The other day I came across Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies on the same day I was watching a movie with my eldest kid. The movie involved a futuristic version of society, in which the characters no longer needed to eat.
Instead, they got all the nutrition they needed from pills. “But won’t they be hungry?” she wisely pitched in. I can only imagine, I told her, that they also take a pill to make them feel full.
It can’t just be me who feels that this is exactly where, as a society, we are heading? Supplement makers are and have been for a while, selling to customers the idea of something as easy as a pill that will cut out all of the ‘hassle’ of eating whole foods and deriving nature’s bountiful health benefits.
This is why I think it’s really important, before parting with your hard-earned dollars, to do some research into what it really is that you receive in return. So here is my Balance of Nature review in full.
I tried over 77 brands: check out my round-up of the best powdered greens!).
What is Balance of Nature?
It’s not just standard vitamin pills anymore. In searching for this new wave of fruit and veggies superfood powders I’ve stumbled across a product called Balance of Nature, which comprises two forms of capsules of fruits and veggies powders.
The claim – which is by no means a new one – is that they are doing what all the others do only somehow better. The makers say that they don’t use heat to dehydrate their fruits and veggies, therefore retaining more of the ‘goodness’ and nutrition of the product. This is very intriguing and I’d like to know more.
Claiming to be ‘serious nutrition’ I’d like to know how Balance of Nature can deliver on the promises they make, so here’s my full Balance of Nature review.
Background on Balance of Nature
In 1996, Dr. Douglas Howard developed a form of dehydration called ‘flash drying’ which, it is claimed, retains 99% of the nutrients within fresh produce when reduced to a powdered form.
It is proposed that the whole process – which is done in low levels of heat, light, and air – purposefully limits the amount of oxidation from the produce and therefore all the goodness goes directly to you when you consume the powder.
Balance of Nature capsules come in fruit and veggie varieties, and the idea is that you take three a day, one alongside each meal, as a supplement to enable you to derive fruit and vegetable nutrition but without the hassle of preparing whole foods to eat.
But what about the fiber, I ask myself…
Their fiber products (Fiber & Spice) neatly package precisely the fiber you are missing out on by taking powdered fruits and vegetables.
The ‘whole health system’ (taking the fruit, veggie, and fiber all together) says it will simplify your life. Everything that your doctor or nutritionist says you should be getting more of, in terms of whole foods, you can buy from Balance of Nature and take in capsule (and powder) form. How neat!
How modern!
But how is this any different from the other green superfoods competition?
Not only do they set out to help you to eat more healthily, but Balance of Nature also offers a Health Coaching service that keeps you accountable for your health and fitness lifestyle choices, another aspect of the company which gives “added value” to the products.
Balance of Nature Ingredients
The fruit capsules contain a blend of the following ingredients:
The veggies capsules contain a blend of the following ingredients:
Now, rather than go into great detail about the health benefits of each individual fruit and vegetable, I’m going to talk about how the makers of this product have pitched the benefits to customers, and what my take is on this.
Firstly, they don’t give any amounts for their nutritional information. That means that how much of each ingredient is included in their blend is actually hidden from the customer.
This is disappointing. I’d like to know if I’m getting a full portion of cranberries in this blend, to say nothing of the amount of kale in the veggie blend.
It’s also a shame that so much of the information about this product is hidden inside their FAQ page of the website. There is very little up-front which tries to inform the customer about their preparation methods and the added value they claim to be giving customers.
What Balance of Nature says is that ‘how’ they have prepared the ingredients in the blend is as important as what actually goes into it. But my main concern is that this whole product line is actually missing the added benefits of eating whole foods.
As opposed to encouraging people to explore a diverse range of fresh foods in their diet, and thereby benefiting from the phytonutrients from each individual fruit or vegetable directly by eating them, we are being convinced to pay someone for their efforts in preparing these foods for us.
It seems slightly absurd. Especially when fruits and vegetables are so delicious!
How Does Balance of Nature Taste?
Because the formulation is enclosed in a capsule there is unlikely to be any discernible taste.
Side Effects
I would say that apart from the lack of fiber in the fruit and vegetable capsules there is unlikely to be a side effect to taking these capsules.
