Acai Berry: Fruit or Fruitless?

Acai (ah-sah-ee, ah-sigh-ee) is a fruit hailing from Central and Southern America.  If you’ve been on the internet in the last couple of years, you have no doubt seen advertisements for these acai berries and acai supplements.  Time and time again I have seen so many claims as to the health benefits of this miracle fruit, so I have finally decided to look into it myself.

Where it is grown, it is widely consumed in various forms (smoothies and other  juice drinks, alcohol, ice cream flavors, and even mixed with cereal).  There’s no doubt about what it is – a fruit.  What is in doubt are the claims made by the hundreds or thousands of distributors and advertisers that are peddling this product.  Flip through any magazine or spend any time on the internet and you’ll come across it.

I get really peeved when I see something advertised as truth without any facts to support the claims.  Most advertisements claim acai promotes weight loss, while others try to get away with other claims: “If you eat this dietary supplement, you will lose weight, cleanse your system, improve sleep, beat depression, have more energy, and even grow bigger.”

Acai is a fruit, so you can expect to get all the benefits that come with eating fruit (that is, if you eat a handfull of actual acai berries).  The problem is that most people in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Africa don’t eat the fruit; they eat the non-FDA approved supplements, instead.  The actual fruit, even compared to other fruits, does not seem very impressive.  It ranks about the same as rasberries, apples, oranges, and grapes.  Not bad, but really, any other comparison is simply spltting hairs.

There are many types of advertisements on the web for this “miracle fruit.”  Most of them boil down to three types:

1. The miracle weight loss supplement.
2. The miracle weight loss supplement combined with a cleansing product for maximum effect.
3. Those that claim to have tested acai beforehand, with before and after pictures.  They just want to be “truthful” and “help” others to lose weight, just like they did.

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Most advertisers are fly-bys.  They are people that see an opportunity to make some money off of others’ hopeful dreams and/or lack of knowledge.  Many times, free trials are offered simply to get you to sign up.  Too many times these free trials are nearly impossible to cancel, resulting in multiple charges to credit cards.  I especially loathe those advertisers who purport to warn about acai scams, when that is exactly what they are doing – scamming others.  Maybe I should set up a quick acai website of my own, advertise the ‘benefits’ of acai supplements and acai juice, and then make probably over $500 a month – easy.

I’m like most people.  I would like there to be a miracle supplement that does all of the hard work for me.  Unfortunately, acai berries are not that miracle.  If they came to my supermarket, I might try a few, but I would not expect anything from them other than what normally comes from a fruit.  I advise anyone that is interested in acai fruit to avoid it until you can buy it locally.

Thanks for reading,

-Tourq