The Acai berry is an amazing fruit and has great nutritional value. The desire to lose excess weight and be healthy is universal amongst men and women. Who does not wish to look good and be fighting fit? The desire is as natural as evolution which assure the advancement of the fittest species.

Another desire is greed and the desire to get rich quick by making money through scams. That’s why one desire tends to prey on the other and many acai scams are born. Here’s what you should know to avoid getting scammed by con artists.

Tip No 1

Check the ingredients in the health supplement.

Many pills mention that they have Acai Berry extract  in them, but this is usually a very small quantity. In fact some of them have such little Acai powder in them that they don’t have any positive effect on the human body.

Tip No 2

FDA Approval.

I’m sure you don’t buy any drugs which do not have the FDA approval, so why should your acai berry pills be any different? Make sure that the company you are buying from is approved by the FDA for the specific acai berry product that you intent to use.

Tip No 3

Research before you buy anything.

Before you buy anything make sure that you do your homework. Check for positive reviews from actual users. Don’t believe every testimonial on the website that is selling the product.

Tip No 4

Shipping is extra.

A fact that many sites don’t bother mentioning when quoting low rates for their Acai berry products is that the shipping is going to cost you extra. So make sure you know just how much the exact shipping costs are before you hand over your credit card details.

Tip No 5

Know the benefits.

Don’t expect a wonder cure for diabetes or expect to drop the excess pounds in a week. The Acai Berry is a super fruit, but not a miracle worker. To loose weight you will have to work harder than merely pop a pill.

Tip No 6

Pills, Powder, Juice or Pulp?

If you are looking to get the maximum benefits out of the Acai berry extract you need to consider the nutritional value of the products available in the market. The choice is difficult and probably needs professional inputs from your nutritionist to see which is best for you.

Tip No 7

Don’t trust anyones opinion.

Each person is built differently. The way your body reacts to exercise is not the way your neighbor’s will react. Same with food and health supplements. What suits you may not suit your best friend. So don’t go on hearsay try it out for yourself before you make up your mind.

The Acai Berry has many fans and perhaps its most famous one is Angelina Jolie. There is no denying the popularity of the Actress Mom who has come back into shape after each of her deliveries. So its natural for other moms who are dying to lose that extra weight, to wonder just what is her secret?

Well, it is believed that Angelina Jolie has a lot to thank a small purple colored fruit that we know as the Acai Berry. This import from the Amazon rain forests is supposed to have helped her dump her excess post baby delivery fat in record time. So if the Acai Berry pulp is so potent would it not help others as well?

Angelina’s Acai Berry Choice

A whole lot of advertisers have been claiming that she uses Acai Berry pills or juices or whatever, however officially she does not endorse any Acai Berry product. So what is the acai berry based product that Angelina Jolie uses? Only those really close to her will know. However is it true that she does think that the Acai Berry health products have helped her lose weight.

From her responses to questions in interviews one would assume so. It is also believed that she used the Acai berry diet to loose weight after her twins were born. A fact that many Acai berry related health product advertisers are harping on to draw in more sales. Given that Angelina Jolie is an actress who would need to get back into shape instantly after child birth, it would be more than a single measure that she would take to lose weight.

It is hardly likely that all she did was eat an Acai berry pill and drink a few glasses of Acai Pulp juice to lose weight. She would have had a structured exercise cum diet routine drawn up by a professional. A personal trainer must have helped set her pace during exercise routines and the whole schedule must have been very strict. That is the only way that she could have got back in shape so soon after delivering twins.

At the same time there is no denying that a special diet must have also been formulated to aid the metabolism and calorie burning. So it is quite possible that she may have added extract of the Acai berry to her dietary intake as well. Just how much and exactly what Angelina Jolie used of the Acai Berry is best known to her and her dietitians.

The MonaVie Company was founded by Dallin A Larsen in January 2005. Dallin Larsen had worked in direct sales for 17 years dealing with various health and nutrition related products. All that experience and valuable knowledge came in very handy when he founded Mona Vie. Being an entrepreneur was nothing new to Larsen.

