it, others think it is a waste of money.

There may be some benefits to it when given intravenously but I honestly don't know enough about it to give an informed opinion.

What I do know that if you want to clean our your arteries orally I know of no better option than our own Cardio-Klenz which has been designed specifically for that purpose.
http://www.xtend-life.com/product/Cardio-Klenz.aspx

October 30, 2007 | Warren Matthews

Should I be concerned about taking the full recommended dosage of Total Balance right away? If I take the full dosage from the start and not skip any days, should I be surprised by any side affects or surprising results that may make me uncomfortable?

I'm a 39 year old male in decent condition.

November 7, 2007 | David Shurkin

Hello! Love the blog. In regards to the product Frutaiga I was speaking with some formulaters that know the product well. It does not contain pomegrate juice, it is an extract of the specific polyphenols and other actives in the Russian pom. and then concentrated. Same with the other 3 ingredients. Different than all the juices. It is standardized at a level of actives that corrolate with the studies. They told me that it was done right. The actives are adaptogens, and you can not get them in your diet, they are a completely different category of compounds. The fact that there is a business attached, I like that. All franchises have a business attached to their products as well. Nothing wrong with it in my opinion.

November 11, 2007 | Richard

Hi David,

It is generally OK to go on to the full dose of Total Balance immediately and it is unlikely that you would have any side effects. BUT...very occassionally the odd person does experience some discomfort for a few days as they go through a form of 'detox'.

The better condition you are in the less likely it is that you will experience anything like that. If you do, just stop the supplements for a few days and then resume at a half or third dose and every few days increase the amount until you get up to the full dose.

November 12, 2007 | Warren Matthews

Hi Richard,

Glad you like the blog and thanks for your comments. If they have standardised the actives such as polyphenols that is good but it really doesn't make it all that special. For example, we standardise the polyphenols in our green tea extract to 98%.

The marketers of Frutaiga should be upfront and publish exactly what they have in their product so consumers can assess the levels of actives that they are getting for their money. The should also reveal the amount of sweeteners etc they use to mask the bitter taste of the extracts.

If they did this I am sure that it would help their marketing efforts.

November 12, 2007 | Warren Matthews

I bought some Frutaiga from a local trainer in LA. Have to say I love it I use many great products and this one is wonderful. Lots of trainers and celebs are using it around LA.

December 20, 2007 | Richard