Acai is originally found in berry form and grows from the Acai Palm, a common palm grown in northern South America. To quickly debunk a myth, Acai berries aren’t rare and they aren’t hard to find, nor are they are recent discovery. They are abundantly grown in South America and are one of the most prolific fruits grown in this region. This, however, doesn’t negate their nutrition and health benefits.
Acai, in some form or another, has been used for hundreds of years in South America for a number of ailments. Diarrhea, fever, skin ulcers and more are treated with parts of the Acai fruit.
Today you can purchase Acai as a powder, pill, drink, extract, concentrate and more. It can be a bit confusing determining which option is best and what claims to actually believe about each of the available supplements.
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The Many Benefits of Acai You have probably heard a lot of talk about Acai products lately and have wondered just what claims are true and what aren’t. The truth is, Acai is an excellent source of antioxidants, which is very beneficial to the human body. Acai berry is a very dark fruit... more
You have probably heard a lot of talk about Acai products lately and have wondered just what claims are true and what aren’t. The truth is, Acai is an excellent source of antioxidants, which is very beneficial to the human body.
Acai berry is a very dark fruit, which means that it has a lot of anthocyanins, which create the dark pigment in fruits and vegetables. More than that, however, it is this pigment that is actually one of the three antioxidants that the Acai berry contains. The other two are phenolics and phytonutrients.
Antioxidants have a number of uses, depending on the type of antioxidant it is. There are literally thousands of antioxidants, many that work together, much like the antioxidants in the Acai berry, in order to be more beneficial to the body.
The antioxidants in the Acai berry all have one benefit that is the same between them and that is the fact that they all reduce your chances of developing cancer. While this is only one of the many things that these antioxidants do, for most this is, by far, the most important.
Antioxidants are molecules that inhibit the oxidation of other molecules in the body. Oxidation is bad because it causes cell damage, which can lead to illness or diseases, such as cancer. The more antioxidants the food you eat has, the more beneficial it is for you and your overall health.
Here is a list of the various other benefits offered by vitamins and nutrients in this potent berry:
The reason that the Acai berry is called the super fruit is because it contains all of these things together, benefiting the body in a way that no other fruit has done before. In addition, Acai can:
The most beneficial way to get the most from Acai products is to eat the fresh fruit. This, however, isn’t possible for most people as it can’t be found in your local grocery store unless you live in South America. Even though this fruit is grown widely, it isn’t imported to supermarkets and such in the US at this time.
This means you have to consider other ways to get your Acai berries. You will find that you can purchase Acai drinks in health food stores and even your local grocery store. However, you may find that the percentage of Acai versus other ingredients, such as water, actually decreases the benefits of using Acai.
Pills have become very popular because they are easy to take on the run and there isn’t anything to keep track of. Pills can be an effective way to get your Acai; however, you need to remember that when you take pills that you absorb less into your system than you would with a power, drink or fresh fruit. You can take more Acai pills to ensure you get what you need to be beneficial, but make sure you don’t exceed dosage recommendations.
Spay and drum dried Acai products should be avoided at all costs! These processes actually cook the Acai berry, and like most fruits and vegetables, once you cook them they lose their nutritional values!
Freeze dried products are probably the best way to get your Acai if you can’t get it fresh. If you talk to chefs, if they have to use products that aren’t fresh they want products that are freeze dried. This may seem unrelated, but this speaks to the fact that, when freeze dried, fruits and vegetables are as close to fresh as they can be Powders and pills can come from freeze dried Acai berries, however, the product must say freeze dried on the packaging, otherwise you should assume that it isn’t freeze dried!
Much like any supplement, you will find different manufactures of Acai berries and you want the products with the best quality fruit possible. While you can’t visit the manufacturing facility or the Acai farms, you can look at the ingredients on the packaging. If you see that there are Acai Seeds in the ingredients, run the other way! The seeds are the one part of the berry with no nutritional value. They lower the nutritional value and the way the product works overall because it is a filler ingredient.
Well, the good news is that Acai products come from fruit and as long as you are buying pure Acai products, you will not experience any side effects unless you are actually allergic to the Acai berry. However, if Acai is combined with other ingredients, then you may experience some side effects as a result. It is important that you always know the ingredients in any supplement that you purchase so you can be aware of what to expect.
In addition, if you purchase a supplement that combines Acai with other ingredients, then the side effects should be listed somewhere on the packaging or you will be able to find them online.
As you can see Acai, in berry form or in supplement form, offers many benefits. Currently, there are many clinical studies being conducted to determine if there are extra benefits to this specific combination of antioxidants that are any more beneficial than the antioxidants you find in other fruits such as blackberries and strawberries.
Studies already show that this fruit is good for you, however, and doctors actually recommend that their patients start eating Acai berries or that they take Acai supplements to protect themselves from future health issues.
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