At one Body By Vi website they say “A sluggish metabolism can occur when you cut food intake, yo-yo diet, lack exercise, and even happens with aging.” Well that’s true, but can Vi Slim Metab-Awake tablets help you lose weight? ViSlim is a metabolism booster and weight loss supplement made by Body By Vi which has several weight management supplements and even a Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge to help people lose weight and get healthy. Vi Slim is supposed to “awaken your metabolism and help you burn fat naturally.” While technically your metabolism is always working and your body is always burning fat (your burring a LOT of fat right now actually), let’s leave this grand claims alone and just focus on the facts. I’ve previously reviewed the Body By Vi weight loss shake and the 90 day challenge but in this review, I want to specifically look at the ingredients in the Vi Slim Metab-Awake supplement. Does the Vi Slim supplement help you lose weight faster? Does Vi Slim have any side effects? Let’s check it out.
ViSalus websites
If you search for information on Body By Vi products be aware that you may or may not be on the actual ViSalus website. ViSalus distributors seem to have all sorts of ViSalus-sounding websites whose names are variations on the Body By Vi name. One of the good things about the distributors Body By Vi websites was that they gave me more information about the Body By Vi products. I say this because when I went to the main ViSalus website – visalus.com – I can’t easily view the ingredients of the Body By Vi products.
The ViSalus website does have a “products” page, but in order to dig deeper into the products, I have either to “be a customer” or “be a distributor.” They obviously want to collect my personal information, which I don’t like.
Vi Slim Metab-Awake ingredients
Vi Slim – not to be confused with Vi Trim (that’s another product they make!) is a 900 mg herbal blend containing:
- Theobroma Coca Extract
- Green Tea Extract
- Coleus Forskohlii Extract (Forslean)
- Yerba Mate Extract
- Evodiamine (Evodiae Fructus, Evothin)
So, what the heck is all this stuff? Here is a basic breakdown of these ingredients:
Theobroma Coca Extract. The tipoff is “Coca”. This is an extract of chocolate that has small amounts of caffeine. Natural caffeine or not – it’s still caffeine.
Green tea extract. Green tea also has caffeine
Coleus Forskohlii Extract (Forslean). Another name for this ingredient is “Forskolin”. This ingredient comes from a plant (Plectranthus barbatus) and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for ages. Even though Coleus Forskohlii can be found in other weight loss supplements – and has even been mentioned on “Dr OZ” – there isn’t much proof it works. For example, in one Coleus weight loss study from 2005, it didn’t help women lose weight.
Considering all the attention coleus forskohlii gets from the supplement industry, I’d like to see some more research on this stuff.
Whether coleus forskohlii works or not is debatable, but even if it does help people lose weight, those who are not “healthy” need to be cautious of this herb.
Coleus forskohlii can cause vasodilation (expanding) of blood vessels. This can cause a decrease in blood pressure. Do not use Forskohlii if you use any medications – especially blood thinners or drugs used to treat heart disease or high blood pressure.
While I have no proof, I would also be cautious if taking Viagra or other drugs or supplements used for “male enhancement. If you are not “healthy”, you should speak to your doctor before using this herb.
Some Body By Vi distributors say that coleus forskohlii can help you preserve lean body mass but I can’t find any good proof to substantiate this claim.
Yerba Mate Extract. This herb contains caffeine
Evodiamine. This is also a stimulant. One of the extracts in Evodamine (also called Evodia) is synepherine. In other supplements, this stuff is called “bitter orange.” Synepherine is chemically similar to ephedra. Synepherine can raise your heart rate and blood pressure.
They say Vi Slim Metabo Awake is “ephedra free” but it does contain something that “looks” like ephedra. Since it has no ephedra, distributors say Vi Slim does not cause “jitters.” I can’t testify to this since I have not tried the product. I will await to hear from what users of Vi Slim tell me.
Speak to your doctor or pharmacist before using Vi Slim Metab Awake. I would be very cautious of this ingredient if you take ANY medications – especially those used for heart disease or high blood pressure.
For more info on Evodiamine see my review of Apidexin where I show you the studies on it.
All total, 2 tablets of the Vi Slim metabolism booster has 900 mg. But how much of that is caffeine? I honestly don’t know but since 3 out of the 5 ingredients in the Vi Slim weight loss supplement have caffeine, I’m guessing it’s a lot.
At one Body By Vi distributor website, they say that the Vi Slim Mebabo Awake weight loss supplement can help people burn an extra 85-125 calories per day which, they say, can lead to losing 10-15 pounds of fat per year. Where are these numbers coming from? As far as I can tell there is NO published scientific proof on ANY Body By Vi weight loss supplement.
How much does Vi-Slim Metabo Awake cost?
Since the main ViSalus website wanted to collect my personal information, I had to search online for a price for the Vi Slim metabolism booster. At one Body By Vi Ambassadors website I saw that the price was $40 for a 30 day supply. I think that’s a lot of money for a product that is basically a lot of caffeine and ingredients that enhance the effects of caffeine.
