Ingredients

• The manufacturer doesn't disclose the exact amounts of ingredients in MonaVie juice. Because it is considered a health supplement, the company is not required to disclose that information. The most advertised ingredient is acai berry, referred to as the basis for MonaVie juice. It is not fresh, but rather derived from concentrate and from freeze-dried berries. Other ingredients include pomegranates, blueberries, camu camu, acerola and other fruits and berries that are thought to be beneficial antioxidant foods.
  
  

Free Radicals

• Free radicals are atoms with an extra electron, which makes them unstable. Their instability makes free radicals highly reactive and damaging to the chemical makeup of the cell. The result is oxidation. To understand the type of damage that occurs, think of what happens to an old car left out in the elements over the years. The rust that forms and corrodes the car's body is a result of oxidation. Like rust that slowly eats away at the car's body, free radicals slowly damage the cells of the body through oxidation, possibly leading to cancer and other illnesses.
  
  

Antioxidants

• The body naturally makes antioxidants to prevent the construction of free radicals and their damage to cells. Antioxidants can break the free radical chains safely. More specifically, the antioxidants inhibit oxidation, which protects the cells from damage. Vitamins E, C and beta carotene contain a high proportion of antioxidants, and these vitamins are found in high amounts in foods such as pomegranates, blueberries and acai, which are just a part of the MonaVie Juice blend. These fruits and berries, among 15 others in the juice blend, allow MonaVie to make the claim that it fights free radicals.
  
  

The Controversy

• Although the juice does have antioxidants in it to fight free radicals, many people question whether the juice has enough of those antioxidants to warrant the almost $40 per 28-oz.-bottle price tag (pricing current in 2009). After all, the fruits and berries that compose the drink are from concentrate and are freeze dried. It is possible that fresh juice from these fruits would be just as effective at only a fraction of the cost of MonaVie.
  
  

Other Information

• The MonaVie company is more than just a juice manufacturer. It has come under fire in recent years because of its structure as a multilevel marketing model, which many people equate to a pyramid sales model. Profits in a multilevel marketing scheme are gained primarily through commission and recruitment rather than direct sales. Sales representatives earn revenues from a percentage of the sales from the people they've recruited. In the view of some, this fact tarnishes the health benefits of the products.