Açaí

Acai · Euterpe oleracea · Acai berry

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Antioxidant status¹ Exercise-related oxidative stress² Joint pain and mobility³ Inflammatory biomarkers⁴	Raw or unprocessed juice⁴ Açaí or palm family allergy⁵

Açaí is the dark purple fruit of the Amazonian palm Euterpe oleracea, long eaten as food and used in folk medicine⁶. Its anthocyanin-rich pulp shows antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in laboratory work⁷. That activity drives its use for antioxidant support, exercise recovery, and lipid management.⁶ It is also promoted for weight loss, which no recent published human study substantiates⁶.

A meta-analysis found no significant effect of açaí on LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, or triglycerides, with low to very low certainty of evidence⁸. In a 2022 in vitro study, açaí extracts inhibited cholinesterase enzymes and scavenged free radicals; no human trial has tested açaí for cognition⁹. Products include pulp, juice, powder, capsules, and softgels, and 15 products listing açaí are catalogued; some commercial supplements contain little or no açaí¹⁰. See Form comparison.

Unprocessed juice is the main hazard: açaí was the most frequently implicated food in Brazilian outbreaks of food-borne Chagas disease¹¹. Memorial Sloan Kettering lists theoretical interference with certain chemotherapy medications⁴. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health advises talking with a health care provider before use alongside antidiabetes medications, since açaí may raise or lower fasting glucose⁶.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

42 sources, 33 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources