TriVita Nopalea- Reviews and Information

Information provided by Craig & Christy Edwards- Independent TriVita Affiliate #13152046 & 13320724

You've probably seen the infomercial for TriVita's Nopalea juice and are wondering:  Is this product for real?  Or just another too good to be true infomercial scam?

When it comes to your health, being cautious about the products you take is a good thing and you should be applauded for seeking additional information on the internet before buying.  There are too many instances where consumers dive head-first into buying products that are less than mediocre at doing what they are intended to do.  Hopefully as I give you my experience with Nopalea and point you in the right direction toward finding further information about the product you'll be able to make a more educated decision as to whether Nopalea Juice is right for you.

Nopalea is an anti-oxidant rich juice supplement made by TriVita, Inc. Though it was introduced to the marketplace in March of 2009, television promotion of the product by TriVita did not begin until January of 2010.

The main claim of the Nopalea product is that it fights inflammation at the cellular level, thereby reducing pain associated with inflammatory conditions, ridding the body of toxins that accumulate on a day to day basis and helping the body function at optimum performance.

Though the exact specifications of each ingredient within Nopalea is being kept "under wraps", we do know what the product contains. The 2 primary ingredients are:

Nopal Cactus Concentrate: This is the primary ingredient in Nopalea that gives it it's inflammation fighting properties. The concentrate is squeezed from the pulp if the Nopal Cactus fruit (opuntia ficus). Nopal cactus fruit is rich in a rare form of anti-oxidants called Betalains, which are only found naturally in a handful of fruits/vegetables.

Agave Nectar: Agave nectar is used as a sweetener in the product

Supplemental Ingredients that compliment the antioxidant power of the nopal cactus concentrate include:

Grape Seed extract (vitis vinifera), Raspberry extract (rubus idaeus), Strawberry extract (fragaria chiloensis), Cranberry extract (vaccinium macrocarpon), Apple extract (malus omestica), Apricot extract (prunus armeniaca), Mango extract (mangifera indica) fruit, Orange concentrate (citrus aurantium) juice, Papaya concentrate (carica papaya fruit with papain), Tomato concentrate (lycopersicon esculentum) fruit, Kiwi concentrate (actinidia chinensis), Guava (psidium guajava powder), Lemon concentrate (citrus lionum juice), Opuntia concentrate (nopal concentrate) powder, Peach concentrate (prunus persica) juice, Pomegranate extract (punica granatum with ellagic acid and punocaligans), Green Tea extract (camellia sinensis), Beet (beta vulgaris) juice, Bilberry concentrate (vaccinium myrtillus), Acerola cherry extract (malphigia glabra)

Each of these has made a mark in scientific circles as having properties that promote overall health at the cellular level.

Enzymatic supplements that act as catalysts for the absorption and digestion of the Nopalea product include:

Amylase, Cellulase, Hemicellulase, Proteases [bromelain from pineapple (ananas comosus) and papain (carica papaya) from papaya, lipase, phytase]

"Filler compounds" that were incorporated to give Nopalea its consistency include:

Guar gum, Maltodextrin, Natural flavor, Cherry powder, Xanthum gum

The Base: Of course, since every product has to have a base element, Filtered water was used in the production of Nopalea

I have to admit, I'm like most people when it comes to infomercial products: skeptical... You can never help but wonder if the people on the screen are paid actors or actual people with true stories of success with the product.

In the case of the Nopalea infomercial, it was a bit different for me since I actually know some of the people involved and knew of the conditions they suffer from and how it effected their daily life prior to using Nopalea. Therefore, I can wholeheartedly say those testimonials are true. BUT, since I don't expect anyone to just take my word for it, and for the sake of this remaining an unbiased review, we'll look at the science.

As you can see by reading those research abstracts, the science is there to back up TriVita's claim of producing an inflammation fighting product in Nopalea. The fruit from the Opuntia ficus indica does appear to have anti-inflammation, anti-toxin and immune boosting capabilities.  In total, there are over 200 research articles published supporting this claim.

