Petrea Dishman asked:

For many years, the Acai berry (ah-sah-ee) has been a well-kept secret of the Amazon rainforest and it has only been on the market for about the last 5 years. The rainforests of the Amazon are thought to hold the key to treating many ailments and common diseases, and for thousands of years the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region have known about the many health-enhancing benefits of the Acai berry.

The Acai berry grows wild on top of many palm trees that are native to the rainforests of Brazil and the Amazon basin. Local farmers in the area harvest the fruit of the tree, and it is used to make a healthful fruit pulp. This fruit pulp is then quickly frozen in order to preserve its nutrient value.

The Acai berry itself is a deep purple color, and it is quite rich in a number of important nutrients, including many of the most valuable antioxidant vitamins.

ENERGY, HEART HEALTH: The Acai berry will give you a high energy boost. It is also thought to have a significant impact on heart health, and on the health of the cardiovascular system. In particular, the Acai berry contains a very high concentration of compounds known as anthocyanins. These compounds are the same ones thought to be responsible for giving red wine its widely reported health benefits. However the Acai berry has 10 to 30 times more anthocyanins then does red wine.

LOWERS CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: In addition to these anthocyanins, Acai berries are known to contain large amounts of protein and fiber, as well as both omega-6, which lowers cholesterol levels and omega-9 fatty acids, which lowers LDL cholesterol levels and maintains natural HDL cholesterol levels. These omega fatty acids have been studied for years as a way to protect the heart from damage, and reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood, thereby providing possible protection from heart attacks, strokes and other common cardiovascular complications.

These anthocyanins are known to have significant health benefits, and they are the subjects of many studies. Many people are looking for ways to capture the many health benefits that have been associated with the consumption of red wine, but without the calories and other negative consequences of red wine consumption. The rich, delicious fruit of the acai berry may be able to provide these important health benefits.

ANTI-AGING: Perhaps the most important health benefit of the acai berry, however, is its strong impact on the aging process. As a matter of fact, the acai berry is generally acknowledged to be one of the top superfoods for anti-aging. The amino acids and vital trace minerals found in the Acai berry aid in proper muscle contraction and regeneration, thereby slowing damaging effects to the skin that cause signs of aging. The fatty acid found in the Acai berry is similar to that of olive oil and is high in monounsaturated oleic acid. This fatty acid combined with Omega 3 fish oils penetrates cell membranes and makes them suppler. This allows for hormones, neurotransmitters and Insulin Receptors to operate more efficiently, which greatly reduces inflammation, inflammation being one of the leading causes of Aging.

HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS, DESTROY CANCER CELLS: The antioxidant benefits of the acai berry, combined with the fatty acids it contains, make this one of the most important superfoods on the market. The Acai berry is thought to have an antioxidant content which is a full 10 times greater than that found in grapes, and twice as high as those found in blueberries. As a matter of fact, the acai berry is widely acknowledged to have the highest nutritional value of any fruit in the world, and this has earned it the acai berry the title of superfood. These antioxidants destroy cancer cells. A study done by the University of Florida and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in January of 2006 did research that showed that the antioxidants in the Acai berry triggered a self-destruct response in 86% of the cultured Leukemia cancer cells tested.

Additional information: For such a tiny fruit, the Acai berry seems to have a great many heart healthy benefits, and the secret that has been part of Amazon culture for thousands of years is slowly spreading to the rest of the world. The Acai berry is a rich source of antioxidant vitamins, protein, fiber and heart protecting fatty acids, and it has an important role to play in protecting our good health.

Acai berries can be purchased whole and eaten as part of a healthy diet, but they are most often encountered in juice form. Acai berry juice is widely available both in health food stores and from many Internet retailers. As with other kinds of juice, it is important to ensure that the Acai berry juice you buy is made with 100% pure juice, and that it contains no artificial ingredients or added sugar.

As the popularity of the Acai berry continues to grow, and as its value to good health continues to get out, it is likely that this little purple fruit will become more widely available. In coming years, Acai berries are likely to be available at traditional grocery stores and supermarkets in addition to health food stores and Internet retailers.

