Beware of the Hype on Acai Berries

Q. What have you heard about the acai berry?  Will it really help me lose weight? Or is it all a gimmick?

A. The acai berry is the fruit of an Amazonian palm—today’s berry du jour. (Other hip berries that have had heydays in publicity include blueberries, cranberries and the berries—actually seeds—of the pomegranate.)

Like other newly-marketed exotic fruits, such as goji berries and mangosteen, little research has been conducted on the acai. A recent search on the “acai berry” within the MedLine database of medical and nutritional journals reveals only four studies. (Compare that to the blueberry, which yields 412 studies, and the cranberry at 443 studies.)

As a result, companies marketing acai products may take liberties when touting their benefits. Claims include the berry’s ability to help you lose weight, burn fat while you sleep, increase energy, and cleanse the body of toxins.  Of course, substantiating research is difficult to find.

While the claims are concerning, the methods of presentation are even more worrisome. Retail web sites for acai products present themselves as news organizations with unproven claims. To many consumers, these sites sound convincing, despite the fact that they are simply ads.

So, is this berry really such a superfood?

The acai berry is purported to be better than the rest because of its supposed greater antioxidant status. Antioxidants include a variety of nutrients and help the body control over-production of free radicals, which are thought to contribute to inflammation and diseases. The role for antioxidants (if there is one) in weight gain or loss is not clear.

There is little evidence about the health benefits of acai, but one 2008 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests a connection between the berry and antioxidant levels. Researchers gave 12 people a juice whose main ingredient is acai (other fruits in the juice include grape, pear and apricot). These subjects were also given a placebo drink on a separate day. The antioxidant levels in blood were measured before and after the juice and placebo, as were the levels of TBARS, a measure of lipid peroxidation, or “free radical” activity in the blood. After drinking the juice, researchers found that the subjects showed increased levels of antioxidants in the blood, and lowered levels or peroxidation.

Was it the acai—or other fruits in the juice? Would any juice have this effect? (Other research has shown similar antioxidant benefits from a variety of different fruits.) More importantly, would this immediate change in blood markers actually translate into better health? No one knows, since the study did not look at the effect of drinking this juice over a long period of time.

A trial on 12 subjects is not considered to be very powerful, so it’s hard to say what these results can imply. The researchers acknowledge that trials on larger numbers of people have failed to show a reversal of disease processes as a result of supplementation by various antioxidants, including vitamins C and E. They suggest that the type of antioxidant may make a difference in what results appear from a study. But again, there’s no real proof either way.

As far as weight loss goes, there’s no plausible mechanism that has been shown for why acai berry products might aid weight loss. Fruit can help with weight loss because it is high in fiber and nutrients and has few calories. Once fruit is turned into juice, however, it becomes another sweetened drink, often adding surplus calories to a diet that can lead to weight gain, not loss, if not monitored.

While many ask, “Is the acai berry a superfood with super benefits,” perhaps the real question is this: “Is any food a ‘super food?’”

The truth: No one food, or nutrient—such as vitamin C—is a cure-all. Just as many folks are waiting for the magic pill that’s will take all of the hard work out of losing weight, a more health-oriented group is waiting for a magic food that’s going to bestow powerful health and/or weight loss benefits. It just doesn’t exist.

Make no mistake, fruits are healthful—a recent commentary in a 2009 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition highlighted the links found between eating more fruit and improved heart conditions. The USDA 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommend that all adults eat at least two cups (or four servings) of fruit per day. A ½ cup serving is equivalent to a ½ cup of fresh, frozen or canned fruit, one medium fresh fruit or ½ cup of juice. All fruit is great for you, so eat it every day.

Find all articles by Martica.

Do you have a fitness or weight-loss question for Martica? Send e-mail to experts@microsoft.com. Please include Ask Martica in the subject line. Each of our experts responds to one question each week and the responses are posted on Mondays on MSN Health. We regret that we cannot provide a personalized response to every submission.

Martica Heaner, Ph.D., M.A., M.Ed., is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and an award-winning fitness instructor and health writer. She has a Ph.D. in behavioral nutrition and physical activity from Columbia University, and is also a NASM-certified personal trainer. She has written hundreds of articles for publications such as Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of eight books, including her latest, Cross-Training for Dummies. (Read her full bio.)

More From MSN Health & Fitness:

• 6 Stealth Health Foods
• What Color Is Your Food?
• Can a Low-Glycemic Diet Help You Lose Weight?
• Bing Search: Foods for Weight Loss