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Lose weight without giving up sweets? This is the tempting promise of the More Nutrition company.
Lose weight quickly without giving up sweets: this is the tempting promise of the German food supplement company More Nutrition. The brand is particularly successful on Tiktok and Instagram and is promoted by influencers – with sometimes absurd and unproven promises. The bitter truth: behind it lies a wicked advertising ploy.
More Nutrition has 700,000 followers on Instagram. Since its founding in 2017, the company has also brought on board numerous influencers with even greater reach. For example, YouTuber Rezo (31), influencer chef Stefano Zarrella (32) and fitness influencers such as Paula Döringer promote the supposed miracle cures. But there is no shortage of ordinary mortals either: More advertises that everyone can become part of the “family”.
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Boom generates millions in sales
This is a potential goldmine, especially for influencers with smaller communities. Because the food supplement business is booming. More Nutrition feels it too. What started as a small company six years ago has now grown into a million-dollar company.
So everything is perfect? At all! Journalists from the research format “Ctrl_F” and “ZDF Magazin Royale” spoke to various interested people, including More Nutrition employees and customers, but also influencers. In their stories, the image of the seemingly perfect company is seriously dented. Experts are also asked questions about individual More Nutrition products. Your conclusion is also devastating.
Language rules for influencers
More Nutrition makes money by selling nutritional supplements. From a legal point of view, these are food and not medicines. For healthy people who eat a balanced diet, the resources are not actually necessary. However, they are gobbled up by millions of people hoping to get the body of their dreams.
At More Nutrition, the “More Essentials” are particularly appreciated, i.e. capsules with different vitamins. Explosive: Even though the “Essentials” packages recommend taking two capsules, many influencers advertise swallowing eight capsules, one even 17, at a time. They do everything with big smiles on their faces.
However, influencers hide something important: what they say in their videos happens according to a strictly regulated script. In a guide for influencers, More Nutrition indicates which words and expressions should – and should not – be used to promote their products on social media. Expressions such as “Helps against…” or “It is good for…” should be avoided. Instead, “may/could” should always be used when talking about the health benefits of capsules.
Without drugs thanks to the More product
This even goes to the point that one influencer claims that thanks to the drug “Curcu-More” with the main ingredient curcumin, he can live without drugs despite his intestinal disease. A miracle cure? Nutritionist and pharmacologist Martin Smollich has his doubts. “What exactly happens in our body has not yet been proven in studies,” he tells “STRG_F”. There is a lot of data from experiments on animals and cells. But: “There is no indication in the overall study that curcumin actually has any health benefits.”
According to Smollich, some products and their ingredients can have serious consequences for the body. “Chunky Flavours”, which are popular with customers and are powdered flavors that can be mixed into yogurt or cake batter, for example, contain the sweetener sucralose. “If sucralose is heated above 120 degrees, it decomposes, and these breakdown products are carcinogenic in animal experiments,” warns Smollich.
The nutritionist is not the only one to express doubts about More Nutrition’s “stories”. Critical voices against the company are increasing on social media.
Threats against critics
The influencer Luca Negri, for example, has repeatedly criticized More Nutrition and its founder Christian Wolf in his videos (28). It wasn’t long before Negri received a threatening anonymous phone call. He was asked to delete critical videos. It is unclear who ordered the man to intimidate Negri.
Negri is not alone with his experiences. A blogger also reports threatening messages coming from the same issue of Luca Negri. Coincidence? At More Nutrition you refuse any connection. Wolf, who recently retired completely from the operation after further allegations, also clarifies that he did not instruct anyone to make threatening calls or send messages.