When choosing between products made with the Acai berry, it is important to choose only the highest quality products, and to look for products that have been frozen quickly after harvest. How the Acai berries are handled after harvest can have a significant impact on their health benefits, so it is important to buy your Acai berry juice from those who use the best manufacturing methods.

Acai Perricone Diet

Laurie Robillard asked:


The Good Doctor Asks: “Do you want to be healthy?”

Are you tired of dreadful migraines? How is your blood pressure? Do you have a history of cancer in your family? Come on in to the Great Product Place. The good doctor is here. The good doctor says: “Drink with your health in mind.” “Fight back with anthocyanins,” and that doesn’t mean drink lots of wine and smoke like a chimney. The good doctor wants to know if you get your health guidance from the mainstream media. It goes like this: “The healthiest way to live is to guzzle red wine and drown everything in olive oil. You might elegantly call it the “French paradox” or the “Mediterranean diet.” The good doctor says there is a better way to get these valuable phytochemicals than guzzling wine and drowning in oil. He also says: “An apple a day does not keep the doctor away. You would do better with wild blueberries, green peppers, spinach, broccoli, and cranberries. You should also add cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, and dried oregano. “Don’t worry about the apple it comes with its own set of features and benefits. Variety and color is the key to good health. Don’t forget the recommended “5-a-day.” If you are eating “5-a-day” and most people aren’t, ask yourself is “5-a-day” enough? Do you basically just eat apples, bananas and oranges and treat yourself to grapes once a week. The good doctor knows what sells the most in the stores. You can’t hide what you are eating. OK if you’re from Trinidad you might eat mangoes. When the berries are in season you might eat strawberries, cherries, blueberries etc.

The good doctor wants to know if you heard about the Amazon Rainforest secret?

No it’s not the mangosteen, it grows in Asia. No it’s not the noni, it grows in the Polynesian Islands. The good doctor says: “If you don’t know what you don’t know therefore be learning from others.” This is the secret, Acai. Can you pronounce it? Try this (ah-saH’-ee). Have some fun with it. Acai is the fruit of a palm tree that grows in the rainforests of the Amazon - a tree Brazilians call “The Tree of Life.” About 90 percent of the small, round fruit is its hard, inedible pit. It’s the outside skin that holds the treasure. That dark purple skin is what contains the anthocyanins. Did you hear that word before? You heard it from the good doctor. He said: “Fight back with anthocyanins.” I told the good doctor that you want him to speak English. He said it’s time you expand your vocabulary so you can improve your health. He wants you to learn about antioxidants. Anthocyanins are members of the flavonoid class of antioxidants. The Acai fruit imparts health benefits associated with consumption of foods high in antioxidants, such as reduced risk or prevention of chronic and oxidative stress related disorders. Remember the questions you were asked when you entered the Great Product Place. The door to another world of healing just opened to you. The good doctor shared his secret. He feels his mission is accomplished. The rest is up to you. When you leave the Great Product Place don’t forget the good doctor’s words: “Fight back with Acai Berry.”

The good doctor also wants you to know about the importance of Omega 3,6,9. They are (Essential Fatty Acids) EFA’s . Your body can’t produce them and they are essential. You can find EFA’s in tuna, mackerel, and salmon but you might get some mercury also. DHA is one type of omega 3 fatty acid that is crucial for brain development that is found in breastmilk. EPA is another type of omega 3 fatty acid that is crucial for brain function in breastmilk, fatty fish (cold water wild fish) and algae. The most important thing to know about DHA and EPA is you need to get them in your diet. There are some food sources for omega 3’s such as flax, soybean, walnut, but these contain ALA (alpa-linolenic acid) which doesn’t have the same health benefits as EPA. Only 20% converts to EPA and DHA. Many people are dificient in the enzymes needed for the conversion, so you might be getting flax, but still end up deficient in EFA’s.  If you drink the Acai Berry 19 juice blend, then you will be sure to get the fatty acids needed for brain function.



