Acai Berry FAQs - Common Questions and Misconceptions Answered

Listed below are 15 Acai berry FAQs ( frequently asked questions ) that touch upon a good cross-section of information that is commonly inquired upon by a wide range of individuals. This Acai berry FAQs page is the ideal place to begin your journey in discovering what the Acai berry is all about or to do a quick touch-up on some of the information that you may have already come across and are needing some clarification on. Read on... and you will begin to discover why this mysterious "superfood" has come out of hiding after many years of local use in the Amazon region to become a world-wide nutritional phenomenon!

The Acai ( pronounced "ah-sigh-EE" ) berry is an Amazonian palm berry that grows abundantly throughout the rain forests stretching through Central and South America.

The berry begins its life light green in color and matures into a rich violet hue, edging towards black. It grows in bunches of around 700 - 900 berries high atop the Acai palm trees.

The palm trees on which the berries grow upon are about 49 - 98 feet ( 15 - 30 meters ) tall, with leaves stretching almost 10 feet ( 3 meters ) long.

The berry itself is about 6/10 of an inch ( 1.5 centimeters ) in diameter, about the size of a marble. It contains a single round seed that makes up about 80-90% of the berry's mass, the rest being pulp.

The pulp is the main ingredient of the berry consumed as food, and is commonly said to taste like a dark berry flavor mixed with a hint of chocolate. In reality, though, the berry in and of itself doesn't actually have much flavor and is somewhat bitter, therefore it is usually mixed with other types of food in order to make the taste more palpable.



Acai berry FAQs #2: How is the Acai berry harvested?

Natives of the Amazon region accumulate the berries by scaling the tall palm trees and then cutting off the berry bunches hanging from the tree's lower branches. This is accomplished mainly during the dry season ( July through December ) of each year in which the palm trees yield their berries.

Due to their 24-hour life span, the berries are put into baskets, loaded onto canoe-like boats, and then shipped to local markets and processing plants as soon as possible.

When processed, the pulp is separated from the seed and then preserved as soon as possible using a number of methods depending on its ownership, usage, and destination.

Harvesting the berry not only enriches the surrounding habitat and economy, but it also plays a major role on a global level as well. Palm trees that would otherwise be cut down for their "heart of palm" sections of the tree's upper-most crown-shaft ( which are then sold as a salad garnish ) are now recognized as being ecologically and economically valuable to preserve.

These proactive measures have become a major factor in the halting of rampant deforestation and in the overall preservation of the Amazon rain forest.



Acai berry FAQs #3: How is the Acai berry consumed in Brazil?

The berry is consumed several ways, most notably as a chilled pulp puree served in a bowl with granola and tapioca. Depending on the region, it is consumed either salty or sweet.

Other notable forms include: smoothies, ice cream, juice, soda, and wine.

The berry is commonly used in meat dishes. It is often mixed with Guarana as well, which is an energizing ingredient also found in the Amazon.

The Amazonian natives use it as the main source of their diet and also for the treatment of various ailments and health conditions.



Acai berry FAQs #4: Is all the hype surrounding the Acai berry true?

There are various elements of truth mixed in with the hype.

The berry is in such high demand due to the popularity of it in its native region ( most notably in Brazil ) and also from the vote of confidence it is receiving from the scientific community and from countless health/nutritional experts around the world.

The berry has been named one of the world's top "superfoods" by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, in his book "The Perricone Promise". It has been given that classification due to its nutritionally dense profile.

There have been consumer complaints about some of the Acai-based supplements on the market claiming to be a weight loss aid. A number of these supplements contain a negligible amount of the berry, and consumer relations have been handled in a poor and misleading manner by some of these companies.

However, the BBB ( Better Business Bureau ) has issued consumer warnings which educate the public concerning which companies to stay away from.

The berry itself is not a scam, though. There are several reputable companies that sell products containing the berry that are very good and definitely worth trying.

Hopefully, with the help of these Acai berry FAQs and with this site overall, you will be able to discern what is real and what is not. In doing so, you should be armed with the knowledge and confidence to make an informed decision.



Acai berry FAQs #5: How can I benefit from consuming the Acai berry?

There are numerous health benefits that you will gain from consuming the berry. Excluding these Acai berry FAQs, but as you read further into this site's content, you will discover specifically what many of those benefits are.

But for now, you need to know that proper nutrition allows your body to heal itself very effectively and also allows it to prevent many illnesses and diseases from ever occurring. Your quality of life will sky-rocket because you are taking care of your body from the inside-out.



Acai berry FAQs #6: Will the Acai berry treat my health conditions/problems?

First and foremost, it's important to understand that this berry is just a naturally occurring food. No claims should be made that it treats any illness or disease specifically.

