Apparently not only are they an MLM, they're teaching people to make their own sunscreen using their essentials oils. Great (sarcasm), all of these weirdo stay-at-home moms who have been converted to the natural health cure that is doTERRA will have kids with skin cancer in 20 years.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151681587259729&set=gm.562125623829898&type=1&theater

They piss me off so bad. My brother and his wife make a lot of money on Doterra and travel around the world for them. Everything that comes out of their mouths is Doterra this and Doterra that, and how my PTSD, depression, and autism would be cured if I but only bought their essential oils. Its a religion to them. I'll tell them, "once the VA pays for them, then I'll buy your products". But of course the VA never will because supposedly the government and Bill Gates wants to kill 7 billion people through healthcare and vaccines. At least according to my brother and Natural News.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2013 06:37PM by homoerectus.

I can hook you up with Mannatech so they can milk you ... I mean HEAL you too!

Looks like they're just mixing random shit in with zinc oxide---a typical active ingredient. Nothing magic here, folks, just nuts trying to pretend it's the oil and not the science.

My mother is dying of cancer and the doterra people sold her $500 worth of their useless oil telling her that it is the cure. I know they may beleive that but it is just sick to prey upon somebody in that condition. Stupid mlm's and stupid oil.

If they actually told her that their stuff would cure cancer, that's illegal and they can be help accountable.

Don't let them get away with it.

Unfortunately some of my family are caught up in this. I don't want to get into a fight over this but it is really frustrating. It is like a religion to them.

What? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they actually told her that their stuff would
> cure cancer, that's illegal and they can be help
> accountable.
>
> Don't let them get away with it.


To be specific: IMO, you wil probably never be able to charge the company with malfeasance. But if you have witnesses, you can certainly present the evidence to the Division of Professional Licensing and have the distributor arrested for practising medicine without a license. Go after the person, not the institution. If that happens enough times, then the distributors will start to get cold feet and that may in turn devastate the company.

There are many videos on Youtube where Doterras agents make specific disease healing claims. My brother has made those claims on Facebook. He doesnt use prescription drugs, vaccines, health insurance, or medical treatment for his 5 children, he just relies on Doterra and food from the organic stores. He probly spends about $2000 per month on organic groceries.

I've figured out that this is why MLMs stay MLMs.

I've written before about my friend taken completely hook line and sinker by an MLM selling a fricking supplement. (She's going to miss her daughter's black belt testing and ceremony to go to a convention. Oy.)

Here's what it is:

The companies know damn well that they can't claim it cures cancer or whatever. But they can HINT at it at their conventions/sales pitch meetings. And then their thousands of distributors can go make those claims for them. All the while the parent company retains plausible deniability (oh, we might have mentioned a few rare cases where people got completely better, but we NEVER told people this cures X, Y or Z).

It's that simple. It's as simple as the temple being nothing more than a money making machine in Mormonism. "We want to say this, the FDA says we can't, so WE won't, we'll just let our distributors do it for us!"

Idahoan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My mother is dying of cancer and the doterra
> people sold her $500 worth of their useless oil
> telling her that it is the cure. I know they may
> beleive that but it is just sick to prey upon
> somebody in that condition. Stupid mlm's and
> stupid oil.


I know it's not as bad as claiming the oils can help cure cancer, but I posted here about two weeks ago about a DoTerra "party" I'd attended. I was extremely upset in large part because the saleswoman (a TBM, incidentally) called on one of her current customers who was there to give a testimonial. This young mother, who appeared to be wearing thrift-store clothing, told us fervently how she doesn't get her kids the flu vaccine--she just dabs some DoTerra oil blend on their upper lip each day. And I live in California which has already seen over 100 people, including young people, who weren't vaccinated die from the flu this year.

One thing I didn't mention in my post a few weeks ago was that the saleswoman also claimed that DoTerra oils had brought her mom out of a coma...really. :-(

I read that some part of the raspberry plant is actually as effective as SPF 15 sunscreen.
Nothing I would necessarily rely on. Maybe if I had any color to me already.

WinksWinks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read that some part of the raspberry plant is
> actually as effective as SPF 15 sunscreen.
> Nothing I would necessarily rely on. Maybe if I
> had any color to me already.


