My friend's spouse became an Herbalife dealer which got me curious about the company and its products. I've since read some crazy stuff, including the fact that Belgium has filed a case against them for being a pyramid scheme.

I'm not at all interested in the products, but the friend has recently lost some on weight them and is really gung-ho about how healthy they supposedly are. I hate to be the cynic but I'm guessing the couple's information is based on a sales pitch, not on actual facts. After a quick glance at the nutrition info of one of the shakes I see fructose is the second ingredient . . . er, no thanks.

Am I totally off on getting a bad vibe over this? Does anyone here have any first-hand experience or knowledge over Herbalife?

I took that crap back in the 80s when they first started coming out. I had the runs morning, noon and night. Cramps were constant. I became dehydrated in spite of the fact that I drank (and still do) several quarts of water per day. They recommend that you drink a lot of water. After a week, I took 1 empty container and 1 full container back and got a refund.

I wouldn't waste my money on it if I were you. Good for you for doing some research on it.

It's definitely a pyramid scheme of a sort - a multilevel marketing company. That means that the people who make a lot of money don't make it by selling a lot of the product themselves, they make it by signing other people up to sell it, and then they get a cut of everything those people sell.

As for the quality of the products, there have been a lot of law suits and complaints about various things but I also know people who have used it and been satisfied.