The Acai Berry - new miracle fruit?

The Acai berry is thelatest miracle food to make a surge onto the market boasting weight loss as itsmain incentive. Firstly, what is it? The acai berry is a reddish purple fruitwhich originates from Central and South America- related closely to the blueberryand cranberry. The berry itself contains; minerals, amino acids, vitamins,omega 3, fatty acids and antioxidants. The claim is that this super food raisesmetabolic rate and supresses appetite but it can also enhance energy levels andimprove your skin condition.

Antioxidants help combat free radicals; these are potentially dangerous cellsif left free to roam about the body. Free radicals are odd-number electronswhich attempt to become ‘even’ by binding to other already even-numberedelectrons. By binding to these already-even electrons they cause them to becomeunstable and free- thus free radicals. Acai berry’s supress the activity ofthese free radicals which can potentially become cancerous.

Research is limited, but the most convincing piece comes from the Nationalinstitute of aging which looked at the pulp from the acai berry. The studyfound it did have the ability to reduce the negative effects of a high-fat dietin flies. Firstly, this research was conducted on flies- we cannot generalisethese findings to humans. Secondly, the study looked at an already high-fatdiet not a normal diet; therefore the research cannot be applied to the lattereither.

Acai does contribute to a balanced diet which ultimately is what willlead to weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. To drink copious amounts of acaiberry juice and pop several acai pills daily will not cause sustained weightloss.  

The most standout product currently on the market is called ‘Ketone Ultra’which combines acai berries and raspberry ketones. Raspberry ketones have beenknown to shrink fat cells in the body as well as increasing the production ofadiponectin, a protein which speeds up the metabolism of fat. Ketone Ultra boasts‘30 pounds in 30 days’ tagline and with these two berries packed in, it is easyto see why. However, once again it is important to remember there is noscientific evidence to back up this magic pill’s claim.

The world we live in today is so driven by money that a price tag can actuallybe a more powerful agent than scientific research. Acai berry and raspberryketone tablets sound exotic and often come with a high price tag. Now, there issomething about exotic fruits and weight loss that sounds appealing- perhapsthe unknown aspect leads us to believe it is one of the best kept secrets ofall time. Speaking on behalf of the world here, we like the idea of these newproducts that claim to promote fat metabolism and supplement websites knowthis. As well as this, berry is made up of 90% seed with the remaining fleshypulp and skin where you find all these nutrients. This means only 10% of theberry can actually be used for juices, tablets, powders etc. This would alsoexplain the high price- it’s foreign and is hard to extract any sellableproduct from. Next week we will undoubtedly have yet another exotic fruit putinto tablet form that claims miracle effects.  Is the acai berry a miraclefruit? Highly unlikely although it contains many good things so does a lot of fruit- in short, there is nothing trulyspecial about this fruit unfortunately.