Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

MichaelMonahan — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:35:29 GMT

I use monavie now for about a year. Only 2 days of sick like conditions while our school staff went through several week long bouts of colds/ flu/etc. I have played more golf with less pain, more energy, more focus, better attitude. I still eat other fruits and veggies and am leaning towards a leaner more fruit/veggie/water diet. I believe people see my skin and say it looks fresh and supple. I get my MonaVie at $20 - 30.00 per bottle and now there is a healthy energy drink with all natural ingredients - even a race car driver loves it. There are a lot of skeptics here there and everywhere. I am going to continue to enjoy all the benefits the scientists and doctors report about acai. I will stay out and away from the hospitals and I will enjoy sleep, golf, work and time with positive friends who think I look young for my age. Cheers to MonaVie!!

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

DanielPike — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:46:00 GMT

Here is the bottom line, when it comes to Superfoods vs. normal foods:

> Some people say that superfoods, such as the Acai or Goji berries, are the best sources of antioxidants and natural nutrients.

While the nutrient values in "superfoods" may be extremely high, it is almost impossible to find them in their natural whole, raw forms. Most come in powdered, concentrated, dried, and pureed forms. Moreover, it is rare to find 100% Goji or Acai anything, because so many sweeteners and additives are blended with the, already processed, superfood.

> Others say that superfoods are overrated, overpriced, and normal fruits and veggies are the best way to go.

While organic, raw fruits and vegetables are reliable sources of nutrition, they are becoming more and more scarce. What I mean by this, is nearly everything on the agricultural market has been genetically modified, sprayed with chemicals, and even injected with toxic substances. Even the mass market food, labeled "organic," has most likely been, at some point, genetically modified , grown in soil that has toxic chemicals in it, or given "organic baths" in FDA approved substances that are still toxic, regardless the label. Even in the most organic, natural foods, the truth is that the amount of nutrients in today's produce has decreased by 40-60% over the last century!

So what is the bottom line?

Superfoods have their place, and so do the veggies. Find a superfood that is a God-grown, non-GMO, pesticide-free, RAW, WHOLE food. It would be a fantastic food that would have many, visible health benefits. I myself, consume a little-known superfood that fits all those criteria. Alternately, stock up on loads of just the right variety of local, all-natural, RAW, WHOLE foods. The key here: "Raw Whole Foods." If raw, whole foods compose the majority of your diet, you WILL benefit, regardless of the hypes, prices, claims, and tricky advertising.

God knew how to make food - He did it right the first time!

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Emmaluna — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:35:06 GMT

I would just like to add to this ongoing debate. I found Acai myself whilst vsiiting Rio De Janeiro where it is a traditional breakfast, eaten as a frozen fruit with Guarana syrup and Granola and its consisitancy is with little added to it as it sits as a sorbet in a bowl. After acquiring a taste for this 'manna from heaven' , I realised that my whole body began to function better [ not needing to go into detail at this point but Dr. Gillian McKeith style] and I became instantly less bloated and throughly more lively and with a sense of ease with my digestion. Since I have been back in back in England , the ONLY place to get this amazing food in its original form , frozen at source is through SUBLIME FOODS and I notice that SUBLIME have made their own contributions to this ongoing debate. I am not worried whether people understand the wondrous qualities of this fruit of the forest and I wouldnt wish there to be any more intrusion for the indians of the Amazon, hence why I source my Acai with care and respect.

That is all.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Sublime — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:37:24 GMT

Acai pulp is the best way to get acai. This is acai as a whole food as close to nature as you can get. It has simply been pulped and frozen. Some manufacturers will pasteurise it.

Someone made the point that it is expensive... It isn't very expensive considering that it has been hand picked from wild grown plants and come all the way from the Amazon jungle... I have seen cherries on sale at my local supermarke for more. There are places online and in the high street in the UK that sell for as little as £1 per 100g portion. This equates to £10 per Kg, so is not as expensive as it may seem.

