Good News From USANA

Quite a news! After a long silence, I went back to check my email and receive a good news from USANA.

First, USANA products are now listed in MIMS Malaysia. What is MIMS? MIMS stands for Monthly Index of Medical Specialties. What is it? It's a guide for doctors and pharmacists to provide prescription to his patients. Any health product that's not listed in MIMS can't be prescribed to a patient. USANA products being listed in MIMS Malaysia is a really good news to doctors, pharmacists and patients in Malaysia that practice drug-free nutritional medication! Great job USANA!

Yet, there's another good news on USANA! USANA has appointed a new accounting firm to manage its account after its appointed Grant Thornton accounting firm quited earlier in July this year. It's a good news to me because it provides better certainty to USANA business endeavor. Strong business outlook is pretty important to me because it ensures a constant supply of its great nutritional products!

Here's a copy of the email from USANA:

Subject: USANA appoints accounting firm PricewaterhouseCooper

Dear Distributors,

I wanted to be the first to share the great news that USANA has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as our new independent public accounting firm. PwC is the global leader in accounting, providing audit and advisory services to more than 70 percent of the Fortune Global 500.

With our impressive record of sustained growth in 13 markets around the world, USANA requires an independent auditor with exceptional skills and experience. Several of the largest and most respected accounting firms vied to offer us their auditing services as we worked to engage an auditor that we were confident would meet our corporate, Distributor, and investor needs. USANA and our audit committee decided PwC’s global resources and experience as the world’s leading accounting firm made it the best choice for our growing company.

We are very excited to work with the talented PwC team as the USANA family works towards its goal of becoming a billion dollar company. With the hard work and dedication of Distributors like you, I know we can do it.

Thank you for everything you do to make this company a world leader in our industry. I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the years to come.

Live well,

Dave Wentz
President
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The Trillion Dollar Wellness Industry Impacts ALL (non-specific to USANA)

This is a good general knowledge that I'd like to share among us. It is not specific to USANA -- it's for everyone. Whether you are with other MLM companies, or even if you hate MLM companies. It is applicable to anyone who concerns about your own personal health. This is going to be something for you to put your thought on.

What I am trying to highlight in this posting is more towards the alarming health symptom of the Wellness Industry than its impact to the economy.

For a start, watch an interview with Mr Paul Zane Pilzer, an economist and also the industry expert, about the emerging of trillion dollar wellness industry. He is also the author to the bestselling book, The Wellness Revolution, How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry [1].

Watch the video now -- click the rectangular play button.

Mr Paul Zane Pilzer research mostly revolves around the Wellness Revolution that is currently taking place in the United States of America. As for our country, Malaysia, we are unfortunately not left far behind -- probably we are at worst.

The reason is, Malaysians currently are 'imitating' the eating habit of American as most of our fast food chain, such as KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King and several others, that we 'enjoy' in Malaysia, originate from the Unites States itself.

Another threat to our health is processed food. Some example of processed food are Ayam Brand Tuna, 2-Minutes Maggi Noodle, Kimball Chili Sauce, Coco Crunch Cereal, Dutchlady Full Cream Milk (my goodness! these are all my favorite food!) -- and these are only a very tiny chunk of all other processed foods that we can find in Giant, Tesco, Carrefour and thousands of other grocery stores in Malaysia. God knows what the manufacturer put inside those processed foods.

Then what put us in worst situation than the Unites States is that most of us are already having stressful enough lifestyle. This is something that our local newspaper has been reporting since the last two years. For example, in April 24th 2007, News Straits Times reported that the stroke cases in Malaysia have increased 300% [2] (from 17,909 cases in 2005 to 52,000 in 2006) in just 1 YEAR! And 30% of Malaysian adult population suffer from hypertension.


We may not have enough 'babyboomers effect' [3] to really drive our local wellness industry, but the needs for the emerging of wellness industry in Malaysia is no less that what the United States needs.

We need to open our eyes wide. Put the goal to achieve good health as one of our priority in life. We can start with an exercise. Eat less fast food or processed food -- the latter is almost impossible to be done. Start taking nutritions to protect your body as well. Learn about how to be healthy. And always put a smile on our face -- always!