Speaking as a bit of a biochemist: Every plant and every animal has about ten thousand five hundred and sixty three compounds in and around its cells (give or take). It is hardly newsworthy that one of these may act as a suncreen, and that they may be present in raspberry plants. In some way. The question you need to ask is: what part? To be specific: what compound? Are raspberries special? If said compound can be identified, then it can be isolated and perhaps even artificially synthesized, if it isn't too complicated. If so, go for it! And even develop it commercially! But do not dare to advertise it as a special secret super-potent magical thing that comes unexpectedly from some magical secret super-potent part of a raspberry plant. Say it is 4-nitrophenyl-D-alpha-glucopyranole. Or something. Then present peer-reviewed, double-blind studies that demonstrate its efficacy. Note that "peer-reviewed" means "mature and wearing your big-girl panties and you might be wrong".

Please understand that I am not trying to offend or ridicule you in any way. You surely know way more than me about some other topics, and I know that you or anybody else are as capable of learning as much or more about biochemistry than me if you want to. I am rather trying to establish the ground rules for making claims about biologically-derived chemicals, which the DoTERRA people don't bother with. The first rule is: they are not magical.

I don't have much natural color either, being of Scandinavian descent. You have my sympathy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2013 10:16AM by slskipper.

LOL do you think I was actually supporting doterra's crap?

No, I don't. I was mainly responding to the thought process used by the DoTerra crowd, for whom magical powers are instantly assumed, and for whom absence of proof is considered absolute evidence of efficacy. I was merely trying to point out that "they" have a real hard time with what normal peole call logic.

Perhaps a good exercise for them would be to watch several episodes of Columbo. The part where he turns around and asks one more question....

To achieve the 15 SPF, you tape or glue the raspberry leaves to your exposed skin. That's how it works.

cheezus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> To achieve the 15 SPF, you tape or glue the
> raspberry leaves to your exposed skin. That's how
> it works.


Is that like hiding your nakedness???? I have a couple of leaf aprons already sewn together if you want to borrow them. I think you may get more than 15 SPF in the areas they cover, but I don't know for sure.

Thank goodness it has zinc oxide in it, which is probably the most effective sunscreen out there. Except for what I use: those Sunscreen shirts and pants at REI. Actually, they aren't bad looking. They keep the mosquitoes off, too. If you take an accidental dunk in the river (it happens every time), the material is very quick-drying. However, if you wear garments under the clothes, everything is a sweaty, soggy mess.

The problem with the zinc oxide is that stirring it into a lotion or something with a spoon probably isn't going to mix it well enough. Put it on the skin and it's going to be applied very unevenly.

The sad thing is essential oils can be very useful...just not quite like these people hype.

And it is a LOT less expensive to get/make your own!
I bought almond oil at our local Co-Op and mixed a few drops of lavender oil with it. It made a very soothing foot rub for my son in the evenings when he was having trouble getting to sleep in Junior high.
He washed his feet.
He got attention from Mom
He had a bit of a relaxing foot massage
The smell of the lavender hits the soothe center of the brain.


I'm wondering if part of the appeal of the essential oils MLM is

You get to look like an expert on something anyone can learn
You get special attention
as in a special bottle or package of something you could make yourself. The company presents it in a fancy container. If you make it yourself you may not have a pretty box for it and NO ONE SERVED YOU to make the oil

You also get money for pushing the stuff, and if you push forward without conscience, you can have lots of nice perks; fancy vacations etc.


In the meantime this MLM oil business obscures the real job essential oils do...make a small but meaningful difference if used judiciously.

They sell mosquito repellant too. I saw one of their reps advertise as "contains no chemicals!!" Wow, no chemicals? At all? So what is it then, an empty can?

We were recently on a flight going through SLC and of course, there was a DoTerra Rep sitting behind us. Well, 1/2 way into the 6 hour flight (going over the ocean, so no emergency landings) there is a call for any medical personnel on flight to go to the front of the plane. We couldn't see much of what was going on except that there was a person on the ground sitting at the bulkhead with their legs completely outstretched into the aisle. A moment later, the flight attendant rushes by with the defibrillator.

