The Acai berry phenomenon is all a bunch of hype

[[http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/23/acai.berries.scam/index.html]]

Most of the companies selling acai berries continue to bilk thousands of consumers, charging 80-90 U.S.Ds a month in the ruse of free trials and using false celebrity endorsements that they are being sued for, as we speak.The Center for Science in the Public Interest(CSPI) has addressed this issue by probing public awareness about this mass scam.

"There's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that acai pills will help shed pounds, flatten tummies, cleanse colon, enhance sexual desire, or perform any of the other commonly advertised functions," according to CSPI's press release.

"Virtually every berry -- blueberry, strawberry, goji, acai -- are anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants," Bowden(nutrition expert) said. "This particular one is exotic. It's found in Brazil. It's been marketed to have more of a magic ingredient. It's been over-hyped and marketed to death. There are claims to curing cancer, curing baldness that is all over the place."

Like most berries, acai has good nutritional qualities, but "there is not a drop of research" that supports marketing claims that it prevents weight gain and facial wrinkles, Bowden said.

Acai juices sell for as much as $40 per bottle.

"The expensive acai berry is triumph of marketing over science, that's the bottom line," Bowden said. "It's not useless, but it's not anything that people are claiming it is."

Companies including FWM Laboratories of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Hollywood, Florida, Advanced Wellness Research of Miami Beach, Florida, and other acai companies are accused of using fake diet blogs to steer consumers to sites plugging the free trials.

After a doctor listed acai as a healthy food on the Oprah Winfrey show last year, and a guest on Rachael Ray's cooking show mentioned the fruit, ads popped up directing consumers to sites selling acai weight loss products as if endorsed by the celebrities. Winfrey and Ray have publicly disassociated themselves from those sites.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating numerous complaints and said a lawsuit against FWM Laboratories is very likely.

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According to the Better Business Bureau, FWM Laboratories received an F rating, the BBB's worst. Other acai companies with the BBB''s F rating include Advanced Wellness Research, AcaiBurn, FX Supplements and SFL Nutrition.

"There are no magical berries from the Brazilian rain forest that cure obesity, only painfully real credit card charges and empty weight loss promises," Blumenthal said. "Aggressive acai berry pitches on the Internet entice countless consumers into free trials promising weight loss, energy and detoxification. These claims are based on folklore, traditional remedies and outright fabrications unproved by real scientific evidence."

All the testimonials cannot be fake. Why are the ads still up?
It does have benefits. Acai berries are not the constituent only ingredient of such supplements.