Acai for Weight Loss?

Acai berries are good for antioxidants, but no support for weight loss

Acai berries are receiving a lot of attention for their antioxidant status. The hype reached a fever pitch after Oprah Winfrey featured acai on her show as one of her "superfoods." Experts agree that acai berries, pulp or juice can be healthy additions to your diet. Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietician at the Mayo Clinic, says acai berries "are a good source of antioxidants, fiber and heart-healthy fats."

Given the attention acai has received, many diet-pill manufacturers claim that acai berry supplements can help you lose weight. AcaiBurn, MaxAcai Boost and Acai Advanced all claim to help you burn fat and lose weight. However, these supplements have attracted numerous complaints from consumers for their supposed "free" trial system. Customers sign up for one bottle in a free trial, paying only a small amount for shipping and handling. However, the fine print says this "free" trial authorizes the company to charge your credit card each month for a new bottle.

AcaiBurn claims it can help you achieve "450% more weight loss than dieting or exercising alone" and Acai Advanced boasts that users can lose as much as 25 pounds "in the first month." However, the Mayo Clinic says there is no evidence that acai supplements can help you lose weight, and none of the supplements mentioned above back up their claims with links to scientific studies. In an interview with The New York Times, Stephen Talcott, a professor at Texas A&M University who has studied the fruit, says there is "no scientific evidence to support a weight loss claim for acai fruit." Furthermore, he claims that companies marketing acai for weight loss are "playing on consumer ignorance."

3V Marketing, the company behind Acai Advanced supplements, has a grade of F from the Better Business Bureau. At the time of our visit, the bureau has received 480 customer complaints about this company in the past 36 months. Many consumers say 3V Marketing charged their credit cards without their knowledge or did not respond to phone calls. The story is similar for Acai Burn, which has attracted over 560 complaints on ComplaintsBoard.com.