As for me, I've already started reducing the frequency to going to any fast food restaurant once every 4 months. I am also doing some gardening activities during the weekends. And I've started protecting my body by consuming my ESSENTIALS™. Smile? Yes, even on my Monday morning!

References:
[1] The Wellness Revolution: "In 2002, The Wellness Revolution was the 'shot heard round the world' for the wellness industry. It defined wellness as an industry—linking tens of thousands of disparate service and product suppliers with a single cause. It showed scientists, fitness providers, businesspeople, food manufacturers, doctors, and others focused on disease prevention and anti-aging that they were part of a worldwide revolution—rather than merely lone iconoclasts inside their chosen professions or industries." Also, click here to visit www.amazon.com to read the review on the The Wellness Revolution book.

[2] News Archive (1991 - 2007) Search Results List: "Nation's No. 4 killer disease By Annie Freeda Cruez (536 wds) (Main Section) PETALING JAYA: At least six Malaysians are hospitalised with stroke every hour. But the news gets grimmer. There was a 300 per cent increase in the number of people with stroke between 2005 and last year."

[3] Baby boomer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "A baby boomer is anyone born between 1946 and 1964 in a country that experienced an unusual spike in birth rates following World War II, a phenomenon commonly known as the baby boom. In the United States, the term is iconic and more properly capitalized as Baby Boomers. The terms 'baby boomer' and 'baby boom' along with others (i.e., 'boomies' or 'boomers'), are also used in countries with demographics that did not mirror the sustained growth in American families over the same interval."
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I've Been Brainwashed by USANA for RM2,674 (USD786)!?

What a prominent topic, especially at this point of time!

You see, when I decided to join USANA and opened three business centers, I believe I've made my decision timely and reasonably and that I have absolutely valid reasons to spend that much of money for myself -- primarily not because I was lured into money making opportunity that USANA provides although USANA pays its distributors their attractive weekly commission and the business outlook is very promising due to the quality of the products and its appropriate pricing.

But my primary interest falls to what USANA has to offer in term of health.

It really took me several months before I submit my application as USANA consumer and distributor. For RM2,674 that I've spent, I received the following from USANA:

• 14 months ESSENTIALS™ Nutrition Supply that will boost my personal health -- No doubt about this because USANA ESSENTIALS™ Nutrition is Top Ranking nutritional products.
• Distributor Starter Kits -- this includes a planner booklet, product catalog, a newsletter and an online membership account at www.usana.com which will allow me to access the training materials, business support section, product support section, regular business & health news update, tracking my business progress and a lot more.
• 3 Business Centers -- a business opportunity for me if one day I wish to run the educate & distribute business. It will allow me to register both Preferred Customers and Associates.

Now, divide RM2,674 by 14 months, that's only RM191 (USD56) a month.

Major chunk of that money, which is 92% of it (or equivalently amount to RM175 (USD51) per month), was actually used to pay for the 14 months ESSENTIALS™ supply -- which is a tangible useful products! For me that's not bad at all. It is affordable and it makes sense.

To further furnish what I really mean by 'affordable', let's dig into the value of the ESSENTIALS™ that I received.

What is it that I see in ESSENTIALS™?

You might wonder why I chose ESSENTIALS™ when there are so many other nutritional products out there? I have six valid reasons for that.

• Reason #1: ESSENTIALS™ is rated #1 in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements [1], a compendium of over 500 nutritional products (that also includes Amway, Nu Skin, Shaklee & many more other branded nutritional manufacturers/distributors) in the United States and Canada. If you are looking for nutritional supplement comparison, I would suggest you to look for the book. It is the best book ever on comparing nutritional supplements and their manufacturers.
  
  With this strong reason, I can be assured that, by consuming ESSENTIALS™, I am consuming the best nutritions for my body.
  
  
• Reason #2: ESSENTIALS™ (and other USANA products of course), are listed in the medical references which make it legal for doctor's prescription. Dr Ray Strand and Dr Christina Wood are among the credible doctors that recommend ESSENTIALS™ to their patients for preventive and nutritional medicine program.
  
  Here are the medical references that enlisted the ESSENTIALS™:
  1. Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR)
  2. Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS)
  3. Master Index of Medical Specialties (MIMS)
  
  Now with this pointed up, I can be rest assured about the safety of the supplements. Nevertheless, if my intent is to cure diseases or to prolong one's life who's affected by a disease, it is always wise for me to refer it to the doctor first for minimal or optimal recommendations.
  