What do you think?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks, Joe. I had a moment of weakness and was considering this product to help with pre-holiday weight loss efforts. Thanks for reminding me that there is no magic bullet and stopping me from taking a potentially harmful path. I have a patent foramen ovale (hole in my heart) and take daily aspirin to reduce stroke risk. Definitely do not need a product like this.
Nina glad I was able to help and I agree, you do not need this stuff. just be mindful of what you are eating during the holidays and you will be ok. That is what I am going to try to do also
Actually there is 21 years of federally funded research behind these products. Please do a review on the vi-shake! I’d love to see if you can find anything wrong… The shakes are the core of the program!
Jamie, can you show me the 21 years of federally funded research on Vi Slim? The ingredients do have research however Vi Slim has no research. Remember research on the Vi Slim ingredients is not the same as research on Vi Slim itself. I did review the Vi Slim Shake and Ill answer your comments there
Thanks for touching on this topic as it is becoming a hot topic at my gym and I’m not buying into it wondering if maybe it’s “me” that doesn’t have an open mind to products of this sort.
Barbara, I’ve heard that ViSalus (and other supplements) is being marketed in gyms. I’m guessing that most of the people who are doing this are personal trainers and group fitness instructors, probably because they are distributors. If this is the case at your gym, ask the fitness person if they are aware that the gyms liability insurance will probably NOT protect them from lawsuits stemming from the recommendation of dietary supplements. I’d also bring this up to the gym manager / owner as well. Personal trainers have been sued because of recommending supplements that caused bad things to happen.
I dont think the ViSalus shake is going to hurt anybody – unless that’s all they eat – but I do have some concerns when it comes to the Vi Slim product since its basically a stimulant. I say the same thing about all stimulants.
As a rule, personal trainers dont know as much about supplements as people might think. I know this is true because I lecture to them on a regular basis.
It seems to work but at a slow rate and it does give me the jitters but I guess it’s from the caffeine but it makes me fill wide awake and gives me energy to do my everyday job
I have started the body by vi 90 day challenge and am extremely happy with all results. I have controlled carb cravings with the shake mix, lost weight, and gained energy…I am a person that is overweight and has tried many many things to lose this weight. THIS product works for me and my family. I was reluctant to try the vi-slim because even coffee makes me jittery and causes me to crash in the afternoon. I did end up trying vi-slim, it gives me a slow energy that lasts and does not cause any side effects…getting ready to order another bottle…makes my workouts with the trainer more bearable!! Hope this helps!
JoAnna, great it does help. Do keep me posted on your progress etc.
I just wanted to make a couple points here. First is that Vi slim does have warnings about the things you stated above right on the pkg. Second, cost is no object when you can earn your product for free. Third, the base of the Vi program is the shakes. Fourth, and lastly, personal testimony holds far more stock in my opinion, than some government study. I have met, and personally know people, including myself that have awesome testimonies to how Vi has helped them in their health, fitness, weight loss goals.
Adelia, As a ViSalus ambassador, I think you deserve something more concrete than just testimonials. Testimonials are just the beginning of knowledge. If you are biased against government studies – and I know some people are – thats fine. What about university studies? ViSalus could fund such a study. I would accept a well done study by ViSalus if it was published in a medical journal. This study would not be hard to do and it would not cost much money. ViSalus would just have to give their products to a grad student and let them and their principle college adviser do all the research and get it published.
Why hasnt ViSalus done this? I want you to know IM not picking on ViSalus here – Ive said the same thing – and a lot more – about Beachbody, the makers of Shakeology.
As for the ViSlim Metab Awake supplement, even though there are warnings on the package, are ViSalus Ambassadors educated on how to screen for those who might be at a higher risk of problems with this supplement? What training do ViSlim Ambassadors get prior to selling the products? I dont know the answer to this so that’s why I ask.
I’ve been using the Body by Vi Transformation Kit (which includes Vi-Slim) for about 6 months and am extremely happy with the results. I’ve lost 75lbs, gained energy and have my eating under control. These products are not a magic bullet. You still have to change your eating habits, learn to make good choices and exercise. For me it’s a way to help me make lasting changes, not a quick fix.
No program will work for you if you’re not committed to change. As for the Vi-Slim, I get no side effects at all from this product, however, caffeine generally doesn’t affect me negatively anyway. I don’t drink coffee at all but do drink tea and caffeinated sodas and don’t find they make me jittery or over-stimulated.
If the caffeine levels in Vi-Slim are similar to those beverages then it would make sense that I don’t see any side effects as that’s what my body is used to. Also, I’m an otherwise healthy 41 year old female who didn’t present with issues such as high blood pressure before trying to lose weight. Overall, I think the Body by Vi program is a useful tool to help people make changes, but it won’t work if you’re not ready for change. And no, I’m not a distributor, just a happy customer