Straight Talk about the Acai Berry, Oprah and Weight Loss
Today, a question about the Acai berry Oprah, and weight loss.
"Have you heard of the Acai berry? I saw it on the Oprah Winfrey show, and there seems to be a lot of buzz about it," wrote one reader. "Is it going to help me lose weight?"
Like most berries, such as blackberries or blueberries, the Acai berry has a relatively high level of antioxidants, which can help combat the effects of aging and disease.
In fact, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows that the antioxidant power of freeze dried acai berries is "the highest of any food" reported to date [1].
However, the idea that the Acai berry has some kind of unique anti-aging or slimming property is just marketing nonsense.
To separate fact from fiction, ABC News spoke to biochemist Dr. Steve Talcott, Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University.
Husband-and-wife team Steve Talcott, a biochemist, and Susanne Talcott, a food chemist, first began looking at the Acai berry in 2004.
"It's not a miracle berry, unfortunately," says Dr. Talcott. "It is superior in antioxidants; it does have a very high antioxidant capacity. There is some really unique chemistry to the fruit. But it's not a drug. It's not a miracle, cure-all fruit."
His wife agrees.
"Currently, there is no direct evidence, scientific evidence, that acai has any weight loss properties," said Susanne Talcott.
The Acai berry got its 15 minutes of fame when Oprah and Dr. Oz labeled it a "superfood."
However, the producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr. Oz Show, along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, have filed a trademark infringement complaint against 40 Internet marketers of dietary supplements, including acai berry products among others.
Company representatives have made it clear that “neither [Oprah] Winfrey nor Dr. Oz has ever sponsored or endorsed any acai berry, resveratrol, colon cleanse or dietary supplement product.”
Ever since the Acai berry was featured on Oprah, fake Blogs have appeared everywhere in an attempt to cash in on its popularity.
You’ll see a picture of a woman with a made-up name (usually Jennifer or Heather), along with some equally fake before-and-after pictures.
Even the comments at the bottom of the Blog, which have been cleverly written so that they appear to come from real people, are fake.
"Jennifer" will claim that she set up the Blog to “help” people like her, before going on to explain how you can get a free Acai berry supplement and lose 30 pounds in 30 days (or some other equally ridiculous claim).
The person who set up the Blog then gets paid by the company selling the Acai berry supplement whenever somebody takes out the free trial.
How do they make money if the product is given away for free?
You only get the "free" sample in return for handing over your credit card details to cover "shipping and handling" charges. But in the process, they sign you up for one of these "repeat billing" deals and keep charging you for a supplement that you don't want or need.
Often, the only way to strop these unauthorized monthly charges is to cancel your credit card altogether.
If you come across any of these fake Blogs talking about the Acai berry, Oprah and weight loss, whatever you do DON'T hand over your credit card details.
About the Author
 Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.
If you want better, faster results from the time you spend in the gym, click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.
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Reference
1. Schauss, A.G., Wu, X., Prior, R.L., Ou, B., Huang, D., Owens, J., Agarwal, A., Jensen, G.S., Hart, A.N., & Shanbrom, E. (2006). Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 8604-8610
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