Nopalea Review
Nopalea At A Glance
Let’s consider Nopalea‘s Claims and cost/serving.
Then you’ll know if Nopalea‘s friend or foe.
First challenge is the Nopalea site has very little info. Nopalea is an MLM, so I resorted to reading a Nopalea distributor’s site just to find a list of Nopalea ingredients.
This is a very bad sign. Nopalea should list their ingredients on the front page. Hopefully they’ll change this soon.
Claims from the company Website + 4 Pack Sales Page include:
- Reduces Inflammation
- Detoxify – Betalains Draining Cell Toxins
- Achieve Optimum Cellular Health
- Nopalea is Preservative Free
- Reduces Aches & Pains
- Improves Breathing
- Relieves Swollen, Painful Joints & Muscles
- Cost is nearly $1/oz. (4 Pack Purchase @ $120.00)
Nopalea centers it’s claims around reducing inflammation via Betalains derived from Nopal Cactus.
We’ll focus on these two areas.
Inflammation
Inflammation is the dilation (expansion) of fluid passages and tissues, as a response to irritation, in an attempt to flood the area with additional water, oxygen and nutrients to neutralize the irritant.
The most apparent irritation situation is an cut, where tissue reddens and swells as healing accelerates in the area.
Nopalea is addressing low-grade, chronic (long term) inflammation internal to fluid passages, organs and tissue.
There are several primary sources of chronic, internal inflammation…
- Blood Gases
- CICs (Circulating Immune Complexes)
- DNA Mutations
- Free Radical Damage
Blood Gases
Weight Loss 101 – Weight Loss Versus Inch Loss goes into great detail about Blood Gases.
In short, as Blood Gases build up, swelling occurs.
CICs (Circulating Immune Complexes)
CICs is a $100 word Doctors made up to fill you with shock and awe.
CICs are just partially digested food. These food particles circulate primarily in blood, secondarily in lymph fluid.
CICs are toxic sludge which occurs when your primary digestive system is unable to process what you’re eating.
DNA Mutation
As cells divide and multiply, replicative fading can occur.
This means slight DNA (blueprint) errors are passed along to each new generation of cells. Consider building a skyscraper. Imagine as each floor is finishes, that floors workers pass along a set of blueprints + resources for the next floor to be built.
If each passed along blueprint has slight errors, it’s only a matter of time before a floor caves in, collapsing the entire building.
In cell terms we call this Cancer.
Free Radicals
This is one factor contributing to DNA Mutation. Free Radicals simply cause internal oxidation or rust or aging.
The Betalains Gimmick
Gimmick is a strong word. It’s true Betalains are one aid in reducing inflammation. Gimmick is Betalains occur in all sorts of fresh produce – beets, spinach, kale, chard – most produces with large green leaves.
Several Marketers are claiming Nopalea contains 900 grams/serving of it proprietary blend. Since 1oz. of water weights around 30 grams… well… we’re talking Star Trek Tech to fold space time to get 900 grams of anything into an area which only allows for 30 grams of weight.
A very neat trick indeed!
The Botton Line
Low grade, chronic inflammation is a result of life habits.
Best to fix this via groceries, rather than remedials (pills, potions, powders).
The only Magic Bullet to reverse inflammation is upgrading life habits, especially what you’re eating.
I have had to stop taking Nopalea, since I can now only sleep 1/12 – 2 hours a night on it. Its gorgeous packaging should have alerted me to the fact that this was an expensive, and perhaps an MLM product, particularly since the doctor who prescribed it sells other MLM products. I’m being used as a guinea pig without my permission, and I don’t like it.
Any responses to this?
Betsy, you’re sleep challenges with Nopalea probably come from one of a few places.
Since all the ingredients are highly processed, tough to tell exactly which one or ones might be contributing.
My guess is they use a fairly large amount of Green Tea Extract so you “feel” something when you ingest Nopalea. First rule of marketing any nutritional gizmo, is make sure the client “feels” something. The marketing angle is that if you “feel” something, you’ll think the product is “working” and if you think it’s “working”, then you might believe whatever claims have been made about the product.
The other challenge is all the fruit juice “concentrates”.
The word “concentrate” or “extract” is code for “sugar”. Concentrates are made by boiling fruit juices. As water evaporates the sugar ratio (amount of sugar in water) increases.
Nopalea contains… no joke… 21 sugars… er, I mean, concentrates/extracts. Oops… 22 sugars, as it says “Cherry Powder” too and “Cherry Powder” is probably superheated Cherry Concentrate. Oops 23 sugars, as there’s also Maltodextrin.
Good rule of thumb, avoid anything that says “concentrate” or “extract”.
Last challenge is Stevia. Why they use Agave and Stevia is unclear. Agave, the lightly processed version, is a great health food. Is Agave better than zero sugar? No. Is it evil as health food pundits like Mercola say? No. I’ll write an article about this in the future, so stay tuned to your email from us or do a site search.
Anyway, Stevia… Not so good. As your eating style (diet) improves, Stevia will most likely give you Parkinson like symptoms. The 5-7Hz shakes Parkinson presents.
My first Stevia tests started in the mid 80s, long before it was available to the masses.
Every form I’ve tested – fresh leaf, liquid extract, powder – all give me Parkinson shakes.
