Acai no panacea in Brazil

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Acai berries (Photo: Kelley Weiss)

The Amazonian berry known as açaí is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. Proponents tout its unsubstantiated health benefits. But the berry has a very different reputation back in Brazil. Reporter Kelley Weiss reports. Download MP3

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LISA MULLINS: I’m Lisa Mullins and this is The World. Many Americans go crazy for acai. You’ve likely seen the ads for products made with the little Amazonian berry, spelled a-c-a-i, with a little tail underneath the c. Those ads tend to make a whole slew of unsubstantiated health claims about acai, but the berry has a different story in Brazil, as reporter Kelley Weiss found out on a recent trip.

KELLEY WEISS:  This small purple berry is sold in juice and pill form here in the US. And people have been making a lot of claims about it.

FEMALE SPEAKER:  People are crazy about the acai berry. It can even blast cancer cells.

MALE SPEAKER: If you’re looking for an easy way to lose weight in a free trial of acai…

WEISS: But in Brazil, where the berry grows, acai has a different reputation. At the Acai Naturale juice bar in Salvador, the staff makes frozen smoothies, served up in scoops.

BENEDITO ITAMAR GAMA DOS SANTOS: The most popular combination is acai, banana and granola.

WEISS: With cheeseburgers on the menu as well, there’s no indication that you’ll lose weight here. In fact the acai weight loss claims that many Americans cling to baffle Brazilians. Gabriela Santana is a lawyer in her late 20s. She says acai is so fattening she only eats it once a month.

SPEAKING PORTUGUESE

GABRIELA SANTANA: Acai to lose weight. No way. If you drink or eat acai every week you’ll end up gaining weight.

WEISS: After hitting the gym, 26-year-old Bruno Camozzato comes by for his regular acai energy fix. He’s in workout clothes that show off his muscles.

SPEAKING PORTUGUESE

BRUNO CAMOZZATO: Usually on the weekends I eat a lot of acai after lifting weights because it’s got a lot of calories and ‘cause I like the flavor.

WEISS: Acai took off in Brazil’s larger cities after athletes discovered it. But in the impoverished Amazon, people depend on acai as a staple of their diet and they have for a long time. Benedito Itamar Gama dos Santos sells acai pulp in Macapa. A large scar crosses his face, one eye is permanently shut and he has few teeth.

SPEAKING PORTUGUESE

DOS SANTOS: Acai is part of our meals, both at lunch and dinner. We mix it in with manioc flour and we eat it with either meat or fish.

WEISS: It’s easy to eat acai here because the berry grows wild along the Amazon River.

JEREMY BLACK: You can see the acai growing, the purple up there off the top. It almost looks like a date tree or something…

WEISS: Jeremy Black is co-founder of the American acai company Sambazon. He says he and his brother Ryan introduced acai to the US ten years ago. Ryan Black says since then a lot of people on the internet have been making distorted claims about the berry, just to make money.

RYAN BLACK:  It is from the Amazon and it’s exotic and it carries these really strong nutritional properties to it. Unfortunately that has been sort of hijacked. Acai has nothing to do with take a pill and you’re going to sit on the couch and lose weight. It’s a whole food found in nature.

WEISS: The Black brothers themselves describe acai as a super-fruit. But Dr. John Swartzberg, head of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, says the jury’s still out on acai.

JOHN SWARTZBERG: There’s not a lot of real hard science in terms of what the properties of this berry are.

WEISS: He says acai berries do have antioxidants and fiber, and they do have a lot of calories. So for those curious about acai, here’s Swartzberg’s advice.

SWARTZBERG: Ignore those ads and ignore any of the hype. Try acai and if you like it, fabulous. And that’s the criteria I’d use.

WEISS: Just keep in mind, he says, acai won’t cure cancer or help you lose 20 pounds. For the World, I’m Kelley Weiss.

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