Acai Berry?
 

SO, I was on my myspace and I saw an ad for this Acai Berry diet and it said that it was featured on Oprah. I was just wondering does it work?

I've seen this all over myspace. I really highly doubt it works, mainly because of the ads themselves. They seem so fake. But then again I haven't done any research on it either *shrug*

Acai berry is very high in antioxidants and studies have shown it to be healthy, but I don't see how a supplement made from Acai is going to help you lose weight.

It's a great food source, but just like any flush, all you'll loose is water weight.

Oh, but if you just want to cleanse yourself for a day or two for health benefits and not weight loss, it's probably okay.

Acai is awesome in a smoothie (love those from Planet Smoothie), but besides being very healthy for you, I don't see it really being a weight loss booster.

Its weird how there are sooo many diet pills or whatever that claim to be "featured" on Oprah or CNN or whatever.. i mean is that suppose to make them more believable?
As for this pill i doubt it works.. i doubt any pills will.

I agree jahjah, pills don't work, you just have to workout and eat right.

And be carefule of those "free trial" or "$1 trial" supplements. Usually they are forced opt-in, and they will charge you upward of $60 a month to send you a new bottle every month.

So if you try it, be sure to call and cancel the day you get it. It's probably somewhere in the fine print on the website.

As zenor said, it's a great antioxidant, but that doesn't mean it's a weight loss miracle.

.

Health benefits or no, I tend to shy away from anything claiming to be a "miracle" diet supplement.

Originally Posted by jahjah1223:
Its weird how there are sooo many diet pills or whatever that claim to be "featured" on Oprah or CNN or whatever.. i mean is that suppose to make them more believable?
As for this pill i doubt it works.. i doubt any pills will.

I think (could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time :lol:) that if they advertise during the Oprah show, they are allowed to say "as seen on". It doesn't mean that Oprah did a program about it, endorses it, or even knows what it is for that matter - but they want to trick you into thinking there has been some big to-do (that we all missed?) and this is the "miracle-magic bullet" we've all been waiting for. The real "miracle" we've all been waiting for has been right under our noses all along - it's called eating controlled portions of good, nutritional food, and exercising :D BTW - pretty much all of the "miracle" diet pills come with fine print that says "when used with a sensible diet and exercise program" go figure....

That reminds me of all the hoodia ads that say "as seen on CBS 60 minutes". They are hoping you didn't really see it, lol. CBS profiled hoodia but the story did not support hoodia supplements and explained that the results were only favorable when chewing the fresh plant.

Oprah said she drinks green tea, so now there are tons of tea ads claiming "as seen on Oprah" :lol:

Originally Posted by Suzanne 3FC:

Oprah said she drinks green tea, so now there are tons of tea ads claiming "as seen on Oprah" :lol:

Hahaha!!

:D I love stuff like that. You've just gotta laugh.

I was about to post about Acai Berry! =D Well I seen the same add as you. So I looked into it. I was not about to spend so much money on that so I looked it up at the Walmart website and it was about 7 dollars a bottle. I'm not too sure about the weight loss promises. I have noticed eating intake change. I don't eat as much but that could be just me. This is what it says on the bottle...

"Spring Valley Acai provides powerful antioxidant protection. * Antioxidants can enhance the immune system and help the heart, eyes, muscle and skin by protecting against the oxidative effects of free radicals.* Antioxidants are one of our best natural defenses against free radicals and promote overall well-being.*

*Thes statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."



I like to read fine print too.

Well I like to get walmart supplements because my dad bought some Fish-something supplements. (lol forgot the name) He is Diabetic. Well it helped him when he ran out of his pills to control his sugar level.

So I assumed if that brand from wal-mart help--I will buy the same brand but of Acai. I want to take it for awhile longer before I come to any conclusions about it. Hopefully it lives up to it's description.
:D

Quality Acai Berry
 

Well acai is good for antioxidants but it has no weight loss properties. Wild blueberries are also good for antioxidants and tea as well.

I have heard that it cleans out your system, so if you have anything stuck in your colon or intestines then it will clean you out.
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Anything high in fiber will help 'clean you out'. Fruits/berries are generally high in fiber.

I'm not sure they're generally talking about whole berries, more like supplements or maybe juice.

There's a huge market for the high antioxidant fruits. For a while pomegranate and blueberries and their juices were outrageously priced, because everyone wanted them. I love that the acai and goji berries became the new "in" fruit, because now pomegranates and blueberries and their juices are more affordable.