The only side effect I can foresee is if it actively prevents you from eating as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you ordinarily would, in which case you should increase your fiber intake.
Does Balance of Nature Actually Work?
The suggested serving size is 3 of each capsule; three fruits, and three veggies, so that means you are supposed to take six capsules per day. Now I am personally not keen on this. I don’t like (or even want to be) taking capsules at the best of times, so six per day is a stretch for me.
Each serving is a tiny 2.4grams.
What is included is a proprietary blend, so in not declaring exactly how much of each ingredient is included in the blend, the makers are also not able to really tell us what it can do.
This is my bottom line on all blends. They are not being transparent about the powerful ingredients they have included, and therefore I can’t be sure whether I’m really getting enough of each individual ingredient, apart from going on what the manufacturers have told me.
We are told that when we take Balance of Nature capsules we derive all the nutrition from 10 servings of a salad containing 31 ingredients. The equivalent – we are told – of eating a large fruit salad and a large vegetable salad. We are further told why this ‘nutritional equivalence’ is not a trick.
We are informed, in quite frankly a bizarre tangent from actual nutritional science, that this is a matter of “Total Surface Area” and that the nutrition of each food is enhanced by the process of powdering it.
I assume this to be more than a little misleading.
What you miss out on by taking only a supplement in place of fruit and vegetables includes more than just micronutrition (vitamins and minerals). Dietitians are often asked whether vegetable powders are as good as eating the real thing.
There is limited research into these products and therefore most ‘scientific’ findings are conveniently made by the manufacturers themselves. I don’t find this at all convincing.
I’ll say it again because it bears repeating, these proprietary blends just don’t cut it for me in terms of transparency and really knowing what’s inside the capsule.
Balance of Nature Reviews
The four customer reviews I found on Amazon range from one to five stars:
great products5 star
waste of time and money1 star
Money Back Guarantee / Returns Policy
You get a 30-day money-back guarantee as a Preferred Customer (see below for an explanation of the buying options).
Where to Buy Balance of Nature
You can buy Balance of Nature online on their website or on Amazon.
Is It Worth the Price?
At three capsules per day, 30 capsules are only going to last you ten days. This represents pretty poor value for money. But don’t forget, what you are buying is not just the product, you are also paying for a personal health coach to keep you on track with your goals. So, in pitching this as an added value, the makers of this simple powder-in-capsule-form have sold you something so much more valuable than just the health benefits of what is inside the pills.
You can buy as a Preferred Customer or as a Retail Customer. The price quoted online is currently $69.95 as a Preferred Customer. This gets you 90 capsules of each fruit and veggie type – a 30-day supply.
For $2.33 per day, this isn’t cheap as an alternative to eating fresh fruit and veggies, but as I said above it depends on what you are replacing the whole foods in your diet.
Pills like this shouldn’t be a meal replacement as they don’t represent the full nutritional scope of a varied diet. This is why if I am looking to supplement my diet with greens I prefer consuming powders over capsules – you simply get much more of the dosages of the ingredients you need.
Balance of Nature Verdict
I’m still wary of the concept of completely replacing whole foods with powders or capsules, although I definitely believe in the power of supplements to fulfill a nutritional need where the basics are not being met.
I don’t agree that you need to pay someone to dehydrate all your fruits and veggies, but I do think that supplementation can add powerful nutrients that may be missing from an otherwise healthy diet.
For me, these pills would only be a short stop-gap if my nutrition was under par and I was struggling to get any fresh fruits or veggies in my diet, but I’ll keep looking for a premium product that provides more bang for my buck.
LifeHacker Guy Greens Recommendation
Some Call This An "Extreme" Step...
Most super greens supplements are disappointing.
I learned this the hard way. After creating this blog in 2018, I spent months buying and testing all the most popular brands.
I wasn’t happy with the results so I did something you might call "extreme"....
