Every morning when I wake up, I check Instagram and see a girl I went to high school with post a picture on her story: “$1 off! Come get yours!” next to a loaded tea, tagging the company.

I’m assuming they tell her at checkout that if she posts it, she’ll get some type of percentage off or deal — but every day?

With the rising popularity of “nutritional” tea companies around the world, speculation about what these companies are really selling worries me.

A friend of mine who worked for one of these nutritional drink companies was even baited into recruitment to sell these products on her own. She declined after she heard horror stories of other employees who lost out on a lot of money due to pyramid scheme issues.

I’ll be transparent and say I’ve tried these teas and shakes before from multiple companies. While they’re delicious, I could never really tell what the nutritional benefits were. I never felt better, lighter, healthier, or more energized. Honestly, I felt like sh*t.

I began to question the intentions of these so-called “nutritional loaded teas” and whether companies were telling the truth about what they were actually marketing.

What I discovered was that a majority of these products come from a company named Herbalife.

Herbalife offers a wide range of dietary supplements, “nutritional shake blends,” and protein powders.

Oh, and they are a multilevel marketing company.

What this company is displaying is a pyramid scheme. Those at Herbalife would disagree and say they do not operate this way, but the facts are clear.

Basically, Herbalife hires independent representatives to sell their product, and they also try to recruit others to sell the product.

The company makes the most money, then the representative, and then there’s the person who was recruited, who makes almost nothing. According to Eater, 50 percent of Herbalife’s sales leaders made an average of less than $5 a month from product sales.

It gets worse.

The Atlantic wrote, “There’s a catch, however: you and your recruits need to buy several thousand dollars’ worth of shakes and supplements before these bonuses kick in.”

Herbalife also preys on women, claiming they are giving them business opportunities to contribute to their family income, but in reality, they are not. Over half of Herbalife reps are women, and on average, 99.6 percent of people who join Herbalife actually lose money.

The issue is not just the pyramid scheme, although that is pretty awful. My problem is the false marketing that these teas and shakes will help you lose weight and become healthier.

In reality, they are no different than your classic energy drink.

Tanja Johnston, a Los Angeles-based board-certified naturopathic doctor and nutritionist, told Today that these teas are labeled as teas because that’s what “healthy” people drink, but they’re the same as an energy drink formula.

The stimulants in these energy drinks aren’t great for the cardiovascular system. In fact, nutritionists say they aren’t good at all, noting the amount of caffeine in these products is not good for mood and is even worse for teens.

Claims that these teas are nutritional and healthy are misconstrued and misleading. This multilevel marketing company, worth $690 million, has not only drained a lot of vulnerable people’s pockets but also misled people into thinking it was a healthy alternative.

This isn’t even the worst of it. A study revealed that Herbalife products may cause acute liver failure.

In 2023, Docwirenews stated, “Upon analysis, all of the sourced Herbalife products contained high levels of heavy metals, and 75 percent of the samples contained undisclosed toxic compounds, while 63 percent of the samples contained bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid.”

Iowa City has a similar company opening downtown called Hyper Energy Bar. The only difference is it isn’t a part of Herbalife. Instead, it’s an Iowa-based chain owned by Heart of America. What I like about this company is that they don’t claim to be a healthy alternative, and they aren’t a multilevel marketing company.

Though I’m not saying these drinks are good for you by any means — because no caffeine is, and I’m just as guilty of it as most. Hyper isn’t trying to sell a product based on fake results. In fact, theirs aren’t even teas but infused energy drinks. They also sell smoothies and coffee.

When companies are transparent about their motives and products, people can make better judgments on what they wish to put into their bodies. Herbalife, as a large company, needs to do a better job of setting clear standards that people understand.

If you’re going to distribute in bulk and have others sell products in shops, you’d better make sure they understand your values and motives.