Yes, I know it was on Oprah so it must be legit then…or is it?

Now normally I just ignore all the hyped up marketing campaigns for the new in thing but I have been asked so many times about the health benefits of acai berry and if it is legit. I decided to do a little research to see what I could find out about it.


Here are a few excerpts from the scientific literature.

“This study demonstrated that açai offers a rich source of bioactive polyphenolics and confirmed the importance of investigating whole food systems when evaluating the potential health benefits of individual phytochemical compounds.”

J. Agric. Food Chem., 2006, 54 (4), pp 1222–1229

“The fruit of Euterpe oleraceae, commonly known as acai, has been demonstrated to exhibit significantly high antioxidant capacity in vitro, especially for superoxide and peroxyl scavenging, and, therefore, may have possible health benefits.”

J. Agric. Food Chem., 2006, 54 (22), pp 8604–8610

“The ac¸ai berry is the fruit of the acai palm and is traditionally consumed in Brazil but has gained popularity abroad as a food and functional ingredient, yet little information exists on its health effect in humans.”

J. Agric. Food Chem., 2008, 56 (17), pp 7796–7802

At first glance you might think hey this is some great stuff. It’s been on Oprah and Rachel Ray and it even has scientific articles.

Do the health benefits of acai berry have potential…absolutely.

Problem is the hype doesn’t equal the research. I only found 4 articles when doing a search of scientific journals. The bottom line is there is very little research out there to support all the claims.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the head researcher Dr. Talcott.

“A lot of claims are being made, but most of them haven’t been tested scientifically,” Talcott said. “We are just beginning to understand the complexity of the acai berry and its health-promoting effects.”



If you would like to try acai berry I would recommend
LifeTime Acai Juice, it has been getting good reviews.

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Part 3: The Sugar Busters Diet

The Sugar Busters Diet book was written by three medical doctors and went on to sell over 100,000 copies by word of mouth alone. The diet essentially is a take off of several other low carb diets that came before it. The idea is to eliminate sources of high glycemic index carbohydrates in order to lower insulin in the blood. For more information about the effects of insulin as it relates to fat storage, read my article Insulin: The Fat Hormone to understand how insulin affects fat storage.

The one good thing about the Sugar Busters Diet is that unlike other low carb diets there are less restrictions. You are not required to completely restrict carbs like the atkins diet and the diet can be fairly high in carbohydrates, depending on which foods you choose. According to the authors the diet consists of about 40% carbohydrates but you are not restricted to eating that amount.

The diet does not follow a detailed structure of how to eat but instead offers guidelines for meals in regards to portion size, food composition, and times you should eat. The downside is that there is very little information on how to tailor the diet to your own needs.

Is the Sugar Busters Diet legitimate?

Short answer: Yes

What I like most about this book is it is a good primer to understanding which foods you should and should not eat. If you are thinking about learning how to eat healthier carbs and want some basic information then the Sugar Busters Diet is a decent place to start.

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Part 2: The South Beach Diet


The South Beach Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, director of the Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla. Unless you have been living on a deserted island most of you are familiar with this best selling book. At first glance there are a lot of similarities between the Atkins diet and the South Beach Diet.

There are two major differences between the Atkins diet and The South Beach Diet. The Atkins diet tends not to distinguish as much between the good and bad fats, whereas The South Beach Diet encourages you to only eat healthy fats. The other major difference is with carbohydrates. The South Beach Diet focuses more on low glycemic carbs instead of an extreme restriction of carbs like the Atkins diet.


Is The South Beach Diet legitimate?


Short answer: Absolutely.

This is one of the better dieting methods out there. Not because it was designed by an MD or that it will make you drop 10 lbs in one day (it doesn’t). The great thing about this diet is that it teaches you how to eat right.

Bottom line:

If you are willing to put in the effort to make significant long term changes this is probably one of the best diets to get you started. You aren’t going to lose several pounds in a short period of time but then again you will be more likely to keep the weight off instead of having the yo-yo effect which is all to common with most other diets.

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Part 1: The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet is based around the idea of low carbohydrate consumption with higher fat and protein consumption. The theory behind it is that with a lack of carbohydrates for fuel the body will be forced to break down fats in the body as a source of fuel.

Is the Atkins diet legitimate?

Simple answer is yes it does help you to lose weight and burn fat.

The problem lies in the long term use of this diet. The body was not designed to starve itself of carbohydrates for long periods. Fighting the bodies need for carbohydrates will ultimately lead to other health issues. The positive side about this diet is that it helps people to understand the profound effect that refined sugars have on the body. People often times don’t realize that sugar is the major culprit when it comes to being fat.

Bottom line:

If you want to drop some weight fairly quickly this is one of the better ways you can do it. With that said I would not recommend this diet for the long term but if you want a short term solution then this diet will help you drop those unwanted pounds.

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