Dr. Perricone, in his bestseller “The Perricone Promise”, titles the acai berry as the #1 superfood in the world. But is this fruit really as special as many people claim it to be? Acai is a small, purple fruit that grows on the Acai Palm Trees in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest. It is thought to be packed with antioxidants, amino acids, and Omega essential fatty acids. The acai berry’s antioxidant levels are even said to outrank those of a blueberry and pomegranate.
There is a lot of hype over the acai berry and its supposed cure-all properties. For one, there are many people who claim that after taking acai for a week, they were able to give up their caffeine and sugar addiction because of the impressive amounts of energy the acai berries provide. The antioxidants of acai are thought to fight off harmful free radicals, which are the main culprit of aging, and thus help people look and feel younger. Acai is also known to promote healthy weight loss and help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. These claims created a phenomenon that made people in the world eager to empty their wallets on acai because of it being rumored to be a mystical cure-all fruit. Melody Aminian, a senior at Canyon High School, stated that she “did not know” whether to believe all the claims about acai berries, but it seems that many people do. Scammers use this hype over acai berries to their advantage and set up numerous scam websites that promise customers “free trials” for using their acai berry products, but those customers are actually signed up for an $80 per month (or more) subscription and receive cheap pills.
Whether the acai berry is really a panacea for what ails us is a dubious matter, but there is no doubt that it is very healthy like other fruits are. Acai can indeed be part of a person’s diet but its reputation for being a #1 superfood is probably more hype than fact.
