Acai berry is the latest, hottest supplement. In an industry that’s big on hype and small on performance, the acai berry is the latest in a long line of weight loss supplements that won’t live up to weight-loss marketing claims.
The acai berry craze has picked up where the hoodia craze left off. Hoodia, derived from a cactus found in the Kalahari Desert, is supposed to stave off hunger and miraculously help people lose weight. People bought hoodia in droves based on an amateurish feature spot on the television show, “60 Minutes,” some good Public Relations, a lot of hype and hundreds of Internet-based hoodia hucksters.
To get more details check out my review of hoodia that was posted here last year. Back to the acai berry.
Scammers, working the lucrative weight-loss scheme, have hijacked this product of Amazon jungle palm trees that shows promise as an anti-oxidant. Fake blogs, fake testimonials and dishonest advertising, marketing and business tactics are indications that the weight-loss claims made by acai berry baristas are baseless.
To make matters worse, some unscrupulous acai berry scammers claim that Oprah Winfrey has endorsed the acai berry as an effective weight-loss supplement. Winfrey’s legal representatives say she has not endorsed the acai berry and is not affiliated with any company that sells the supplement. Why does anyone listen to Oprah and her counter-productive and destructive tidbits of healthy living advice anyway? But that’s another story for another blog post.
The legitimate scientific data that points to the acai berry’s efficacy deals with its anti-oxidant properties and there’s little, if any, data that indicates acai has any weight-loss properties. But this hasn’t stopped marketers from distorting scientific data and making all kinds of claims that the acai berry can do everything from prevent cancer to inducing weight-loss. Others have claimed the acai to be some kind of “superfood,” a designation that has imbued the berry with mystical powers.
The term “superfood” is just marketing and is invariably used by people looking to make a buck and if the acai berry really had potent weight-loss powers there would be no need to market this supplement in such a dishonest manner. All things considered, you could do a lot worse than take the acai berry, as it possibly provides some benefit, unlike hoodia. From the legitimate research that has been done the acai may have some anti-oxidant properties, and if you can get the genuine product and don’t mind spending the money, that’s your call. However, if you’re looking for the acai berry to help you lose weight you are better off keeping your money in your pocket.
So true. Just like all the diet crazes that have been resurrected and regurtitated over and over throughout the years, but have changed to different names.
The craze of juices and supplements are the same.
The only thing that they all have in common is your pocket book.
I believe in eating right, plenty of exercises, reduce stress as much as possible and REST.
I am concerned about people I know using Acai products, in this case, 100 % juice called Monavie, who believe that it not only has health benefits (which is fine in terms of wellness) but who push this in lieu of legitimate cancer chemotherapy agents in known patients with life threatening tumors. I have seen people come off blood pressure medications being told that acai will control blood pressure “naturally”. It may be time for FDA to step in.