Pure juice is pretty high in calorie, no matter the fruit, so I don't buy juice very often, but when I do I mix it with water, seltzer water, or diet Sprite.

I was sick most of this month, and when I've got a respiratory infection I usually want juice. I think it's a comfort food thing, more than anything, because when we were sick as kids, my mother always pushed juice on us. But, even though I wasn't very hungry and not eating much, if I would have drunk pure juice, of any kind, I'm sure I would have made up the calorie difference and possibly then some.

I've read a couple of the "super foods" books, and it does influence my purchases, because I think it helps me get more value for my dollar. But, I don't think it makes any food a miracle food, especially when it's being marketed in a way that it was never normally used before.

I wish the prices of pomegranates would come down. My parents have a pomegranate tree and my mom offered to try to ship some. I told her I rather pay $3 for one than her trying to ship them.

I was thinking of using it, too, I may still...just as a supplement!

I actually know someone who sells acia berry juice. I drink 2oz of it a day. I probably is not going to help you lose weight. Like said before it is a great anti-oxidant. I havent had a cold since i started taking it. Also it seems to help a bit with sleeping at night and muscle cramps. Now all of this could be an illusion in my head. But as far as i can tell it will not help in the weight loss catagory. But it sure is tastey.

Its pretty pricey at $45 or so a bottle, but since you arent meant to drink more than 1-2oz a day it lasts a month or 2

Originally Posted by CandyKisses0204:
Its pretty pricey at $45 or so a bottle, but since you arent meant to drink more than 1-2oz a day it lasts a month or 2

It's a juice and it keeps that long??

Refrigerated, most juices will "keep," (stay drinkable) because juices tend to ferment rather than spoil. However, fermentations means some of the sugars are converting to alcohol (how strong, how quickly, I'm not sure).

Originally Posted by kaplods:
Refrigerated, most juices will "keep," (stay drinkable) because juices tend to ferment rather than spoil. However, fermentations means some of the sugars are converting to alcohol (how strong, how quickly, I'm not sure).

Yeah, that isn't really what I consider "keeping", although others might be willing to drink it that way. I just know my juice never keeps that long.

I don't know how noticeable it is at first. I know the difference between soft and hard cider can sometimes be difficult to judge by taste alone (or so I've been told by older family members, with some funny family stories about kids getting into or being given the "wrong" cider. Personally, I've never liked cider or apple juice, even as a kid, so I don't know personally.)

I tend to think I'd know the difference by taste, but if the alcohol content is still pretty low, maybe not.

I've noticed it *many* a time with juices. Easy to tell. Either our palates are very different, juice never sits around long at your place, or for some reason your juice doesn't go bad and mine does. Who knows! :)

Juice never sits around at our place, because hubby is crazy for juice. Even when I buy a juice he claims he won't drink because he doesn't like it, If I don't finish it in about 10 days, he will. My folks keep juice alot longer, and haven't had any problems (however, my dad has absolutely no taste buds and will even drink sour milk).

Hey interesting read on acia berry, just to let you all know i tried the free trial and called and canceled the day it arrived and every month I have to call my credit card to have the charge removed. They are still charging me and they even gave me a cancelation code. Be sure and save the cancelation code for your credit card services.

Açai has a lot of sugar in it. I don't think it is a good idea to consume a lot for weight loss, but it does have tons of antioxidants. Most ads say that because açai is a trend righth now ( Açai smoothies, ice cream, etc).

My co-worker, who is always looking for the easy way out when it comes to weightloss, saw the add for these on tv and decided to order the trial (I keep trying to tell her diet & exercise). Anyway, she never got the trial but was charged for it anyway; the next month she was charged for a shipment (that she never authorized) at the cost of $80 (that she also never got). Calling the company did no good, they gave her the run around. They insisted they had her signature that she had received them. They then went as far as to email her a copy of the signature. Her first initial and last name, but it wasn't in her handwriting and the date with the signature was a year BEFORE she had ordered anything. She had to call her bank and cancel the card to get the charges to stop. Once she reported them to the Better Business Bureau, she got her money back.

She never did find out if they would work or not.

It is not FREE
 

I ordered the first FREE bottle, paying shipping 5.95.
A month later they shipped me 2 bottles and charged me 85.90.
I sent the 2 bottles back, per their instructions, and requested a refund by email. They sent an instruction sheet on how to do this.
Well they credited me (59.96). Do the math, I paid 31.89 for a FREE bottle.
I am not falling/buying any more quick wt loss miracles.

I thought I had posted on this thread, but maybe this is a different one.