In 2019 I created my own brand that ticks every single box of what I look for in a super greens product:
- No hidden ingredient amounts - we have full disclosure labelling, so you know EXACTLY whats inside
- Ingredient amounts that make a difference - we include the minimum effective amounts supported by research, and most of the time, MORE
- Ingredients that help immunity, boost mental clarity and shake off brain fog - making for a much more productive and happy lifestyle
No more worrying about ineffective ingredients or too low dosages. I finally have a product I KNOW does the job it’s made to do.
I use it every day and, after years of battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), I now have my energy (and my life!) back.
The good news? I made my brand available to the public so you can see and feel the difference for yourself.
I may have missed this in all of the above commentary, but could you provide where this product is manufactured? I suspect it’s not in the USA, but would like to know for certain – it is not provided on labeling nor could I find in BoN website (or did I miss it there too?). Thanks for good reviews, commentaries.
I have not tried the product but am intrigued . I have diabetes 2 so i can not eat all those vegies and fruits especially the fruit for the high sugar content.
So I am intrigued by the product and may try it. I will evaluate for myself .
Was thinking of purchasing the product. Not now. Thanks for the reviews
A gal after my own heart ! (to,two,too)
Sorry sounds like a big gimmick. I’ll spend my money on fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables vs this overpriced product. I prefer to taste my food.
Speak for yourself. I am a cancer survivor. My immune system was so shot I had to sleep all the time. I was unable to do much. Another cancer survivor recommend them and since the first week of taking them fatigue left me. I have been able to regain a normal life. No more fatigue. Those of us that have to deal with cancer recovery have benefited from the elements that this product contains. We worth having my life back. Nothing else worked but this. If I don’t take them fatigue returns.
ANYBODY who believes or buys any “vitamin” or other nutrition or diet
remedy from a T.V. commercials is a FOOL – at best their “products”
are grossly over hyped, misrepresented (and usually) just plain false.
Also, the “guarantees” they offer sound great until you try to call the
“customer service” and cancel your order or get a refund; you get the
“run around” and/or are directed to follow some ridiculously laborious
“process” to get your refund or cancel your order.
There’s millions of naive and gullible people who fall for these scams,
and there’s so many lazy people who are always looking for “the easy
way” for everything, that these scams will always be profitable for the
lying, ruthless scumbags who prey on them.
I am checking it out
I would not spend that kind of money if it didn’t work. My daughter and I take it and I haven’t been sick once, neither has she.
If you think it’s a scam , so be it….. More for me
You’re loss
Hi Mark~
Read the thread. Started taking another brand after researching and finding that I did not have to spend the amount of money on BON and still get a similar product. I am not using this as a replacement but as a supplement. I will say that my knees, shoulder and hands are feeling so much better especially in the morning. I started out searching for the product’s nutrition info as I am looking for carb count. Couldn’t find it so I started searching for the BON label which brought me here. I wonder why this information is not available. Would you happen to have come across to anything that provided this during your research? Thanks in advance.
~AM
Fascinating discussion folks!
As John R. said : “every human body is a little different which is why a product that works for one person may be totally worthless to another”, I couldn’t agree more.
That said, here’s my story:
I’m 55 and prior to Covid -19, I was travelling for business between 120-150 nights per year-for over 20 years. That’s a lot of flights, restaurant and hotel food. ( I stopped eating fast food years ago). I would get a cold at least once or twice a year and the flu maybe every 10-12 years or so.
I started taking BoN in 2014 and yes, it’s not cheap at $70.00 month. Someone mentioned there are only 30 capsules in a bottle, but there are 90 in each – a months’ supply. Since 2014, I have not had a cold, or flu and I’ve never had a flu shot-ever. I’ve been sick once. Last December, I had bacterial pneumonia with a fever of 104.3. 2 hours in the ER on an antibiotic IV and a few other meds and my fever was down to 98.6. I went home and slept like a baby. Next day I was tired, but feeling fine with little or no chest pain, coughing or fever. I was back to work the following day (from home-not on the road)and since then have been back to my normal self and -knock on wood- illness free. I believe I would be asymptomatic if I contracted Covid 19, but I’d prefer not to test that too theory too hard :-)!
My point is: this is MY story. Would I be sick more without BoN? Did God bless me with a robust Immune system? Definitely. But I honestly don’t know if it’s that or BoN. I just know that it seems to work for me. Others may find it useless, but it’s your body and it’s entirely up to the individual and his or her financial situation to either try it, or not to bother.