So take your pick. Might be caffeine in the Green Tea Extract. Might be the 23 sugars (ouch). Might be the Stevia.
Most likely a combination of them all.
Your insomnia is probably some detox reaction.
Best you put Nopalea on your garden, instead of your mouth!
Great information you got hear The Health Professor. So this must really a product that should be avoided then. I will look forward to your article about Mercola or other pundits you will investigate. Very nice info
Since I started taking Nopalea, I wasn’t able to sleep much at night. I guess I am not the only one having a problem sleeping because of Nopalea since Betsy mentioned it. Has anyone seen any positive effects on their end for using this product? I haven’t noticed any difference yet on my case.
I saw the nopalea ads on tv and went to research about it. I found out that it came from a mexican word “nopal” which is a variety of cactus. This kind of cactus is usually used to reduced the blood sugar levels in people with diabetes type II. My suggestion is: Do some home work and find out the medical benefits of the product will work for you or not before buying.
Well, I have to admit that it really takes terrible for me but I am still taking it because it has helped me with my arthritis after a week of continuously taking it. I lower my dosage for taking pain relievers which is a good sign somehow. Don’t know if it just works for me so goodluck for everyone.
If you are on medications prescribed by your doctor, you should be careful in taking any supplements out there. Supplements may conflict with the medications you are in so it might be dangerous for you. Remember that supplements are not regulated by the FDA so be careful with what you take.
I am an RN and don’t usually try any type of supplements advertised on tv. Since I am having problems with inflammations, I tried nopalea for 2 months but was really disappointed that it didn’t really help me at all. I will just do my research and look for fruits or veggies that can naturally help as anti-inflammatory. Any ideas?
After almost 2 years of P90X and extra yoga many of my problems are disappearing. Especially the stiffness in my neck which caused daily headaches 4 of 5 years ago. I tried acupuncture, massage and a variety of exercise routines. It is the Yoga practice that really takes care of the problems in my neck, hips, knees and shoulders. Don’t stop moving and Yoga is gentle motion that takes care of your entire body.
To anyone who bought Nopalea, You should know that you have been ripped off! They charge $49 a bottle for this kind of crap but nopal cactus fruit or prickly pears are only sold for 25 cents each at the grocery store!
Please tell me you aren’t that stupid. There’s more than nopal cactus in Nopalea. This whole thing has been shockingly devoid of factual information. Rant on sheep! Or do some actual research
My friend and I are planning to try this. We have heard both good and bad things about it and I think that the only way for me to know if it’s effective is to try it. If it does then good but if not then at least I tried it myself.
“if not then at least I tried it myself”
Yeah, you will find out this product is useless after spending hundreds of dollars on fruit juice. Even the “free” bottle costs $10 in S/H, which is a scam right there, as it should not cost more than a couple of bucks to ship this product. Then they give you the hard sell to buy more at about $1 per ounce. It is amazing that some people cannot see that this is a complete scam.
My Mom mention this so called “magic potion” to me and I knew that if it sounds too good to be true, IT’S PROBABLY NOT TRUE!! So I’m just here looking online to get feedback from different websites. When I typed in my search, I did not type in just the word Napolea. I typed “Napolea Scams” and a lot of sites start popping up. That’s when I knew to tell my mom to not bother spending her money on something that’s going to be a disappointment. She just will have to change her diet (as I on numerous times suggested to her) and find time to exercise. This is a true saying…. ” There A Sucker Born Every Minutes.” And I wish my mom and others will stop getting suckered in to these scams. I saw the woman on the commercial crying, giving her testimonial. I can see my mom crying, too, believing the paid actress or should I say scam artist, that she really had these ailments. I tell you…. “What A Shame!…. What A Waste!”
Rico Daniels,
Atlanta, GA
Wanted to make a quick comment about inflammation. I have osteo arithritis really bad, have had (3) shoulder surgery’s due to bone spurs & tears in my rotator cuffs. I’ve been using a supplement called Zyflamend by New Chapter. I was on 200mg of Celebrex a day and got off it cold turkey. Zyflamend,is all natural herbs, I’ve been on it for (2) years and have had great results. I’ve also gotten about 40+ people on it in the last two years. My sister-in-law was scheduled for hand surgery and after only a week on Zyflamend,she canceled her surgery. Her Dr. was shocked, however after reading the ingredients said it was definitely good stuff and would start recommending it to his patients. You can buy Zyflamend on line at Vitacost.com, go to the website and read the ingredients it’s good stuff and will do work wonders on your inflammation. One last thing, don’t take it with food otherwise it will act like and enzyme and go straight to your stomach. I take 2 – 3 tablets in the morning first thing about an hour before eating and the same amount at night right before going to bed. I’m not a spoke’s person for this supplement, only a consumer who has had great results with it. Good luck!
What kind of zyflamend do you take? I looked on vista.com but they have several different ones they sell so not sure what I should purchase.
The best way to reduce inflammation is to stop eating all grains and legumes. If you want to learn more, check out the benefits of the paleo lifestyle.
Paleo diet is great for inflammation. I was on it for several months as well as taking turmeric I felt great. So the last several weeks I have been very bad and am suffering. Back to the real thing that works