Attorney General Terry Goddard announced on the 25th of June a record settlement of $1,375,000 with Acai seller Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc (“CCN”). CCN were allegedly using deceptive online advertising and sales practices, offering ‘free trials’ of health products that were difficult or impossible to cancel, and charging for products the customer had not requested.CCN were also accused of shipping to – and charging – the customer products that were explicitly deselected during the ordering process.

Typical “Free Trial” Business Model

Despite the continued warnings for people not to trust Acai Free Trial offers, people still fall for the scam: the ‘offer’ seems attractive and all details aboutre-billing and the associated ‘bonus products’ are hidden away in barely legible small print. CCN is alleged to have compounded the problem by never responding to emails and leaving customers who phoned in with complaints on hold for over an hour. Attorney General Terry Goddard’s office received 100s of complaints from disgruntled customers.

Free – or reduced price – trials for products and services which are later subject to large price increases have been around for a long time, and there is nothing wrong with this approach per se. The problems occur when, as in the CCN case, consumers are not aware – or are actively mislead – as to the consequences of their order. The difficulties in cancelling the order and monthly charges serves to compound the issue still further.

Acai Not To Blame

It is important to note that Acai and acai products have not been specifically singled out as being the culprit in this settlement:CCN sold a whole range of health products using the same deceptive tactics. Acai itself can be a powerful addition to any diet and lifestyle, and the shady antics of one rogue supplier and distributor should not serve to tar legitimate online retailers with the same brush.

Restitution From The Settlement

Some $350,000 of the $1,375,000 has been set aside for consumer restitution ($1 million going towards civil penalties to the state, and the remaining $25,000 covering the state’s costs in bringing the action). Consumers who feel that they fell victim to CCN’s deceptive sales and advertising practices should file a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office by close of business on August 17, 2009 to be eligible. Those who have already filed a complaint will be included in the pool of customers eligible for restitution.

If you are one of those people who feel that CCN owes you an apology (and some money), then we wish you the best of luck with your claim.

A little-known fact about acai is that it contains enough anthocyanins actively to help your eyesight.

British pilots – famous for their ability to bring down German planes in even the worst fighting conditions – were told to eat a lot of bilberry. Bilberry contains plenty ofanthocyanins and, you guessed it, their eyesight improved dramatically as a result. From their own reports their ability to see in the dark increased almost as soon as they started on their bilberry diet. Of course, acai contains more anthocyanins than bilberry, so it stands to reason that the positive effect will be even more marked.

Those Scientists…

Scientists find this kind of phenomenon quite enthralling, so inevitably there were some tests done to ascertain the veracity of the British pilots’ claims. A group of French scientists conducted tests in 1964 where 36 peoples’ vision was tested for the ability to adapt between light and dark lighting conditions. The adaption rate was tested before and after the volunteers wereprovided with bilberry anthocyanins. The results of the tests were interesting: they showed that for a few hours after taking the bilberry supplements, eyesight adapted much between between the extremes of light and dark.

A more recent study carried out in Japan showed that 50mg of blackcurrant anthocyanins provided significant benefits to volunteers’ vision: again, better adaption to light and dark, and they were less susceptible to eye fatigue and strain. Interestingly, though, 20mg appeared to have little or no effect. So you’ve got to eat lots!

Battle Stations!

Most of us are lucky enough never to have flown a warplane in anger, and our need to see enemy pilots is markedly reduced. But our eyes are so delicate, so complex, and so prone to damage that any help we can get in keeping them in tip-top shape should be quickly embraced.

Think of this as well: the anthocyanins are affecting the eyes so quickly, what other parts of the body are they helping? If the eyes are anything to go by then the anthocyanin’s effect is quite pronounced. Here’s a chance to give nature a helping hand!

Everyone is aware that much — but importantly not all — of Acai’s very potent health benefits come from our little friends the antioxidants.

Consider this:

• Antioxidants are very good for our bodies
• Acai contains more than its fair share of antioxidants
• It follows that Acai should be good for you

And indeed it is: just look around this site and you will see some of the many reasons why Acai is a great addition to any diet.

Your Brain: Think About It

Because of the way the brain works — and because of all the intense work that goes on in there, 24 hours of the day and seven days a week — this very special organ has a high metabolic rate which, in turn, leads to it being uniquely vulnerable tooxidative injuries. As we know, antioxidants are great at battling the causes and effects of oxidative injury, and so it makes perfect sense that they should be useful in the treatment and prevention of many different injuries in the brain.

In fact sufferers of traumatic brain injury and strokes (amongst other conditions) can often be helped to some extent by an increase of antioxidants in their diets. This is not to say that a gulp of Acai puree twice per day is going to cure or indefinitely postpone the onset of these serious conditions, but it will all go some way to helping.

Investigations are on-going as to the possibility of using Acai for the treatment of common neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. All the signs look good and clearly point towards the astounding medical potential ofAcai’s antioxidants.

Depression

Acai berry also provides both direct and indirect benefits which combat the chemical and environmental factors behind depression. Directly it encourages cell communication and cell metabolism, both of which enable the brain to function more efficiently and thus reduce the potential for mental dysfunction. Factors which indirectly help to control depression include the increases Acai provides to the body’s energy resources, and the better, more useful, sleep it induces. Both sleep and an increased activity naturally level help those suffering from depression.

What Is There To Lose?

Even if Acai’s antioxidants did not provide impressive benefits to our mental health, the multitude of other areas in which they helped would be worth introducing it into the diet in their own right. Indeed the overall benefits of Acai go further than this: antioxidants are not the only health benefit offered by Acai. Amino acids and omega fatty acids all play a part in our overall health, and are happy companions of the antioxidants as resident ingredients of Acai.

In this post I’m going to take a look at one of the lesser known benefits of the seemingly omnipotent acai berry. Acai actually helps to improve your skin, and there is more than one way in which it helps. Read on.

Anti-Aging and Free Radicals
We know that acai berry has anti-aging benefits: regenerative nutrients and those wonderful antioxidants make sure that this is the case. All this goodness helps to ensure that your cells are operating to the best of their abilities, and that there are no other chemicals or foreign bodies preventing them for doing just this. This links in withacai’s free-radical fighting ability which has already been discussed in detail.

Specific Skin Benefits
Rather than simply rely on general descriptions of the overall benefits of acai on the body to prove this point, we can now move on to some benefits which specifically help the skin. The benefits come from the hugely beneficial effects that antioxidants,anthocyanins and phytosterols have on our bodies; there should probably be no surprise from learning that they help the skin stay healthy as well as the rest of the body.

Reduction of erosion of the skin’s protective coating. An impressive guarding job is done by the phytosterols in acai. Your skin’s protective coating helps prevent the from cells dying so quickly, and helps to keep out any unwanted invaders. All this adds up to the fact that your skin is going to look younger and healthier for longer.

Defends against the accumulation of premature wrinkles. The anthocyanins and phytosterols in acai act as an astringent, keeping the skin taut and helping to protect the connective tissues in your skin. Tighter, more supple skin means fewer wrinkles.

There are some products on the market now (Elite Eye Creams and Elite Eye Serum being some) that are specifically designed to help get the acai berry goodness closer to the places where it is most likely to help. These products are based on known effects of the chemicals and nutrients in the acai berry, and although scientists are rather reluctant to announce acai berry as being nature’s super food, there is some pretty solid evidence that this is true.