Açai of relief
Photo: iStockphoto You can't browse the Internet without running across at least one: giant banner ads touting miraculous weight-loss and cure-all elixirs made from the exotic South American açai berry. This staple of the Amazon, a small blueberry-like fruit that has a taste resembling a mix of berries and chocolate, has been the focus of get-rich-quick pyramid schemes that have purportedly made some people millionaires. While some extol the virtues of the expensive fruit juice, others say it's all one big scam. Is this "miracle berry" worth the hype?
Harvested from palm trees and exported as a deep blue-purple pulp, açai (pronounced "ah-sigh-ee") turned into a $13.5 million enterprise virtually overnight after publicity on the Oprah Winfrey Show spurred a huge increase in sales. Two of Oprah's experts, dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone and heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, called açai one of the most nutritious and powerful fruits in the world.
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ShareAçai's reputation as a superfood that cures illnesses, prevents cancer and aids weight loss has proven to be an excellent way to part consumers from their money. Online scams proliferate, with fraudulent "free trials" and multilevel marketing schemes requiring steep sign-up fees and charging up to $90 per bottle.
As açai popularity hit a high point in 2006, researchers began to study its nutritional benefits to separate fact from fiction. A study by the University of Florida showed that antioxidants in açai extract destroyed human cancer cells. Stephen Talcott, an assistant professor with UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said the açai extract triggered a self-destruct response in 86 percent of the leukemia cells tested.
"Acai berries are already considered one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants," Talcott said. "This study was an important step toward learning what people may gain from using beverages, dietary supplements or other products made with the berries."
A 2008 follow-up study -- the first involving people -- by a team of Texas AgriLife Research scientists showed that the antioxidants in açai berries are readily absorbed by the human body. For the clinical trial, 12 healthy volunteers consumed a single serving of açai juice or pulp. Blood and urine samples at 12 and 24 hours after consumption showed significant increases in antioxidant activity in the blood. Future studies will determine whether açai has true disease-fighting benefits, as well as appropriate serving sizes for a beneficial dose. Weight loss claims about açai have not been verified.
It's clear that açai berries have health-giving properties — but is the juice really worth the astronomical fees being charged by some companies? Experts say no. Joshua Bomser, an assistant professor of molecular nutrition and functional foods at the Ohio State University, says familiar produce items like blueberries, grapes, guava and mangoes have similar properties and are less expensive.
Oz confirmed to ABC that açai isn't necessarily any better than other antioxidant-packed fruits and vegetables.
"Açai is a powerful antioxidant," Oz said. "Colorful dark foods like red wine, pomegranates, concord grapes, blueberries — they call them brain berries — are full of nutrients. Açai seems to be as good as any other [good food], not better."
Many people will find that the taste of açai is reason enough to add it to their diets, though they may not see any dramatic changes in health. If you're eager to give it a try, here's a tip that could save you some cash: The açai juice sold for $10 a bottle at your local health-food store is likely just as good as the bottle your neighbor is aggressively hawking for four times as much.
(MNN homepage photo: Brasil2/iStockphoto)
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Posted By Anonymous - Thu, Jul 02 2009 at 12:40 AM ESTYou did a great amount of research, but while you were looking up facts on the Acai berry, you must have missed the fact that it isn't all the same. Hop back on to pubmed.org and do a search for the scientific studies on the Acai berry. The only way that it is any better than a blueberry is if it is FREEZE-DRIED. The $10 stuff at the store is not. Even the stuff at GNC isn't freeze dried, it's spray dried or heat pasteurized. If you want a quality Acai supplement, make sure you go for a.... More
just a fad :)
Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Jul 01 2009 at 9:21 AM ESTI´m brazilian, live in Rio and people eat this stuff regularly: it´s become a fad.
I don´t like it as it tastes like bubble gum and looks like the kind the junk you put from a clogged sink :)
No one cares about its "nutritional" value (has a LOT of cholesterol anyways): people just eat it because they like it!
Scam!
Posted By Anonymous - Fri, Jul 17 2009 at 1:25 PM ESTThis acai juice biz is such a joke. We can all ust eat blueberries or drink grape juice and save a lot of money without contributing to fraudulent pyramid scams.