Health benefits of acai berry are the latest superfood phenomenon. Acai berry antioxidants have been lauded for their ability to neutralize free radicals and are the key to acai berry benefits. Acai juice can be found at Whole Foods Market or The Vitamin Shop among other places.
Acai is a species of palm tree that grows around the Amazon river in South America. The grape like berries start off green and then ripen to a deep rich purple color. They contain a powerhouse of beneficial substances including polyphenols, mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and 19 different amino acids.
It has long been used by natives of the Amazon jungles as a super nutritious food (called a “superfood”) and natural medicine, and it is now available at the vitamin shop!
What is a Superfood?
A “superfood,” is a food with a high phytonutrient content containing fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that make it very nutritionally dense and therefore highly beneficial to health.
Acai has been called a superfood, which is a food with a high phytonutrient content. Acai grows inhot climates and so the skin of the acai berry has high levels of protective antioxidants to shield the berry against the sun’s radiation.
Acai berry benefits come from it’s potency as an antioxidant. Health benefits of Acai berry are also due to another class of compounds called Anthocyanids. These polyphenols as Acai berry antioxidants have powerful.
Anthocyanids are a class of polyphenols that give certain berries a darkly pigmented surface that resists oxydation from
sunlight and heat. The are very bioavailable and provide potent effects even in small amounts.
Below are some Acai berry benefits:
- Protect against DNA damage
- Helpful in weight loss
- Improved circulation
- Improves skin tone and youthfulness
- Beneficial to the eyes
- Improved digestion
- Strengthens your immune system
- Enhance blood sugar control
- Inhibiting cancer cells
- Inhibiting cardiovascular disease
- Improve cholesterol profile
- Inhibits Cox 1 and Cox 2 enzymes and fights inflammation
The ORAC Rating
There is a rating scale that measures the ability of a substance to inhibit free radicals. It is called ORAC which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. Health benefits of Acai berry are due to it’s amazingly high ORAC rating of 18,400.
Below are the ORAC ratings of a number of popular berries:
- Açaí berries – 18,400
- Pomegranates – 10,500
- Blackberries – 5,100
- Bilberry – 4,200
- Blueberries – 3,200
- Raspberries – 2,700
ORAC values are in proportion to the polyphenol content of various fruits and vegetables, and generally the darker the color the higher the ORAC rating, and the more effective the food is at quenching free radicals.
Recently, skin antiaging expert, Dr. Nicholas Perricone called the Acai Berry “The #1 Superfood in the World. Acai berry antioxidants have the highest ORAC value of any fruit or vegetable in the world! Their powerful free radical scavenging ability is so high scientists can only estimate it’s potency!
What Form and How Much?
Health benefits of Acai berry can be had in several forms from the berries themselves, the juice, pulp, and also supplements made from Acai.
Raw Acai berries may not be available where you live. Other options such as Acai juice, or Acia supplements can provide Acai berry benefits.
If you buy Acai in liquid form look for unsweetened Acai juice with no sugar added. Always look for USDA Organic Certified Acai. It should be thick, containing lots of pulp and have no preservatives.
It should be sold in stores, is pasteurized and should be unfiltered to preserve the Acai berry antioxidants and Acai berry benefits. Always buy Acai juice in glass bottles, because plastics will leach into the Acai juice from plastic bottles.
You can also get health benefits of Acai berry in supplement form. Capsules are your best bet and stick with brand name companies like Life Extension, Reserve Age, and Pure Encapsulations.
Follow dosage recommendations on the label, however your dosages will probably be limited by your wallet, since there are no known toxicity limits for Acai. You would likely run out of money long before you took to much of it!
Adding Acai berry antioxidants to your supplement regimen is a good call, because it will work synergistically with other nutrients in boosting your antioxidant protection. Health benefits of Acia berry will help your antiaging efforts in a big way!