  
• Reason #3: ESSENTIALS™ contains both balanced nutrients and antioxidant that are needed by my body, in the right amount, to gain optimum health. Its science-based formulas are developed by expert scientific team lead by Dr Myron Wentz [2].
  
  USANA also has its own Medical Advisor Board who provides USANA with valuable insights into product applications and efficacy, as well as feedback on how the products work, how well they work, and how best to promote human health. USANA works with Medical Advisory Board members on a regular basis to review formulas and get suggestions for improvements.
  
  With this said, I knew I am going to get a nutritional supply that is going to further improve as time goes by, even if it's already on top of the nutritional supplement ranking.
  
  
• Reason #4: ESSENTIALS™ comes with 100% potency guarantee which means, what it says on the label is what's in the bottle. Now this is important because one-third of the supplements out there, are not in the bottle what is says on the label and this is because supplements are unregulated industry [3]. But with 100% potency guarantee from USANA, I shouldn't worry about that.
  
  Well, now I know I get what USANA promised me to deliver, to a great extent of accuracy. This is important because if the nutritional experts and doctors say that my body needs 90mg of Calcium per intake, then I want to be sure that the amount of nutrition I get in a tablet is REALLY 90mg.
  
  
• Reason #5: ESSENTIALS™ is produced by adhering to pharmaceutical-grade GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices) [4]. This is practiced by manufacturer of drug substance, but not typically by many nutritional supplements manufacturers. Although not required, USANA has voluntarily taken this extra step to confirm the safety of its products.
  
  This is a further assurance for USANA's potency guarantee. With that said, I now feel much more comfortable to consume the product because now, I know how they ensure their potency.
  
  
• Reason #6: ESSENTIALS™ is shipped directly from USANA distribution center (in Malaysia, the center is at Kuala Lumpur) right to my home or office, if I wish for it. This will ensure that I will always get a genuine ESSENTIALS™ -- not an imitate one. With that, I have no doubt at all with the authenticity of USANA products.

You see? RM175 a month is too cheap for a high grade quality and top rating nutritional supplementary like USANA ESSENTIALS™. ESSENTIALS™ is like a Rolls Royce sold at Proton price. Well, that actually goes back to Dr Myron Wentz vision to turning the population of the world to its healthiest state. He has to make it affordable. (now, shouldn't all cars in Malaysia be Rolls Royce?)

Okay, let's get back to the original question whether I was brainwashed by USANA or not? Or did I spend nothing for my money? Both are just as fiction as Star Wars. The right word best replaced 'brainwashed' is 'fascinated'. That's what really happen to me.

In a nutshell, this is by far one of the best investment decision I've made for my health.

References:
[1] About ComparativeGuide.com: "In 1998, author, educator and biochemist began a search for a vitamin and mineral supplement for his family. A year later, the first Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements was produced, and MacWilliam Communications Inc. was born. The company now includes Northern Dimensions Publishing, a small publishing company focused on nutrition and health science." Detailed book review on Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements at www.amazon.com.

[2] USANA Health Sciences > Company > Management: "Dr. Myron Wentz, internationally recognized microbiologist, immunologist, and pioneer in the development of human cell culture technology and infectious disease diagnoses, holds a bachelor's degree in biology from North Central College in Naperville, Illnois; a master's degree in microbiology from the University of North Dakota; and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Utah."

[3] The statement "one-third of the supplements out there, are not in the bottle what is says on the label and this is because supplements are unregulated industry" was made by the Wellness Industry expert, Mr Paul Zane Pilzer during his interview in CBN Television Show. Click here to watch the interview.

[4] Good Manufacturing Practice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP (also referred to as 'cGMP' or 'current Good Manufacturing Practice') is a term that is recognized worldwide for the control and management of manufacturing and quality control testing of foods and pharmaceutical products."


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Tough Time For USANA

Now is a tough period for USANA due to accusation made by Barry Minkow. This is a sad thing to happen to great company that supplies great products.

Why is all this happening? Either one of these: People don't understand how MLM really works or there is a hidden agenda behind all this -- or probably both. Let's look at where USANA stands before Mr Minkow comes out with his accusation.