 

 

 



Monavie Acai Berry

LiveWellNow asked:


First it was blueberries, then the pomegranate, and now the “superfood” of the moment is the açai berry, a fruit native to South America that is harvested from trees in the Amazon rainforest. In Brazil, Colombia and Suriname, açai (pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”) has been used both medicinally and as a food  for hundreds of years. More recently, Americans have been gulping down gallons of açai juice in an effort to court good health.

 

One of the companies cashing in this trend is MonaVie, a juice that blends the potent açai berry with 18 other fruits-including grape, passion fruit, kiwi, pomegranate, banana, blueberry and cranberry. It’s packaged in a chic wine bottle that retails for about $40 (although the products are sold only through multilevel marketing, not in stores). The MonaVie website includes links to several research studies that extol the antioxidant-rich virtues of the açai berry, but they are very careful not to make any outrageous health claims. According to the studies they cite, the açai berry outscores every other fruit and vegetable on the ORAC scale, a measurement which ranks the antioxidant activity of various foods. “The freeze-dried açai found in MonaVie has an antioxidant capacity that is 15 times higher than blueberries, and research has shown that drinking four ounces of MonaVie Active daily can help enhance your body’s antioxidant capacity and ability to fight free radicals,” explains a MonaVie spokesperson. (MonaVie, citing their proprietary formula, doesn’t reveal how much açai juice is in their beverage.)

 

But even though the company is careful with any claims, it can’t control what committed users have to say about the product. A quick Web search reveals numerous Web sites dedicated to praising the powers of drinking juice made from açai berries. The açai converts claim that the purple elixir can perform all manner of health miracles-improve stamina; make skin look younger; lower blood pressure; alleviate joint pain; eradicate hot flashes, migraines and gout; improve sleep; and help autistic children function better. And although MonaVie is one of the biggest names in the açai game, it’s not the only player. Other açai products are available online (such as Viva! Açai, which sells for $24.95 for a 32-day supply), and the shelves at stores like Whole Foods hold other açai juices (such as Bossa Nova, which sells for $2.99 for a 10-ounce bottle, and Sambazon Açai, $2.69 for a 10.5-ounce bottle).

 

“If the açai berry can do even one quarter of the things the hucksters claim it can, then it will prove to be a great thing,” says Brent Bauer, M.D., director of the complementary and integrative medicine program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “At this point, açai falls into the category of intriguing but unproven. It may in fact turn out to be the superfood it’s advertised to be, but first we need some solid scientific evidence that can only come from human clinical trials.”

 

So far, most of the studies done on the açai berry have been done in the lab-analyzing the nutrient content of the so-called superfood. What is known is that the berry is packed with good stuff: antioxidants (including flavonoids similar to those found in red wine), amino acids, monounsaturated oleic acid, fiber, and phytosteroids. What all that means is that açai berries do have the potential to have several positive health benefits. These include anti-inflammatory effects (which could, in theory, help with arthritis pain), cancer prevention, improving elasticity of the arteries, and preventing cholesterol from oxidizing and adhering to the artery walls.

 

“It definitely has the potential to do lots of good things, and I do think there’s something there, but we still don’t know what happens when you concentrate it and give it to humans at doses many times stronger than what the natives in the Amazon have been consuming for years,” says Bauer.

 

He brings up a historical example that he feels should be a cautionary tale for anyone willing to endorse something just because it looks promising: the beta carotene story. Beta carotene is a powerful antioxidant, and several epidemiological studies showed that people whose diets featured high levels of beta carotene had less cancer. When that news broke, health-conscious people started popping high doses of beta carotene. But when a large-scale human clinical trial was finally completed, it was found that in smokers, high levels of beta carotene actually increased the risk of cancer.

 

The bottom line? Most experts agree that the açai berry probably does qualify as a superfood (it’s a favorite of health gurus like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Nicholas Perricone), thanks to its rich antioxidant and nutrient profile. But they remind consumers that there is no health magic bullet. “If you still smoke, drink, don’t exercise and eat fast food, drinking a few ounces of açai juice every day isn’t going to keep you healthy,” says Bauer.



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