Saturday, January 9, 2010
Acai Berry Claim
Alright everyone has heard of the super fruit Acai berry. When I first saw an add for it I thought, "It is just a fruit. It isn't going to help you drop weight or miraculously cure cancer or anything like the adds said it would". The claim seemed unacceptable. I really couldn't see the benefits, but as I continued to see adds and webpages dedicated to this seemingly innocuous fruit I realized there was something that was getting everyone hooked. First the testimonials on the fruit were incredible. Oprah and every televised doctor seemed to uphold it. Next the actual nutrients attributed to the fruit, that scientists endorsed, were enough to make me even more curious. It is rich with antioxidants. Antioxidants are very good for you, so it is possible that the Acai berry could have much more going for it too. Then the fact that it is completely organic. There are no pesticides to harm the body. What could be better. Oh and don't let me forget that it will completely wash all toxins out of the body, as one of it's other claims to fame. This website I found shows what the benefits are as well as gives incredibly heartwarming testimonials http://www.amazonthunder.com/ . This claim is exactly what a good argument entails. At first the claim seems unrealistic, but when you dig deeper you come to realize that it has so much logical proof coming from all sorts of sources. It could be entirely possible that it is the superfruit it is said to be.
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I have to admit that when I first saw your title, my reaction was similar to yours. I knew a missionary who swore up and down that Noni Juice would cure anything, even cancer. Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical.
ReplyDeleteThe acai berry does appear to be a beneficial fruit but I'm not convinced it is the wonder drug that many claim it to be. There is a lot of controversy surrounding it (false celebrity endorsements such as Oprah or Rachel Ray) that clouds the claims made by some companies.
Here is another interesting article about it: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/23/acai.berries.scam/index.html. Good post though; I enjoyed reading it.
To me this sounds just like another fad. It will do its time and then fade into nothingness.
ReplyDeleteI understand the this fruit becuase of its many antixodants is very benefical to human health. However, my major is dietics or food science, meaning I study food and what it doesn in the body. With my limited knowledge that I have now, that one fruit most likely cannot cure cancer. A well balanced and healthy diet can help prevent and even diminish some types of cancer. My guess is that this fruit is not actually the cause of people being cured from cancer as they claim. There are many factors invloved and it could very well be something else that is curing their cancer and not just this fruit. Also there is the placebo effect, just believing that something will help you will make it actually help you. A big factor in survivoral rates with cancer is the mindset and the belief that you will beat the cancer. So the belief alone that this fruit works be a huge reason why it is "working mircales"
oh and a quick word about perservatives:
ReplyDeletePerservatives have to be approved by the FDA and proven that they do not cause harm to the human body or to anyother animal they are feeding the food to. A food being organic is no different in terms of health than that of a food grown with different methods. The only difference between organic and inorganic is that oragnic is more expensive and grown with poop (the fertalizer) and inorganic is less expensive and grown with fertalizer and perticides (which are NOT harmful to the body they have to be approved by the FDA).
Chelsea, I agree with you about the placebo effect. I had to laugh because it reminded me about an episode on M*A*S*H. It's amazing the power that the mind and thoughts can have on healing.
ReplyDeleteThe thoughts are a very powerful thing. The type of thoughts that a person has cand determine a lot about how they will succeed and where they will go in life. Many athletes have to practice "postive self talk" becuase a lot of the time when they perform poorly it is becuase of the "negative self talk." But this applies more than just to athletes.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this many times:
A person thinks very negatively and poorly about themselves and then become depressed and have a low self-esteem. Then in many ways their countance darkens. But as soon as they change their thought process and thinking more positively about themselves they suddenly have a bright and beautiful countance about them.
The power of the mind is astounishing
Well I have never heard of this berry but it is making a HUGE claim! But they are making assumptions that might not be true. They are assuming we trust the site and believe they are real people who have these great experiences with the product. Now, they could be real people but they could also not be. Then they are making an assumption that we will want to buy the product just because celebrities are buying it. Maybe its just me but I don't have that much "trust" in celebreties. I think Chelsea made a great point with the placebo effect. I know positive thinking can do wonders, I have seen in with my own life. But then I think that if by just drinking this drink it will help you think better which will lead to you doing better, then why not? It sounds like you can go wrong by just trying it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard similar claims about a berry that is called Goji. I never thought much of it until someone I knew used it in the place of prescription drug for Crohns disease. It seemed ridiculous but it had the same benefits without the side-effects. Maybe there is something to these wonder berries.
ReplyDeleteI am still skeptical.
ReplyDeleteYou have to think though. Look at all of those diet pills and diet food services that so many claim to work miracles and change their lives. To me this fruit thing is on the same level as diet pills.
Just be overall healthy and you dont need crazy miracle fruit.
Well, the acai berry doesn't cure cancer, but neither will positive thinking. Sorry to uh burst your bubbles...the only thing that will cure cancer is chuck norris's tears...too bad he never cries. Ok, just kidding. Positive thinking can only assuage the pain, or temporarily cause your antibodies to work in a frenzy and make you feel better. Thanks for all the comments guys!
ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting how all these miracle foods come through as a fad. It just seems funny to me that people are so surprised to learn that by eating different healthy foods can help you stay healthy. Maybe soon there will be a claim that talks about some other food that is even better than the acai berry.
ReplyDelete