My wife's sister came to visit Taiwan in early May. During the chat, she said she was eating acai (powder) every day because she heard that acai has a lot of nutrients, including antioxidants, vitamins, fibers, etc. (so there are many health benefits), and after taking it, she really no longer has the problem of constipation. (Note: There is currently no research on acai for constipation)
After hearing this, I smiled. This is my reaction to any benefit of food (including health products) I have expressed. One of the reasons is that scientific certificates cannot express themselves in chats (how to come up with the article?), so I can only ignore it.
However, she is not so kind and willing to rest. She must listen to my opinion as a health "expert". Actually, I know it well. To put it bluntly, she just wants to get my affirmation because she is already ready to buy a lot of acai berries and bring them back to Taiwan to send them to her friends.
However, seriously, although I was reluctant to do it, I really enjoyed the fun of gaining a lot of new knowledge when viewing the information about Ai Berry.
Let’s first talk about how acai is touted. For example, the healthiest fruit in the world posted on Elle website on 2024-1-28 is it! Aiberry has a very high nutritional value, and even good actresses love to eat it. It protects eyes, stomach, and reduces aging symptoms. The subtitle is: It is worthy of being acaiberry called "the fruit of miracles", with so many benefits!
Okay, now you can start the discussion. First of all, this berry is not that berry – acai berry is not a berry, but a palm fruit. It is both size and color like blueberries, but only has a thin layer of flesh (a single seed accounts for about 70%, so it is not a berries). The acai food on the market is made of peels and pulp, and is cold or dried pureed. Because it is not delicious by itself, it is usually eaten with other fruits or desserts. [Note: Fresh or cold-fried acai are full of cervical pathogens. Please see Survival in vitro and virus of Trypanosoma cruzi in aça´pulp in experimental acute Chagas disease (experimental acute South American cervical disease, extracorporeal survival and toxicity of cervical cervical pulp)]
The common name of acai is aça´ and the academic name is Euterpe oleracea. Using this academic name to search for PubMed in the public medical library will show 532 articles. Most of them are from Brazil, so they should be said to be "national pride" or "light of the country". (Note: What is wrong with the fact that most Brazilians didn’t know that their country had such a fruit more than 20 years ago. Please see this article near the end) There are 15 clinical research articles on
Ai Berry, 11 of which are from Brazil, 3 from the United States, and 1 from the United Kingdom. Those three articles are from American papers, one (2014) did not provide research results, while the other two were published in 2018. The title and conclusion of these two articles are:
Phase II Trial of Acai Juice Product in Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer. Conclusion: This study did not achieve the main end point of 50% PSA response. However, the overall tolerance and impact on PSA stability deserves further exploration in biochemical reproductive populations.
Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) beverage consumption improves biomarkers for inflammation but not glucose- or lipid-metabolism in individuals with metabolic syndrome in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial [Euterpe oleracea Mart.) Drinks can improve inflammation biomarkers in patients with graft syndrome, but not glucose or lipid grafts. Conclusion: The results of this small trial study suggest that the selected dose of acai polyphenol may be beneficial for the gravid syndrome, as only two biomarkers with inflammation and oxidative pressure were improved within 12 weeks. A higher dose of polyphenol should be used for a follow-up study before deriving a conclusion on the efficacy of acai berry polyphenols on gravid syndrome..
The British paper was published in 2016, and its title and conclusion are: Consumption of a flavonoid-rich açai meal is associated with acute improvements in vascular function and a reduction in total oxidative status in healthy overweight men. Conclusion: In this acute study of overweight men, consumption of acai was associated with improving vascular function, which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. Future dry planning research may require long-term design, in a wider population and on other biomarkers of disease risks, to fully understand the health benefits of acai.
Have you noticed that all of these three articles say "requires further research"? However, it has been six or seven years and I have not seen any further research.
New Yoker published Strange Fruit on May 23, 2011, making a very detailed and interesting explanation of how Acai, a fruit known to only a few Amazon natives 10 years ago, was hyped into the "miracle fruit" that was sought after by the world.
There are 6190 words in this article, so it is difficult to make it so simple that it can make everyone understand quickly and comprehensively, but I will try my best to do it:
1. Two Americans Ryan Black and Edmund Nichols, who were in their 20s, accidentally discovered acai when they went to Brazil for a trip to Brazil in 1999, and then set up a company called Sambazon to promote acai to wealthy countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.2. They got in contact with a dermatologist named Nicholas Perricone. The doctor had published two books at that time and set up a company specializing in selling health care products and skin care products under his own name.
3. In this way, this doctor who made fame and fortune by bragging published another great-selling book, The Perricone Promise: Look Younger, Live Longer in Three Easy Steps (Perricone promises: Make you look younger and older through three simple steps). In this book, acai is called superfood.
4. The next year, this doctor took the Oprah Winfrey program touting the health and anti-aging effects of acai. In this way, Americans began to be crazy about Aiberry.
5. Another year later, a company called MonaVie was established and started direct sales of acai health products. In three years, it sold acai health products worth more than US$2 billion.
6. The advertisements of smallpox and the complaints of the victims have caused the attention and investigation of the Federal Trade Commission (Federal Trade Commission) and the consumer protection group BBB (Better Business Bureau), which has led to the sales of Aiberry Health Products.
The American Institute of Health has published an article about Ai Berry. Its focus is:
1. Acai berry products are promoted in the United States for weight loss and anti-aging.2. The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against companies suspected of selling Aiberry fat-reducing products in fraudulent manner.
3. There is no clear scientific evidence based on human studies that supports Ai Berry for any health-related purposes.
4. The peer review journal has not published any independent research to prove that Ai Berry Single can promote rapid weight loss. When studying the safety of acai berry enhanced juice in rats, the researchers found no difference in weight changes between the animals given and animals not given.
Original text: Acai, the healthiest fruit in the world?Responsible editor: Gu Zihuan