No doubt you’ve heard the buzz surrounding acai berry tablets and acai berry juice. This popular “superfood” called acai has been featured on Oprah, the Today Show, and several other programs. Acai berries contain a host of nutrients such as antioxidants, fiber, and omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acids. But which is more beneficial, the capsules or the juice?
From a health standpoint, the pills are probably more beneficial than the juices. Like most fruit juice products, acai berry juice is often sold as a juice blend. MonaVie, for example, is actually a blend of nineteen different fruit juices. Consequently, you don’t really know how much acai you’re getting. Juices also tend to be watered down and may contain added sugar or other undesired ingredients. Be sure to read the labels on all fruit juices, as many of them surprisingly contain very little juice.By contrast, acai berry tablets are created through a much more precise process that results in a purer product. The acai berries are freeze-dried and then processed into a fine powder that can be encapsulated or compressed into a tablet. However, this powder is not the same as “acai berry powder” that is yet another form of acai. The loose powders that you can buy in bags are made from acai berry extract, not the freeze-dried berries. So if you want to get the most acai for your money, the tablets are the way to go.Other reasons for choosing tablets over juice include personal preference, budget, and lifestyle. Some people do not like the taste of acai berries, while others just prefer the convenience of taking a pill. Last but not least, acai berry juice is not cheap. A bottle of MonaVie costs almost $40, and it has only enough servings for about one week. At $40 per week, that’s about $173 per month or $2080 per year. Bottles of acai berry tablets vary greatly depending on the manufacturer (be careful — cheaper brands may not contain authentic acai), but the average price per one-month supply is only about $58. If sparing $2 a day to look and feel great is too much, then acai may not be for you.
Did you know acai berries are harvested in the rain forests of South America? Let us look deeper in finding out more about these humble purple berries.
The acai berries are a small round berry that are dark purple in color and resemble a smaller sized grape. The dark purple skin, which holds the berry’s health benefits, is often made into a pulp. Brazilian natives use this pulp as a puree that can be eaten by itself or in a variety of other wonderful foods. There is a lot more in store to discover what makes this little berry from Brazil taste so good and why it is healthy for our bodies.
In Brazil, the berries are harvested from acai palms as food. In a study of three traditional native populations in the Amazon, the acai palm was described as the most important plant because the fruit makes up to 42% of the total food diet and is economically valuable to the region. In order for the Brazilian farmers not to lose any more of the depleted forest cover from over harvesting, they are required to reforest up to 30% of their farmed land.
The majority of the population in Brazil enjoys eating the acai fruit. It is reported the people consume more acai juice than milk. Although it’s popularity only grew in the western world around 1990, the powerful punch this berry packs has been known in its native land for generations. Acai berries have ten times the antioxidant benefits of grapes and double that of blueberries.
The berry is a very tasteful fruit, combining the usual berry taste you would expect with the delicate sweet hint of chocolate. They contain essential omega oils, proteins, minerals, fibers, and vitamin E. Omega oils have shown the ability to raise good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol. The fatty acid ratio in acai is similar to that of olive in reducing heart disease.
The main benefits of acai are:
- Acai has more proteins than an average egg.
- The berries have essential minerals like Vitamins B, C, and E.
- They include minerals iron, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.
- Acai has a high concentration of fiber content.
- The berry’s amino acid contributes to proper muscle regeneration.
- Acai berries improve mental focus to enhance sleep.
Much research is being done to help in finding out more about acai berries. As the berries have practically just arrived in the west, we can look closer at the lives of the Brazilian tribesmen to learn the benefits the natives discovered hundreds of years ago.
In a 2006 University of Florida study, acai berries’ antioxidants were studied to test the effects on healthy human participants. The university was one of the first institutions outside Brazil to commission a study, and they determined how well the compounds affected blood pressure, and were absorbed into the blood stream, effecting good cholesterol levels as opposed to bad.
With a vast array of products being offered within the past five years, researchers and consumers are finding out more about acai berries. Before consumption and research was limited due to the unavailability of information and product in many parts of the world. Now we have plenty of opportunities to add this worthwhile fruit to our diets.
When you are searching for that ever-elusive fountain of youth, you are confronted by hordes of advertisements for plastic surgery, wrinkle creams, and an array of other topical cure-alls. But the truth is that age and beauty are dependent on your inner health. When our bodies beg for nutrients and a healthier lifestyle, it shows!
You’re reading this because you’ve probably heard all of the excitement surrounding acai berry and the testimonies for acai improving skin elasticity. You’re interested in the convenience of acai supplements, but you want to know if they are safe. Are there any acai side effects?
