Do Herbalife weight loss products really work for Indian consumers?

By Prateeksha Thakur | 27/05/2025 | Categories: Health & Fitness

Backed by celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo and featuring prominent Indian sporting events, Herbalife weight loss products are gaining traction. But physicians and health professionals have some basic questions regarding their effectiveness and safety

Weight-loss products of Herbalife Nutrition are making a rapid inroad into India’s health market. From shakes to energy tea, the company promises “science-backed” weight management. But more and more dietitians, doctors, and researchers are inviting consumers to look beyond the glamorous endorsements and investigate if indeed the products deliver what they promise, especially in the Indian context.

What Herbalife promises

Herbalife sells its flagship Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix and ancillary products like Afresh Energy Tea, Personalized Protein Powder, and Total Control tablets as useful tools for healthy, sustainable weight loss. The company states that its products are manufactured in FSSAI-certified, ISO-certified facilities and contain a “balanced mix of protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals.”

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In India, they are aggressively marketed as meal substitutes, consumed once or twice a day along with lifestyle counselling through Herbalife’s network of distributors.

Another review by a registered dietitian on Healthline also concluded that while Herbalife may lead to short-term weight loss, long-term results are untested and reliance on highly processed supplements may have the reverse effect.

Mixed results from Indian consumers

On platforms like Amazon India and personal blogs, many users report losing 3–5 kg in the first month of Herbalife shakes. But this success comes with a caveat — users report gaining weight almost immediately after stopping the regime.
On a Kochi-based wellness community forum, a consumer reported she lost 6 kg in three months on Herbalife, but “gained back double” within weeks of quitting. Others complain of digestive upset, bloating, and feeling addicted to the shakes.

Controversies & legal challenges

Herbalife has been embroiled in a long series of global legal troubles, most of which involve Indian consumers:

• The US Federal Trade Commission fined Herbalife $200 million in 2016 for false income and health representations and stating the company was a “pyramid-like scheme.”
• Herbalife settled in 2020 to a fine of $122 million following a DOJ investigation into allegations that it bribed Chinese officials and falsified documents.
• In India, in 2018, there was a medical case report linking consumption of Herbalife to liver failure that resulted in death, with traces of heavy metals and toxic botanicals found in the product. Though the article was later retracted due to legal intimidation by the company, it caused nationwide furore in the medical community.
• Globally, Belgium, Canada, Korea, and Portugal’s health authorities have also expressed concern about Herbalife’s business ethics and product safety over the past decades.

The Celebrity Connection

Celeb endorsement is one of the most important reasons behind the popularity of Herbalife in India. Apart from being the official nutrition partner of Team India for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Herbalife has partnered with Indian sporting legends like Virat Kohli, Mary Kom, and Saina Nehwal.
Internationally, its most visible ambassador is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has recently endorsed Herbalife’s Formula 1 shake as a “balanced, healthy breakfast” to his millions of fans. The tweet caused huge buzz in India and instant outrage among doctors.

The bigger picture

Herbalife’s expansion into India is timed with a growing middle class fascination with health, quick solutions, and celebrity-branded wellness products. Yet the discrepancy between its marketing hype and scientific reality is ever sharper.

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Even as Herbalife India remains committed to declaring that its products are safe and within all FSSAI specifications, most health professionals remain skeptical — especially when long-term health and organ safety are on the line.

Bottom Line: Herbalife products can, for a few kilos of some consumers, make them vanish temporarily, but the real key to weight loss as always lies in a rational diet, exercise, and expert medical guidance, and not in celebrity-endorsed magic shakes.