Acai, if you haven’t heard, is another one of those trendy, exotic “super fruits” that are all the rage these days. And while acai is a great source of anthocyanins (antioxidants) and does have a high ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) “score”— it’s being marketed by some unscrupulous folks as being a cure all for just about everything.

The greatest offenders are on the Internet, who hawk acai as THE solution for weight loss, detoxing and colon cleansing (there is, of course, no evidence it helps with weight loss, and “detoxing” is a meaningless marketing term that has already been thoroughly discredited by scientists – see here and here).

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From the BBC…

There is no evidence that products widely promoted to help the body “detox” work, scientists warn.

The charitable trust Sense About Science reviewed 15 products, from bottled water to face scrub, and found many detox claims were “meaningless”.

Anyone worried about the after-effects of Christmas overindulgence would get the same benefits from eating healthily and getting plenty of sleep, they said.

Advertising regulators said they looked at such issues on a case-by-case basis.

The investigation, done by research members of the Voice of Young Science network, was kicked off by a campaign to unpick “dodgy” science claims – where companies use phrases that sound scientific but do not actually mean anything.

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When we last heard from “Dr. Suzanne” Gudakunst, she was offering to be our very bestest friend and promising to protect us from the perils of thunder thighs, icky parasites and medical/food industry/government conspiracies…all for the low, low price of $37. As I recently discovered (h/t to Paul and commenter “Fee“) she’s hawking her own supplement products too! Her line, “Lotus Purity” is billed as “The Most Effective Colon and Parasite Cleansing Program on the Internet!”

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If there’s something that keeps coming up over and over again in the daily feedback I receive from visitors, it’s this whole “detox” thing. And it’s not surprising really, since detox diets and detoxing are a pretty popular fad. You can find detox diet books on Amazon, and pills on the Internet and in your local health food store. Everywhere you look, everyone — including several high profile Hollywood celebrities — is “detoxing” or doing a “cleanse” or some such thing to “rid their body of toxins.”

But is there really anything to this whole fad?

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