• USANA rated #1 Distributor’s Choice for eighth year running (Network Marketing Today/MLM Insider Magazine, 1997 – 2006).
• USANA’s ESSENTIALS™ nutritional dietary rated #1 nutritional supplement out of 500 products in North America (Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, 1st – 3rd editions).
• USANA ranked #1 Dietary Supplement (Best of State, 2006 Awards).
• USANA ranked #12 on Forbes’ 200 Best Small Companies list in 2006, and the only direct sales company to make the top 20 for each of the last three years (Forbes, Oct. 30, 2006; Oct. 31, 2005; Nov. 1, 2004).
• USANA makes into Business Week's 100 Hot Growth Companies list (2004 and 2005)
  
• USANA Founder Dr. Myron Wentz named Utah 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
• USANA is chosen as the official supplement supplier for numerous athletic organizations.
  
• USANA dietary supplements are listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference.
• USANA stock are traded at over USD60 price.
  

Even after the accusation is released to the public, USANA Founder Dr. Myron Wentz continues to receive acknowledgment for his scientific research. Very recently, Dr. Myron Wentz receives Albert Einstein Award in June 2007 [1].

Now, if Mr Minkow, who has been convicted and jailed for 8 years for fraud charges in 1988 [2], says USANA is bad, he has a tough challenge to go against all these highly credential parties that say USANA is the best. Plus, he has to proof there is a 'big conspiracy' going on here. Otherwise, he is just a criminal as he was and is risking himself going to jail again. Worth noted as well, USANA already filed lawsuit against Mr Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute Inc, directed by Mr Minkow himself. Ironic...

Now, most of us made into USANA because of highly credible comments from third party reviews on USANA's product, not because USANA says, "Hey guys, our products are good. Eat it! (while we are watching USANA's hypnotic channels)". No! That's not how it works. I will tell you exactly how I got into a USANA's consumer and what really made me into it in my next posting. In case you still didn't get it, Fraud Discovery Institute is run by an ex-fraud-convicted-inmate, Mr Minkow himself.

And also BEWARE before you believe any accusation made by Barry Minkow. Mr Minkow has compared USANA's ESSENTIALS™ with some on shelves nutritional products that are readily available in pharmacies in his cause to 'proof' that USANA's ESSENTIALS™ is inferior. The nutritional product he tried to compare with USANA (Universal Nutrition) was found to contaminated with steroids. Search Google for Universal Nutrition contaminated Guillermo Coria to see elite athlete who tested positive after taking Universal Nutrition multi-vitamin and suing the company for millions. Also search Animal Pak contaminated Gonzalez.

Additionally, this is an attack to MLM industry, not merely to USANA company itself. USANA is a target because it is a #1 MLM company (this #1 position is not proposed by neither me nor USANA, it is from Network Marketing Today/MLM Insider Magazine, 1997 – 2006, a third party review). So, the MLM industry is supporting USANA against this attack. Check out the information at marketwaveinc website to see answers to Barry Minkow's accusation.

Here are several documents from MLM industry that debates Mr Minkow and his associates accusations:

1. Rebuttal to FDI Usana Report
   
2. Rebuttal to FDI Response (Round 2)
3. Rebuttal to FDI Response (Round 3)
4. Rebuttal to Robert Fitzpatrick's Usana Analysis
   
5. Rebuttal to Jon Taylor's Response

As for me, I will support USANA with all the goodness that it has provided to people and wish that USANA will prevail to continue its vision to help turning the people in the world into a healthiest state.

With that said, and since this matter is being brought to court, let's not forget what makes USANA a great company -- the Essentials and Dr Myron Wentz, the father who invented the Essentials. Let's us bring our focus back to the fundamentals -- being healthy.

References:
1. USANA Founder Dr. Myron Wentz Receives Albert Einstein Award: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Dr. Myron Wentz, founder, chairman, and CEO of USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA - News), was honored Monday at a special ceremony in Jerusalem with the Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences."
2. Vitamin Marketer Sued by Distributors: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Minkow, who served eight years in prison for stock fraud and later started the Fraud Discovery Institute, came out with his first critical report on USANA in February when he bought 'put' options on USANA's stock in a bet the price would fall. USANA has sued him for defamation."
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