He put himself through Brigham Young University by selling shaved ice through twenty shacks in Utah. So when he was chosen for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2009 Award Recipient in the Utah Region no one was surprised. After all Monavie is almost synonymous with Acai Berry Juices and its success is well known.

Dallin Larsen and Acai Juices

Dallin A Larsen has brought the goodness of the Brazilian Acai Berry within reach of thousands of people all over the world. In the process he has also built a billion dollar company with the help of network marketing. While not every review of Multi Level Marketing is favorable, Mona Vie is a company that has been a success story through and through. It was not always the case and at one stage Dallin Larsen was considering taking a second mortgage on his company Monarch Health Sciences.

It was this company that he found in 2003 along with his brother Randy Larsen and friend Henry Marsh. The company was in trouble and that’s when the Acai berry came to its rescue. When Larsen heard about the Acai Berry from a friend he asked his scientists to do some research on it. To cut a long story short, they blended the acai with juices from 19 other fruits and came up with what is now known as the Mona Vie Original acai juice. The other products were spin offs of the original product.

The success of the original juice has be replicated in all subsequent variations. Larsen has even served on the Board of Directors for the Direct Selling Association in Washington D.C. This is the governing board for the Direct Sales Industry and as Mona Vie is essentially based on this business model he was ideal for the position. He is seen as being sympathetic to Distributors and a caring person. In June 2009 Dallin Larsen announced that the new President of Mona Vie company would be Dell Brown.

The Mangosteen fruit (Shown in picture on the right) has nothing what so ever to do with the regular mango that we all know and love. It is grown on a tropical evergreen tree and was listed in the “Species Plantarum” by Linnaeus in 1753.

So even thought it is being touted as a super fruit today, it has been in existence for a fair bit of time.  The fruit starts out life with light green pigmentation which in its natural habitat of covered canopy may even appear white.  As it begins to ripen the green darkens and the final stage sees it become almost purple.

The Mangosteen has a thick purple cover when ripe. It is topped with a thick green capsicum like cover called the pericarp, and the insides are white or cream in color. The pericarp is just as rich in nutrients as the inner soft portion of the fruit.So unlike the skin of other fruits that you peel and discard, the pericarp of the Mangosteen is actually used along with the rest of the fruit.  In fact it is included in the juices made out of the Mangosteen fruit as well.

The Mangosteen Fruit Vs The Acai Berry

There are bound to be comparisons when two fruits are both found to be so nutritious and healthy. There are also some glaring differences between the two fruits. Here are a few similarities and differences between the two.  The two are very rich in antioxidants which make them an excellent defence against free radicals in the body. So they are both helpful in terms of slowing down aging of the cells of the body. The Mangosteen Fruit is primarily found in southeast Asia, while the Acai Palm is predominantly found in South America.

The Mangosteen Tree grows between 20 and 80 feet tall which would be between 7 to 25 meters. This is much shorter than the Acai Berry Palm which grows from 15-30 meters. In fact some of its long pointy leaves are as much as 3 meters in size. The quantity of fruit grown and harvested in a tree is also different. The average harvest from a Mangosteen tree is of about 500 fruit, however some high yielding ones may produce up to 5000 in a season. With the Acai Palm the fruit grows like dates in bunches of 500 to 700 fruits.

Nutritionally both are placed by food researchers in the Super Fruit category. However there have been 65 scientific papers written about the Mangosteen fruit as compared to only 9 written on the Acai berry. This does not mean that the Mangoteen fruit is more nutritious. They are both rich in antioxidants, but of different natures. However people suffering from Polycythemia Vera must avoid Mangosteen and those suffering from Cancer must avoid Acai Berry.

The little purple colored berries that come from the South American nation of Brazil have made quite a name for themselves. This import from the Amazon rain forest is the key ingredient in the Life Dynamics Acai berry extract. The company named Life Dynamics has been using the Acai berry in its food supplements for the last two years.

