MonaVie Questions and Answers

What fruits are included in MonaVie, besides the Acai berry?
In addition to the Acai berry, there are 18 fruits: White grape, Nashi pear, Acerola, Pear, Aronia, Grape , Cranberry, Passionfruit, Banana, Apricot, Prune, Kiwi, Blueberry, Bilberry, Wolfberry, Pomegranate, Lychee, Camu Berry.

Only 17% of the population consumes the recommended 2 to 3 servings of a variety of fruits each day. By not getting our recommended intake of fruits, we are missing out on the health benefits of vitamins, antioxidants, phytonutrients and fiber, needed for optimal health and disease prevention. Hence, the development of MonaVie, the perfect blend of eighteen rare and lesser-consumed fruits from around the world. One serving of MonaVie each day contains a variety of the most nutritionally dense fruits available for families on the go and picky-eating children.


Are there any safety issues with Glucosamine and Celedrin in the MonaVie Active Product?
Although there is no scientific evidence that glucosamine or celedrin are harmful to any population groups, we recommend that children, and pregnant and lactating women consume the MonaVie instead of MonaVie Active, since there are no long-term safety studies. Extremely high levels of glucosamine (much, much higher than the dosage in MonaVie Active) can lead to gastric fluctuations, soft stool, diarrhea, and nausea, and extreme cases, Abdominal pain, dyspepsia, diarrhea, increased blood pressure, decreased blood pressure, fatigue, depressed mood, dizziness, increased CPK, and photosensitivity.


Are individuals with allergies to shell fish able to consume the MonaVie Active?
Glucosamine comes from shells of lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. People allergic to shellfish are usually allergic to the protein portion. Glucosamine is derived from chitin, a carbohydrate. The process used to extract glucosamine destroys proteins and antigens that the body would normally react to.


Are diabetics able to take the MonaVie Active?
Technically glucosamine is a carbohydrate. The body is not able to convert it into glucose so it does not provide additional sources of glucose. If you are a diabetic, check first with your doctor and always monitor your blood sugar. In diabetes, many factors can lead to changing blood sugar levels. Studies show glycosamine did not affect insulin sensitivity in humans. (Pouwels 2001).


Is MonaVie pasteurized? What is the significance?
MonaVie is flash-pasteurized. This is for safety reasons, to ensure that that are no harmful bacteria, etc. transmitted in the product.

Pasteurization, when warranted, is important to rid one of the very real risks of pathogenic contamination and health threatening diseases. Avoiding this very real threat to our health takes precedent over the theoretical and unlikely risk of inactivating food enzymes, which have no recognizable purpose in human nutrition (See next question and answer). As to the effect of pasteurization on heat labile vitamins, it would not matter since measurements are made after the process of pasteurization is complete. You are guaranteed getting the amounts listed. Minerals are heat stable and are not influenced by the pasteurization process.


What is the nutritional significance of plant enzymes?
There is an undocumented belief, by some, that the body’s ability to produce enzymes is exhaustible and that we need to ingest plant enzymes to do the work of digestive enzymes. However, humans continue to produce enzymes into their nineties. Perhaps there is a reduction in the ability to produce enzymes, but the inability to replicate secretory cells would be a more sound explanation than exhaustion of the cell’s ability to synthesize enzymes.

Even if our bodies’ were unable to produce digestive enzymes, ingesting plant enzymes would not help. Food enzymes do not digest food in the stomach, as they are destroyed during digestion and therefore fail to enter the body.


Are preservatives added to MonaVie?
Sodium Benzoate is the preservative used in MonaVie. Once the bottle is opened, the fruit mixture would be an ideal medium for pathological organisms were it not for an insignificant and harmless addition of 0.1% sodium benzoate.

Foods containing this preservative are much healthier than non-preservative foods since harmful microorganism growth are inhibited, food oxidation is prevented, and food nutrients are preserved. Sodium benzoate is completely out of the system within ten hours of consumption. It does not cause cancer. The limit of sodium benzoate in foods is not because of its toxicity or potential ill effects; rather, it is a taste issue -- levels higher than 0.1% will leave an unacceptable aftertaste.