The hype surrounding these supplements recently has been very over the top on my opinion. While I am a firm believer in health food related supplements, there are certain things that people will take from these campaigns from companies that they should be taking with a pinch of salt OR using common sense.
I take these, green tea extract (or making fresh green tea) and a few other vitamin and health supplements to counteract my slightly deficient diet and to give me a boost while trying to trim down. And I must confess to thinking it helps and the weight is coming off in what I think is a healthy way.
I advocate to anyone to drink green tea if they can possibly do it as it's health benefits are there for everyone to see. It not only gives the body antioxidants, reduces blood pressure (technically stops it raising up in the first place from vasoconstriction but the effect in the end is the same) and also gives energy and increases metabolism. I take Acai berry to complement my other supplements and it works great for what i'm expecting from it.
What people don't want to get sucked into the trap of is thinking this is a miracle pill that will make them look like a hollywood star overnight. The truth is that the weight loss properties of this product is dubious to say the least. What it is proven to do though is induce fibre into the diet making you regular and thus keeping you flushing undigested food from the system, it is high in vitamins, minerals and amino acids which help the body stay healthy, it contaisn omega fatty acids liek those found in fish which is great for skin and joints, and it also contains high amounts of antioxidants which are very good for the body and reducing the effects of ageing. The effects also lead to appetite suppression (but then chillies and peppers will do the same) and also reduce the effect of high blood sugars and more importantly the crash afterwards. All this isn't an actual effect of reducing your weight but it induces a lifestyle and health benefits that cause you to lose weight.
You do however need to east healthiliy with these to gain any benefit, but don't expect anythign extra that a well balanced diet wouldn't, this is just a more efficient way for people to get their healthy intake when they have a busy lifestyle. Don't expect to take one pill a day and go out and eat a whole pizza on your own and drink 10 pints and still lose weight, you won't. Eat healthy, take you supplements and let them do the job they were designed for and they will show improvements.