Qivana Review

The other day I was asked to review the multi level marketing (MLM) company Qivana. Anyone that follows my blog knows I try to provide nothing but facts, and support my views with viable links. Whether products work or do not work, is not the focal point of the review. I look at the company, and base my review primarily on their own material. I do look at the products offered and the science provided by the company to support such claims, but I do not tell you whether the products work or not. I also will give a brief review of the company business model. So let’s take a look at the Qivana website shall we!

I did a quick search on Google and found two prospective websites. The first one is the official Qivana LLC website. It was the top search in Google, but I assure you, their official website is not very informative. If you are interested in learning about the products or the business you are going to be leaving the website with many questions. The company tells you a little bit about some of their product line such as the Core System, MetaboliQ System, Prime System, and the Skinshift System. Unfortunately they do not tell you what ingredients are in each product or how much each of the products cost. If you were looking to join the company you have a couple of options. You can click on the contact link which provides a phone number and a couple of emails or you can click on the social media link. Seriously, what company does not provide a brief history? I had to check out the Facebook link just to find out that the company opened their doors in 2009. Unfortunately, the website does not do a very good job of providing viable information to support any claims regarding their products either.

For instance, if you look at the Chore System under products you will learn that the company uses some ground breaking direct dissolve technology. The company claims the following, and I quote: 

“Qivana forged the way to improve normal digestion, immune defense, and nutrient absorption with the revolutionary QORE Probiotic, which was introduced long before the current market craze.”

They provide the same type of information for all the rest of the products. Unfortunately they do not provide ingredients or links to research validating claims made within the website. That is when I decided to check out the link that showed up second on the Google search page.

So I clicked on the Qivana Products.com link and it brought me to another website that appears to be associated with Qivana. Although I have to admit I am a little bit confused as to why the WebPages have been separated. If I relied primarily on the first website I probably would not even consider joining due to the lack of information. On a good note, this website does seem to be much more informative. So let’s take a look at the products and the research that supports any claims that are being made.

I decided to take a look at Prime Edge first. It seems as though this product is supposed to restore Nitric Oxide and improve blood flow. The company claims that all other similar products on the market use amino acid L-arginine to boost Nitric Oxide and that it is not the most effective means of doing so. According to the company, Prime uses all available pathways not just L—arginine. The company seems to think they are the only ones to create nitrogen-oxide in the mouth by using some type of quick dissolving podwer. Apparently the powder begins creating Nitric Oxide immediately. 

Unfortunately, that is all the information provided. I noticed the company offered a video so I thought I would be better off watching that. After watching the video I realize the product is actually called Prime Nitric Oxide Activator. It is also a very expensive product as it retails at $80 for 30 packs. If my math is correct, each packet is worth around $2.60. But if it works, it might not be so bad depending on how often the product has to be used to be effective. I think now would be a good time to look at the product ingredients.

I see that the company utilizes fructose instead of Advocare’s favorite, sucralose. This might be an opinion, but processed fructose seems to be better than sucralose based on the available research pertaining to humans and sucralose. Along with the fructose the product also includes processed vitamin C, B12, and a bunch of plant based ingredients. According to the product brochure, the product should be taken twice a day for 90 days, and once a day after just for maintenance. Seriously, there are many people that take Probiotic on a regular basis to increase healthy gut flora. Even Advocare uses a type of Probiotic coupled with the Herbal Cleanse. I also like to use Probiotic myself. Like I said, I am not here to tell you whether the product works, but I do like to verify whether or not the company can satisfactorily validate their claims of efficacy through viable research.

Although I am pleased that the company provides research regarding the importance of maintaining Nitric Oxide levels, I believe they fall seriously short on providing viable research. They are starting to look similar to Advocare. Although the research clearly supports the need to maintain Nitric Oxide level especially in adults 40 and older, the research does not support efficacy claims. None of the research provided has anything to do with the testing of any Qivana products. If I am wrong please provide the research and I will read it and retract my opinion. When a product is thrown together with a bunch of other products, tests are done to ensure that the products are safe and effective for their intended use. I am sorry to say that the research provided for the Prime product just does not prove anything along those lines. None of the information provided gives any indication that the company performed their own test using their own products on animals or humans. Some of the research used to support their claims was released after the company started selling their products.

I went through many of the other products and although they claim to use natural ingredients, they do not provide any viable research directly related to the products. Meaning, none of the research had anything to do with the products. No research related to product testing is provided on either website. Unfortunately, that is the same thing Advocare does. They tell you that the product is safe for its intended use, and provides no viable research to support such a claim. Better yet, neither one of the companies provide third party research that thoroughly tests each product. Listen, I am not telling you that the products do not work. As a matter of fact, if I had to choose a company, I definitely would select Qivana just because they do not use sucralose. Well, let us take a look at the business model, maybe things will get better.

I have to admit that I am a little bit concerned about the marketing plan used by Qivana. As I started reading about the company their binary compensation plan and marketing plan started to resemble the MLM company Vemma. Anyone that is familiar with Vemma knows the company was forced to close their doors by the FTC in 2015. The following is what Qivana believes makes their compensation plan different, and I quote:

·       “Qivana Independent business owners (IBO) are paid weekly.

