What Caused the Acai Weight Loss Scam?

Acai palms are native to Brazil’s Amazon River basin. The palm fronds have strong fibers that are fabricated into any number of useful items – from baskets to hats to rugs. The tender hearts of palm are a delicacy. But it is the fruit, a dark purple, highly nutritious one-inch berry that has made the news lately and not always in a good way. Officials such as Connecticut’s attorney general Richard Blumenthal have held press conferences to warn against acai berry weight loss scams. What is the hullabaloo about and where did it all begin?

It seems to have started on the Oprah Winfrey show. Two of her health experts touted the healthy benefits of Acai and the Grande Dame herself stated that she included Acai in her diet. Enter the scam artists. After Oprah’s mention, websites sprang up overnight, touting Acai’s weight loss promoting properties and featuring falsified quotes from Oprah and her experts. A team of lawyers was dispatched to remove the bogus endorsements and Oprah issued a statement that she did not recommend Acai as a weight loss supplement, but the rumor was already widespread and many people succumbed to the hope that simply supplementing with acai, without making any other changes, would make them thin.

Why is There an Eternal Quest for a Miracle Weight Loss Food?

People tend to resort to magical thinking when it comes to weight loss. That probably has a lot to do with how difficult it can be to reverse excess weight gain.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), American society is obesogenic – meaning that the conditions are created by society itself that encourage obesity. From sedentary working conditions to the availability of fast food, simply going about one’s business in a normal way can lead to weight gain. Energy-dense, processed foods are cheap, whereas healthy, nutritious foods are expensive. This is due in part to the current structure of government subsidies.

Television bombards viewers with images of fattening foods at the rate of about 11 advertisements per hour and TV viewing itself is a metabolism-reducing activity. Is it any wonder that three out of four Americans are overweight and one out of every four people is obese?

The simple solution is to make lifestyle changes that counter weight gain. Eating a nutritious, low-fat diet combined with a regular exercise regimen will eventually shed the pounds, but the most effective and permanent weight reduction takes place over an extended period of time. Meanwhile, there are all those tempting processed foods that take real willpower to avoid. The siren song of a miracle product that will allow the consumption of fattening foods without the attendant weight gain is seductive.

Eventually, after succumbing to one empty weight loss promise after another, there are two choices for obese people: either surrender completely and endure all the negative consequences (the coronary disease and type 2 diabetes, the osteoarthritis and the immobility); or get back to the basics: increased activity and a healthy diet.

A healthy diet, as we all sometimes need reminding, includes 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Freshly harvested raw fruits and vegetables are best because not only do they contain the highest level of vitamins, they’re also teeming with enzymes, so vital to health and longevity. For people lacking access to superior produce such as that found at a farmer’s market, frozen or freeze-dried foods provide a reasonable and inexpensive alternative, since most of the living enzymes and vitamins survive the freezing process.

When choosing what fruits to put on your plate, look for red, blue or purple berries, as these colors indicate the presence of anthocyanins, which are a type of phytonutrient shown in clinical studies to confer health benefits, primarily through their superior antioxidant activity. These would include: grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, elderberries, raspberries and acai berries.

It’s fortunate that in addition to being superfoods, berries also happen to be delicious. Some people have described acai berry’s unique taste as the flavor of mixed berries with chocolate undertones.

Did the Acai Weight Loss Scam Cause Harm?

While the claims regarding the weight-loss properties of acai berry were extravagant, there are true benefits that result from adding this purple superfood to your diet. The overweight customers who fell for the empty promise of quick and easy weight loss at least were doing something good for their bodies by taking acai products, such as the Pure Acai Berry. Not only are the berries full of antioxidants which protect against the harmful effects of free-radicals, the rich purple pulp also contains essential fatty acids similar to those found in olive oil, as well as amino acids and nourishing trace minerals.

So although acai berry supplements alone will not accomplish weight loss, they certainly have the power to augment health in other significant ways. When acai supplements are taken as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, the benefits are increased exponentially.

About The Author
Kristina Kay is a talented writer whose articles provide insight into often controversial topics in the area of healthy eating, diets and weight loss programs. She often writes for WeightLossTriumph, a resource for Diet To Go coupons, Medifast coupons and a discount for BistroMD diet, three popular meal delivery plans in the USA.