Stay safe, stay healthy!
So, Lifehackerguy tries to discredit competition so his product might have a chance. It’s so blatantly obvious what his motivation is for trying to discredit Balance of Nature.
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you for your comments. I would like to highlight this is not the case and in fact, I work with brands (including this one) to ensure that the information I provide is accurate and a fair personal review of the products I look at. Not all products I am necessarily interested in personal as some of the products I have been asked to look at my visitors to my site.
Adam
Reading all the comments…
LifeHackerGuy gave a very balanced review AND he makes a “competitive product”.
With any nutrition product it can be hard to tell what is real and what is placebo…
Also, every human body is a little different which is why a product that works for one person may be totally worthless to another.
I have a job and lifestyle that makes healthy eating very challenging (and sometimes impossible)… I have been hearing much from those who love the BofN product and wanted to do research… As an old hippie, I am skeptical of corporate claims… On the other hand, my life experience has taught me that the more emotional the comment that I read on something, the less rational or “real” the complaint tends to be.
This review has left me interested in Balance of Nature BUT I am now interested in investigating LifeHackerGuy’s product as a potentially more affordable alternative that may provide even better benefits on the veggie side of the equation.
John Reynolds…. You write the following
“As an old hippie, I am skeptical of corporate claims… On the other hand, my life experience has taught me that the more emotional the comment that I read on something, the less rational or “real” the complaint tends to be.”
Not sure which prior comment you regard as “more emotional”, but as you stated, you are a person who is “skeptical of corporate claims”.
Let me ask you, if you absolutely know a corporation is lying to you or wildly exaggerating its claims, then don’t you then place very little faith in anything they say about their product that isn’t fully proven?
Go back above and review the prior posts including mine.
I point out that Balance of Nature is factually lying about their product in nearly every single (90% plus) ad they put on the radio.
In each ad they say one of the following things about their daily serving (6 capsules) being equal to the following.
1. “more than 10 servings of fruits and vegetables” (most often used in ads)
2. “10 servings of fruits and vegetables”
3, “10 plates of salad”
Now, go up to the prior posts and read where the label on the product says that the six daily capsules ‘combined’… only have 4.8 grams total weight.
Their ads claim that is after the “85%” water is removed.
Meaning that prior to their processing they began with only 32 grams of fresh fruits and veggies. That is only 1.14 ounces.
Imagine 1.14 ounces of fresh fruits and veggies. Example, I just bought 4 small apples from Kroger. Total weight 22.72 ounces, meaning each small apple weighs 5.68 ounces. One fifth of that apple would weigh 1.136 ounces…
So, the entire (before the water is removed) amount of fresh fruits and veggies used to make up the daily serving of Balance of Nature, would only be ONE FIFTH of a small apple such as I just purchased at Kroger.
Yet Balance of nature is therefore suggesting that one fifth of such a apple, is equal to “over 10 servings”….
Any reasonable mathematical analysis of their claims falls so far short that it can only be taken as a outright lie.
They don’t even give you ONE serving of fruits and veggies…even if you add in all the water they claim to have removed.
Why would you believe anything they say if you know for a fact they are lying in their most basic claims.
If you are not great with math, take the simple facts to a friend you respect who you know to be good with facts and figures.
So either believe the facts that are readily available, or rely on those hundreds of radio testimonials with anecdotal tales of near miracles,…
To include the vague… “I have more energy”….. “I feel better”…. “I haven’t had a cold in 2 years”…. “I’m now back teaching karate”….” my hair and nails are growing faster”
Yes, ignore the proven facts regarding the packaging “net weight” and instead rely their claim that their ‘powder’ is more “bio available”.
Here is a quote from their page…
” The finely ground produce in Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies® has far greater Total Surface Area from which to draw nutrition than does produce that has been chewed normally.” Dr Howard, the chiropractor says you lose nutrients because you can sometimes see a piece of spinach or kernel of corn in your poop.
From that he gets his TEN SERVINGS claims.
