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Power Balance: Magical Energy Bracelets, or Nonsense?

by Brian Dunning, Sep 23 2010

You've probably seen them many times: stretchy rubber bracelets, with a small credit-card style hologram attached. They seem to be everywhere. People in all walks of life are wearing them. What are they for?

Supposedly, wearing this rubber band around your wrist dramatically boosts your strength, balance, and flexibility. The secret is that there's a hologram stuck to it. Didn't know that holograms had that ability? Neither did we.

Here are the claims about what the rubber bands do and how they do it.

  • Your body has an energy field.
  • Power Balance has determined what the optimum frequency should be.
  • A hologram is printed on mylar and embedded with that frequency.
  • Bringing this hologram into your body's energy field will tune it to that same frequency.
  • This tuning of your energy field dramatically improves your balance, strength, and flexibility, by as much as five times.

Wow! Isn't that amazing? What's startling is that science was never able to discover this, and that this most astounding discovery in both medicine and physics was made by a couple of undereducated twenty-something surfers. Two brothers, Troy and Josh Rodarmel, founded Power Balance and claim to have made these staggering science-overturning discoveries simply because their family practiced alternative medicine. So far they've sold more than 2.5 million units, at $30-$60. Do the math.

Since their discoveries are so Earth-shattering, let's look at the various links in this chain that's sucking so much money out of gullible consumers:

  • Your body has an energy field.

Really? Well, it does if you watch Oprah or study Bullshido. Nobody has ever been able to detect such an energy field, and nobody has ever produced a description of what type of energy it might consist of, why it might exist, or what properties it might have.

  • Power Balance has determined what the optimum frequency should be.

It's pretty amazing to measure the “frequency” of an “energy field” that can't be detected or measured. If the Rodarmels have done this, they haven't yet said how, or described the field's properties.

Tom O'Dowd, the Australian distributor, has said that this frequency is 7.83 Hertz. He didn't (entirely) just make that up. If you recognize this number, it's because it's one of the Schumann resonance frequencies. These are ELF resonances in the Earth's magnetic field, caused by lightning discharges. They have nothing to do with human biology, or strength or flexibility; yet for a long time, New Agers have latched onto this number as some sort of Mother Earth frequency, so it was a good choice for Power Balance to parrot. Which leads me to wonder: If Mother Earth already has this frequency surrounding and penetrating us, what the hell do we need the rubber band for?

  • A hologram is printed on mylar and embedded with that frequency.

Embedding a hologram with a “frequency” is meaningless technobabble. Every object has a resonant frequency, which means little more than the pitch of the sound it makes if you tap it. Imprinting a hologram onto it has no effect on this whatsoever.

Moreover, 7.83 Hertz is an extremely low frequency, far below the audible threshold. An object that resonates at only 7.83 Hertz would have to be quite large — far larger than your average bass drum. A tiny piece of mylar is much too small to resonate at 7.83 Hertz.

  • Bringing this hologram into your body's energy field will tune it to that same frequency.

Again, meaningless technobabble. This is, in fact, so meaningless that I can't even think of anything to say about it.

  • This tuning of your energy field dramatically improves your balance, strength, and flexibility, by as much as five times.

Unless, of course, the salesman doesn't know whether you've already got it on or not. Watch the Power Balance salesman completely fail a blinded test on the Australian news show Today Tonight.

The demonstration they use to prove that it works is an old stage magician's trick called Applied Kinesiology. With a couple of very subtle tricks, the performer is able to fool the victim into thinking he has either more or less strength. Power Balance didn't even change the name of the trick, presumably guessing that people are too stupid to look it up on the Internet to see how it's done (unfortunately, they're right about this, all too often). Power Balance bracelets are sold just on the strength of this illusion. Watch a video of Australian skeptic Richard Saunders perform the trick in the exact same way the Power Balance salesmen do. Compare this to Power Balance's own sales video here.

By the way, if you're thinking about buying one of these rubber bands for $60, consider saving a lot of money. This blogger found that the Chinese manufacturer offers them at wholesale for $1.17. One friend of mine even contacted the manufacturer directly to have some novelty versions made and was able to get pricing at various volumes. At Power Balance volumes, he was told the price would be three cents.