Acai is great as a food.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

rfontanes — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:30:12 GMT

I must say from an antiflamitory and as a detox Xango (Mangosteen) helped me a lot. Was it expensive? Yes. Am I with the comany anymore? No. What did it do for me? My elbow pains are gone. Did it have sideaffects? Yes, I happend to be very toxic and I feel that dirnking this product without enough water will lead to toxins leaving your body through your skin, in the form of a boil. 50% of the people I sold the product to had the same problem. I had 7 and my wife had about 4. Some had 10 at ones. Slept better, used it to manage pain effectivly, ironicaly on a boil, more energy and a general good feeling.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Chris Yorke — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:42:16 GMT

I agree with the point that acai is an expensive way to get nutrition. Moreover, if we are not able to eat the whole fruit, we are placing a lot of trust in the processors.

I considered Monavie , and - at first - thought it might be worthwhile, with all its alleged nutritional benefits. But Monavie's elixir (at US$30/bottle in quantity) also contains other fruits, such as camu-camu, blueberry and wolfberry. Preserving acai is problematic, so they have to add some preservatives to let the fruit juice be exported. One variety of the juice (even pricier) contains glucosamine additive.I listened to some testimonials from users who like to extol the virtues of glucosamine for joints, but I cannot tell whether the MLM members are promoting a commercial interest and exaggerating benefits.

MLM products are always expensive, because the organisations have to include several middle profit margins. The pluggers of MLM-sold products actually try to make this drawback a virtue, by rewarding consumers for signing others up for regular shipments.

Buying this sort of product requires trusting propaganda from people making a lot of money from the promotion of what is only another fruit.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Sublime — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:56:04 GMT

Thank you again Dr Mercola. You have (yet again) hit the nail squarely on the head.

I have been watching the growth in these companies wanting to make a quick buck from exploiting this amazing fruit. I have been frustrated by people trying to claim that acai is a magical superfood, that it can cure cancer and the latest; that it can help you loose weight. Where is the evidence for the weight loss?

Interestingly as Mercola points out, these people are trying to sell a pill containing dried acai!

I have been eating acai ever since I visited Brazil in 2003. I liked it so much that I started importing it to the UK. I have dedicated myself to bringing what I consider to be a true gift from nature to the world. Mercola is completely correct in saying that the majority of juices containing acai are not quite the "real thing".

My advice (exactly as Mercola has pointed out) is eat whole frozen acai pulp. It is my opinion that the freeze dried is not so bad, but if you can get it, get the frozen pulp everytime.

Acai is amazing. That is acai fruit is amazing. These potions, juices and pills are not amazing. The only way to eat it is as a food. In all of Brazil (with the exception of the amazon basin), they eat (or drink) acai which has been pulped and flash frozen. For those who commented on whole fruit - acai has a large, inedible seed. The edible part of acai is the thin layer of pulp and the skin. This is crushed and mashed to make the pulp.

There are several companies selling whole acai fruit pulp in the US. There are to my knowledge 4 in the UK. Here's a tip: Acai is graded according to the quantity of actual fruit in the pulp. By Brazilian law they must state the grade. The top grade of acai is known as Especial. The next is Medio and the least concentrated is Popular.

I have found that people get upset if I say I am selling this gift. I have for that reason not tried to sell anyting using this post. If someone wants to know more, I will share what I know

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

ACN1998 — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:41:23 GMT

Another factor you have to watch for with Acai berries and Mangosteen is blood sugar. These are concentrated fruits, like any other fruit if eaten in excess can disrupt the blood sugar control mechanism, and because they are concentrated, this can lead to headaches, which I experienced. The hype around these new products must be examined closely.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

KrisT — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:45:19 GMT

Molehill

Thank you, I almost fell for that same misleading ad. The cute, totally sweet innocent

looking and newly thin young women that sounded so sincere. I was just about to order

when I did alittle back ground check. How many times have I been sucked into something

like that. Anyway you verified what I was sure I had discovered

Sorry, as that same thing happened to me about a year ago on another product. Thank goodness

there are still banks that will work to turn things around but I fear that might not last forever and

we will just have to be more vigulant!