·       Qivana encourages a team building approach.

·       Qivana never flushes earned volume*.

·       Qivana allows you to get paid on unlimited binary tree depth.

·       Qivana rewards you for building leaders. *Must remain active with a 4 week rolling volume of at least 50PV”

Did anyone happen to notice the * at the end of never flushes earned volume. I guess the word “never” really should be taken out because if your do not maintain the 50 PV (personal volume), I am going to guess your earned volume is going to get flushed. Similar to Advocare, if you expect to earn income from Qivana you will be required to become an IBO, and enroll at least one customer. I imagine you can just purchase products and sell to customers, but if you want to make a commission from the company you will have to get the customer to sign on. But let me explain the similarities to Vemma and why I am concerned. The following diagram is a Vemma compensation plan structure based on the same binary structure used by Qivana.

 

The diagram I provided was used by the FTC and can be found in the Stacie Bosley declaration. That is what Vemma regarded as a binary compensation plan. You can also watch this short YouTube video where the young lady gives a brief explanation about the plan. The following diagram is associated with Qivana.

As you can see there really is no difference. Compensation is paid based on enrolling a left leg and a right leg. If you watch this video, you will see that Qivana also encourages you to help build your left and right leg teams for them. Obviously there is a slight difference in the compensation payout, but the end result is the same. IBO’s that do not have any intention of selling products can still have legs put under them by you or other members of your team and are called customers. Commissions are based on the signing of a new customer and thus incentivize recruiting over selling the products. With that, Qivana also encourages the use of auto-ship, and promotes a car bonus similar to Vemma. If you want to read more about the FTC vs. Vemma case you can find it here. I really do not believe it is necessary to go any further with the compensation plan as it is almost a shadow of Vemma. The only thing missing is the deceptive advertising, maybe.

I really do not see a problem with the products themselves. Americans consume similar products on a regular basis that contain the same processed ingredients. I guess the only problem I do have is that they are expensive. But so are many other products we buy over the counter. I guess it would be nice if the company would perform their own research or have third party research performed to support their efficacy claims. 

My biggest concern would be with the marketing plan. Advocare promotes wide and deep, and incentivizes recruiting over selling. Of course they all seem to refer to distributors or IBO’s as customers. But the unfortunate truth is that I do not really see the difference between any of them. Qivana promotes recruiting to earn a commission and also incentivizes the promotion of auto-ship, similar to Vemma. They also promote the binary compensation plan, similar to Vemma. Although I did not do a complete and thorough evaluation of the compensation plan, I did enough to raise concerns. Vemma used deception of some sort, and some actions by Qivana or the lack thereof, have a similar effect. Anyone that has decided to join would be hard pressed to find an income disclosure statement. You will notice that many of the videos I provided regarding Qivana did not include any type of income disclosure. Advocare and every other MLM provide income disclosure statements. As a matter of fact, none of the Qivana material provided offered information regarding earning capabilities or statistics of past earnings. I am going to be honest with you, there is something that is bothering me more than that.

I ask that you watch this video or just watch from 1:32. You will notice the guy in the video works for Qivana and he is talking about the science behind Qivana. He directs your attention to the 1998 Nobel Prize awarded to the scientist for their research on Nitric Oxide. What he does not tell you is that nothing he is talking about is related, technically.

He is associating research pertaining to Nitric Oxide as if it has something to do with the product Prime. The young man shows a picture of the Qivana Prime product and then said the following; “this break through science discovery won the Nobel Prize in 1998”. He is misleading the viewer into believing the product won the Nobel Prize, and is a violation of FTC rules. Just about everything that they put in writing is deceptive. Using unrelated research as if it had something to do with Qivana products is deceptive. Just because research has showed the benefits of Nitric Oxide, does not give product manufacturers the right to make false misleading claims. Because Nitric Oxide is one of the ingredients does not afford the company the right to make claims that the product is backed by research. Anytime we start mixing products together, there is a concern. That is why research is performed to test the efficacy of the products. So far, I have not read one piece of research provided by Qivana that related to the Qivana products.

I guess there really is nothing else I can add. If you do not mind paying a lot for the products then maybe Qivana is for you. But be warned, I would not doubt if the Federal Trade Commission has their eyes on them already. Hell, I would not doubt if they have their eyes on Advocare at this point. It is only going to be a matter of time, and I believe that the FTC will begin to see complaints regarding the false research claims, and the other deceptive practices. Although this article is my opinion, I have provided sufficient proof that Qivana does not provide research pertaining to the actual products. Qivana uses deceptive advertising that has the potential to mislead people into believing that the products have been tested by Qivana. I have also provided viable proof that Qivana’s marketing plan is very similar to Vemma. The unfortunate truth is, they do not have to. They have a product that seems to be filled with processed ingredients, but from plant based sources. All the sugar seems to derive from fructose. I am not a nutritional expert, and the aforementioned is my opinion.

Please share your thoughts, and let me know if I have anything wrong so I can make any corrections, if applicable.