Stemtech is a multilevel marketing company that sells supplements that claim to increase the amount of stem cells that circulate in your body.
These stem cells – not the controversial biotechnological embryonic stem cells – help heal any damages to the body and replace aged, damaged, or diseased tissue.
Stemtech claims that their supplements can help promote and increase the number of adult stem cells that circulate inside your body, helping you stay healthier and fending off disease and aging.
So did I get on board? This explains everything:
The company has definitely had no shortage of ups and downs.
Internet search engine traffic for the company shows a disappointing pattern: essentially no searches, then a rising tide of popularity that started in 2008 and lasted for several years.
In 2014, the upward trend in search traffic looked steady and reliable, but it started to slide thereafter, and current search traffic is tracking about one-quarter of what it was at its peak in late 2014.
The company has also had its fair share of legal tussles. In 2003, the company lost a lawsuit in California that alleged it made deceptive marketing claims regarding its supplements.
It had to agree to change its marketing practices and refund all purchases made in California during a five-year period.
To top it all off, Stemtech declared bankruptcy in February of 2017. This doesn’t mean the company is finished, though: the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing allows it to restructure its debts and, hopefully, continue on with business.
So, for all this trouble, are its products worth it?
Products
Stemtech’s core product line consists of three supplements, two cosmetic products, and a cell phone accessory. All of these use fancy scientific terms to demonstrate how each product line helps improve your health.
The supplements (Stemrelease, Stemflo, and Migrastem) are the mainstay of Stemtech’s business. Each contains a blend of herbal extracts that the company claims support or increase the number and the mobility of adult stem cells inside your body.
Some of the supplement ingredients are familiar, like goji berry, turmeric, and reishi mushroom, but many are unique or obscure.
In support of their claims, Stemtech cites a number of scientific studies. While some of these were actually published in scientific journals and, theoretically at least, were reviewed by independent and unbiased scientists, practically all of them were conducted by the people who founded the company.
Additionally, the studies have very small sample sizes and use pretty simplistic methodology. A large proportion of the studies aren’t actually proper peer-reviewed and published studies, but in-house studies.
Even if you assume the company’s studies are correct, they only demonstrate the most basic premises of the supplement: that the supplements that Stemtech makes transiently increase stem cell levels in your blood. This doesn’t actually mean that the stem cells do anything.
While it’s a somewhat reasonable assumption, most studies of supplements (even the pretty out-there ones) start with a premise that’s already accepted as desirable.
A weight loss supplement study, for example, will typically examine an outcome like BMI, fat mass, or total weight loss–all agreed-upon outcomes that are good.
This type of criticism was leveled against Stemtech by Stephen Barrett, a medical doctor who critiques supplements sold by multilevel marketing companies. He cautions that further research is needed to establish that boosting stem cell levels arbitrarily in the body is actually safe and efficacious when it comes to improving health and preventing disease.
Further questions are raised by Stemtech’s cell phone accessory, the “D-fuse” radiation blocker. It’s a device that claims to block and reduce electromagnetic radiation emitted by your cell phone.
While the role of electromagnetic radiation on health is controversial, what is not is the efficacy of devices like this. According to the Federal Trade Commission, these “radiation shields” aren’t effective, and in some cases can actually make your cell phone emit more radiation, because its cell signal is weakened and the phone increases power to compensate.
You’ve got to ask yourself if you want to be peddling products from a company that has products like this.
Compensation plan
Joining Stemtech is pricier than average. Its most basic startup kit is $99, with options at $320, $2300, and $3000 as well. Stemtech does require an autoship remain eligible for compensation; you need to sign up for a shipment of at least 50 business volume per month to remain active.
Additionally, to qualify for commission bonuses, you need at least one distributor below you who is also active (i.e. on a 50 business volume autoship).
You do get referral bonus paid as cash immediately after signing up anyone else with a startup kit (though the basic one does not count).
The compensation structure is unilevel, but unfortunately you don’t start earning commissions more than one level deep until your product volume is very high (1000 per month).
Recap
While Stemtech was founded on an interesting principle, there are way too many red flags to recommend it. Untested products, a history of misleading marketing claims, a pretty unattractive compensation plan, and worst of all, a bankruptcy declaration in February of this year are all clear signs to steer clear of this MLM, at least for now.
Perhaps if the company bounces back from its Chapter 11 filing and conducts some additional research more directly establishing a connection between its supplements and desirable health outcomes, it might be worth a second look in the future.
For now, your time could be better spent elsewhere.
If you’re looking to escape the you-know-what, there are better ways to kill your day job.
You might like this coaching because it shows you how to build a real business and live the good life without peddling supplements to your family and friends.
http://bodynutrition.org/stemtech-review/ http://bodynutritionorg.tumblr.com/post/162018558624
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