As for Xango and the rest I spent a lot of money buying it to try to help my friend who has MS.

Nothing! Also, we know a very famous man who lives near us who had the money to burn, but he

is off on another multi level now and no better for the very expensive juice and in fact he has really

gone down hill.

I keep wishing there were a magic formula but we have to do the best we can. My motto is things

are best for the way the Lord created them.

Best to you all!

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

molehill — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:16:41 GMT

BUYERS BEWARE! I sent for a sample of the AcaBerry for $3.95, said to myself what could I lose. Well this Shyster Company sent the sample 30 days later and inside the package was a printed paper the size of a match

cover with print that you had to have a magnifying glass to read. It said that the company would start sending a

monthly supply of the berries every month starting 15 days after receiving the initial order and it would be charged

to my credit card. I checked my statement on the computer and sure enough there was a charge for $89.95 . I

tried calling the company(Extreme Acai Berry) with the number on the bottle, it was a none working number,

found another number on the WEB and talked to someone and told them the story and they said they would take

the charge off. I thought the matter was taken care of and a month later there was a 89.95 charge plus a 29.95

with a completely different name, but it turns out it is the same outfit. Contacting my Credit Card Co. they said they

were well aware of the company and the women said they had a lot of complaints. I am still trying to straighten

the whole mess out.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

meowy — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:40:38 GMT

I think any improvement to someone's diet is probably a good thing but agree that one so called super food will not singularly turn anyone's health. Also, consider the oldest living woman ever who lived to be 122 and smoked to I beleive age 100, drank wine every day and ate pounds of chocolate a week. I think a lot of it is in our genes or maybe there's something to be said for the antioxidents in the wine and chocolate?? Who knows??

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Carol M — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:27:02 GMT

One problem with all these over-priced fruit juice drinks is that most of them have added preservatives - sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate. Benzoates have been shown to contribute to ADHD, so for sure never ever give these drinks to kids. And I would suggest adults not drink them either. Why put preservatives in your body when you don't have to? There's enough toxins around that we are already getting, in the air and water, no sense adding to it. (Although my 94 year old father says "I want all the preservatives I can get!" hahaha

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Doug Z — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:35:25 GMT

Consider that the only way these "Super berries" are made initially available is through network marketing companies. Zango,Noni, Mona Vie, they all follow the same formula - Dangle riches in front of partially educated, semi-desperate people who will pimp your mysterious product to all their friends and family. Then when reality sets in and sales flat line, Unload the unsold cases to the local discount warehouse.

God Bless America!!

As if one bottle of ridiculously overpriced juice is going to take the place of a sensible whole foods diet, intelligent supplementation, reasonable exercise.

Caveat Emptor!!!!!!!!!!!

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

Joyful singer — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:16:51 GMT

Russ G and Pikskittles are not informed about Mangosteen. Russ G, the company is spelled "Xango" and what you are saying is totally false. Xango has passed close scrutiny. The juice is made from the complete fruit, rind, seeds and all and has no fructose, MSG, or added "C" or any other vitamins, etc in it. It is just the puree of the whole fruit and has xanthones that are not found in other foods. Check out www.pubmed.gov for research on how powerful Mangosteen and Xanthones are. Acai berries have about 11 studies, Mangosteen and/or xanthones have over 1000. Xango is the only company that uses the entire fruit and would not have been the huge success over the past 6 years if thousands of people were not getting results.

re: Is the 'Superfood' Acai Worth the Price?

TWS500 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:09:09 GMT

True...the world does need more people that we can trust... As for Oprah.....she can't even trust herself around the refrigerator.....why should I trust her...?!