That's a lot of magic and medical miracles for only three cents.

The funniest part? The Power Balance website has a “Report a Fake” link at the bottom.

80 Responses to “Power Balance: Magical Energy Bracelets, or Nonsense?”

  1. Nick Johnson says:

    But that chiropractor will stake his reputation on them! That’s got to be worth something, right?

  2. Max says:

    Nice easy way to spot scientifically illiterate dupes. I hope this spreads to doctors, politicians, and brokers.

    So Brian, is this company in your neck of the woods?

  3. Max says:

    “What’s startling is that science was never able to discover this, and that this most astounding discovery in both medicine and physics was made by a couple of undereducated twenty-something surfers.”

    The article just says that one was a thirty-something former surfer, and the other was a Yale graduate.

    • Jodo says:

      Now Brian, I have a lot of respect for you and your work. But to call Today Tonight an “Australian ‘news’ show” perhaps indicates a lack of research. True, it is Australian, but news it is not.

  4. GerryC says:

    Unfortunately, this has caught on in sports-mad Australia.
    Check this story from the national newspaper: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/billy-slater-nathan-friend-at-odds-over-powerbands/story-e6frg7mf-1225922962377

    The irony of the last line is priceless.

    Even better, the same newspaper published an article a few days later which said that Chiropractics were going to investigate it!
    See it here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/science-takes-up-challenge-of-wrist-band/story-e6frg6nf-1225925607304

    Irony, upon ironies.

  5. Stuart says:

    Great Article! one nitpick though- Today Tonight is not a reputable source of information, it’s a trashy tabloid-style show.

  6. Terry S says:

    Am I missing something, or did the sales video fail to show the second part of the test in each case?

  7. tmac57 says:

    Awwww! I went to their “report a fake” site,with the intention of reporting their own website,but it looks like it is just a list of their competitors.

  8. Patrick says:

    At some level, I think we’re all, at least a little, jealous we didn’t figure out how to make millions by selling 3 cents worth of junk for $60 to millions of American suckers.

    • Max says:

      There’s nothing original about this scam. It’s no different from the old magnetic bracelets. The success is partly due to the brothers taking a big risk by investing all their money into this to the point of going broke, partly due to marketing, and perhaps mostly due to luck.

      Now Pet Rocks, those were creative and not even a scam.

      • BillG says:

        Precisely – a repackaging of the old magnetic bracelet which was popular among those who frequent the golf course. (Some tour pros as well.)

        Though it may have some placebo effect, the real power in “Power Balance” is to suck funds from credulous athelete or weekend hobbyist.

  9. Brilliant post!

    And thank you very much for sharing the videos.

  10. Matt Meeks says:

    I started ranting to my wife the first time I saw one of their ads-it’s obvious from their own ad how they unbalance people vs. the people whose “balance has been improved”. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a conscience-I could be rich, I tell ya-RICH!

  11. Pedro Homero says:

    Loads of famous people and soccer players use these bracelets here in Portugal. Accordingly, lots of regular people on the street too. It fills me with a desire to go and punch those who sell it in the face, but I’m actually a mellow guy and just point friends and acquaintances to the Australian Skeptics’ youtube video.

  12. I wrote a post on the iRenew bracelet scam which is very similar. What is about to amaze you are the comments from people telling you that you have it all wrong and that it works.

    Some people are so amazingly ignorant they deserve to be fleeced. I would not have said that before I wrote the post but truly amazing ignorance has changed my mind. I even had a comment from a group of firefighters telling me that their bowling scores had improved.
    They were serious!

  13. MadScientist says:

    In Canberra, Australia, a few weeks ago there was some news about a young girl undergoing some pretty intensive intestinal surgery to remove some rare earth magnets, patch up holes in her digestive tract, and clean up her abdominal cavity. Fortunately it seems that she will survive the ordeal. According to the news article, her father used to work for a company making magnetic mattresses (and bracelets too I think). Some magnets used in those products were used as fridge magnets and the child managed to peel a few off the fridge and swallow them. I was a bit surprised to find that someone actually manufactured these magnetic gizmos with such powerful magnets, but there you go – they won’t cure anything (other than wallet obesity) but the magnets can be killers. (And just look up the trouble people get into while playing with large grade N45 or N48 magnets.)

