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Acai bowls might not be as healthy as they look

Dietitians and nutritionists said acai bowls may contain more calories than what people thought

A hand scooping a spoonful of Açaí from the bowl
A bowl of Açaí from BYUH Seasiders
Photo by Emarie Majors

Though abundantly packed with healthy ingredients, including toppings like sliced fruits, granola and pumpkin seeds, registered dietitians and nutritionists said people can be consuming 200 to approximately 1,000 calories per acai bowl, depending on how the base is made and which toppings are included.

Compared with other fruits, acai berries [itself] are relatively low in sugar with about 70 calories in a handful-sized serving, said Sonya Angelone, registered dietitian and nutritionist and spokesperson for Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

However, depending on how [acai bowls] are made, registered dietitian and nutritionist Torey Armul, said they can also be high in calories and added sugars just like other smoothies.

High in sugar and calories

According to Success Studio, commercial acai bowl brands tend to add artificial syrups and sugar and blend the mixture with sweetened soy or almond milk to mask the bitter taste of the acai berries. Adding the natural sugars of the fruit toppings, according to the website, people can be “dangerously close to consuming anywhere from 21-62 grams of sugar per serving and approximately 1,000 calories per acai bowl.”

A limit of added sugar consumption to 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons) per day for women and 36 grams (9 teaspoons) per day for men is recommended by the American Heart Association. “Acai bowls can have 50 grams of sugar [the equivalent of 192 calories], or double what the American Heart Association recommends for women for an entire day,” said Ilana Muhlstein, a registered dietitian nutritionist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“You should really look at acai bowls as more of an occasional treat, not something you’d have as a meal,” said Muhlstein.

A registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist, Sarah B. Krueger, said much like the acai bowl, “smoothies enjoy a ‘health halo’ that can be misleading.” She said, “It’s very likely that you are getting more calories and sugar when you drink a smoothie than when eating whole fruits or vegetables.”

Krueger explained the fiber in a whole fruit “acts as a net to slow down the process by which the body turns the sugar from food into blood sugar.” However, she said, though the smoothie still contains fiber, “it has been pulverized during the blending process.” She added it will make a person hungrier again “sooner after drinking the smoothie than you would have had [they] eaten the same fruits and vegetables whole.”

You should really look at acai bowls as more of an occasional treat, not something you’d have as a meal.
Ilana Muhlstein - a registered dietitian nutritionist at UCLA

A nutrient-dense berry

Acai, pronounced as ah-sigh-ee, are 1-inch-long, reddish-purple berries originating from the rainforests of Central and South America. “To make acai berries edible, they’re soaked to soften the tougher outer skin and then mashed to form a dark purple paste,” said Julie Harrington, a registered dietitian.

She described the taste as a cross between blackberries and unsweetened chocolate contrary to the traditional sweet-tart berry people are used to eating. The Good Nature website also describes its unique flavor as “earthy, deep and bitter when unsweetened.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, “very little research has been done on people about the health effects of acai products.” However, a 2023 review on the Nutrients website sheds light on what is currently known.

According to the researchers, acai berries offer many health benefits to the heart, gut, liver, kidneys and nervous system. It may also help stabilize blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and appears to have antimicrobial and antiparasitic properties. Moreover, the same review states it contains numerous nutrients, vitamins and minerals, including fiber, protein, potassium, vitamins B1 and B6.

Person makes an acai bowl with toppings on it.
Putting together an acai bowl with fruit toppings on it.
Photo by Ke Alaka'i staff

The downside of being commercialized

As locals and tourists hang out in places like the Kahuku food trucks and the Polynesian Cultural Center, the attractive-looking acai bowls are one of the famous treats available. Acai bowls have also been marketed all over social media as a healthy food option. “The trend started when the acai berry was categorized as a superfood,” said Harrington. While without formal medical definition, the term “superfood” commonly refers to a food that is high in healthy nutrients like antioxidants or fiber, according to the WebMD website.

Whilst some media claims acai promotes weight loss, there is no evidence to support it. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) put a stop to companies selling acai weight loss products in 2013, charging them with fraudulent health claims and placing multi-million dollar fines on them.

Acai bowls can be a great option to get antioxidant-packed food, however, because fresh acai berries spoil quickly, a frozen puree, powder or juice are usually what is available in the grocery stores, said Harrington. She said, "The trend has driven supercharged acai bowls that are blended with juice and other fruit and then heavily topped with things like granola or honey, which can pack a lot of added sugar.”

According to Euromonitor obtained from an article in the Washington Post, the United States leads the world in added sugar consumption with over 500 caloric sweeteners consumed per person per day.

High sugar consumption has been known to cause negative effects on human health. Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said, “Excess sugar’s impact on obesity and diabetes is well documented, but one area that may surprise many men is how their taste for sugar can have a serious impact on their heart health.”

“The effects of added sugar intake – higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease – are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke,” said Dr. Hu.

A bowl of acai topped with fruit and coconut.
Besides differences in the base of acai bowls, nutritionalists says toppings also can increase the calorie and fat of the popular treat.
Photo by Ke Alaka'i staff

Acai bowl nutrition profile

To get a sense of the calorie or sugar count in an acai bowl, consider the difference between the nutritional facts of Sambazon’s unsweetened acai puree pack and an acai blend, according to the Stop&Shop website.

It is important to take note that those numbers are just for the base, the total number of calories really depends on what toppings people choose.

Contents
Sambazon Unsweetened Acai Berry Puree
Sambazon Acai and Guarana Blend
Calories
80
100
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
15 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
3 g
Added Sugars
1 g
12 g
Protein
5 g
1 g
Total Fat
5 g
4 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
1 g
Sodium
15 mg
10 mg

For reference, the Eating Well website uses an acai bowl at Jamba Juice, which is an acai blend (acai, berries, soy milk, bananas) with fruits, granola, honey and coconut as toppings. The total calories would be 520 calories and contain 65g of sugar, the majority of it added sugar, according to the website.