Facts and Fiction Surrounding the Acai Berry

By: Joseph Long
Acai berry fruit is a rare fruit that can only be found in the Amazon. It’s rare not because it’s an endangered plant, but because exporting it takes a lot of effort. It can’t simply be sipped as a fresh fruit because it spoils easily. This is largely because of the high (good) fat content in its pulp. Also, only 10% of acai berry fruits are beneficial for human dietary consumption. About 90% of the fruit are seeds, which have no nutritional value.

Popularity
Acai berry products have been popular through the years for its anti-aging benefits. Fairly recently, medical researches have found that it’s also largely responsible for weight loss. Oprah pronounced it as the world’s #1 superfood, because is has the highest lever lf antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamins, and minerals, compared to other fruit sources.

Make Sure You Read The Label
Because the acai berry fruit can’t be imported from the Amazon as fresh produce, it needs to undergo various types of preservations. The most common is freezing the acai fruit pulp, which is responsible for the rare and pricy fruit pulps that the most health conscious of us buy from specialized stores. The more common derivative of acai berries, however, are capsule supplements.

You should carefully read the label and look for a “freeze dried” note. This means that the acai berry has been frozen and dried before it was turned to powder. “Spray drying” which may be the technique used for cheaper acai berry supplements strip the fruit of all its nutrients. Do not buy “extracts” of acai berries as well, because it defeats the purpose of buying acai berries in the first place. When you buy these berries, you would want their full benefits.

Nutritional Facts
When you buy acai berry, you rest assured knowing that you’re purchasing organic products. This means that you don’t have to worry about odd side-effects which may be caused by chemicals added into your supplements. Acai berries give you the same benefits as any other fruits, only in a more concentrated manner. For example, we already know that most plant foods have antioxidants, Omegas and Anthocyanins. For such a small fruit, though, researchers have found that these substances exist in a high percentage on a single acai berry fruit.

Acai berries offer 10 times the amount of Anthocyanins compared to good old red wine. This means that taking a single capsule of acai berry supplement can actually be more beneficial for the heart compared to a full glass of red wine. This is especially good news for people who are allergic to alcohol.

Acai berries also have twice the antioxidants that are found in blueberries. Blueberries used to have the highest amount of cancer-fighting antioxidants before the discovery of this new fruit. Those who have difficulty with their bowel movement may also benefit from the high fiber content (14%) of acai berry products. This is certainly a healthier way to lose weight compared to artificial laxatives which only cause our bodies to get dehydrated.