(This is going to be a bit of a long story, but I think it's important to be detailed)

Let me first share that I am a pretty healthy individual... I'm 30 years old, run about 2-4 miles a day and though I do have mild seasonal allergy issues and lingering congestive issues when active due to the asthma I had as a child, that's about the extent of my health problems.

Because of that, I decided to take the Nopalea Wellness Challenge for the sake of preventing inflammation and detoxifying my body rather than repairing damage already done. To me, those mild respiratory issues I have are things that I consider normal since they don't consistently impact my ability to carry on my day to day activities- I consider them a minor nuisance more than anything else

When I began drinking Nopalea in March 2009 (when it was first released), the suggested amount to take per day was 1-3 ounces. Again, being a pretty healthy individual, I decided that 1- 1 1/2 ounces a day was enough for me. As I had figured, I really didn't see a difference in my health, but I knew I was doing something good for myself, so I continued to take it daily.

In October 2009, TriVita held their annual Galaxy of Stars event in Scottsdale, AZ and I decided to attend. By the time of this event, there had been so many people trying the product and giving feedback back to the company on how they achieved their results that new suggested "dosing" information was released called the "Loading Phase" and we were each challenged to give it a try when we got home.

According to the new loading phase, 3-6 ounces of Nopalea should be taken for the first 30 days. It was explained that by taking this amount, you would be "flooding" your body with Betalain anti-oxidants to get them working at your sources of inflammation a bit more quickly.

I decided to give this Nopalea loading phase a try when I returned from the event. I took 3 ounces in the morning and 3 ounces in the evening. To my surprise, I actually DID experience an unexpected result about 5 days into my test!

As I explained earlier, I run daily. One of the unfortunate parts about that is that I have NEVER been able to run my full 4 mile course without some sort of congestion about half way through that usually forces me to stop for a moment, catch my breath and clear my throat. This is simply a fact of life for me and though more mild than when I was a child and forced to take an inhaler before any activity, it's a lingering side effect of my childhood asthma that I never thought I'd get rid of and therefore chalked up as a "norm" for me. Imagine my surprise then, when on day 5 of taking 6 ounces of Nopalea I was able to run the full 4 miles without feeling that congestion! I was so shocked, I actually "tested" it further by continuing to run beyond that 4 miles. I ran a full 6 miles that day and was still congestion free!

Not being one to jump to conclusions and decide that my new Nopalea regimen had made all the difference, I just continued with the loading phase and monitored myself when running. To my surprise, a week passed and I was still congestion free, the full 30 day challenge passed and still- I was congestion free! At that point, I did another test- I STOPPED taking Nopalea to see if my congestion returned. Day 1- I was fine, Day 2- still no congestion, Day 3- a little bit of congestion, not enough to make me have to stop running to clear my throat, but I could tell my lung capacity just wasn't what it had been for the past month, Day 4- congested and struggling a bit to keep from stopping. It was at this point that I decided enough was enough and I started back with my Nopalea regimen.

So, for me, Nopalea worked in a very unexpected way. It eliminated the last lingering side effect of a condition that I've had almost my entire life and it did so better than any inhaler or anything that I had ever tried before. That may not be as outstanding a testimonial as you heard on the infomercial, but it's my story and it's what has made me a life-time Nopalea user at this point. :)

In my opinion and gauging from my own personal experience with the product as well as the countless testimonials from others, the answer is no. Nopalea clearly does have some inflammation fighting powers and as I explained above, science suggests that it has to do with the betalain anti-oxidants found on the Nopal cactus fruit.

Since my experience with the product, I have become a VERY active promoter of Nopalea, in addition to many of TriVita's other products. Because I have a story to tell, it's not about selling, but sharing...

If you're interested in giving Nopalea a try or just want some additional information, please visit: http://arizonacactusjuice.com