As an integrative physician I would normally not get on these chat boards but after my overweight and unknowledgeable Metagenics representative came into my office attempting to use a FDA letter to win over my business by implying that my XYMOGEN formulas are of terrible quality. This offended me for several reasons. The first being that I have been a long time customer of Brian Blackburn's, and for years had purchased Metagnics formulations from Atlantic Pro Nutrients long before he started XYMOGEN's. I understand that he has stored, and fulfilled both Metagnics formulations and now XYMOGEN formulations in the same wearhouse, under the same conditions for more than 20 years. Now my heavy set Metagenics rep is trying to tell me that the conditions upon which Mr. Blackburn stored Metagenics and now XYMOGEN formulas is inadequate? Why did Metagenics let Mr. Blackburn sell more than $6 million dollars of Metagenics per yea if his facility was not adequate? Clearly the argument is flowed and FDA's inspection and subsequent letter seeking a better paper trail of is more than justifiable.
With that said, the reason why I'm using more XYMOGEN instead of Metagenics is because I am increasingly disenchanted with Metagenic's corporate philosophy and research outcomes. I am also disappointed to see professional representatives spending so much time online these boards trashing XYMOGEN, especially because I have scene impressive results in my clinical practice using their formulations.
Most startling to me though, is that professionals use the word "cheat". I feel compelled to disclose what I feel to be even more unethical than cheating, and that is publishing a multi-center trail on a comparing the outcome of diet therapy alone VS UltraMeal 360- a Soy protein drink sweetened with Fructose. My Metagnics rep. wanted me to read this 2011 paper by Jones et al in J. Clinical Lipidology as he was sure that UltraMeal 360 cures metabolic syndrome.
Wile the abstract of this article is convincing, I read the whole paper and was shocked to find the of all Metabolic Syndrome variables listed in Table. 3 (page 6), there were NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN ANY PARAMETER OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME OVER DIET ALONE. I read and re-read the paper to be sure. To my surprise, I was right. After 12 weeks of UltraMeal 360- which would cost my patient's nearly 100 dollars per month-there are NO differences between the UltraMeal 360 Medical Food Arm and Control Arm (diet alone).
What am I supposed to tell my patients? "Miss Smith, I really think you should take UltraMeal 360 for 12 weeks because as Table. 3 shows, when compared to just diet along, you can expect to loose no extra body weight, no additional reduction in triglycerides, no better changes in fasting glucose, limited reduction in blood pressure and NO changes in Waist circumference." I would loose patients and dramatically hurt my professional reputation if others knew that I was charging $100/month for UltraMeal 360 even though published data indicates if offers NO advantages to diet therapy alone.
Click here and read for yourself-
http://www.congresodelnoroeste.uson.mx/curso_maluzfernandez/jones-JN5.pdf
Page 17 of draft PDF from above. Clearly Table. 3 lists all WHO and NCEP/ATP III parameters of metabolic syndrome and there is not changes over diet alone. That is to say, a multi-center trial shows that UltraMeal 360 offers no benifits over diet alone for any of the World Health Organization (WHO) parameters of Metabolic Syndrome.
Cheating in my eye is my Metagenics rep, his manager and Jeff Bland having the audacity to go around to private practice physicians and tell them that UltraMeal 360- a Soy-Fructose drink- cures metabolic syndrome? This is cheating. By the way, why is Jeff Bland not listed as an author on this study by Jones et al?
So who is cheating who? Metagenics is cheating doctors and their patients by clumping parameters that are NOT components of the Metabolic Syndrome such as Apolipoprotein B(ApoB), total cholesterol and LDL- and saying that they are components of Metabolic Syndrome because they are the only parameters significantly changed after 12 weeks of UltraMeal 360 VS diet alone. Atherogenic markers, yes, but ApoB, TC and LDL ARE NOT part of the WHO and NCEP/ATP III guidelines as a parameter of Metabolic Syndrome and as a functional clinician, I'm not looking above and beyond ApoB and total cholesterol as they don't offer clinical insight into how to treat the oxidation and vascular inflammation.
So who again, who is cheating who? Widespread marketing and decimation of research marketing UltraMeal 360 as a "medical food for metabolic syndrome" when the 12 week multi-center trial clearly shows that it offers no benefits over diet alone is cheating the entire industry. I could have been the victim of this cheating, as would my patient(s) for had I not read the actual study. XYMOGEN launching science based innovative formulas is only helping my patients get better, faster.
See for yourself......
http://www.congresodelnoroeste.uson.mx/curso_maluzfernandez/jones-JN5.pdf
Reference:
Jones JL, et al. A Mediterranean-style low-glycemic-load diet improves variables of metabolic syndrome in women, and addition of a phytochemical-rich medical food enhances benefits on lipoprotein metabolism. Journal of Clinical Lipidology. 2011 (article in press)
