That is a question that has, without doubt, bothered many of its consumers. Does acai have what many marketers claim it has?
It started way back in 2004, when the fruit was first marketed by MonaVie. Since then, popularity of this fruit spread like wildfire. Many of its marketers claim that acai fruit supplements can provide a host of benefits to its consumers, such as curing diabetes and other illnesses, sexual virility in men, as well as weight loss for women. They have even used the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz to promote it.
Unfortunately, these claims, so far, have no scientific basis. While it is true that acai provide a lot of calories, minus the sugar, and dietary fibers, the other benefits lack the solid backing of scientists. Even the FDA has not yet tested its effectiveness, putting a big question mark on the claims made by marketers.
So bad was the deception that law enforcers had to go in and shut down many Internet sites selling these. Winfrey, Os, Food Network’s Rachel Ray, and even Jennifer Eisenbarth from The Biggest Loser have sued several of these marketers over the use of their names without their permission (not to mention that it was meant to mislead unsuspecting buyers).
All these things lead up to one thing. Acai is not a proven health supplement. As food, yes, it is good, but that does not mean that it can cure your diabetes or something along those lines. It can be great ingredient for juices, shakes, smoothies, or even cakes, but that is all. Come to think of it, the locals who consumed it in the Amazons think of it as food. Perhaps it would do everyone well to think of like that.
After all, no one wants to be scammed on something like this.