Experiment… take a dump and don’t flush. Let is sit for a few hours and see how 99% of everything is nothing more than a fully digested liquid. No massive amount of undigested material that could possible back up the chiropractor’s claims to give any credence to his “ten servings of fruits and veggies” in his 4.8 gram daily serving.
John Reynolds, face it. The entire Balance of Nature media campaign is nothing more than a nationwide scam. NO SCIENCE or math to back it up.
Ask yourself if it would be better to believe the very simple-to-do math which indicates a massive deception by a company raking in millions of dollars, or go ahead and order the product for $70 …just hoping it might do something exceptional, that no other product has ever been shown to do.
Send your $70 to a chiropractor in Utah if you are willing to pay that for a “maximum” one serving of fruits and veggies… but unless you are easily duped, you will never believe any of his “more than 10 servings” claim.
But hey, why do do business and enrich a man who lies to you in the first place.
Save your money and buy some real vegetables from the local produce store.
Stop wishing and hoping for some miracle that has no science or math backing up its absurd claims.
I’m curious about whether this product could be good for someone whose health prevents (appetite & gi problems) them from eating all those fruits, vegetables and herbs a day. Is it better than eating very few fruits and vegetables? Right now I get around 2-3 fruits and vegetables daily on a good day. Comparing it to eating all that produce isn’t fair. If someone could eat that much they wouldn’t need a supplement.
June/13/2020 FYI: -actually nowadays the medical-profession of Chiropractic is becoming much more viable from an ethics standpoint than an AMA-MD. (-maliciously subverted by the notorious Rockefeller-foundation), -owing that today’s Chiropractors are being schooled in ‘preventative-medicine’ such as nutritional-supplements (-key essential vitamins/minerals/herbs -which the human & animal body has a natural craving for), –not often ‘toxic’ Big-pharma Drugs (-which the human & animal body has NO inherent need of )! Accordingly, science has proven that there is really no such thing as ‘cancer’, –the disease MD’s call Cancer is essentially just an imbalance of one’s immune-system, -especially if one’s Ph-level is to ‘acidic’ vs.’alkalinic’; -correcting that condition,along with proper nutrition will negate the quasi-diagnosis of cancer! Therefore, the usFDA should insist that the ditary-supplement called ‘BoN’ list the vitamins/minerals/herbs ingredient within their capsules; –which the elusive dr.Howard is afraid of doing, -because the user will then be able to better understand that they’d be far wiser to save 90% by purchasing nutrients such as vit.-C/ vit.-D3/ MSM/ Zink/ -etc….!
~R.vH in sanDiego
The FDA recently cited Balance Of Nature, report available online, for making numerous unproven and even potentially illegal medical claims. A formal complaint has also been filed by Truth In Advertising with the FDA and FTC over the company’s owner, Douglas Howard, implying that the product can help prevent coronavirus. His credentials are also ambiguous: His promotional information calls him a physician and says he earned a medical degree from a Russian med school, however, he does not have a medical practice, nor does the Utah Medical Assoc., where he resides, have any record of anyone named Douglas Howard who is licensed to practice medicine in Utah. He is a chiropractor but why is he pictured with a stethoscope?
I have had good results with regard to reducing inflammation when I take BoN Fruit and Veggie caps regularly. I also have more energy when I take the caps and the fiber is great for the colon as well. It is expensive but less than other treatments/meds would be – and there are no side effects. I don’t think I ever heard or read that the caps are a complete replacement for fresh fruits and veggies, and common sense tells me that I still should eat the fresh stuff as much as possible. On the other hand, “fresh” fruits and vegetables may not contain all the nourishment claimed -unless we can get them fresh from the farm and eat them uncooked.
I had good response from BoN when I called them, and when I changed my order online. Their website explains their product and generally how it is made, and how the process of making BoN increases the bioavailability of the fruits and veggies so that the body can access THE EQUIVALENT of many servings of fruits and vegetables, through that increased bioavailability.
Yes there are glowing testimonials on their wesite by people that swear by the product. OK, fine. It either works for you, makes you feel better, or it doesn’t. Nowhere on the website is BoN touted as a cure-all. As with anything, including pharmaceutical drugs, it works for some people and doesn’t work for others. I’m satisfied with BoN at this point.
