# XANGO: New Snake Oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156 "2006-09-18T10:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/1 "2006-09-18T10:04:49Z")
So I get this email from a person I kind of trust, and she is singing the praises of some new miracle product called XANGO - supposedly will cure all ills and make you jump higher and run faster and whatever - you know the hype on these things. At any rate, trying to find out more, a Google search turned up page after page after page of Xango sales reps and offers to get in on the business. Has anyone ever heard of this product, and is there an independent source that can verify even one of their claims? My gut feeling tells me that, at best, it is perhaps a nice source of some vitamins, and at worst, it is a potentially dangerous waste of money. Any info welcome, but especially looking for independent, scientific study. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/2 "2006-09-18T10:24:16Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] So I get this email from a person I kind of trust, and she is singing the praises of some new miracle product called XANGO - supposedly will cure all ills and make you jump higher and run faster and whatever - you know the hype on these things. At any rate, trying to find out more, a Google search turned up page after page after page of Xango sales reps and offers to get in on the business. Has anyone ever heard of this product, and is there an independent source that can verify even one of their claims? My gut feeling tells me that, at best, it is perhaps a nice source of some vitamins, and at worst, it is a potentially dangerous waste of money. Any info welcome, but especially looking for independent, scientific study. Thanks. [/QUOTE] Consider two possibilities. Either this is a major scientific breakthrough, in which case it would have been scientifically tested to prove its value and then licensed for sale… or a load of people would instead tell you how wonderful it was and ask for your money. One is a medical product, the other is a scam. You don’t need a gut feeling to see which is which. I’m pretty sure that medicines must be tested, but that ‘supplements’ (or similar phrase) don’t. (I’m not a lawyer!) So apparently it’s legal to sell copper bracelets, herbal remedies and homoepathic products with no proof they do anything (except cost money). I see Xango describes itself as ‘a health supplement juice’. Well there you go. :rolleyes: Would your friend like to buy water blessed by good spirits? Only $100 a case! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/3 "2006-09-18T10:38:04Z")
[QUOTE=glee] Consider two possibilities. Either this is a major scientific breakthrough, in which case it would have been scientifically tested to prove its value and then licensed for sale… or a load of people would instead tell you how wonderful it was and ask for your money. One is a medical product, the other is a scam. You don’t need a gut feeling to see which is which. I’m pretty sure that medicines must be tested, but that ‘supplements’ (or similar phrase) don’t. (I’m not a lawyer!) So apparently it’s legal to sell copper bracelets, herbal remedies and homoepathic products with no proof they do anything (except cost money). I see Xango describes itself as ‘a health supplement juice’. Well there you go. :rolleyes: Would your friend like to buy water blessed by good spirits? Only $100 a case! :eek: [/QUOTE] Ya know, you are correct in every respect…and I should know better than to even have asked…still, was kind of hoping for a study so I could respond, but don’t know if there is a scientific body that even bothers trying to keep up with the miracle cures du jour. Too bad there isn’t a Snopes for products like this. Thanks for pointing out what should have been obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/4 "2006-09-18T10:54:37Z")
Just as I suspected when I read the OP, it’s a multi level marketing scheme. Here’s what Wiki has to say about the product and the fruit it supposedly comes from: > **[XanGo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XanGo)** > > Xango, LLC, (sometimes referred to as XANGO and XanGo) was a privately owned Lehi, Utah-based multi-level marketing company founded in 2002. It was acquired by Zija International in May 2017. > The company marketed and distributed Xango juice, a blended juice product consisting of mangosteen and other juices, and skin care, personal care, energy supplement and nutritional supplement products. The company was warned in 2006 by the FDA for illegally marketing more than 20 human health benefits for ... > **[Mangosteen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen)** > > Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia and Puerto Rico, where the tree has been introduced. > The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles (like the f... ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/5 "2006-09-18T15:09:52Z")
For the past 2 years, I’ve been at the Salt Lake City Convention Center for client meetings at the same time Xango was having their annual convention there. I don’t know anything about their product but whoa, they throw one huge, glitzy, loud, rockstar type convention. It’s nuts. The salespeople would stop people from our meeting, trying to peddle this stuff to them. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/6 "2006-09-18T16:31:34Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Too bad there isn’t a Snopes for products like this. [/QUOTE] Like [Quackwatch](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/hm.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/7 "2006-09-18T16:42:46Z")
Xango is probably mangosteen juice, which, like noni juice has been purportedly used by some exotic islanders for centuries to ward off everything that scares you, like cancer, heart disease, etc. Of course it’s baloney (just look at the Google ads: Xango, Natural Antibiotics, Homeopathy…). We sell something like it at the co-op where I work and I will not let people buy it. I tell them to get some cranberry juice instead. I figure that people who are interested in noni and mangosteen juice can still be saved, but those who are into homeopathy and flower essences, well, they’re too far gone. ZJ ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/8 "2006-09-18T16:52:01Z")
