The Acai Berry: Don’t Believe the Hype
by Vin Miller
The acai berry has received an incredible amount of publicity over the past few years and has become an extremely popular health food supplement. Despite the high demand for acai berry products and their expensive prices, they’re not the magical solution that many people consider them to be.
Acai berries are the fruit of a palm tree that’s native to Central and South America and are often described as having a taste that resembles a mix of raspberry and chocolate. Although they’re frequently advertised as having incredible health benefits, many of the claims about acai berry products are nothing but hype.
Why is the Acai Berry So Popular?
There’s no doubt that the acai berry is a healthy food. In fact, acai berries have a higher level of antioxidants than any other fruit and are a surprisingly good source of fat and protein. However, this doesn’t even come close to explaining the absolute craze that’s ensued over acai berry products.
While the acai berry could have easily become popular on it’s own, Oprah Winfrey gave it a huge push by citing it as her most highly recommended superfood. Although the acai berry is a healthy food, Oprah’s nutritional recommendations shouldn’t be taken too seriously considering she promoted KFC’s grilled chicken which is anything but healthy. Just as her KFC promotion provoked a wave of free food offers, supplement manufacturers quickly took advantage of the free publicity that Oprah created through her praise of the acai berry. In fact, acai juices and supplements have become so popular that they’ve inspired marketing scams that led to Oprah publicly disassociating herself from acai berry products.
The “Amazing” Benefits of the Acai Berry
Acai berry supplements are one of the most excessively hyped health food products of all time. Most of the advertisements I see for acai berry products are clearly designed to invoke the same type of exaggerated appeal that is commonly seen with money making scams. Unfortunately, it’s an enticing trap for people who are desperate and think that they can lose a lot of weight or dramatically improve their health in a short amount of time by doing nothing more than taking a supplement.
The most obvious benefit associated with acai berry products is their high level of antioxidants. Aside from the periodic exaggeration of exactly how much antioxidant capacity a particular product has, this is a legitimate claim. What’s not quite so legitimate is the long list of health benefits that often follow. Many advertisements for acai berry products claim that they will make body fat disappear, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and arthritis, improve vision, energy levels, skin health, sleep and digestion, and detoxify the body. Acai berry products are even advertised as a solution for sexual dysfunction!
If acai berry products are as beneficial as we’re led to believe, then we should all be full of energy, free of excess body fat, and in excellent health, but this is clearly not the case.
Why You Shouldn’t Believe the Hype
Very little research has been done to support the wide variety of health benefits frequently associated with the acai berry. Furthermore, many of the benefits based on it’s nutritional composition are overstated. Because acai berries are very delicate, they lose a significant amount of their nutrition shortly after being picked. As such, they don’t ship well and are often processed into a freeze dried powder to minimize nutrient loss. While this may preserve some of the benefits of fresh acai berries, it’s questionable to assume that processed acai powder is as beneficial as the fresh whole fruit that you can buy locally.
Unlike most other types of fruit, acai berries contain a notable amount of fat and protein. Many advertisements state that acai berries are an excellent source of omega fatty acids but conveniently neglect to specify which type. The majority of the fat in the acai berry is oleic acid which is a healthy omega-9 fatty acid. Unlike the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that we must get from food, oleic acid can be produced by the body.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids should be consumed in roughly equivalent amounts, but the modern diet is very high in omega-6 fatty acids. The imbalance that this creates can lead to a number of serious health issues including heart disease and cancer. As a result, omega-3 fatty acids have become widely recognized as healthy. Because the acai berry doesn’t contain any omega-3 fatty acids, stating that it’s a good source of healthy omega fatty acids is a bit misleading.
Some of the advertising for acai products also mentions the amino acid content of the acai berry as a benefit. Because amino acids are the building blocks of protein, they’re found in any food that contain it. Based on this, the fact that the acai berry contains amino acids is insignificant. Furthermore, the acai berry only contains 2 of the 22 identified amino acids and neither of them are essential amino acids that we must get from food.
Why Acai Berries are NOT the Answer to Your Problems
With the technological advances of modern society, many of us have come to expect instant solutions to all of our problems. However, because our physical and mental well being depend on the physiological capacity of our bodies rather than technology, this mentality simply doesn’t apply to health. Despite this, many people still expect to resolve significant health issues overnight.
The high prevalence of disease, obesity and general poor health is not nearly as mysterious as most people think. It’s caused by our neglect for the foundational factors of healthy living. Compared to just a century ago when many of today’s problems barely even existed, we sleep much less, are under much more stress, eat much more processed food, and are exposed to chemicals that didn’t even exist back then. Freeze dried acai berry powder certainly isn’t going to change any of this!
A Much Better Approach to Health
Even if there was plenty of research supporting the health benefits of acai, the only thing that it would be telling us is that the acai berry is a nutritious food that supports good health. The perceived benefits of acai berries are simply the same benefits of good health that can easily be achieved through a healthy lifestyle. Any benefit that results from the consumption of acai berry products can also be achieved by eating other nutritious foods that are less expensive, less processed and more readily available. No matter how amazing the benefits of acai berry products or any other health food product may seem, fresh and natural whole food simply can’t be beat, and unless you live in South America, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have access to fresh acai berries.
Antioxidants have become popular because they counteract the free radical damage that can lead to many of the conditions and diseases that are common today. Before jumping on the antioxidant bandwagon, it’s important to realize that much of this free radical damage is caused by unhealthy habits. A healthy lifestyle will reduce free radical damage and also the need for excessive amounts of antioxidants. As long as you eat a healthy amount of fresh and organic fruit and vegetables, you shouldn’t need to worry much about your intake of antioxidants.