The scientific name of the Acai Berry is ” Euterpe Oleracea.” The Acai berry is said to have six times the antioxidants found in the Mangosteen fruit. The Mangosteen is yet another discovery of the food researchers, who have found it to be quite a nutritious and healthy fruit.

What does Life Dynamics Acai Supplement offer you?

As with any fruit and most berries, the acai berry too has a very short life after it is plucked from the Acai Palm. The fruit will spoil within 48 hours of being harvested. This is the main reason why fresh Acai is not being exported from Brazil and other South American nations. The goodness of Acai is packed by the Life Dynamics Acai Supplements within 24 hours of being harvested. This means that all the nutrients in the fresh berry get preserved as best as possible in these health supplements.

What is the Acai Berry Advantage?

The Acai berry is rich in Vitamins such as  B1, B2, B3, Vitamin E, and Vitamin C. It is also rich in minerals such as  Phosphorus, Calcium, and Potassium. The Acai berry also has good fatty acids such as Omega 6 and Omega 9which help in your fight against cholesterol. Studies have proved that the Acai berry is up to 33 times richer in anti oxidants than the regular red wine grape. So if you have been drinking red wine to get its nutritional benefits you will find all that and more in the Life Dynamics Acai health supplements.

What is the Impact of Life Dynamics Acai on your health?

As per reports from the users of the Life Dynamics Acai Supplements there is an increase in energy levels. The consumers also felt that their stamina and activity levels had gone up. There were also reports of improved digestion and better metabolism. The concentrated dose of antioxidants also improves the cardio vascular system as it brings better blood circulation. There are also unconfirmed reports of better sexual functioning, which may or may not be attributed to the Life Dynamics Acai pills.

The Acai Berry is not the only super food that came out of South America, although it was the biggest star. There are other beneficial plant extracts that the Amazon Rain forests have to offer as well.

This is where Fruta Vida steals a march over other Acai Berry health products. The ingredients include more than just the Acai berry.

What is Fruta Vida?

Essentially Fruta Vida products are health supplements which include the extracts of Acai Berry, Cupuacu, and Yerba Mate. While the Acai Berry is touted as the “Wine of the Amazon”, the Cupuacu is dubbed the “Taste of the Amazon” and Yerba Mate is supposed to be the “Beverage of the Gods.” The Acai Berry is amongst the best sources of antioxidants in the world. The huge difference in energy levels and the metabolic rate of any one who has been eating the Acai on a regular basis gives ample proof of its effectiveness.

Cupuacu

The products of Fruta Vida have included two additional super foods in their ingredients. Since we are now all well aware of the properties of the Acai Berry, let us take a look at what Cupuacu and Yerba Mate have to offer.  According to the Fruta Vida site “Cupuaçu contains unique antioxidant phytonutrients called polyphenols. You may be familiar with polyphenols from other common plants like green tea and grape seeds.”

Yerba Mate

For Yerba Mate the website also says that “It is widely held that this tea contains mateine, a chemical cousin of caffeine that has subtly different properties. Mateine is reported to have a milder delivery to the body.” With each of these three super foods being included in the Fruta Vida products the nutritive value is bound to be high. So the collective goodness of the Acai Berry, Cupuacu and Yerba Mate make the products stand apart from others in the market.

What difference can you expect?

No matter how great a health supplement may sound on paper, it is the actual physical benefits that make the difference to you. The users of Fruta Vida products have all mentioned an increase in stamina and energy levels after regular intake. The products can be thought of as antioxidants in an easy to use packaging which help boost the immune system. These juices are not the greatest tasting, but it is difficult to put so much nutrition into a drink and keep it tasting yummy as well.

Most internet marketeers selling Acai Berry health products claim that the Acai is a superb source of a number of vitamins and minerals which makes their products really great.  They make the berry seem magical and their product a must have! Are they just claiming so with no real proof to back up their statements?

