Does the Acai Berry Diet Work?

There's a lot of hype surrounding the acai berry diet. Here are the facts about the acai berry that you need to know.

The acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berry is a fruit that grows on the acai palm tree in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. The acai berry is dark purple in color and about the size of a blueberry. About 90% of the acai berry is seed and about 10% is skin and pulp, and only the skin and pulp are edible.

The acai berry is very perishable and it spoils within about 24 hours of being picked from the acai palm tree. This means that you won't find fresh acai in your local supermarket. But freshly picked acai can be frozen and it will retain its full nutritional value. Frozen acai can also be freeze dried into a powder. Frozen acai and freeze dried acai powder are used to make a variety of acai products, such as supplements, juices and smoothies.

The acai berry has been a traditional food of the native people of the Amazon for hundreds of years, and it's one of Brazil's most popular foods today. In 2005, the acai berry was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and it has received quite a bit of media coverage since then. Along with all of the media coverage, various companies started touting the acai berry diet as the secret to weight loss. All sorts of websites and blogs have popped up that contain stories and before and after photos of people who supposedly lost weight using acai.

The reality is, there's no scientific evidence that the acai berry has any special weight loss properties. But what about all of those acai websites and blogs, many of which can be pretty convincing? Unfortunately, many of these websites and blogs contain made-up stories, doctored before and after photos, and fake celebrity endorsements.

Even more troubling, some of these websites and blogs are scamming people. They're offering supposed free trials of acai supplements, but when you provide your credit card details to cover shipping and handling for the "free trial," you find yourself enrolled in an "automatic shipment program" that sends you inferior, overpriced acai supplements and bills your credit card every month.

It's important to note that even though the acai berry has been overhyped when it comes to weight loss, the health benefits of acai are impressive. The acai berry has even been referred to as a "super fruit" by several health experts. Acai is loaded with antioxidants, contains essential amino acids, healthy unsaturated fat and beneficial plant sterols, is high in fiber, and is a good source of vitamins and minerals.

Because of these health benefits, many people take acai supplements for general health purposes. If you're considering doing the same, just make sure that you only purchase your acai supplements from a reputable company that sells high quality products, and avoid all "free trials" of acai supplements.

In conclusion, the acai berry diet is one of the latest in a long list of diets that have been touted as the secret to weight loss. The reality is, there is no secret to weight loss. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to combine fat burning nutrition with increased physical activity. This is the proven, effective and safe way to permanently lose weight.

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