Acai in pregnancy and breastfeeding

What NCCIH says about safety

Acai pulp has been used safely for up to 3 months in clinical research. Little research has been done on the safety of acai. Raw acai fruit and juice can be contaminated with parasites. In rare cases, drinking the raw juice has been linked to outbreaks of the illness American trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas disease). Consuming acai might affect results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the gastrointestinal tract. If you use acai products and are scheduled for an MRI, check with your health care provider. Preliminary research showed that taking acai may increase or decrease levels of fasting blood glucose, suggesting that acai could possibly interfere with glycemic control if taken with antidiabetes medications. If you take antidiabetes medications or any other medicine, talk with your health care provider before using acai or other herbal products; some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways. Little is known about whether it’s safe to use acai during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Quoted in full from NCCIH so nothing is lost in summarising. Where they say “little is known”, that means the studies do not exist — not that the herb is known to be safe, and not that it is known to be harmful.

How much is actually known

Very little research has been done in people on the health effects of acai products.

What the research has found

There is not enough reliable information to say whether acai might be helpful for any health-related purpose. No studies in people have been published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 5 years that substantiate claims that acai promotes weight loss. Laboratory studies support acai’s potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as other potentially beneficial effects. Several small studies have found that acai pulp improves antioxidant defenses in people.

Before you take this

Dose and form change the answer completely. A culinary amount of a spice, a cup of tea, and a concentrated supplement extract are three different things, and most research is done on the last of them.

Supplements are also not regulated like medicines, so strength and purity vary between products. Bring the actual bottle to your midwife, doctor or pharmacist — that conversation is worth more than any page, including this one.