Acai Berries

[Deland01]

Has anyone ever had any expirience with Acai berries for weight loss? Ive seen a few advertss dotted around the net for weight loss pills / fat burners. The typical "Get ripped in 4 weeks" with these pills advert.

I did a bit of reading and it looks like its a good way to help burn fat. No side effects as their a real fruit & you gain an increase in energy. Has anyone ever taken Acai or have any comments on this?

[MuscleJunior]

Scam.

[Deland01]

I realise there is a scam going with product, anything yelling at you to click on it with the promise of huge benefits with no effort usually is a scam. You only have to take a look at the sites you get pushed through to. 2 web pages making up the entire site.... hardly a well thought through marketing strategy.

The sites I order supplements from (trusted sites) also sell Acai Berries and after the research I did it looks like they might have some genuine benefits.

[tlcr1212]

From what I've heard, Acai berries are good for you because of their antioxidants. To quote MuscleJunior, scam. But keep in mind that everything I write in this post is coming out of my head, not a reliable source. I could find you the sources, but I'm not that motivated, sorry.

I've seen the advertisements, and they claim acai has a high level of anti-oxidants. Thing is, grapes have more. They also claim acai has unique anti-oxidants, but does that really matter? I don't know - I actually made a thread on this forum about that subject. But the reason anti-oxidants are good for you is because they reduce oxidative stress. See, anti-oxidants are negatively charged, while things like free radicals are positively charged. Free radicals can "cut" DNA (which is negatively charged), can cause inflammation in arteries and such, and can contribute to Parkinson's or something. Anti-oxidants counter free radicals. But, if all you need is a negatively charged molecule, what is the point of a "unique" anti-oxidant?

Furthermore, anti-oxidants are not proven to be great for you. Too much of anything is bad. I know a cardiologist who I discussed the effects of anti-oxidants with, who told me that a study observing patients with heart disease who were prescribed vitamin E had a higher death rate than those who did not. Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant, and again, aox are supposed to help with cardiovascular inflammation.

But, the death rate could just be because these patients are taking E pills rather than getting them from a natural source. And unnatural is never good. Processed foods, xenoestrogens, environmental carciongens, all that bad stuff. And so back to acai. Acai berries are something like 3/4 seed, meaning each berry is about 25% edible fruit. Each berry is also the size of a grape. And supposedly acai berries are highly perishable, that's probably why you don't see them fresh at Whole Foods or whatever organic nut job supermarket is near you. So, to get acai, you get processed pulp, or dried powder. Unnatural. I'd much rather have grapes. Cheaper, tastes better, MORE aox.

Now, I've also heard a bunch of other claims about acai. If it increases your energy, cures AIDS, or triples your penile girth, please let me know. I'd have a reason to take it then (no, I'm not going to tell you which of those three reasons). But I really think that if you eat clean, lift heavy, and/or have a fulfilling life, you'll be better off than someone who spends their time and money on acai supplements.

[lomohart]

My friend was pestering me to try this out, but I really don't believe that it's genuine so I opted not to.