Prevention of an illness or disease is where the berry's true strength resides. If there is anything that you gain from these Acai berry FAQs and from this site in general, I hope that it is the understanding of the power of illness and disease prevention.

Although it is not meant to treat any illness or disease specifically, it has very potent nutritional properties and will therefore improve your level of health even if you are currently suffering from an illness or disease.

I can personally vouch for the berry's effectiveness on my own level of health while suffering through illness.

In the time frame since I started consuming a freeze-dried Acai-based juice ( which has been a little under 1 year as of March 2009 ), I have managed to catch the common cold several times. I noticed that the symptoms of these colds were decreased dramatically from drinking this juice on a daily basis. I also was able to avoid taking any pharmaceuticals because of this.

This is just one basic example of the power of preventative maintenance through potent nutrition.



Acai berry FAQs #7: Can the Acai berry help me lose weight?

The berry should not be viewed as a weight loss supplement, just as you would not view broccoli as a weight loss supplement.

You will not see me promoting Acai-based weight loss supplements in these Acai berry FAQs or on any of my other web pages.

Many companies promote Acai-based weight loss supplements. Most of them, in fact, contain minuscule amounts of the berry, sometimes as low as 1 or 2% of the total amount of ingredients contained in the product.

What they are trying to do is to capitalize on the weight loss craze by misleading consumers about what the berry actually does and also by not informing them properly in regards to how much of the berry is actually contained in the various products.

With that being said, you might notice an improvement in your weight over time if you consume the right product. I have heard testimonials from individuals saying that they have less cravings and tend to snack less because they are receiving a full range of nutrients from the berry, which will satisfy your appetite.

Less snacking, which is a simple change in lifestyle, will equal permanent weight loss.



Acai berry FAQs #8: Will the Acai berry really improve my sex drive?

Finally, the moment you've been waiting for in these Acai berry FAQs!

Will this berry really improve your sex drive? Well, let me get down to business first, as you will often see me do.

One of the names that the berry has been given by the media is "the Viagra of the Amazon", based on all of the hype generated by excited ( no pun intended! ) consumers. Brazilians have also claimed that the berry is an aphrodisiac.

As of right now, experimental evidence based on placebo-controlled studies conducted by scientists have yet to substantiate the idea that the berry has any specific component contained within it that would classify it as an aphrodisiac.

Keep in mind, however, that when your health improves and you start to enjoy a more abundant level of energy in your daily life that these benefits will naturally carry over into increased sexual health and function.

Consume Acai and find out for yourself!



Acai berry FAQs #9: Does the Acai berry decrease the risk of cancer?

Yes. Consuming fruits and vegetables will decrease the risk of many illnesses and diseases. The human body is able to heal itself very effectively as a result of fruit and vegetable consumption.

However, the Acai berry is not to be considered a treatment for cancer, and no claims should be made that the Acai berry is a direct cure for cancer.

Published in the University of Florida News on Jan 12, 2006, the berry was found to be incredibly effective against cancer cells "in vitro", which means "outside of the body". To quote the article: "the study showed extracts from acai (ah-SAH’-ee) berries triggered a self-destruct response in up to 86 percent of leukemia cells tested."

Further studies have been conducted which focused on the effect of a freeze-dried Acai-based juice on human consumers. The results of those studies showed that the antioxidants that are naturally contained in the fruits found in the juice penetrated and subsequently bolstered the functionality of human cells.

The gravity of that statement will sink in the more that you become aware of how free radicals and antioxidants work in relation to each other, which you will soon find out.

The Acai berry has an incredible free-radical scavenging capacity. It contains powerful antioxidants, indeed.

It is beyond the scope of these Acai berry FAQs to explain those concepts to you in great detail, but I will cover those concepts further into this site. But for now, keep in mind that this berry hasn't been named a highly desirable "superfood" by health and nutritional experts for nothing!



Acai berry FAQs #10: What do the various medical research reports indicate about the nutritional properties/health benefits of the Acai berry?

In layman's terms, the literature indicates that the berry is one of the most nutritionally complete foods that has ever been identified and tested.

The literature doesn't make any heavy-duty claims concerning the health benefits of the berry, though. However, the powerful health benefits experienced by consumers have been spreading by word-of-mouth like wild fire!

There was very little information in the scientific literature about the berry until 2006, when two papers were published in the highly regarded Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry by Dr. Alexander Schauss and his group of researchers. These papers were exhaustive and scholarly works that documented ( using the scientific vernacular ) the nutritional chemistry of the berry.

At the present moment, there are certain chemical aspects of the berry that interact ( in a great way ) with the human body in ways that have yet to be fully identified and understood by the scientific community, including the individuals who performed the above mentioned studies.

Further research is being conducted to understand these mysterious chemical factors.



Acai berry FAQs #11: What does "ORAC" stand for and what does it mean?

