Acai berries are high in antioxidants, fiber, potassium and vitamin C, all of which can be beneficial to one’s health. Despite this, some health experts argue that acai bowls’ high calorie and sugar content make them a not-as-healthy option as they might seem.
Instagram has become a place where people share their food recipes and snacks, which includes acai bowls. With over 4 million posts associated with the acai hashtag, acai bowls have generated lots of buzz in the social media world. These posts are often associated with healthy living and an active lifestyle. Despite influencers branding them as a health food, acai bowls may not live up to their high reputation.
Acai bowls originate from Brazil and were a common snack in the 1990s, with Brazilian martial artists such as Carlos Gracie eating them after a difficult training session. These bowls were not merely a post-workout treat, though — acai bowls are a staple of Brazilian culture and heritage.
School Counselor Joey Mintz was familiar with acai bowls before they gained popularity in the United States. “In the early 2000s, I spent several years training Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art. … So, when there were only one or two places where you could actually get an acai bowl, I had some Brazilian folks teach me how to make a good bowl,” Mintz said.
It was not until Ryan and Jeremy Black founded the multimillion dollar acai company Sambazon that the berry’s reputation grew in the United States. In importing frozen acai from Brazil to the U.S., the two brothers brought a previously unknown superfood to the attention of people nationwide, later being dubbed as the #1 superfood on the planet by dermatologist Nicholas Pericone.
Americans have recently bitten into acai bowls. According to IBIS World, a stock market reporter, this has caused the annual revenue of nationwide acai bowl shops to climb by more than 50% in the last five years.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), an average acai bowl contains 6.5g of added sugar per 100g. What may seem like a small amount of added sugar to begin with can add up quickly. “Commercial varieties [of acai bowls] often come in much larger portions and can contain up to 600 calories and 75 grams of sugar in a single serving,” health dietician Rachael Ajmera wrote in a Healthline article.
Jamba Juice, a popular smoothie chain with five locations across San Francisco, offers an Acai Primo bowl containing 62 grams of sugar in its medium size. Larger sizes contain more than 82 grams of sugar in their açai blend alone, with more often added from toppings like bananas, blueberries and strawberries.
With the introduction of added sugars or sweeteners, some of San Francisco’s acai bowls have diverged from Brazilian bowls and lost the element of health they once had.
“Some people kill [the bowl] with too much sweetener,” Mintz said. “I think as Americans, we tend to make things way too sweet in general, so there’s probably an Americanization of [acai bowls] by over-sweetening them.”
The average 6-ounce acai bowl — relatively small compared to other sizes offered — contains 23% of the daily limit of added sugar in a 2000-calorie diet. According to the CDC, too much added sugar in one’s diet can lead to weight gain and obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
This may pose an issue to some who view acai bowls as essential to their daily routine. “My brother gets prepackaged acai bowls from Costco and eats one every single morning. [He] cannot live without them,” Ari Torres ’26 said.