  14. MadScientist says:

    Oh, for the claim “Your body has an energy field” – that could be considered true in a number of ways. However, all the other claims are bogus. For example, you radiate energy over a fairly broad range of frequencies – this is why you will show up nicely on a thermal infrared camera even if you’re sitting in a dark room. Your muscles, including the heart muscles, and your neurons also produce minute electrical signals as they operate and these signals have been studied and recorded for diagnostic purposes for many decades now.

    I haven’t noticed these sparkly rubber bands – they musn’t have come to this part of the world yet. Is there any therapeutic value in snapping the bands to annoy the people wearing them?

    • LovleAnjel says:

      To the person doing the snapping, certainly.

    • WScott says:

      IIRC, the human body also gives off a low level of gamma radiation, mostly (99%) from environmental sources. It’s way too low to have any effect outside the imaginations of the gullible, but it is technically there.

  15. DD says:

    I skipped the Pet Rock. Remember? I skipped this too. But, jealous. Oh man. That’s better than “playing guitar on MTV.” Those guys aren’t working. Don’t even get a blister on their little finger.

  16. Tony says:

    I tried one and while wearing it I saw an increase of +2 Str, +1 End and +15 HP. Unfortunately it came at a cost of -3 Int.

  17. Bob Mcbride says:

    Can’t remember what the item being advertised was but there was an advert on the tv that claimed that these people at the mall could barely keep standing without his product. And this was cured with whatever the junk was.

  18. Chris Howard says:

    You know, I’d really like a “Share” button at the bottom of the Blog page, to show my Facebook peeps some of the content here. It’s only a matter of time before they start selling this junk at the Acupuncture place, here in town.

    “LiveStrong” really started the, glorified, rubberband craze… I guess that one actually accomplishes something, though. ;-)

  19. Patrick says:

    Can we get a blog post about genetically modified food? I wonder how many skeptics are on each side of the debate…

    • Max says:

      There’s a Skeptoid episode on it.
      http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4112
      One of the weaker episodes, IMO.

    • MadScientist says:

      I thought there were already articles on GMO? Basically, the scare mongering out there is all contrary to reality. Also, GMO is far more widespread than the scaremongers would want people to believe and it’s been making a substantial contribution to feeding the world for the past 30 years. One of the events in the past 10 years which really had me furious was GMO corn sent to an African state (Sudan?) being rejected because of the scaremongering. That anyone can believe that eating the corn could be harmful is simply incredible. I haven’t looked at figures recently, but I’ll be surprised if GMO corn are not the predominant varieties grown for food in the USA.

      Update: Just checked the ERS/USDA website – GMO varieties of corn account for the majority of US corn acreage planted, with some private organizations estimating over 80% of total US corn production is GMO corn. I don’t see the crows pecking at the heads of Taco Bell customers, so I guess GMO corn is OK.

  20. Clint says:

    Article in a small newspaper in Bateman’s Bay a coastal town south of Sydney. http://bit.ly/bNgRZB

    • MadScientist says:

      The article’s a fine example of how deceptive things can be and how many people are prone to fuzzy thinking. Many athletes use it therefore it must be good – suuure. The coach in the story has got it right – it’s all in the mind. I wonder if the coach figured that out himself (quite possible – after all he’d be scrutinizing the team and checking their performance) or if the coach learned about that in classes. The jinx and the good luck charm in sports is a very well known phenomenon, and one which seems to resist going away even though many coaches know it’s a load of bull and undoubtedly tell the players.

      The folks selling the band also don’t seem to understand how they “work” – they may simply be misled rather than deliberate frauds. It is interesting how they accept any stories told by people who buy the bands and tell of how the bands cured car sickness etc.

  21. MaikU says:

    is it true, that these things increase give you a health boost (+15 HP) and full armour (+100)?

  22. JohnW says:

    I watched the video at the PB site and never saw the re-test when the athlete would be wearing the PB. The video seems to skip over the retest to get to the next demonstration by a (paid how much?) endorser. Perhaps Richard Saunders’ expose is having a positive effect.