I like acai in a smoothie product that used to be sold in my local grocery store and it seemed to be free of any yucky ingredients, was just a fruit smoothie with all natural ingredients, including the acai, assuming that there WAS acai in there, but anyhow it tasted good and did make me feel energized (sugar from berries?). Acai berries have a flavor I like. I've since had some whole berries that a friend had. They have a fruit/chocolate/bitter kind of taste and they do have a lot of antioxidants.

HOWEVER, claims about weight loss seem to me to be not valid other than that any healthy food probably aids in the overall journey because it provides nourishment for the body.

I also thought I had seen somewhere in this thread that according to someone, Oprah (sp?) never made any weight loss claims about acai. I don't care for O but that sounds reasonable as I'd think she would not do anything like that.

To me the horror stories on the thread about credit cards being charged and alleged pay collection practices of this acai supplier somewhat tell the tale. How can any faith re a weight loss claim be placed in the the product whose billing practices are questioned.

No magic pills, no magic berries, but acai in and of itself seems ok to eat or drink, in my opinion, if it can be obtained like any other fruit.

yup they will charge you out the patoot and offer no way to be able to cancel or ship it back.

BEWARE!

Dr. OZ did talk about it on Oprah as a super food, not a weight loss product. There are also ads claiming he promotes cleansing which is completely opposite of his recommendations. His stance is that the body is self-cleansing with proper diet, ie. fiber. Never trust ads. I can't believe what Madison Ave. is allowed to get away with.

I agree with you, Operator265. Thanks for that info on what Dr. Oz actually said.

My very best friend ordered it off of myspace. She doesn't have lots of weight to lose like I do but she said that from the first day she took it she's lost weight. It's been about 4 weeks and she's lost 18 lbs with no diet/exercise. She said it just eliminates her hunger completely. At first I was really thinking about it - seeing her results. THEN I found out what it cost!

When she ordered it they told her it was a free trial...yea right... they charged her card 99.00 -- and that is not even a full month supply. She said if she took it as directed it'd be about $200.00 a month!! So she takes half of it (I think she takes 1 pill a day instead of 2).

I am desperate to lose the weight but $200 a month is crazy and for me who has a lot to lose I"d have to be on it for a long time. And then what? Once I lost the weight? I can't afford $200month for life.

But I do get thinking when I see how great she looks and she swears to me it's 100% effortless. Her habits were not that bad (not like mine) she just had about 15-20 post-baby pounds (her baby is 2 but we still call them baby lbs lol) and she was never overweight before in her life. For me I think I need something much more long-term since I have battled obesity and binge eating my whole life.

At this point I really believe gastric bypass is my last resort...and I'm almost there. Years of dieting, journaling and exercise and I'm still sitting at 100+ lbs overweight.

hoosiermama - its possible that they put something in the acai supplements she bought such as fiber. Acai itself won't suppress appetite. I would suggest staying on the forums, they can be very helpful with weight loss :) Calorie counting is a good, inexpensive method to help keep track of your food and there is a calorie counting forum. There is also a general weight loss support forum that is good. I'd also look at the 100lb club, its for those of us that have had or currently have 100 lbs or more to lose. Many of the 100lb clubbers have lost 100 lbs or more :)

Hey all! I work at a GNC around here and I hear about the acai berry ALL FREAKIN DAY! So I did my own research on it. Here's what little I know about the acai berry. It has the highest ORAC (antioxidant power) than any other berry that they have found. It boosts your energy levels, helps with your skin, has a good amount of fiber as well as omega fatty acids. So I think in all, you can't go wrong with taking the supplement. It will give you more energy and help "keep things regular" and possibly help suppress your appetite. But I wouldn't buy a lot of the juices, only because they shove so many other things in there with it. So you don't really know how much acai you're actually getting. Acai Max is about the only juice I would recommend because there's not much else in it, and they actually list how much is in there. As far as capsules, I would look for something around 500mg or higher per serving. And no, it shouldn't cost you 80 bucks! Thats just insane.

HappyMomma - Acai berries may be great antioxidants eating in their natural form but antioxidants don't translate well into pill form. There is a distinct difference between eating a handful of berries and taking a pill. Also, fiber doesn't translate into juice form either because when you juice any fruit, you strip it of its fiber. Also, any fruit tends to lose vitamins once its picked and even more so when its juiced. So it is hard to say how good acai juice would be compared to something such as wild blueberries or green tea which are also great antioxidants. Goji berries are also another recent star in the antioxidant world but you can buy them dried or even frozen. I would leave acai supplements and juice alone until we either see them fresh, frozen or dried in their natural form.