Network Marketing – ReviewsThese products have been independently evaluated by a team of scientistsHere at SupplementWatch, we are often asked to review products in the Network Marketing category of the supplement industry. In this category, products tend to carry a high retail price that is partly due to the use of high-quality ingredients (highly bioavailable forms of many nutrients, meaningful quantities of phytonutrients, etc.), but also because of the business structure under which they are sold (network, or multi-level marketing, also known as MLM). This is an excellent way to get "complicated" products (that need to be explained or that are new in some way) to the right customers - but it is an expensive model because of the sales commissions paid out to distributors. Also of note is the fact that a number of the leading network marketers conduct a fair amount of clinical studies on their products - and science is not cheap, so those costs get passed along to the consumer in the form of an expensive end product. Because network marketing is as much about the "business opportunity" (build your own supplement business) as it is about the actual products (and even more so in some cases) - a substantial part of the cost of many of these products is there to support the business model. For this reason (business plus products), we are creating a new "Network Marketing sub-category" within our multivitamin main-category to more clearly define the different channels and more fully represent the competing products on an even playing field. In this sub-category, we will use the published retail price for each product rather than the lower "preferred" or "distributor" or "wholesale" price that you can get if you sign up as a product distributor. Getting the product at this lower price typically entails a variety of paperwork, a membership fee or one sort or another, and a commitment to purchase a certain amount of product (though not in all cases). If you are interested in finding good products for yourself and your family AND you are interested in building your own supplement business, then perhaps the Network marketing opportunity is for you. If, however, you are simply looking for a solid supplement regimen to support a particular aspect of your health, then there are numerous high-quality supplements within other sub-categories.To help simplify your decision-making process, the SupplementWatch experts review every multivitamin/mineral supplement on a battery of 10 major criteria (each with 2 to 10 different sub-criteria) in 5 major areas (Claims, Theory, Science, Safety, and Value). We use a proprietary mathematically weighted system whereby Science and Safety scores carry more "weight" than other categories. This review process culminates in an Overall Score (0-100 points) and Ranking (Try it, Recommended, Promising, Hold off, and Don't waste your money) - and allows you to select a product based on a composite of its pros and cons.To streamline our review process for multivitamin/mineral supplements (MVMS) - there are thousands of them on the market - we use an abbreviated (thumbnail-style) write-up on our exhaustive review that includes the following 10 major criteria:1. Claims (are they sound?)2. Theory (logical and backed by science?)3. Science - Essential Nutrients (within safe and effective ranges?)4. Science - Mineral Sources (bioavailable sources?)5. Science - Antioxidant Blend (balanced approach?)6. Science - B-complex Blend (balanced levels?)7. Science - Bone Nutrition (balanced levels?)8. Science - Phytonutrient Blend (balanced and effective carotenoid/flavonoids levels?)9. Safety - Medicinal Herbs (appropriate for target audience?)10. Value - Other nutrients (Lipoic acid, CoQ10, Omega-3s, Choline, etc?)
Supplement / Company / Rating / ScoreLifePak / Pharmanex / Try it / 95
LifePak Teen / Pharmanex / Try it / 93
Essentials for Women / Isagenix / Recommended / 89
Essentials for Men / Isagenix / Recommended / 89
HealthPak 100 / Usana / Recommended / 89
Glycentials / Mannatech / Recommended / 88
Basic Mindell Plus / Free Life / Recommended / 87
Relìv Classic® / Reliv / Recommended / 86
Melaleuca Mel-Vita / Melaleuca / Recommended / 82.5
USANA Essentials / Usana / Recommended / 80
Double X / Nutrilite / Promising / 79
Relìv Now® / Reliv / Promising / 79
A Perfect You - Multi / Advocare / Promising / 79
NutraPack / Symmetry / Promising / 76
Ambrotose / Mannatech / Promising / 75
Ultra Body Toddy / Supralife International / Promising / 71
Shaklee Basics / Shaklee Corporation / Hold off / 69
Formula 2-- Multivitamin- Mineral & Herbal Tablets / HerbaLife / Hold off / 68
Bio-Directed Multi-Vitamin/Mineral / Nikken / Hold off / 67
Vita-Pak / Synergy Worldwide / Hold off / 66
Nutrilite Multi / Nutrilite / Don't waste your money / 52