Here is an email response from Dr. Luigi concerning Sugar content in the Formula 1 Shake. Just want to pass it on, in case any of your customers have concerns: A distributor had emailed Dr. Luigi to ask about our HERBALIFE Healthy Meal shake using fructose in the ingredients. Here is his response:
You bring up a good point on sugar. The world is starting to realize that we consume way too much sugar in our daily diets, as well as fats and calories overall. The main reason for using sugar is for taste. Almost all of your customers want something that tastes good, so sugar helps to sweeten the product. 32 years ago, when Mark Hughes designed the products, he did not add much sugar because he wanted to keep the products protein based with plant nutrients, and he started the company using fructose as a sweetener. That legacy has continued in almost all of our product line, in particular our shakes. Fructose is basically fruit sugar. The sugar that you find in a candy bar is glucose or sucrose. The good thing about fructose is that is does NOT go directly into the bloodstream after you eat it (like glucose and sucrose do). Instead, fructose takes a stop in the liver to get metabolized which slows down its release into the blood. This is why Mark was so smart to use fructose because it generally has a Low glycemic index compared to other sugars. Because our shakes have protein and fiber, they help to slow the release of the fructose which is why people feel satisfied with energy for 2-3 hours. Also, the amount of fructose is between 9-12 grams depending on which shake you use. Some of the new shakes may have only 6 grams of sugar. Each gram of sugar has 4 calories so a shake with 12 grams of sugar is only 48 calories which is very little when you consider a typical soda has 200 calories of sugar. Furthermore, our sugar comes from oranges or beets which is a more natural source than corn sweetener (which is what the food companies generally use). So yes, many customers are asking for low sugar products which is exactly what we offer. I remember when I started in the company years ago, Deb Katz told me that Mom’s generally look for products that have less than 13 grams of sugar per serving on the shelf in stores. And that is about the amount in our products. Best regards, Luigi”