No, not really, as the Acai Berry has been subject to considerable research in the last decade or so since its beneficial attributes caught the public imagination. The trouble is that they do not stick to the actual findings of the acai research studies. They tend to play around with the benefits as it suits their purpose.

What are the primary finding of research on the Acai Berry?

The Texas AgriLife Research scientists, whose latest findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have found that Acai consumed as pulp or as juice can be digested by the body with ease. They had earlier established the nutritional value and high level of antioxidants present in the Acai Berry. The form in which you consume it does not affect the level of antioxidants you consume was determined by this latest study.

Which form of the Acai Berry is most beneficial?

Previous studies had established that the Acai Berry is rich in antioxidants. This research study on Acai proved that the antioxidants in the Acai are absorbed by the human body. Thus consuming the extracts of the Acai Berry in pulp or juice form is beneficial to us. Although they have as yet not researched how useful the dried powder extract is to the human body. This is the form that is used in pills. Naturally the fresh pulp extract of the Acai Berry is going to be higher in nutritional and antioxidant values than the juice or powder. However the

How does the Acai Berry health supplement help you?

In an ideal world you will eat fresh fruits and healthy vegetables at each meal. This would ensure that you had provided your body with all the nutrients that you wish to. The body would stay healthy and fit. Unfortunately it is not an ideal world. We rarely, if at all eat fresh fruits and vegetables three to five times a day. The daily recommended servings are placed at two fruits and three vegetable servings.

Yet how many of us ever manage to consume that much in a day? So it makes sense to add a bit of nutritive value to the junk food that we are eating each day. This is easiest done by using health supplements. Acai Berry extract based health supplements tend to have high antioxidant and nutritional values. Just make sure that you choose the best Acai supplement based on research and not advertising.

These seemingly dry and lifeless acai fruit lying in the baskets after harvest are really good for you. Don’t believe me?  I didn’t too, till I heard about the antioxidants in acai berries.  Antioxidants are, as you know, nutrients in your food which prevent or at least slow down the oxidization process in your body.

How does this happen? Our body cells  use oxygen and release a by product which is called a free radical. This is supposed to harm the body by speeding up the aging process of organs. What antioxidants are good at is to neutralize these free radicals.  So the intake of foods which provide your body with natural antioxidants is a highly desired fact.

What are the antioxidants in the Acai Berry?

The antioxidants level in Acai is supposed to be really high. The various nutrients which act as antioxidants in the human body include amongst others Vitamin C. The acai berry is very rich in this nutrient. The acai is also rich in phytochemicals which also perform as great antioxidants. The anthocyanins and flavonoid like compunds in the raw acai berry also work well against the natural oxidization processes in the body.

This is why it is best to consume the fresh acai pulp or unfiltered acai juice. Drinking which makes it easier for the body to get the maximum benefit out of the antioxidants in acai berry.In fact even the acai seed extracts are supposed to fight peroxyl radicals well just like the acai pulp. They have an even higher antioxidant capacity to combat against peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals present in the body.

How do these antioxidants in Acai Berry affect the body?

The body also manufactures its own antioxidants. These are superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase. However oxidation processes in the body speed up if you get sun burns or smoke a lot. (Another reason to kick the butt.) This means that you need to ensure the intake of more antioxidant rich nutrients in your diet.

Getting fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants is a great way to do so. Unfortunately the opportunity to eat freshly cooked meals with fresh vegetables and fruits included is rare on a regular work day for most of us. So it makes sense to provide the body with antioxidants in the form of supplements. This way you can at least gain some of the many benefits associated with the antioxidants in acai berry easily.

MonaVie was founded in 2005 and is a private limited company located in Salt Lake City Utah. It follows the multi level marketing system of network selling. It is primarily in to the nutrition industry and its main product is the Acai berry juice.  Here we will review the exact ingredients that the MonaVie juice includes. The different products from the company have unique blends and the MonaVie ingredients also differ. Let’s take a look at them.

