Can You Really Lose Weight With Acai Berry Diets in 2009?
During this time of resolution-making, many Americans are searching for the best diet to help them reach their weight loss goals for the coming year. While the weight loss scene over the last few years has seen a variety of diets ranging from the low carb varieties, such as the Atkins and South Beach Diets, to the managed pound reduction programs like Nutri Systems and Jenny Craig, to a variety of detox diets -- including those rapid weight loss programs popular with many Hollywood Celebrities, this year the star diet of the weight loss world is a small berry from South America, the acai berry.
Unlike other foods and gimmicks that have graced the diet scene, this little berry just might be a superfood that lives up to all the hype, but can it actually help you lose weight? In this article, we'll uncover the truth about the acai berry diet programs which are sweeping the Internet, reveal to you what Dr. Oz REALLY thinks of the acai berry diet frenzy, and possibly save you hundreds of dollars in the process.
What Started the Acai Berry Diet Craze?
First, a little background. Acai (ah-sigh-ee) berries are the fruit of a particular type of palm tree found only in the Amazon and the rain forests of South America. They have a deep purple color and taste like a mix of berries and chocolate. For years, the acai berry has been a favorite of the health food niche. Jamba Juice, for example, the nationwide smoothie franchise, has had an acai berry drink on its menu since 2005, but it's only been in recent years -- and with the help of a couple of prominent celebrity doctors -- that the berry has become a mainstream craze.
In February of 2008, Dr Mehmet Oz, the popular medical doctor, author, and friend of Oprah Winfrey, announced on her show that the Acai Berry was an essential part of his "Ultimate Anti-Aging Checklist." He particularly touted the berry for it's high anti-oxidant content, which is twice as much as blueberries, and recommended that people get 5 servings of high anti-oxidant foods per day.
Another leading endorsement came from Dr Nicholas Perricone, the leading dermatologist and author of best selling books, such as The Perricone Prescription, when he crowned the acai berry number one on his list of Top Ten Super Foods. To support his decision, Dr Perricone cited, not just the berry's high levels of anti-oxidants, but also it's healthy fatty acid make up, which closely resembles that of olive oil, and its blend of amino acids.
Further accolades were garnered for the acai berry when, in 2006, a University of Florida study showed that acai berry antioxidants killed leukemia cells in a labaratory experiment, but where was it scientifically suggested that acai berry diets could help you lose weight?
The answer: Nowhere.
Unfortunately, when it comes to weight loss, the acai berry diet isn't the secret formula you've been looking for. As supplements, acai berries are vital and beneficial parts of any diet, and will most likely fight off dangerous free-radicals in your body, promote healthier skin, and boost energy levels, but there is no evidence anywhere to suggest that they can help you shed the pounds.
In fact, here are three very important reasons why you may want to give the acai berry diet a second look before you pin your weight loss hopes on it.
Acai Berry Diet Products Are Very Expensive
A Google search revealed that Amazon Thunder, an acai berry juice product that contains acai berry pulp (the type of product recommended by Dr Perricone), cost $39.99 per bottle through the company's website. The same bottle on Amazon.com (not associated with Amazon Thunder) sold for $79.99. Monavie, a mlm company that's sprouted up out of the Acai rush, also sells a bottle of its original blend for $39.99.
Though, V8, Pepsi, Coke and even Annheuser-Busch are beginning to feature the acai berry in their beverages as additives (not the main ingredient), the cost for the acai berry juices, purees, and pills is still quite high.
Online Acai Berry Diet Pills Carry Hidden Charges
When an ABC reporter and her husband decided to order acai berry pills off of a popular internet website and give the diet an earnest try, they were surprised later to see a charge on their credit card statement for a fitness site that they had inadvertently joined (without their knowledge) when they ordered the pills. Further scrutiny of the fine print in the website's "Terms of Agreement" revealed that not cancelling within 30 days of their trial order would allow the company to automatically charge them almost $90 every 31 days.
Dr Oz Does Not Endorse Acai Berry Diets
Go to virtually any acai berry diet pill website, and you're bound to see pictures of Oprah, Rachel Ray, Dr Perricone, and Dr Oz on sites. Though these people have spoken highly about the health benefits of acai berries, we can't verify that any have endorsed one product or another -- especially in the realm of weight loss.
In fact, lawyers for HARPO, Oprah's company, are pursuing the online companies that suggest that either she or Dr Oz are associated with their products.
When that ABC reporter from Houston contacted Dr Oz about the weight loss possibilities of an acai berry diet, he put little hope in the prospects of it working. Though he again affirmed the berry's health benefits, as far as weight loss, he stated the acai berry by itself wasn't where he would "put his money."
Life After the Acai Berry Diet...
While this article may have dashed your hopes in the acai berry diet, the latest diet "super pill," we hope it hasn't tempered your determination to follow through on your New Year's Resolution. Yes, you can lose weight and meet all of your weight loss goals for the coming year, and we've put together some tips to get you on your way. Check out our recent article, New Year's Resolution Diet Tips for all the details.
The benefits certainly outdo the cost of such a natural
meditional product. It does not matter what form of acai you take your health will win.
Acai Freeze Dried