The Acai Berry - A Waste of Time or Not? -

Details for The Acai Berry - A Waste of Time or Not?

ID:	30965
Title:	The Acai Berry - A Waste of Time or Not?
Description:	A few lines first if you haven�t heard of the magic and publicity this little berry has been generating. The Acai (pronounced ah-sah-ee) Berry is native to Central and South America, grown mainly in swamps and floodplains. It has been around now for about 5 years. It grows atop Acai Palm Trees. When harvested the pulp of the fruit needs to be quickly frozen in order to preserve its nutrients. The quality of the berry has been shown to degrade rapidly if not frozen straight away. It�s a deep purple colour, about one inch in diameter, similar to a grape but with less pulp. The Palm is also harvested for its �hearts of palm� which are often consumed in salads. The tree is fast growing, which is just as well as demand has grown rapidly since publicity began a few years back. This little berry is portrayed as the number 1 super food, but why? About 5 years back a Dr Perricone published a book where he stated it was the no. 1 super food. �Studies have shown this little berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world� he wrote. Dr Perricone then went onto appear on Oprah and talk about what he had written. The berry is full of antioxidants, healthy Omega fats, nutrients and vitamins. It�s considered a super food as it has a complete nutrition profile. Because of this, it�s considered to be beneficial to your health and your cardiovascular system, potentially reducing the risk of heart disease. Whilst many people have said red wine is considered good for you, this berry has been claimed to contain far more �anthocyanins�. A study done by the University of Florida and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry demonstrated that antioxidants from the acai berry triggered a self destruct response to 86% of cultured Leukaemia cancer cells tested. So is it beneficial to cancer? The fruit is considered of high economic value to the regions where it is harvested, making up a major part of their diet. The Acai is widely consumed for example, in Brazil. Some examples include mixing it with Granola, as a juice, or even as an Ice Cream. It is now being widely promoted as a dietary supplement, and beneficial to weight loss. One has to be very careful which claims to believe for the product to date, as there are a number of conflicting reports. Certainly omega fats are good for you in which case should benefit your good cholesterol, so too antioxidants are good for you. There are reports that claim it is beneficial to the aging process due to the amino acids and minerals that are contained. Acai Berry juice is becoming more widely available, just ensure it�s 100% juice, with no added sugar. Look for products frozen quickly after harvesting otherwise a lot of the goodness will have disappeared. We will keep a keen eye on the reports and research to see how this develops. About the author of this article: Lana Soko is passionate about Health and writes for http://www.lose-weight-with-us.com
Url:	http://www.articlestar.info/detail/link-30965.html
Category:	Health and Fitness
Date Added:	June 29, 2009 12:56:23 PM