Hi Mark,
Thank you for taking the time to comment here, I really appreciate this. This is exactly what I am looking to have, balanced discussion from peoples experience with the brand and products. Part of this issue is the way products can be marketed. Anyway glad this is working out for you.
Adam
Simple math proves that Balance of Nature is a scam.
The daily serving of veggies is 2.4 grams. The daily serving of fruits is 2.4 grams.
Total weight of your daily dose is 4.8 grams.
They claim all they put in the capsule is what is left after they remove all the water and ‘air’…
They say fruits and veggies are 85% water… but I’ll give them the benefit and say its 90% water.
Thus if the end product is 4.8 grams, that means they started with 48 grams of actual veggies and fruits. The 4.8 grams is said by them to be equal to “over 10 servings”…
Look all over the internet and see what a serving of broccoli, kale, cabbage, blue berries, or apples is.
The average serving of those is well in excess of 48 grams.
Simple math thus says that you are getting ONE… ONLY ONE serving of fruits and veggies.
Their claim of “over 10 servings” is a bold faced lie. A complete distortion of the truth.
Call their 800 number and ask the representative to explain that. None of them can, so they call over a supervisor. When you politely ask them the question as a potential customer, the supervisor has no answer,… Except if you ever try to call again,, you will find your number blocked.
The truth is they don’t want their representatives to know the truth.
Making the representatives question the claims by using simple logic is DANGEROUS.
Seriously, the reps are completely clueless.
They don’t even try to give a reasonable “power of powder” argument.
They just parrot the claims of the endless ads and say they trust Dr Howard… Not a actual MD…
A chiropractor.
Balance of Nature is not dangerous to your body… only to your pocket book as you spend $2.33 for one 1.7 ounce serving. (do the math, you are paying about $25 a pound for the veggies involved.
Amazing scam…and proof positive that the average American can’t do simple math unless walked through the actual facts by hand.
I like BoN so far. In response to the above comments against BoN — The BoN website clearly states in the FAQ section that not all of the entire fruit or vegetable is included in one serving, but that the process by which the supplement is rendered makes available for digestion and use by the body, the equivalent of eating one serving of each of the ingredient fruits or vegetables, without diminishing the food value of the original fruit or vegetable by any appreciable amount. So add that to your “math”. Of course, you could blend or juice three or four pounds of fruits and vegetables every day like some do at a high cost of time and money, and that’s a OK, of course. — I’ve tried it. However, others have experienced good or improved health by choosing to take BoN, along with the drastically improved convenience of taking it in capsule form. I’m 57 and generally healthy, however, I have not had a cold, the flu, allergy issues, or coronavirus either as far as that goes, since I started taking BoN last fall, and I do feel that my immune system and overall health have received a boost from BoN. I’m staying with it, and time will tell if this holds true in the long run, or not. Admittedly, there are a slew of other whole food/superfood products out there that might work as well or better for each individual person.
Mark,, you are simply avoiding the truth…
Balance of Nature makes it very clear that there is nothing but pure fruit and veggies in the product. That you will agree.
They also claim all they do is remove the water.
If they say in their own ads that fruits and veggies are on average 85% water, then when they remove all the water they end up with the 2.4 grams of veggies… and 2.4 grams of fruits. READ THE LABEL….can you see, a one day serving is a combined 4.8 grams.
Now, Mark, can you do simple math.
That makes the 4.8 grams represent the 15%…after the water is removed.
If 15% is 4.8 grams then 100% is 32 grams… Can you not understand that simple math?
Now, go look on the internet and see what constitutes a “serving” of any of the veggies involved… Look up brocolli…. kale,… cabbage…. carrots…
Look up fruits….. apples, blue berries…
Many different fruits and veggies make up the TOTAL COMBINED weight…
But the total combined weight of the product is still 4.8 grams…
Following their own advertising that 4.8 grams is the 15% after the water is removed.
Thus… by the most simple math you should have learned by 6th grade, it means the original veggies and fruits…. the 100% they start with… would ONLY be 32 grams.