There’s a lot that goes into choosing the very best supplements, and it’s all stuff you should pay attention to, since after all we’re talking about something that you’re going to be putting into your body, right?
Supplement safety is mostly a matter of quality, so you have to know where to shop for superior products. I have found a most helpful resource that helps consumers find top-quality acai products, and I want to share that with you. But to start with, I’d like to share with you all of the incredible benefits of the acai berry, so stay tuned.
What makes the acai berry so special? Antioxidants. We currently hear a lot about antioxidants. But why? What do they do? Antioxidants neutralize the toxic free radicals that damage our bodies. Environmental toxins, such as pollution and cigarette smoke, and normal bodily functions, such as metabolism, create free radicals. To stop free radicals from damaging cellular structure and tissue, we must consume antioxidants.
Acai berry also contains anti-inflammatory properties, which, when joined with antioxidant power, can reduce the likelihood of illness and disease. As acai also contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, your heart can benefit from the berry’s ability to manage cholesterol within your body.
What’s truly important when choosing acai products is finding the products that use the purest ingredients. Our bodies must go through an adjustment phase when introducing any new product, and consumer reports show that acai side effects may include diarrhea. It’s important to find quality products to reduce the chance of unsatisfactory results. So stay tuned for more information on using reviews to choose your acai products.
With the addition of acai to your regular diet and fitness program, you can experience more energy when managing a heart healthy lifestyle. This improved energy will also increase your mental focus! But enough about the healthy benefits of acai, let’s talk about the advantages that acai offers your skin.
Let’s get back to the discussion on free radicals. I don’t want to get too in-depth with chemistry right now, but what a free radical essentially does is steal molecules from your healthy, functioning cells. The deterioration of cells, in turn, causes deterioration of tissues within your body. The addition of numerous antioxidants, as found in acai berries, stops the free radicals from eating away at your supple skin tissue!
Found prospering in the swampy Amazon Rainforest, acai berries provide nutrients our bodies need. In the tropical floodplain areas of Central and South America, the acai palm berry, grows in bunches of 700-900 berries.
Acai has an astounding number of health benefits due to its sizeable amounts of fiber, antioxidants, fatty acids, and proteins. The acai berries require humidity and wetland conditions to grow well. Thousands of palm trees per acre have been recorded in areas of the rainforest.
Acai berries begin as a green color and ripen to a deep purple. Each acai palm stem usually produces four to eight bunches of fruit during the average year with fruits ripening the heaviest in the dry season from July to December.
The acai palm thrives throughout the lowland flood areas where it forms in large groves. In one of nature’s wonders, when one of acai’s stems is cut, more stems will grow back and the cutting encourages more fruit to grow on the remaining stems.
Acai palm is now also the world’s main source of palm hearts. In Brazilian herbal medicine, the oil of the acai berries is used to treat diarrhea; the grated berry rind is used as a topical wash for skin ulcers; and the fruit seeds are crushed and made into a treatment for fevers.
Scientists are currently studying acai to determine just how nutritionally valuable it is. The researchers are discovering ways to use the acai berries to fight such diseases as diabetes, cancer, digestive issues, obesity, blood clotting ailments, obesity, and much more.
Experts are uncertain how much effect antioxidants have on cancer cells in the human body, because factors such as metabolism, nutrient absorption, and other biochemical processes may influence the antioxidants’ chemical activity.
Brazilians have long used acai berries to treat skin conditions and digestive disorders. Current medical research suggests acai products can help consumer’s lower cholesterol, get energized, and lose weight.
We are just beginning to understand all the health benefits of the acai palm. It can also be harvested for its delicious heart-of-palm, which tastes great in salads. In Colombia, where the acai palm grows along the Pacific coast, acai berries are turned into a popular drink.
In a University of Florida study, six different chemical extracts were made from acai fruit pulp and each extract was prepared at seven separate concentration levels. When applied for 24 hours, four of the extracts were shown to kill a significant number of leukemia cells. The UF study shows that research on foods not commonly found or consumed in the United States is extremely important, because it may lead to undiscovered health benefits of food nutrition.
Eating a balanced diet of at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables is recommended for promoting optimal health. Research on the effects of diet on chronic diseases show an increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk for many illnesses.
One of a kind, acai berries also has a high concentration of essential acids, specifically monounsaturated oleic acid. This nutrient helps diminish inflammation, which is the leading cause of the detrimental health we experience, as we get older.
acai | acaireporter | 
October 30, 2009 5:22 am | 
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