  23. David Richards says:

    About 35 years ago there was a show on NBC after Johnny Carson called The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (it was on again in the 1990s, but I”m talking 1974~76 here). Randi was on this show a couple of times talking about Uri Geller and spoon bending. One night Tom had on a man by the name of Patrick Flanagan, who was supposed to have been a child prodigy and an expert in pyramid power (google him). He was making a special pendant or something that used the same energy of pyramids, but concentrated it in your body, giving you a lot more strength and energy. If you were feeling weak you just held the pendant up to your forehead to recharge yourself. Tom tried it for 30 seconds and said it made him feel fantastic.

    This is a very, very similar concept to what we’re seeing with this bracelet. The modern guys are better salesmen apparently. But a very old idea.

    • MadScientist says:

      Ugh. I remember the pyramid craze and all the “pyramid water” and so on. Rubber wristbands are much easier to stock though.

  24. I have a magical bracelet thats supposed to turn me into a bitter, fat old bastard. Oh my lord, it worked! Take that naysayers!

  25. Great to see this article, I’ve actually written about the same thing a few weeks ago (adverts got into my face).
    It’s great to see that my article was spot on , although not written as nicely and as concise as here (plus in Romanian)

    Thanks Brian, keep up the good work.

  26. Anda says:

    I bought one of these to test. What a piece of garbage.

    It did nothing. The clasp was broken, too.

    It’s about as phony as a psychic reading. I have never had a psychic reader give me any valuable information. It’s mostly vague stuff that was highly likely to happen anyway.

    Here’s a website that offers free readings if you want to test that for yourself without getting soaked.

    (blocked)

  27. T Aldridge says:

    Although i agree with the sceptics there is still adefinate placebo effect that occurs in people when they fully believe in the product

  28. awesome man says:

    all that is lies my friend has one and i tried it on and guess what it worked so take that !!!

  29. I remember reading this story as a child back around 1969. I think it was called “Dumbo” Maybe Disney should sue these guys too!

    Daniel

  30. Gonzo says:

    I might be the Hologram from Voyager. That would make you feel better!

  31. Outtodoubt says:

    Well people have fallen for more ridiculous claims before. Haven’t they?

  32. DeLong says:

    Just reminds me that half of the population is below average intelligence.

    • tmac57 says:

      That’s a ‘mean’ thing to say.

    • someone says:

      As if substantial portions of the population who are above average intelligence actually demonstrate a firm grasp of reality? Give me a break. Most people are drooling morons, including those within the first standard deviation and second standard deviation, above the mean. They’re attitude conditioned fools who don’t actually take the time to independently verify things which they are trained to believe.

      They’re conditioned to be followers and even within science and other areas where you would think critical thinking is applied, they merely follow what they have been trained to believe, in so called “higher education”.

      Case in point: Look at all the morons who register their automobiles, get a driver’s license, and all the other BS associated with such, merely as a result of attitude conditioning, and not from ACTUALLY READING legal code to see what obligations, IF ANY, they might have.

      Yup. It’s a sea of morons out there.

      • DAN says:

        As far as registering autos and such, that is relegated to individual states, not covered by the constitution, Article 12 of the Bill of Rights

  33. AcinonyxScepticus says:

    Bringing this hologram into your body’s energy field will tune it to that same frequency.

    Again, meaningless technobabble. This is, in fact, so meaningless that I can’t even think of anything to say about it.

    How about something like this …

    Even if we assume for a moment that there was some kind of “energy field” surrounding everyone, how do we know that manipulating the field would change the source at all? It would be like waving your hand around inside someone’s fart cloud in an attempt to change what they ate.

  34. WScott says:

    @ AcinonyxScepticus: Awesome – I am SO stealing that analogy!

    I had some quack chiropractor pull the applied kinesiology scam on me once several years ago, when I was perhaps a tad less skeptical. Fortunately, the guy was a lousy salesman, and the whiff of snake oil was strong enough to scare me off.

  35. Max says:

    Power Balance has good reason to worry about other “fakes”. Competition is their biggest threat, since anyone can make a cheaper bracelet and perform the same Applied Kinesiology tricks to show that it works. I already saw a TV ad for a $27 bracelet.

