Sid Jolicoeur adds hemp seeds to an Acai bowl at LB Kitchen on a recent Friday. Their version is one of the healthier in the area. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

The menu at Portland’s LB Kitchen has included an açaí bowl since the health-focused restaurant first opened on Congress Street in 2017.

“We put that on the menu because we really want to promote the açaí berry and all the functions and health benefits it has,” said LB Kitchen co-owner Bryna Gootkind. “It’s a funny way to say it, but I have a real sickness for health and wellness. I’m always looking for the optimal way to create a menu item that has a nutritious profile and real integrity.”

LB Kitchen’s bowl uses a puréed blend of açaí — a nutrient-dense, low-calorie “superfood” native to Central and South America — blueberries (which also have a reputation as a superfood), bananas and lightly sweetened house-made almond milk for the base. They add toppings of strawberries, more banana, their own granola and hemp seeds. Gootkind estimates that the bowl has between 450-500 calories and about 5 grams of added sugar (from the maple syrup in the granola and the almond milk), making it one of the healthiest açaí bowls available for sale in the area.

Açaí offerings at some other shops can be much more caloric, with a surprising amount of added sugar, beyond the naturally occurring sugars in the fruit. Oola Bowl’s namesake Oola Bowl, for instance, contains 840 calories and 59 grams of added sugar, according to nutrition information available on their website and to in-store customers on request. For perspective, a Cinnabon has 880 calories and also 59 grams of added sugar. (The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise no more than 50 grams — about 12 teaspoons — of added sugar a day for a 2,000-calorie diet, while the American Heart Association says no more than 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women.)

To be fair, Oola’s açaí bowl — like the bowls at other local stores, meant as a healthier alternative to a fast-food or convenience store meal — also offers plenty of healthy fiber, antioxidants and micronutrients that a white flour-sugar bomb like a Cinnabon obviously lacks. The health benefits you’ll get from your bowl, wherever you buy it, will vary depending on the portion size and the ingredients that accompany the açaí, nutrition experts say.

“Nutrition is a gradient,” said Leslie Ouellette-Todd, dietician and owner of Nourished Lifestyles in Scarborough. “At one end we have the Cinnabon, and at the other end we have whole fruits and vegetables. (Açaí bowls) fall somewhere in between.”

LB Kitchen’s açaí bowl features a base of blended açaí, blueberry and banana, with sliced blueberries and strawberries, house-made granola lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and hemp seeds. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

A growing trend

Health food trends come and go. People of a certain age will remember (maybe not fondly) the low-carb Atkins Diet, while the more recent bone broth fad peaked around 2017 and cooled as quickly as a cup of hot chicken stock.

But açaí bowls have staying power. They first became popular on the West Coast in the early 2000s before spreading throughout the rest of the country. The açaí berry market in the United States hit $360.3 million in revenue last year, according to the California-based firm Grand View Research, and is expected to reach $535.5 million by 2030.

The trend shows no sign of slowing locally. The New Jersey-based chain Playa Bowls opened a location in Westbrook earlier this year, while the Pennsylvania-based chain Oola Bowls recently launched a Westbrook shop and plans to open another franchise in downtown Portland in September.

The potential health benefits of açaí are well established. The fruit contains healthy Omega 3 fats, plenty of fiber and loads of anthocyanins, an antioxidant that may lessen your risk of chronic illnesses like diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Açaí may also lower cholesterol and boost brain function.

Açaí berries contain an unusually low amount of natural sugar. To make them more palatable, the fruit is typically processed with added sugar — similar to how dried cranberries are often sweetened — before being sold to stores to use as a base for the bowls. Maine-based mini-chain Bay Bowls — where bowls range from about 240-650 calories, according to co-founder Sal Matari — uses an açaí pulp purée with added organic cane sugar, while Oola’s pulp blend is sweetened with demerara sugar. Still, unsweetened options do exist: LB Kitchen uses freeze-dried açaí berry powder from Navitas Organics that contains no added sugars.

Açaí bowl shops often tout that they use only natural sweeteners like maple syrup, agave and honey, avoiding refined white sugar. But your body may not fully appreciate the difference. “A tablespoon of honey is going to spike your blood sugar the same as a tablespoon of table sugar,” said dietician Joan Lavery-McLaughlin, head of Nutrition Works in Portland.

“The way we eat, sugar is sugar is sugar,” said Ouellette-Todd.

So if the açaí base is loaded up with toppings that contain lots of added sugar, does that cancel out its health benefits?

