People all over the world are trying out the acai berry diet and seeing if it is really right for them. This little berry from the Amazon first got a lot of attention on the Oprah show, and has since been skyrocketed into a household name. Companies are marketing acai as some sort of wonder food that can apparently do just about anything, from helping you lose weight to protecting you against cancer. The question is, how much about acai is myth, and how much if fact?

In order to understand the value of acai, it may help to learn more about the origins of this fruit. Acai berry only grows in the Amazon rainforest in a certain part of Brazil. That is probably why it hasn’t gotten any attention until a couple of years ago, despite being eaten by the natives there for a long time. With all the claims about acai, you’d think that the people who ate them regularly would be some kind of immortals, but that is clearly not the case.

Actually, the benefits of acai can be summed up in one simple phrase: “it’s a really healthy food.” It’s important not to be taken in by all the hype and excitement about the acai berry. At the end of the day, it is nothing more than really healthy food. It has been labeled by nutrition experts as the most nutrient dense food on the planet. This simply means that, pound for pound, acai has more healthy stuff in it than most other foods out there. By all means you should consume acai berries if you can, but it’s important to make sure that you’re getting the genuine article and that you’re not getting ripped off.

One of the problems is that acai quickly loses its nutritional value once it’s cut from the tree. It takes about 24 hours for the berry to die, at which point it has lost most of its value. It is possible to preserve the berry through freeze drying or other processes, but some of these processes still drain the berry of its health benefits. To put it simply; if you don’t get a product that is properly preserved, that you’re not really getting acai.

Another major issue with acai products is that many companies out there are simply unscrupulous. They use a lot of dirty tricks to try and sell products that are simply as not as good as they claim. Aside from using unverified claims about the benefits of acai, some companies combine small amount of acai with other fruits and market it as pure acai. Others include the acai seed in the product – and the acai seed is completely useless in terms of nutrition.