  36. MaikU says:

    damn it’s pretty good bussiness. Nobody inspect these bracelets for “quality” so one can make very cheap copies and seel it for a dollar. Cool.

  37. someone says:

    Of course the body has an energy field. How could any one deny this? Every thing in the universe is comprised of electromagnetic fields. Duh. These fields are what sharks pick up on when you spill your precious blood in the ocean. They have receptors in their snout that allow them to discriminate those stimulus changes in their environment.

    As to the rest of the issues raised. It’s probably all BS used for sales.

    I love how you so called skeptics (my fav, Shermer) are a clear propagandist force, utilizing pavlovian attitude conditioning to pair legitimate things with non-legitimate things, and in the process, establish, in the minds of morons, that the things which are legitimate, really are not legitimate.

    Keep up the propaganda!

  38. Sarah says:

    Clearly bracelets are not magical, unless, of course, the thought that they bring is so strong that it surpasses the placebo effect and causes dramatic changes in health. I have a piece of Pandora jewelry that does just that for me. Is it magic…no, and kind of, and yes…at the same time.

    Thanks!

    -Sarah

  39. Keith says:

    ESPN the magazine’s latest issue (Oct 2010) has an article on the bracelet. It was actually a pretty good article. They give a good explanation of the placebo effect. Maybe there is hope for rational thinking in today’s world.

  40. Max says:

    I measured my frequency :-)
    I powered up my USB powered speakers, and made them buzz by touching the 3.5mm plug with my finger.

  41. MIchele says:

    Yeah, the bracelets are a scam…BUT, now they have become a fad in my son’s school and guess what he wants with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns? Yep. First silly bandz (40-cent rubber bands), now a 20-dollar rubber bracelet.

    • tmac57 says:

      Maybe he could earn the $20 raking the neighbor’s leaves (or whatever)? There is nothing like working your ass off to buy what you will later find to be a piece of junk,to make you a little more skeptical in the future ;) (from someone who learned the hard way).

  42. THINK says:

    RE: Your body has an energy field.
    “Really? Well, it does if you watch Oprah or study Bullshido. Nobody has ever been able to detect such an energy field…..”

    We dont have energy fields???? So what do you humans call all of that HEAT that comes out of you from all over your body???? oh lemme guess…HEAT is not energy…right??? so what do you call that warm stuff coming from the sun??? heat? light? energy? noooo the sun doesn’t have an energy field either right??? we’re feeling and seeing the sun because its right up against us!

    everything has an energyfield…how does static charged fabric stick to humans if the humans are not generating some kind of linkable outward energy field. how to you shock yourself by touching electric/energy charged metals if you have no electric/energy charge to conduct the shock? OK OK FINE. How do lovers shock each other on the lips when they kiss? if humans dont have energy fields how does this happen?….care to explain that one???

    nobody has to believe the bracelets work. at the same time saying that humans dont have energy fields to try to back up your point, sounds ignorant.

    what if children read this and actually grow up thinking that they dont have energy fields. if theres no energy field, “AURA”, outside the body, then that means by the universal law of polarity that there must not be any energy inside the body…which means that the body is dead.

    • Michael says:

      Stop being disingenuous. Our bodies shedding heat or conducting static electricity is not the same thing as an energy field – the thing that the makers of the rubber band are claiming.

      What if children read your post etc?

  43. Ryan Evans says:

    As for the pushing the extended arm down trick:
    If you push down but toward the feet, no torque is exerted about the feet. Therefore, they will not fall over. First year physics.
    Push straight down(or even better-slightly out) and they will fall over easily. They will not notice how you are pushing.
    No placebo or learned behavior-just how the force is applied.