ORAC stands for "Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity".

ORAC is the international testing standard for antioxidant capacity in natural, consumable products.

Each item tested by this method is given an ORAC score. The higher the number is, the more prevalent the antioxidant presence is within the given item. Numerous ORAC charts exist with varying scores given to the tested items, and the items are tested in processed and non-processed forms.

The most important concept to understand about the scores given are not the specific numbers themselves, per se, but their scores in relation to similar items that have been tested.

With that in mind, no matter what the specific ORAC score given to the Acai berry is in its various forms, it always ranks near or at the top of the list.

The highest ORAC score for Acai is attributed to the freeze-dried form of the berry. When in this form, the berry has the highest antioxidant capacity of any fruit or vegetable tested to date and one of the highest capacities in relation to all foods or edible substances.



Acai berry FAQs #12: Is the Acai berry FDA approved?

The berry itself is not FDA ( Food and Drug Administration ) approved and is not likely to ever be, due to the fact that it doesn't naturally grow in the United States.

The natural habitat of the berry is in the Amazon rain forest of Central and South America. The berry then enters the United States needing further manufacturing or is already in a final product ready to be marketed and sold to consumers.

It is important to understand that the FDA has approved the preservation methods and manufacturing/bottling facilities of the berry, though. These FDA certifications are required because certain regulations have to be in place in order to ensure the consumer's health and safety in regards to products originating outside of the United States.

The dynamic growing conditions of the berry in its natural environment cannot be effectively reproduced anywhere else in the world.

This is why you will not likely ever see the berry being grown inside of the United States and therefore will not see it receive the FDA's approval.



Acai berry FAQs #13: What are the various forms of Acai berry on the market?

The berry comes in many forms and has multiple uses. Most of the nutritional products out on the market contain the berry in the following forms: juice/liquid, pill, powder, capsule, frozen pulp, and dried.

The berry is also found in novelty type products such as: nutritional bars, energy drinks, snack foods ( such as in chocolate ), and breath mints ( of all things! ).

While being mainly consumed as a food for it's nutritional content, it is also used in cosmetics. The oil derived from the berry contains a high level of antioxidants that lends itself well to various types of topical beauty applications. It is also a safer alternative to other ingredients that are used in these types of products.



Acai berry FAQs #14: Who should consume the Acai berry?

This is an easy one to answer!

Everybody can and should consume the berry for its numerous health benefits and nutritional value. Specific products containing the berry need to be evaluated by the individual consumer as being right for their situation or not, though.

The berry itself has been consumed for centuries in its natural form by Amazonian natives of all ages. Amazonian mothers who stop lactating feed their infants juice or pulp from the berry. The infants then grow up to be healthy and strong.

The berry is not currently known to cause allergies or interact with medication to any measurable degree. It is best to contact a knowledgeable health care practitioner in regards to your specific situation, if you are uncertain.

Ultimately, you will never truly know until you consume an Acai-based product for yourself. I highly encourage you to take this level of action.



Acai berry FAQs #15: Where can I buy Acai berry products?

There are many ways that you can purchase products containing the berry.

What you won't be able to do, though, is buy fresh Acai berries in your local supermarket's produce section. This is because once the berry is picked it deteriorates and loses its nutritional potency after 24 hours, due to the enzymes in the berry that cause this breakdown process to occur.

You are likely to find the berry in pill, powder, and capsule form sold in vitamin and supplement shops and as a frozen pulp/juice in health food stores. Acai berry-based juice products can also be bought in supermarkets. You can even find it in a V-8 "V-Fusion" juice blend and also as a Haagen-Dazs "Reserve" sorbet flavor. Check out juice joints such as Jamba Juice and Juice it Up! for their Acai-based flavors.

The best products containing the berry are juice blends that are exclusively direct marketed by independent distributors, though.

The most potent juice blend out of them all contains the freeze-dried form of the berry. This particular product has living enzymes from the berry itself contained within it, which means that it was not overly processed and that 95 - 100% of the berry's original potency is preserved within the freeze-dried form.

Other Acai-based juice products not containing the patented freeze-dried form of the berry retains about 20% or less of the berry's original potency. This makes the juice blend containing the freeze-dried form of the berry the most potent Acai-based product available on the market today.


Click here to learn more about the most potent Acai-based product available on the market


Independent distributors are usually individuals running home-based businesses who are able to buy at wholesale price directly from the company and then sell at retail price to end consumers.

Independent distributors can also be "mom and pop" establishments, service-oriented establishments such as fitness clubs, or non-chain restaurants that buy the products wholesale price and then sell at retail price to their customers, as well.

In fact, companies that are structured for the direct and/or affiliate marketing and selling of their products are largely responsible for the home-based business boom that is happening right now and for the vast popularity of the berry.