If you have had your eye on the supplement market, you have probably found yourself asking, "What is the acai berry?" Fortunately, you're not alone. The acai (pronounced ah-sah-EE) berry has recently experienced a boom among consumers in no small part due to a plethora of media attention. But media attention alone isn't the only qualification for a product to be worth buying. Your body is no testing ground for new products, so you have to make sure you know exactly what you are getting.

What on earth is this berry?

It is a grape-sized fruit found on acai palms throughout Central and South America. The fruit makes up no more than one quarter the volume of the berry. The rest of the berry is a large seed. There are two fruit crops produced each year and the crop can compromise almost half of the native diet due to its health properties. However, the fruit must be eaten quickly as it spoils within 24 hours. Because of this, many Americans have never seen it and so they are asking, what is the acai berry?

What makes the acai so nutritious?

Acai berry has caught the attention of so many because of its perceived health properties. With the acai berry a major part of their food intake for years, native Brazilians swear to the acai's health benefits, using it to alleviate a variety of illnesses from diarrhea to jaundice. Acai promoters these days claim that the acai's high level of antioxidants has the potential to combat even the most serious diseases faced by society today including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and even heart disease, a leading cause of death in the United States.

Are there any downsides?

To put it bluntly, no. The berry itself is extremely nutritious and contains all the vitamins, nutrients and fiber that many people lack in their diet. The only downsides you may find are in poor supplement products. Some companies use useful fillers while others will add other ingredients to make their products sound more impressive. From sugars in acai berry drinks to maltodextrin in spray-dried products, you may be getting extra ingredients you don't want in your health food.

Acai is unarguably one of the healthiest fruits known today. It's a shame that we can't have fresh acai available at the downtown fruit store but the good news is pure acai that contains all the healthy nutrients of the fresh berry can be found in high-quality supplements. You just have to make sure that what you're getting is 100% authentic acai and not some inferior imitation. So the next time someone asks, "What is the acai berry?" you can always tell him it's one of nature's best gifts to man.