Healthy Me

I've been hearing a lot about the Acai (ah-sigh-ee) berries from Brazil as being some superfood, increasing energy, and weight loss hype. If the hype is to be believed, it sounds like a perfect food. Is it?

I tried Mona Vie Acai juice a couple of weeks ago when somebody gave me a sample when I went to the meat market. The Rep. claimed all kinds of benefits from it. The taste was ok and the benefits I was told about seemed promising if they were true. I'd like to buy some of the Mona Vie to give it a try, more long-term, but at $40/bottle, I can't afford to spend money we don't have on what may just be hype. One claim was that a small cup a day of Mona Vie was three daily servings of fruit/veggies. It was also talked about on Rachael Ray. I did pick up a small bottle of Acai juice (different brand) mixed with Mangosteen from Wal-Mart for a couple bucks but I doubt it's the same quality as some of the others.

I am aware of people's seemingly unending quest to fraud people so I don't want to take one person's word for it. I found on Oprah's site statements that it is full of antioxidants, amino acids, and essential fatty acids. The problem with juice is the added sugars.

How do you know what is hype and what is documented truth? Is this worth the money or are you better off getting the needed nutrients from more readily available foods?