The DoTerra Rep sees this and says to the woman next to her "I better see if I can help -- I have experience in alternative medicine." AND SHE WENT UP THERE! I'm sorry, but if I'm having a heart attack, I don't need you to rub oils on me, I need you to get the hell out of the way! The flight attendant told her as much. Luckily, 2 ER nurses were on the flight and were able to treat the person successfully.

It still baffles me...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if she "claims" to have experience in treating people medically and she treated that person and they died or were injured even worse, she could have been prosecuted, correct?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2013 10:39PM by saintdorothymantooth.

Perhaps. Morally she should be charged with practicing medicine without a license. Legally she is probably immune due to the immense lobbying of Congress from the dietary supplements industry. One of their most effective products is Orrin Hatch.

The Mormon mindset is PERFECT for companies like doTerra to exploit.

- They are trained in believing outrageous claims
- The only evidence they need is "Well, that's what I HEARD"
- They love to have super-secret, special info the ordinary mortal doesn't
- They like to seem special and important but aren't necessarily willing to do the work to become someone special or important.
- They are cheap so any alternative medicine that can cure cancer for the price of a bottle of oil appeals to them.

Like the poster mentioned above, these oils do have their uses - mostly for relaxation and to help your mental state. I have some myself. But I don't use them to cure anything. I do put eucalyptus in the steamer oil compartment when I have a cold but that might just be for comfort because it's what my mom did when I was kid. I might also sniff a little peppermint for a stuffy nose or use that Thieves blend before bed because it, weirdly, helps me sleep. Probably the blend has a long forgotten, comforting scent in it. But I use them almost entirely because I like the scents and in a couple of cases for mild symptom relief. I think it's outrageous to claim any medical benefit - except maybe stress relief which is a significant benefit. Still, it in no way replaces a doctor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2014 10:38AM by CA girl.

I agree, I like the scents, I find some relaxing and some invigorating, but as you point out, there is no magic in this. We have known for millenia that smells have an effect on how we feel. However, some smelly oil isn't going to make me healthy.

Plus, the whole "chemical free" thing that they tout is so full of bullshit, I don't even want to touch that claim.

Funny. Well not, really. It's damned irritating. But just as you're talking about this, I think that I've found 100 uses for:

Vinegar
Common table salt
Boiling water
Coconut oil

I clean and sterilize and kill weeds and heal rough skin and do all kinds of things with only those four things. Shower drain starting to clog? Put a cup or so of salt in the drain and quickly pour in boiling water. Kill weeds? Squirt pure vinegar on them. Things like that. But I also believe in prescription drugs, medical care, and vaccinations. (I'm old enough to remember classmates getting polio quite with alarming frequency. We always had one or more kids with leg braces or shriveled arms. And then Jonas Salk came along and it all went away. I never saw polio again until I lived in Pakistan, where many religious leaders--much like many Mormons and Evangelicals--believe that vaccinations are wrong.)

See you'd be healthier if you stayed away from those nasty chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide.

Snort!

Hey now, that is dangerous stuff:-)

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

cludgie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

Shower drain starting to clog?
> Put a cup or so of salt in the drain and quickly
> pour in boiling water.
> wrong.)

Thanks Cludgie! I have drains that clog a lot, and I've never heard that before. I'll try it next time. I do use all the other things you mention for a variety of things, though. Just used some coconut oil as part of a homemade skin scrub this morning, in fact.

This whole topic makes me laugh. I've been away from the cult for years so I haven't heard much about doTERRA.

But 20 years ago when I was still going to church there was a lady in the ward who wouldn't shut up about the healing properties of magnets. Everyone got to hear the inspiring story of how magnets cured her hemorrhoids. Does anyone else remember the magnet craze, or was that a local Midwest thing?

So I'm reading this post and realized that if I just replaced the words "doTERRA" or "oils" with "magnets" it's like I'm having a verbatim conversion with the ward magnet lady 20 years ago.

The funny thing was my Dad was in the stake presidency. Whenever this lady got going about magnets my Dad would interrupt and ask her where she got her medical license.