Even if you do have reason to worry about your antioxidant intake, there are plenty of other fruits and vegetables aside from acai berries that are high in antioxidants, and if necessary, there are also plenty of antioxidant supplements that are much cheaper than acai products. In addition, modern research is showing that excessive amounts of antioxidants can potentially be harmful and this challenges the need for “superfoods” such as the acai berry that have very high levels of them.
This article is part of Fight Back Fridays.
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Great article Vin. We need this kind of rational analysis. It seems today in our media-hyped world everything is said or done in extremes positively and negatively.
I always wait awhile before trying all these new “superfoods” that are hyped for exactly this reason. Sometimes they don’t turn out to be all they’re promoted to be. I’m still holding out on using agave necter and flaxseed also for that reason. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for this thorough, balanced, and thoughtful article.
Thanks, too, for submitting this to Fight Back Fridays today.
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Thanks for the comments guys!
Stephen – I agree. If only the much needed common sense information like eating whole foods, getting adequate sleep, etc. would get a little more of that attention!
Kari – A little skepticism is always healthy.
Flax seed oil is actually a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, but it goes rancid easily and doesn’t contain the important EPA and DHA forms of omega-3 fatty acids. Although these fatty acids can be created by the body from the ALA that flax seed oil contains, this conversion doesn’t always happen. Fish and fish oil are often recommended instead because they contain EPA and DHA. grass fed beef and other grass fed meats also contain EPA and DHA, but not nearly as much as fish.
Agave nectar is a completely different story. As a sweetener, it’s often highly processed and contains a significant amount of fructose. As such, it’s advertised as safe for diabetics and effective for weight loss, but it’s not. Instead of being absorbed into the blood, fructose is processed by the liver and is usually stored as fat. It also blocks the liver from processing blood glucose which increases the need for insulin. Not only does this contribute to even more fat storage, but it’s still a risk for diabetics or anyone else with blood sugar problems.
Once again you’ve produced another post which busts through the nonsense that is out there around health and food.
More neds to be done to encourage people to eat healthily and knowledge is key because the companies selling packaged food are selling a product and not necessarily the truth.
Thanks for sharing such a wealth of knowledge with us. Keep on being controversial appropriately. We need more truth and less hype.
Thanks for the information. I have always dismissed Acai because I have never seen or heard of it in it natural form. I have always seen it as a Diet supplement. Anything with the word diet supplement should be avoided.
If you read some of the main stream media, you will ofter see these list of superfoods or to eat these foods to control diabetes etc… They give the impression to the uninformed that eating the foods off their list will make them healthy. This is parallel to our western medicine tradition of treating symptoms. Acai great magic is it’s antioxidants which help to offset some of our free radical damage. I think you make a great point when you recommend that we first examine our unhealthy habits as a way to control free radicals,
It sad that irresponsible writing and the the great corporate media assault that we are constantly under, have people believing that they can achieve their well being by use of supplements. A vast majority of supplements are junk and not needed with a well balanced diet. With that said I still believe most people should be taking some supplements targeted for their individual needs. Since every body’s biochemical make up is different this means that everyone’s needs will be unique based on their genetics, eating habits, environment and lifestyle. Most supplementation should only be used until the body comes back into balance. Only your doctor on nutritionist can determine this. Some vitamins and minerals need to be in balance with each other for optimum health. Clean up your diet and then get a consultation from a nutritional therapist for supplement advice. Don’t rely on the supplement companies to tell you. Most are crap and just want to sell theri product to you as long as they can.
Thanks for another great post, Vin.
In addition to what you’ve very intelligently laid out here, does anyone know what the burst in “superfruits” like acai, goji, noni, and others have done to their natural habitats? I have no idea, but I have to believe they’ve laid waste to many areas in these far-reaching places to satisfy Americans’ quest to find an instant cure to everything. There’s no way that what was planted prior to their arrival here was enough to satisfy our demand -
Thanks for the comments guys!
Jude – I appreciate your kind feedback! It’s very fulfilling for me to uncover as much truth as I can and share it with everyone. I’m happy to see my articles being perceived that way.
Don – As usual, I completely agree! I particularly like what you wrote about individuality. It corresponds well with Metabolic Typing. I also like what you said about supplements only being needed until the body regains balance, even though it’s much easier said than done.
Scott – That’s an excellent point to bring up. Fortunately, these fruits depend on the trees and plants that produce them which means they have to be preserved along with the rain forests that they grow in. However, in regard to acai, I found an article stating that sections of rain forest are being leveled to plant more acai trees because of the demand. This is even more reason to not waste money on acai berry products.
Hey Vin!
That was a really interesting article!
There seems to be so many people who just want a quick fix- and some who take that quick fix in the form of a acai berry pills!
But like anything, no-one food can cure anything (not that you could call acai berry pills food). Good diets are varied with different fruits and veges (no one dominant food).
Anyway, Great post!
Great FBF!
Michelle
Hi Michelle, thanks for your feedback!
Great point about variety! No one food is perfect, and even fresh and whole acai berries have shortcomings that need to be compensated for through other foods. We also have to consider the valuable nutrients in food that haven’t been discovered yet. Variety is the best way to make sure that we’re not missing out on any of them.
I guess that you are saying that acai is not a license to kill. A license to kill means that you can go and kill anyone you want and not be arrested for it like James Bond. There will never be a food or superfood that will negate all the bad effects of taking drugs, eating bacon and never getting any exercise. So there will never be a food or supplelment that is like a license to kill.
Hi Chuck, thanks for your comment!
That’s a unique way of putting it, but yes, I’m saying that no supplement or superfood will compensate for unhealthy habits. However, as long as it’s from a properly raised animal and cooked appropriately, eating bacon isn’t necessarily unhealthy. In fact, saturated fat is essential to good health.