32 grams is only 1.14 ounces of fruits and veggies… before the water is taken out.
I don’t care what the Balance of Nature web site tells you, it does NOT change the math.
Put 1.14 ounces in a measuring cup… you get less than half a cup of it…
Or grind up 10 different veggies…and fruits… then take 1.14 ounces and see how much of a measuring cup it fills.,.. LESS than half a cup.
You simply can’t be so foolish or ignorant to not understand the simple math.
Why is it when you ask the people on the phone, they have no answer to the obvious discrepancy? Then, if you ask it again, they cut off your phone number from their system…
Why? because their own reps have never taken the time to wonder about the problem and they don’t want their own reps to begin questioning the validity of the product.
Mark…. many of their adds… the weekend infomercials that run 30 minutes to a hour, actually claim that the 4.8 grams (total daily serving) is like eating 10 plates of salad.
Remember now the weight of the original fruit and veggies is only 1.14 ounces..
Does that sound like 10 plates of salad.
Even you can’t be so ignorant to believe that.
No one except the most gullible sucker who can’t do simple 6th grade math would believe that.
Ever wonder why they talk so much about Dr. Howard…. Doctor Howard… but never tell you he is not a MD… Not a medical doctor. He is a Chiropractor.
Do you know that the Federal Drug Administration sent them a WARNING letter only a few months ago…
Google the following
WARNING LETTER
Evig LLC dba Balance of Nature
MARCS-CMS 580888 — AUGUST 20, 2019
But if you’d do the very very simple math… 6th grade math…. using B of N’s own ads and labels, you’d realize that their claims are absurd.
The simple math says, at most, you are getting ONE… serving of fruits and veggies..
Though that one serving may be a mixture of 31 fruits and veggies…. It is STILL ONLY one single serving.
They are flat out lying to you.
You can’t be that ‘thick’ to not see the trickery. Why do you think the FDA is sending them warning letters?
Is everyone in a conspiracy to get Dr. Howard?
Good God man…. wake up smell the roses…
Get a $5 calculator and do the simple math for yourself instead of swallowing what Balance of Nature is shoveling to you.
It is shocking how naive some folks are. Any good sounding story and a slew of so called “real testimonials” and you are duped.
No wonder so many people are fooled by scams… they leave their minds open to such unsubstantiated claims.
You must simply want to believe in magic… where 1.14 ounces of veggies and fruits equals 10 servings of salad..
Laughable… incredibly laughable.
Hi Timbo,
I appreciate you taking the time to comment here, it’s good to hear from both sides opinion on products and companies. Just to make a request though, please do tone down personal references and language a little. I can appreciate passion can be elevated when hotly debating subjects but I don’t want this blog to become an angry place (for want of a better description).
Thanks, Adam
Thank you… I’ll take your advice to heart and put it into practice.
Appreciate that you allow all sides.
I encourage those with other views to correct me if they feel I have misstated any facts.
Thank you very much for posting this article. I read the entire article before deciding whether or not to purchase these products. Based on your article and simple research about daily servings of fruits and vegetables recommendations, I do believe that these supplements are NOT a very wise replacement or addition to any diet. They are way too expensive for me personally, I don’t need an “assistant” to assist my dietary needs, and I don’t want to take 6 huge capsules each day. I’ll stick to real and fresh fruits and vegetables. Again, thank you for an honest article.
First of all, I’m GLAD I found this review! I’ve been taking BoN since, Dec 2018. I generally think it’s an ok product, yet, it didn’t help me with colds, or the flu for that matter, as many on the radio soundbites have stated. I found Dr. Weil’s suggestion of chopped, 10 minute garlic eaten with meals to have done more than anything I’ve taken in the last 10 years to keep my lungs healthy from viruses. That’s when I started to have a sneaking suspicion that something is out of place with BoN-I didn’t even think it to be “math!” ^__^ I read through LifeHacker Guy’s review of his of his own “SuperGreen TONIK” and I have two basic issues: 1. The ingredient Spirulina. This ingredient has a bad rap, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement)#Safety_and_toxicology, https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/is-spirulina-safe/. 2. For myself, it’s cost prohibitive. I can do $70 a month (barely) but $87 a month, at minimum, is a bridge to far and not sustainable. I’ve resolved to discontinue ordering BoN effective immediately, especially since I’ve read an even More brutal review just now, https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/02/13/balance-of-nature-is-a-fraud-company-claims-about-fruits-and-veggies-in-a-pill-is-a-scam/. For now, I’ll do more research and I Sincerely thank LifeHackGuy and Timbo Yant for this education!