“Ranch dressing doesn’t negate the carrot you ate, so the sugar isn’t going to negate the açaí you’re eating,” Ouellette-Todd said. “It just doesn’t make it as valuable (to your health) as it is being marketed as.”

‘It’s about baby steps’

Superfood bowl restaurants pride themselves on offering a convenient but healthier alternative to fast food. “We offer that QSR (Quick-Service Retail) style of fast service, but we’re able to get customers the healthy aspect of that,” said Brianne Barket, Oola’s senior director of production innovation and operations. “They’re in and out just as they would be with McDonald’s or Wendy’s, but the product we’re serving is just better for you.”

“A lot of people don’t really know how to make healthy choices all the time,” said Vanessa Cohn, director of marketing for Oola Bowl. “So how can we give them something convenient that still tastes great and is a better-for-you option than a lot of what’s out there? It’s about baby steps.”

Locally based bowl shops position themselves similarly. “I feel strongly we are definitely a great alternative to a very high-calorie, greasy lunch,” said Bay Bowls co-founder Soraia Matari. “It’s a nutritional breakfast or lunch.”

Oola Bowl’s full line of specialty bowls (including large sizes) ranges from 420-1,110 calories, with 32-70 grams of added sugar, though some use bases made from pitaya (dragon fruit) or coconut sorbet. But Oola is also adding a smaller-sized bowl option later this year, and this fall, they’ll launch their proprietary Açaí Zero, a sugar-free açaí base sweetened with stevia and the sugar alcohol maltitol (which counters the metallic taste of stevia). And, as at other bowl shops, Oola’s customers can customize their orders, and forego the more sugary toppings.

“We’re trying to find the right balance between what is going to taste really good for our customers and what limits that sugar content,” Cohn said.

“If an Oola Bowl tastes just as great to them as a Cinnabon, but the Oola Bowl is going to lead them on a path to a healthier lifestyle, and get them used to eating high-fiber, fresh fruits, then we think we’re giving them that balance they need,” Barket added.

Bunches of black ripe acai berries hang from a palm tree. (Sybillla/Shutterstock)

Build a better bowl

While the more caloric açaí bowls may be just what a highly active, younger person needs to fuel their body, area dieticians offer tips for the rest of us to get the most health benefits from our bowls.

“Take a friend and split a bowl,” Ouellette-Todd said. “That’s the first strategy — cutting down the portion size.” She and Lavery-McLaughlin said it’s important to pay attention to the satiety cues your body is giving you while you eat, to know when enough is enough.

“If you’re eating a bowl (by yourself) and feeling full after half, pack the rest up and save it for another meal,” Lavery-McLaughlin said.

Also, take advantage of the customizable bowl option and stick to toppings like fresh fruit, seeds and unsweetened or lightly sweetened nut butters. Be aware that toppings like shredded coconut and granola may contain significant added sugar. Skip or limit sugary toppings like honey or Nutella.

Timing matters, too. While many people grab açaí bowls for lunch or even dinner, Ouellette-Todd said it’s better to have it for breakfast, to give your body the full day to burn through the calories.

Ideally, açaí bowl superfans would buy pulp puree or powder and make the the bowls at home, Ouellette-Todd said, to give themselves complete control over the calories and sugar. “But the reality is people aren’t going to do that, because it requires time and effort,” she said.

But frozen açaí bowls sold in supermarkets are often much smaller than the bowls at stores, usually coming in under 300 calories, with about 11-19 grams of added sugar. While they won’t be effective meal replacements like the store versions, Ouellette-Todd said these bowls can still help satisfy an açaí craving in a right-sized dose that’s convenient to buy and keep on hand.

Still, even the higher-calorie açaí bowls, when eaten occasionally as a meal replacement, are an improvement over many quick-serve meals.

“I’d much rather you have the açaí bowl than something from McDonald’s, where you don’t get the micronutrient profile,” Ouellette-Todd said. “They really are a much better option than some of the convenience food out there.”

CONSULT A DIETICIAN

Nutrition is a complex issue and can be confusing to laypeople. But getting professional diet advice may be easier — and cheaper — than you think.

Dietician Leslie Ouellette-Todd, owner of Nourished Lifestyles in Scarborough, said most commercial health insurance plans cover consultations with a dietician at no out-of-pocket cost.

Whether you’re looking to order açaí bowls that meet your personal nutritional needs, or seeking guidance on any other diet-related issues, these licensed experts can help. Visit EatRight.org to find a dietician near you.