The Acai Berry: Promises, claims, studies, and truth

Acai berries grow in the Amazon rainforest located in Brazil. The acai berry is considered beneficial due to its large amount of free-radical antioxidants. Many claims are made regarding the acai berries' ability to improve the immune system, improve digestion, fight aging, protect against coronary artery disease, fight cancer, and even cause weight loss. Numerous media outlets, such as ABC news, Oprah, and CBS news, have all promoted the benefits of this magical berry. However, many of these claims have not been proven scientifically in a controlled study.

In fact, there is a very limited number of published medical papers on the actual benefit of the acai berry. Even nutrition specialists of the Mayo clinic cannot provide actual medical studies supporting the above claims.

In study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the authors compared the antioxidant potency of certain fruit drinks distributed in the United States. The study compared pomegranate juice, red wine, berry fruit juices (which includes black cherry, blueberry, concord grapes, cranberry), apple juice, bottled teas, and the acai berry juice. One measure used to compare the juices is the Oxygen Radical Absorbing Capacity (ORAC) which measures the juices ability to absorb free radicals. In this study, the highest ORACs found per juice are as follows:
ORAC
(micromol of TE/mL)
Pomegranate juice: 25.0 +/- 1.0
Red Wine: 26.7 +/- 3.5
Concord Grape Juice: 30.5 +/- 1.4
Acai Juice: 22.9 +/- 2.8
Cranberry juice: 21.5 +/- 3.1

Click here to see all the values. In a comparison of the various juices' abilities to inhibit LDL oxidation (LDL is a leading part of the mechanism that causes heart disease), pomegranate juice had the highest values at 97.1 +/- 0.0 (for peroxides) and 97.2 +/- 0.7 (malondialdehyde). Wheras the acai berry juice had values at 29.2 +/- 15.5 (for peroxides) and 20.4 +/- 6.7 (malondialdehyde). Overall, the study found pomegrante juice to have the most potent antioxidant abilities followed by red wine and grape juice.

Not to say drinking acai juice is not beneficial, but more extensive studies are needed to validate all of the claims found in the media. At this point, these claims of acai being a new "super food" by such individuals as Oprah and Dr. Perricone are simply not supported. Only the juice manufactures are benefiting (the acai berry spoils within 24 hours from being picked, thus, you cannot get the actual berry in food stores, only as juices at this point).

Nonetheless, all diets should be high in fruits and vegetables, regardless of which one you prefer. Nonetheless, an individual should not put all of their hopes into just one magical berry.