Acai Fruit Warnings

Native to the Amazon rainforests, the acai fruit is a small purple berry. It is touted by homeopaths as a nutritious supplement, bursting with antioxidants, Omega fatty acids and amino acids that will increase your energy and libido, make you feel younger, help you lose weight and even help prevent cancer and heart disease. However, you should be wary of low-quality products, possible side effects and allergic reactions and on-line free trial scams.

Low-Quality Products

• While the easiest way to reap the benefits of acai fruit is by eating it, fresh acai berries do not transport well, so this is not a viable option for consumers outside of Brazil, according to The Acai Fruit website. Beware of thin juices, as quality acai juices are thicker than apple or grape juice. Acai powders that are a bright pink in color have been spray dried and have little to no nutritional value left in them, according to The Acai Fruit website. Quality freeze dried powder is oily in texture and deep purple in color. Do not buy acai berry pills from providers that only sell or produce a variety of pills, which may be full of extras and low-quality acai powder. Try to buy acai supplements in pill form, only from vendors that also sell a high quality acai powder.

Online Scams

• ABC News and the Better Business Bureau report that many of the 14-day, free trial offers for acai supplements are a bad deal for buyers. While the Better Business Bureau has not adopted a public opinion on the health properties of the acai fruit, it has been reprimanding certain acai providers for hooking consumers through free trials, with misleading conditions in which the consumer inadvertently signs on for a regular shipment and charge for acai, which is nearly impossible to cancel. According to the Better Business Bureau, the consumers that have been scammed end up canceling credit cards or closing bank accounts to avoid being charged further for the product they no longer want.

Medical Risks

• According to WebMD, people with allergies and strong reactions to pollen or other berries may want to avoid acai fruit. Furthermore, acai fruit has been linked to cases of Chagas' disease, a tropical illness spread by insects throughout Central and South America. This disease can cause fever, malaise, abdominal pain, digestive problems and even heart arrhythmia. Because of acai fruit's antioxidant effects, it may interfere with some chemotherapy treatments.