Can Acai Berries Help Us Lose Weight?
In the natural supplement world, it seems like there is often a “flavor of the month”—a product that gets lots of attention and seems to pop up in tons of articles and advertisements for its apparent health benefits. Right now, acai berry seems to have achieved this status. From commercials to billboards, ads to news stories, everyone seems to be talking about acai and how it may help our health.
That is, of course, if we can pronounce it. According to the webmd.com website, acai is pronounced “ah-sigh-ee.” It is a dark purple berry grown in the Amazon River basin in Brazil and it apparently tastes like a combination of chocolate and wild berries. Acai is rich in anthocyanin, an antioxidant that may help ward off certain health conditions like cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and bacterial infections.
Acai has also been touted for its apparent ability to help us lose weight. If you Google “acai weight loss” you will get over two million hits with plenty of information about products that contain the berry and that claim to help us shed pounds. But look a little further and you’ll find just as many articles that state acai, although healthy in its own right as a food, does not contain any nutritional properties that lead to weight loss.
In fact, most of the acai weight loss products that you have probably seen advertised over and over again, ad nauseum, contain the berry as just one ingredient combined with other things. You’ll find acai detox products, acai calorie burning pills, and drinks made with the berry that are supposed to help us lose weight quickly. Some acai-related ads deliver promises that the products can help us lose over four times the weight loss than dieting and exercising alone, while others claim their acai-based products will help us lose absurdly high amounts of weight like 15 or more pounds a week.
A story about acai ran on CNN in the summer of 2009 and is available on its website. In the article, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit health group, spoke out against the berry and its supposed link to weight loss.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add a Comment3 Comments
Well I have been taking the pills now for about 2 weeks, they are called acai berry detox and honestly it has made me feel more energized, my appetite has decreased a lot, and it has cleansed my body. So far I have lost about 10 pounds. So its true they dont help you lose 4 times the weight but they do help and they make me feel much more energized. So I believe they are a "super food"
August 8, 2010 - 1:04pmThis Comment
I have been taking the capsules for two weeks now and can honestly say they have made me much less hungry at mealtimes and reduced my appetite a lot. I don't feel any other benefits from taking them, other than not feeling hungry. This obviously has an effect on my weight loss, which is progressing nicely without my feeling hungry at all.
February 22, 2011 - 10:48amHere you find a pro-found solution to lose weight in a very easy and quick way.
March 5, 2011 - 8:49amwww.hypnopardis.com