It is clear from your math that if the claim is true that BON provides as many servings as stated per pill, its weight is very much less than that of dried whole fruits and vegetables. I too originally interpreted their claims to imply it was, and was skeptical about its low weight. One may purchase dried vegetable soup for $0.78/ounce at Amazon. A serving is much heavier than a BON pill.
That said, I find nowhere where they claim as you state, “.. all they put in the capsule is what is left after they remove all the water and ‘air’”. Correct me if there is something I have not found, but what they actually claim is (paraphrasing) that it preserves that nutrition of the whole fruit and vegetable. Most, perhaps > 90% of the dried weight of a fruit/veggie is roughage (insoluble fiber). This is important to good health, so they sell it separately as their “Fiber & Spice” blend, which comes is a bottle that dwarfs the pill bottles. It technically has no “nutritional” value, though, so is excluded from the pill.
The pill is probably just dried juice that has been flushed or squeezed from the fruit/veggie. They may well have phrased things so that most folks don’t know that they are buying expensive powdered juice. It’s not hard. Did you know, for example, that milk is made from the entire cow? It is. If you remove some of the cow, it doesn’t produce any milk at all.
Gosh, you are so off base on so many points.
Number one is that you doubt the claim about them including everything after removing the air and the water.
Here is a quote from their FAQ page—
“Fruits and vegetables are mostly air and water. We remove the air and water and leave all the nutrition using a flash drying process. We then grind the produce into fine powders, mix it into proprietary blends and encapsulate it.”
Plus if you’ve ever heard Dr. Howard on his weekend infomercials, you would have heard him say they remove only the air and water, leaving everything else in the pills.
The only exception he states are those “inedible” items such as the peel on the banana…. In the case of a apple he says “the whole apple”…. including the fiber. He says this over and over on his weekly radio infomercials. BTW, fiber is NOT inedible. As such he says that it is included.
BTW, your idea about the following is absurd…your quote.
“Most, perhaps > 90% of the dried weight of a fruit/veggie is roughage (insoluble fiber)”
WRONG… completely wrong.
A 149 gram apple has for example, has 21 grams of carbohydrates of which ONLY 3.6 grams are fiber.
God only knows where you got your “90%” figure.
You are wildly incorrect.
Dr. Howard goes on and on about it being the “whole fruit” not some “juice extract” that you postulate about.
Sorry, I’m sure you mean well, but you simply don’t know the facts and as you say “probably” speculating about what the company may or may not do in their processes.
Bottom line is you get in the 6 daily capsules, only 4.8 grams of powder, which according to the company’s claimed process is derived from only 48 grams of whole fresh produce (including the fiber)
A small apple weighs 100 grams.. A serving of broccoli is about 80 grams.
Do the math, you are lucky to get even ONE real serving of fruits and veggies, NOT the claimed “over TEN servings” as stated in many ads and on the company’s only website.
Balance of Nature is a real company that makes top quality products for the past 20+ years, that you can take on the run and get your Fruits and Veggies. Whats so bad about that. It’s easy and simple. Try them sometime and that your greens you are making and marketing as an added bonus. The more the marrier. You can’t have to many greens…
Gary: Please change your word “marrier” to “merrier”, and change “to” many greens to “too” many greens. Just a couple of simple changes. Then it will be better.
Balance Of Nature is an obvious scam. Are you that stupid?
Bal of Nature is added to your diet. No one could possibly eat 30 fruits and veggies each day without paying high organic prices and several trips per wk to market. We lead busy lives. Too often takeout is the way out. Its good if you can afford $89 twice a month for capsules that open to sprinkle on or blend into foods, too.
Yeah.. no juicing! No veggies! Just a tiny powdered little capsule. f***** joke.