Visalus Side Effects – The Truth From An Ex-Three Star Ambassador
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
My name is Tracy. I started in Visalus in February of 2011. By June 30, 2012 I hit the rank of Three Star Ambassador. I’m writing this blog post to share with you the Visalus side effects that I’ve heard of from hundreds of people since resigning from the company on December 19, 2012.
Why Am I Writing About Visalus Side Effects?
Some people, particularly those who are still in Visalus, will read this and think that I am only writing this post to attract attention and get people into Empower Network.
This is in fact not the reason. (Sidenote: The truth is I walked away from a five figure a month income, had no alternative income and I did NOT accept any form of payment or bonus from another company, like some of the leaders at Visalus lied about. I need to make an income just like everybody else.)
The bigger reason is that there are so many people having negative side effects and I’m hoping that this post will at least open some people’s minds to question the products and/or ingredients in the shakes.
I understand that there are a lot of people who have seen positive results because of the products. People are definitely losing weight in the short term and as a result of losing weight many are also experiencing greater health benefits such as lower blood pressure and reduction of the need for diabetes medications and other things. And I understand that some people are feeling better than they have in a long time. That is great. If Visalus is working for you, then by all means read the rest of this post and keep using it.
But as I mentioned, the purpose of this post is to bring to light the list of negative Visalus side effects that people have been experiencing, starting with myself.
My Personal Side Effects With Visalus
After a few months of taking the Visalus Vi-Shape shake on a daily (sometimes 2x a day) basis, I noticed my eye sight was getting blurry. I didn’t think much of it because I had just turned 40 and thought that it was a normal thing for that age.
It continued to get worse as the months went on. I often thought to myself that it didn’t seem right to be getting so bad, so quickly. But I continued to chalked it up to age. It got to the point where I had to wear my reading glasses all the time. It didn’t matter how well rested my eyes were or what sort of lighting was in the room. If I had to read anything smaller than about a 14/16px text size, I needed my reading glasses.
During the early summer of 2012 I started questioning whether the sucralose in the shakes could have anything to do with it. I’ve never been comfortable with that ingredient so I started researching it online and found a few credible sources indicating that blurry vision is a known side effect of consuming sucralose. Resources: Dr. Mercola | Dr. Martini
I decided to stop taking the shakes in August and within 3-4 weeks I noticed a significant improvement in my eyesight. And by December I was no longer wearing my reading glasses on a daily basis. To this day I wear them a couple times a week and only when my eyes are tired or lighting is dim, but not like while I was taking the shakes.
At first I thought that I was maybe a isolated case but when I mentioned it to one of my Ambassadors, Kyla Holt, her jaw almost dropped to the floor because she had been noticing a speedy decline in her vision over the past year as well. This was now an issue for me and we both wondered if any others had been experiencing similar issues.
Over the next couple days, we went about asking a few of our “long term” promoters if any of them had noticed any issues with increased blurry vision over the past year. Approximately 9 out of 20 people we asked had said yes they had. That was 45% of the number of people we talked to. It was significant enough for me to not want to promote this product anymore. A couple days later I resigned my position.
More Visalus Side Effects Revealed
Within days of resigning I started to receive many emails, Facebook messages and phone calls from other promoters asking why I left. I told them and many of them told me that they too had been experiencing numerous symptoms. Many with blurry vision but also a wide variety of symptoms which I’ve listed below.
The list is not exclusive and some people have experienced mild symptoms, others quite severe. Many had also received direction from their doctors to stop taking the shakes. Since my resignation I have heard from hundreds of people with these issues.
- headaches
- memory loss
- dizziness
- blurry vision
- stomach pain, digestive problems
- kidney issues
- lumps in breasts (both men, women and teenagers)
- thyroid /hormone issues/early menopause
- hair growth (facial on women)
- heart palpitations
This list was created specifically from the testimonials I and many others have collected over the past few months.
What Is Causing These Side Effects?
Honestly I am not one to say. I am not a doctor, scientist or a nutrition specialist in any way. I do know that there is a lot of question and controversy around both sucralose and soy as well as a few other ingredients.
My advice to you would be to do your research before consuming these products. It’s your health and your kids health that’s at stake.
Here are some blog posts from others who know more than me about nutrition and ingredients that can shed more detailed light on why/how they may be causing some of these issues.
This blog is from Dr. Kaayla Daniels who has a PhD in nutrition and has written a book on Soy: http://www.wholesoystory.com/healthy-soy-shakes-show-me-the-evidence/
This blog is from Dr. Mercola who wrote a book on artificial sweeteners: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx
http://www.youngandraw.com/what-is-visalus-really/
http://www.davidmodderman.com/blog/index.php/weight-loss/body-by-vi-is-it-all-hype/
http://healthyfamiliesforgod.com/2011/12/more-ingredients-reveal-more-dangers-with-visalus-products/
http://lifedosingdrugs.blogspot.ca/2013/02/in-resignation.html
Visalus Response To These Health Concerns
Early in the new year (2013) a conference call was done with Audrey Sommerfeld from Visalus to lay rest to some fears about all the health concerns people were having. At one point her statement was “Its not like they are growing a third limb or anything.”
Please note that Audrey is a “marketer” not a doctor, nutritionist or scientist. Her job is to sell you stuff.
When I emailed Visalus about my symptoms and the first few people I’d discovered were also having issues with blurry vision, I asked for safety studies on the long term effects of sucralose. Audrey sent me two studies. The first was done on 8 people over 4 days. The second was only 12 weeks. To this day they still have not provided any long term studies on sucralose. And the reason is because they don’t exist.
Having Your Own Visalus Side Effects?
Please leave a comment below AND contact the FDA and CDC and in Canada contact Health Canada with your experience.