A friend of mine at work sells this stuff. He gave me the product literature and forwarded some e-mails to me which described how XanGo was basically a cure-all for whatever ails you. There were even links to various studies that were conducted overseas which supposedly supported some of the claims. I don’t think that any of these studies were conducted on actual animals or humans, but on cells in a petri dish or something. The XanGo web site said that they were going to fund their own studies on XanGo’s effectiveness, but they said that they would be unable to do double-blind studies because of the extra expense. This was a red flag for me. Are double-blind test really that much more expensive to conduct? Anyway, the only “proof” that they offered were studies that were performed at some podunk research facilities somewhere in Thailand and some claims from people who use the stuff. XanGo seems like all the other MLM schemes in that they not only want you to use the stuff, they want you to sell it as well. The only things that I have seen it do are to lighten your wallet and make me lose some respect for whoever sells it. Just my two cents. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/9 "2006-09-18T19:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] Like [Quackwatch](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/hm.html)? [/QUOTE] Exactly! Thanks - I will be bookmarking this site as I get people sending me links to medical miracles about once a year, if not more. And thanks to everyone else for comments and experience - as I thought, this appears to be a well-oiled marketing machine/scam hawking fruit juice in a pretty bottle with a hefty mark-up. Hmm…maybe we on the SDMB should consider marketing a “smart drink” - one that fights ignorance for, say, $35 an ounce? We’ll put it in pretty vials and call it Cecil Syrup? Or perhaps we can come up with a catchy name that ends in -gry…give it some thought, I’ll get back to you. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/10 "2006-09-18T21:59:35Z")
I spent a couple of weeks talking a friend out of enrolling as a Xango saleswoman. But she didn’t let go of her dreams until I pointed out that Costco was selling Mangosteen juice for a couple of bucks a bottle, instead of the $40/bottle she was going to try to talk people into. So she’s sticking with the flower essences. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/11 "2006-09-19T17:55:12Z")
Does mangosteen juice at least taste good? (I like mango if it’s anything like that). I’m not interested in a miracle juice but if it at least tastes good I’m all for trying new fruit juices. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/12 "2006-09-20T01:04:27Z")
I tried that Xango juice at a natural foods convention here in Las Vegas a few months ago… it was uh, well… gross. It tasted like rotten pomegranite juice that was full of grit. Bitter with a really funky aftertaste. blech… YMMV ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/13 "2006-09-20T18:50:15Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Exactly! Thanks - I will be bookmarking this site as I get people sending me links to medical miracles about once a year, if not more. And thanks to everyone else for comments and experience - as I thought, this appears to be a well-oiled marketing machine/scam hawking fruit juice in a pretty bottle with a hefty mark-up. Hmm…maybe we on the SDMB should consider marketing a “smart drink” - one that fights ignorance for, say, $35 an ounce? We’ll put it in pretty vials and call it Cecil Syrup? Or perhaps we can come up with a catchy name that ends in -gry…give it some thought, I’ll get back to you. [/QUOTE] I have this amazing hydrating liquid. It also acts as a gentle stain remover, yet is perfectly safe for children. Made from a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, this natural formula is available now at the reasonable price… ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/14 "2006-09-20T19:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=glee] I have this amazing hydrating liquid. It also acts as a gentle stain remover, yet is perfectly safe for children. Made from a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, this natural formula is available now at the reasonable price… [/QUOTE] LIAR! It’s not safe at all. Just look at this list for your so-called “perfectly safe” liquid: ``` * Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities. * Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage. * Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects. * DHMO is a major component of acid rain. * Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns. * Contributes to soil erosion. * Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals. * Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits. * Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes. * Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions. * Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere. * Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect. ``` And you call that “safe”. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/15 "2006-09-20T19:32:36Z")
My sister and my niece and nephews swear the stuff works. My sister-in-law and brother do too. My auntie agrees. Do I think it’s snake oil? 😃 😃 is all I’m saying… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/16 "2006-09-20T19:54:27Z")
This might prove informative to your views on the company: [http://www.xango.net/play/files/news\_06.html](http://www.xango.net/play/files/news_06.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/17 "2006-09-20T20:22:07Z")
**Xango** is snake oil. **Mangosteen** - maybe _not so much._ A search on Google Scholar turned up some 800 cites on studies on mangosteen, a few of which are medical in nature. It is being studied for several _possible_ medical uses. [http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jnprdf/2003/66/i08/abs/np020546u.html](http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jnprdf/2003/66/i08/abs/np020546u.html) "\*Induction of Apoptosis by Xanthones from Mangosteen in Human Leukemia Cell Lines Kenji Matsumoto,\* Yukihiro Akao, Emi Kobayashi, Kenji Ohguchi, Tetsuro Ito, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Munekazu Iinuma, and Yoshinori Nozawa Gifu International Institute of Biotechnology, 1-1 Naka-Fudogaoka, Kakamigahara, Gifu 504-0838, Japan, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 5-6-1 Mitahora-higashi, Gifu 502-5858, Japan, and Gifu Prefectural Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, 1-1 Naka-Fudogaoka, Kakamigahara, Gifu 504-0838, Japan Received November 25, 2002 Abstract: We examined the effects of six xanthones from the pericarps of mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana, on the cell growth inhibition of human leukemia cell line HL60. All xanthones displayed growth inhibitory effects. Among them, -mangostin showed complete inhibition at 10 M through the induction of apoptosis.\*" This cites quotes a bunch of them: [http://www.innovativetech.net/MangosteenClinicalAbstracts.pdf](http://www.innovativetech.net/MangosteenClinicalAbstracts.pdf) So, there are interesting and perhaps even promising _studies_. That’s about all for _now_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/18 "2006-09-20T20:37:08Z")
[QUOTE=DrDethhttp://www.innovativetech.net/MangosteenClinicalAbstracts.pdf [/QUOTE] That cite appears perhaps to be compiled by dudes pushing mangosteen juice, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xango-new-snake-oil/373156/19 "2006-09-21T18:13:45Z")
Pardon my skepticism: From the first study affects became apparent at concentrations above 5 micromolar. The smallest compound, mangostin, has a molecular weight of 410.46. An average adult has about 45 liters of H2) in their body. So let’s see: .000005_45_410.46=92 miligrams of pure mangostin assuming complete bioavailability would be needed and who knows what the pharmokinetics are. This thing here claims that is has 70 mg of xanthones per serving: [http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=6392](http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=6392) Let’s see, with over 20 identified xanthones in mangosteen fruit, that averages out to a little over 3 mg per xanthone. Does this thing really have a half life of around a month in your body?