Acai berries

[Guest guest]

Acai berries have become the latest craze for the time being. A few years ago

it was Noni juice that everyone had to have and then others sprang up in it's

place, ah yes, remember the pomgranate. I suppose we should all use good

judgment in trying anything new and not get too excited about it, as something

else will come along to take its place in a few months. There are of course

pros and cons to everything, as opinions are batted around by authors, but I

sometimes find that the articles are written by dealers who are trying to sell

their product to you and me, the consumers.

I happen to agree with Bobby that we don't really know much about the origins of

this berry, yes it is grown in Brazil, but how is it harvested and packaged? Do

we have any control over how the final product gets to us? How is the sanitation

in these countries? Do they have to account to any agency to assure us of

their purity? There is less oversight given to OTC supplements than to

prescriptions. For many years, the consumers of these products fought against

regulation by the government, with the full support of the manufacturers. I know

because I was one who wrote to my senator to keep the government away from

supplements at the urging of the store I was buying my products from.

There are really only a handful of drug manufacturers in this country and they

account for all the different brands, just changing the labels as the customer

wants. Check the label, it will usually say " distributed by " . You and I could

start our own vitamin company by calling one of these companies and ordering

hundreds of dollars worth and selling them for many thousands. Google drug and

vitamin manufacturers. There is a very high markup on these items. Cheap

vitamins and supplements, where are they found?

I have been a consumer for over 35 years of most of the vitamins and supplements

and I still don't know if I benefited from them. I have the same generic

illnesses millions of people have who don't take them, and now CML.

Maybe I was over zealous and took too many, and there are several that may not

be in my best interest to take with the CML drugs, the final results may never

be in, because I don't know of anyone who is watching my back.

My suggestion is to use moderation and precaution and don't believe everything

you hear and only half of what you read. I went to one website that alluded to

all the stars using acai berries to lose weight and articles from the TV

networks touting it, and on the bottom was a form to order their brand. This is

a commercial world we live in.

How many of the fabulous products have you seen advertised on TV that worked

miracles on your carpets, only to find after ordering it that it didn't work as

well as it did on TV, or at home shows, you brought them home and they didn't

work. I wonder how many hours they had to practice to get the items to do their

magic. Yes, I bought all of slick Willie's products. I have had them for years

and they still don't work. LOL. Use moderation in all things.

Hands & hearts,

Lottie

Moderation is the silken string running through

the pearl chain of all virtues. (ph Hall)