The main stay of their product range is the MonaVie Original Blend. The key unique selling point for the blend is supposed to be the fact that the MonaVie ingredients include the extracts and juices of 18 fruits besides that of the Acai Berry.

The same set of ingredients is also found in another MonaVie product known as the MonaVie Active juice. What are these fruits? Here’s a list of most of them – white grape, apple, acerola, aronia, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, apricot, prune, kiwifruit, blueberry, wolfberry (goji), pomegranate, lychee, camu camu, pear, banana, bilberry. Naturally there is in addition to all these the extract of the Acai Berry as well.

While some of the fruit is used in extract form, the others are used as fruit purees and juices. The Acai Berry extract is said to be added in two forms. That of freeze dried powder, which is said to allow it to retain all its nutritional elements and also the deep purple acai jucie. The MonaVie Ingredients of the Original blend and Active also differ with the Active Juice having the additional ingredients of d-glucosamine hydrochloride and esterified fatty acids.

The third and latest MonaVie product to be launched in September 2008 was the MonaVie Pulse Juice. It is also a blend of all the above fruits along with Acai berry juice. Gel pack versions of all three juices are also available products of the company. There is in addition to these three juice blends an energy drink called MonaVie E^MV also available. The ingredients of this energy drink are also similar to that of the other three juices from MonaVie.

The recommended intake of the juices is about 2 to 4 ounces per day. However as with all nutritional juices, the Monavie too has its critics who claim that the product is not as effective as it is made out to be. The nutrition level is not as high as it is shown to be and that the juices are marketed at an over priced rate. The MonaVie claims to have the best quality ingredients which adds up to the some what exorbitant prices. The truth as they say is subject to many angles. What matters is if it works for you.

The Acai Berry may be an innocent fruit growing on a palm tree some where in Brazil, but the Amazon Rain forest import is sure getting a lot of media coverage. This time it is not because some people consider it to be a super food which is highly nutritious. This time it is because Oprah is mad at the Acai berry product sellers who are brandying her name in their advertisements to increase their sales.

Here’s what her website has to say :

“On August 19, 2009, Harpo, Inc., producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr.Oz Show, along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, filed a trademark infringement complaint against 40 Internet marketers of dietary supplements, including acai berry products among others. Neither Ms. Winfrey nor Dr. Oz has ever sponsored or endorsed any acai berry, resveratrol, colon cleanse or dietary supplement product.”

The court case is to draw attention to these false claims of Acai Product Advertisers that Oprah sponsors or endorses their products in particular. After all the only thing Oprah endorsed was the real Acai Berry, which is really a super food in all respects. That does not mean that Oprah would naturally endorse any odd product which claims to have acai extract in its ingredients.  And its not just Oprah who is upset.

Here’s what Dr. Oz has to say :

“The companies that are using my name to hawk these products are duping the public. I do not endorse any of these products. By falsely presenting products as ‘scientifically proven’ and endorsed by well-known figures, these companies do a gross disservice to the public health and could even pose a danger to those who believe their false and unproven claims. I am taking this step in the interest of public safety. I feel compelled to stand up against these companies and their deceitful practices.”

There will always be some unscrupulous agents who would like to cash in on the current craze for Acai, or any other food fad that gains approval of celebrities. After all what better advertisement for your product than a celebrity user who swears by its benefits? So when you set out to buy the best Acai Berry health supplement, be it a juice, a pill or dried powder, make sure that it really does perform as its advertisers claim it does. And remember Oprah does not endorse any brand of acai berry products in particular.

So do your own research before you decide to buy anything related to the Acai Berry. Take a look at the list of ingredients and see what percentage of the product is really acai berry extract? Is it being used in powder or pulp form? What about the nutritional value of other ingredients in the product? The Acai Seed is also crushed and added to some products, and that does not necessarily improve its nutritive value. After all the real goodness of the berry is in the pulp and the skin, which makes up just about ten percent of the whole Acai Berry Fruit.