Acai Health Watch

It’s important that the freeze-dried acai supplement products you buy contain all of the health benefits, such as a blend of antioxidants, that you’d expect from the fresh berry.  Freeze dried acai should be 100% pure and contain no additives or fillers.

In the freeze drying process, moisture is removed at a low temperature from the frozen acai berry, leaving very little moisture at the time of packaging. Oftentimes, the original flavor is maintained but unlike fresh acai, the product is stable and can have a long shelf life without additives or preservatives.  (Acai berries spoil quickly when picked).  Freeze drying preserves the maximum amount of nutrients in the process, and also makes the acai product easier to transport.

Freeze dried acai is available in different forms to suit your lifestyle.  Two ways to purchase freeze dried acai are in powder or capsule forms.

Freeze dried acai powder such as Navitas Naturals Acai Power Freeze Dried Powder (8 oz) is typically added to juice or smoothies and adds a tasty zing to recipes.  We particularly like that the Navitas Naturals line is all certified organic.  Each scoop is typically equivalent to several fruit servings.  Acai freeze dried capsules are made from acai powder, just synthesized into a capsule form.

Remember, not all forms of acai berry supplements are created equal.  Freeze dried acai, whether in powder or capsule form, offers considerably greater nutritional value than “concentrated acai” or “acai extracts,” or those dried using other methods.

This article makes some interesting points about the nutritional aspects of acai berry juices, the way acai products are marketed, and the unsustainable farming practices.  It suggests that acai is largely a “Girl from Ipanema” fantasy and that the nutritional value is mostly fabrication or spin.  Acai, it suggests, is simply part of a marketing trend involving products from faraway lands such as noni, goji berries and mangosteen.

Certainly there are unscrupulous players in the acai berry supplement industry, but the article makes blanket statements about the superfruits as a whole.  Are the health benefits received by acai consumers worldwide just the claims of people who “have been had?”

“In truth, what we’re guzzling by the gallon is masterful marketing. Rather than being a “global wonderberry,” acai might better be described as an overhyped jungle juice that’s no better for your health than the average orange. Instead of the happy tale of the little berry that could, the acai phenomenon is really just the latest example of how time and time again we turn off our brains and open our wallets when we’re presented with a bottle of exotic “superfruit” juice that’s been packaged as some kind of shortcut to immortality.

In other words, we’ve been had.”

Pulp Fiction – Page 1 – MSN Health & Fitness – Nutrition.

A few companies that should be on your acai berry scam radar are Advanced Wellness Research/Netalab, Crush/TMP Nevada and Amirouche & Norton.  The first two sell health supplements have led consumers down a path that has become all too familiar.  Unsuspecting acai supplement buyers provide their credit card information for a “free” 14-day trial, only to find they are unable to cancel while their credit card accumulates charges.   Amirouche & Norton is an Arizona-based marketing company that allegedly created false advertising and endorsements for acai berry products.

“The Illinois lawsuit against Advanced Wellness Research/Netalab regarding health supplement sales alleges it ”buried the terms and conditions at the very bottom of the Web page in small print or via a Web page link existing independent of the purchasing page.”

Customers provided credit or debit card numbers to pay for the shipping of their free trial, which in many cases cost them more than they imagined. That’s because after a 14-day trial period, they were enrolled in the subscription program if they didn’t cancel.

Canceling was a chore or even impossible, authorities allege.

Neither company delivered the free trial product ”within a reasonable time,” giving consumers limited or no time to try the supplement, according to the lawsuits. In some cases, authorities allege, customers didn’t even receive their free trial until more than 14 days after they ordered it, or never got it at all.

If you don’t cancel in time, your credit or debit card is billed each month for a new supply of acai, ranging from $30 to $90.

Once you catch on, good luck stopping the recurring charges.”

Authorities look into acai berry supplement ads — themorningcall.com.