Acai SuperFood BS

Why are we so willing to believe health claims about foods that are not supported by strong empirical evidence? Is our desire to be healthy without having to think too much about what is required to maintain good health so strong that our innate skepticism buckles whenever an earnest friend, slick salesman or too-eager-to-write-good-copy journalist blathers about some hitherto unknown or overlooked enzyme rich, chock-full-of-antioxidant plant or animal product?

I've been seeing products made from Acai berries for awhile now, and I treat them in the same wariness that I've always treated the foods and diets that flood into the marketplace tethered to promises of better health. Nothing promotes good health better than a varied diet and lots of rest and exercise.

But never mind. It's fun to watch the experts who push this stuff on the public squirm when the evidence turns against them. To wit: the words of a celebrity dermatologist who sells an acai supplement

“I certainly think açaí, the fruit, has great health benefits,” he said in an interview. “I would call it a superfood, but I’ve always spoken generically.” [Source: The New York Times]