  44. Len Armstrong says:

    Hi all
    now i am a scpetical person otherwise why am ichecking it out now
    i will just tell you my experience today me and a mate were having a laugh over this new product in our pro shop and were told about this test of standing on one leg etc.. so we did it to each other (please no insinuse)i tried everything to stop my mate from pushing me over but couldnt then held the bracelet and he couldnt i was amazed but couodnt see how it could be, the same happened when i did it on him, now i have read several times tonight that it is an old stage trick but the only explanation of that trick is the way the person pushes down, now neither me or him were aware of this trick and yet neither of us could do it and believe me i really wanted to push him over.
    so wanting to remain scetical until proven or disproven i ask you all what would you say to me and please no unsubstantiated BS i am trying to get to the bottom of this something stopped me from falling over and from me being able to push my mate it is not enough to say it is a stage trick unless of course we are missing something and we are wasting our time scratching round a golf course three times a week when we have an obvious gifting as stage magicians.
    why did steve or i not fall whils holding this silly piece of rubber?
    thought out scientific answers only please

    cheers
    len

  45. len armstrong says:

    ok i have now settled my mind, got together with guys again and it is clear that all the seemingly miraculous abilties afforded by the band are easily replicated through trickery moreover we found that the turning excercise is purely the abilty to go further on the second attempt due to muscle stretching so it seems is that in performing the balance trick twice with only a short gap the body responds and braces itself in the relevant muscles so even when pure downward force is exerted the second time it is far more able to withstand the pressure which explains why people who are innocent in this and dont know the trick still arrive at the same conclusions that there is something in the property of the rubber bands and the claims of its producers.
    no longer sceptical box is ticked for me and theres no magical powers other than the miracle of the human body to respond to its environment and neccessities
    praise God (that one is a whole different story)

  46. David Ryan says:

    Gullibility is just part of the maths of human nature. One coincidental hit creates positive affirmation far greater than a hundred misses. The internet then perpetuates this by allowing someone who is already a believer to search for articles that perpetuate the problem. We now have products that genuinely stop non-ionising radiation so hopefully magic bracelets etc. etc. will eventually go the way of healing water and pet rocks. The bin.

  47. DK Rawlinson says:

    I am not agreeing nor am I disagreeing with the form, fit or function of what has been said on either side. I would just like someone to tell me what electricity or gravity is and not just what its effects are. When someone can come up with an answer to these I may believe that the science we so rely on as a western society is 100% right in everything they say. But then again maybe not because even those in the know have a mind that can be change when faced with new evidence or more refined and sensitive equipment. At other times empirical evidence is all we have to go on because it works. We can’t explain why it just works. I am still going to turn my lights on at night even though no one that I know of has a clue of what it is, however we do have a whole closet full of things that it does.

  48. Mr. Magoo says:

    Electricity is the flow of electrons through material that is conductive (like wire made of copper, saltwater and other mediums). The flow can be measured with a meter, which is a device designed specifically to measure the flow of electrons.

    The human body has a detectable energy field that can without question be measured. You cynics go too far with your unsubstantiated, self-serving assumptions.

    I leave you with a cut & paste. Please google “human body energy field” and find this website for yourself, and read the entire body of information available. Based on someone elses post which had a link “blocked”, links are not allowed here, but I’ll try anyway. http(colon)//www(dot)reiki(dot)org/reikinews/sciencemeasures(dot)htm

    Don’t like this website? Look up the researchers mentioned and find their work elsewhere. Cynicism and skepticism are fine – as long as it’s not blind.

    Do the bracelets work? I choose not to vote.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    It has long been known that activities of cells and tissues generate electrical fields that can be detected on the skin surface. But the laws of physics demand that any electrical current generates a corresponding magnetic field in the surrounding space. Since these fields were too tiny to detect, biologists assumed they could have no physiological significance.

    This picture began to change in 1963. Gerhard Baule and Richard McFee of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY detected the biomagnetic field projected from the human heart. They used two coils, each with 2 million turns of wire, connected to a sensitive amplifier.

    In 1970, David Cohen of MIT, using a SQUID magnetometer, confirmed the heart measurements. By 1972, Cohen had improved the sensitivity of his instrument, enabling him to measure magnetic fields around the head produced by brain activities.

    Subsequently, it has been discovered that all tissues and organs produce specific magnetic pulsations, which have come to be known as biomagnetic fields. The traditional electrical recordings, such as the electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram, are now being complemented by biomagnetic recordings, called magnetocardiograms and magnetoencephalograms. For various reasons, mapping the magnetic fields in the space around the body often provides a more accurate indication of physiology and pathology than traditional electrical measurements.

    Pathology alters the biomagnetic field

  49. Mark says:

    If you are all arguing that this product works for you then you must agree that it might have negative effects on you. When i wear my bracelet for more than 3 days, i am sick to my stomach, lightheaded and dizzy.

    Could their be any truth to that? I firmly believe in this magnet stuff, however it has been all negative for me.

  50. Brando says:

    The Internet has countless views on thousands of topics. What a great source of information, but at the same time, how do you figure out if the information is good or bad. I guess for every pro comment there will be a con comment. Have the pro comments tried the product? Probably. Have the con comments tried the product? Only possibly. How can you really have an informed opinion unless you’ve tried it. I guess people are reading these comments to try and determine if they should try it or not, I know I am.

    Life isn’t a straight line, and it’s certainly full of ups and downs. I think people put their money out and try things because it’s different. If they like it they continue to buy it. In lots of cases people continue to buy things even though they know it’s not good for them. I guess we can call you people suckers too. For instance… ever try fastfood, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc. These have all been scientifically proven to be fatal (eventually), yet millions of people continue to buy these products every single day.

    Belief is a powerful thing, just ask every religious person in the world. Perhaps these bracelets are nothing more than a belief, who knows. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. If it doesn’t work for you, well, you’ve only lost 20 bucks or so. How much do you spend on fastfood, cigarettes, etc, in a year? Ouch…

  51. gary777 says:

    Hi, the first claim is totally wrong, isnt it? He says noone ever measured a energy field from the body and noone would know what kind of energy that should ne? The body has a electric field and a magnetic field. It is what is measured trough EEG and MEG, specially brain activity (but not only for that.). They are much weaker signals than what f.inst. the earth magnetic field or background rAdiation carries, but hospitals use shielded rooms etc. to measure the biomagnetic field. If i understand it right, this “sceptics” article is totally fake haha. Well, on the first point at least. Maybe im the only one that found that funny.

  52. Riley says:

    true power magenetic bands break so easily! they have a lifetime warranty but they snap as if they were a cheap elastic!! they are 35$ and they break so easliy! this company disappears all the time.. they used to have a kiosk at the concord mall but they disappeared and are no longer there.. think twice before buying a true power magnetic bracelet because they lie to their customers!!! BEWARE TRUE POWER BANDS THEY ARE FALSE ADVERTISING!!!!!!!!!! BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE… BEWARE,,, BEWARE

    • Riley says:

      BEWARE.. BEWARE.. BEWARE…BEWARE…BEWARE!!!!! expensive shit that is actually shit!!!! dont purchase.. false advertising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  53. henry porter says:

    I’d like all you gullible fools who think there is any scientific basis for this product to do me a favor. Provide us with the citations to the scientific papers that have been published supporting this.

    I mean, of course it’s been researched, analyzed, peer-reviewed, and published, right? If it’s an actual effect, it can be measured and reproduced.

    So let’s see the papers!

  54. UstillUp says:

    Well, I was totally skeptical myself until I tried the thing. My workouts improved dramatically, and I was able to beat every record I had ever made. Now I have no idea if this placebo or not, but either way I’m gonna keep wearing the thing. Results from placebo are better than no results at all.

    • I suggest that if you had ACTUALLY been skeptical, as you say, you would not have rushed out and given them your money. Skepticism consists largely of asking the right questions, and personal experiences are the wrong way to answer them.

  55. Zero says:

    Our body does contain an electrical “field”…we are composed of atoms, which contain electrons, so the entire body can be thought of having an “electrical field.” Not in the same sense as an electric fence or whatnot. As to finding what “frequency” our body is, we might measure it on an rf meter? And since it’s based on “Eastern Philosophies,” how can you use science to verify that? We can’t, because we can’t test what we dont fully understand or know how to test. But you’ve made some very valid points :)

  56. Phoenix says:

    I bought this knowing this must be a mind trick, (I have read hypnotist Derren Brown’s book, but because I truly felt and that is the word ‘felt’ stronger and more balanced , i thought why not. At the end of the day it is always mind over matter. If you can achieve the same thing with a piece of string then all the better.

  57. sunne says:

    if you can afford it why not try something that might change your life to help others?

  58. sunne says:

    i would try anything that would balance my health, except jump off a cliff if you no what i mean. i want to know about everything!