Distribution & Habitat:
The Acai Palm is widely distributed and is very common throughout northern
South America. The natural habit of the Acai Palm tends to be along river
edges and seasonal flood plains and is mostly found along water courses of
Brazil. Acai Palm is also cultivated extensively and grown in organic,
chemical free conditions in the vast Amazon River
estuary. Acai is a widely distributed, prolific palm and very widely grown
because of the
properties of the Acai fruit and the use of the
heart of the palm for as a staple food in Brazil.
What is known about the Acai berry fruit health benefits, backed by
scientific research into the fruits properties, is quite substantial.
Acai is a rich source of anthocyanins and other phenolics and
phyto-nutrients. Acai berries are amongst the most nutritious foods
of the Amazon, rich in B vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and omega-3
fatty acids. Acai also contains oleic acid (omega-9), a beneficial fatty acid
(often mistakenly referred to as essential).
Minerals found in Acai Berry: Potassium is the mineral most abundant in the
Acai. Acai is also
rich in copper, and unusually high in manganese. Only a small portion
supplies far more than the body needs of this ultra-trace mineral.
Acai Phytonutrients: Anthocyanins are compounds that have potent
antioxidant activity, allowing for the neutralization of potentially harmful
free radicals. The famous research regarding the "French Paradox" attributes
anthocyanins as being the antioxidant that protects the French from heart
disease. The French are known to consume large amounts of coffee, nicotine,
sugar, white flour, cheese and saturated fats, yet they have a very low rate of heart
disease compared to neighboring countries like the UK and Denmark. The red
wine grape, due to its anthocyanins is what is believed to be responsible
for the very low incidence of heart disease. While red wine has good
quantities of anthocyanins, the Acai berry has been shown to contain
many times the
anthocyanins levels of red wine.
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By neutralizing these free radicals, anthocyanins from the Acai berry may
actually serve to maintain the healthy function of numerous systems and
organs. Some of the anthocyanins that have been found in Acai include
cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-glucoside-coumarate. Other phenolics
include catechin and epi-catechin (the same compounds in green tea),
quercetin derivatives and other flavonoids. It is likely that the
synergistic effects of these compounds, as present in Acai fruit are
responsible for its potent antioxidant activities.
ORAC Scale: The Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity
(ORAC) assay measures the total antioxidant activity of a biological sample.
It’s a test developed for the USDA by scientists at Tufts University to measure the antioxidant speed
and power of foods and supplements. The ORAC scale is used in human,
agricultural, food and pharmaceutical products, as well as food ingredients
and is quickly becoming the accepted standard for comparing antioxidant
potential in foods and supplements.
Acai Antioxidant Benefits: For the average Western person to
cope with all the reactive oxygen and free radicals they will
encounter on a daily basis, foods and beverages totalling an ORAC
value of at least 2000 units per day are needed. It’s been estimated that 80-90 percent
of the world’s population fails to consume even half of this level. Acai is reputed to be extremely high on the
ORAC scale and provides levels multiple times that of many anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables, such as cherries, cranberries
and mulberries.
Aging Population: As the population ages, 80% of older people
in Western countries will develop at least one chronic metabolic
disease. If the USDA says that high-ORAC foods may slow aging and
prevent metabolic disease from occurring, isn't it about time you
increased the quantity of antioxidants in your diet to prevent this process from occurring in the
first place?
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WARNING
Dubious Marketing Practices: In recent times a new Acai fruit
drink demand in the USA and several other countries, has resulted from slick
marketing campaigns surrounding a number of new Acai product launches. It
almost seems that the U.S. is in the grip of an "Acai craze" due to a number
of intensive and expensive marketing programs, touting Acai as the new,
wonder fruit of the Amazon.
Some of the claims being made for Acai drink are extraordinary ...
including weight loss and the lowering of cholesterol and curing of cancer.
The following extract is from the chicagoreader.com website Tuesday April
19th 2011
Acai Berry Marketers Accused of Fraud
Posted by Alex Parker on Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 3:24 PM
" Lose Weight Fast? As diet gurus will tell you, there’s no quick fix.
And that pretty reporter and her stories on the health benefits of the acai
berry are part of a wide-ranging scam that's been bilking consumers for
years, according to the federal government. The Federal Trade Commission is
cracking down on those ubiquitous advertisements featuring an attractive
reporter (often the borrowed image of French TV anchor Melissa Theuriau)
expounding on the alleged health benefits of acai berries. Today, it filed a
lawsuit against ten operators of fake news sites that use the logos of news
organizations, such as ABC, CBS, and USA Today, using them to legitimize
practices that the FTC says “deceptively (entices) consumers to buy the
featured acai berry weight-loss products from other merchants.”
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Dubiously, Acai berry juice, is joining those now relatively
common plant products that have produced the most millionaires in the United
States MLM/network marketing fraternity,
Aloe Vera,
Mangosteen Goji and
Noni.
Thanks to Acai's increasing name recognition and to the lack of testing
methods to determine its quality and amount of active ingredient, greedy
suppliers, brokers and manufacturers frequently stretch small amounts of
genuine Acai berry extract or powder to literally make tens or even hundreds
of litres or kilos of finished Acai drink, reaping substantial and outrageous
profits. The taste of the Acai juice or drink you experience could well
be mainly due to citric acid and artificial flavours added during
the manufacturing process of the Acai drink.
This type of marketing strategy isn't new however. It's a direct result
of other "exotic" fruit products like
Goji,
Noni and
Mangosteen, netting billions in U.S. sales through direct marketing and
retail sales, playing on the exotic flair of some reasonably common tropical
fruit that wasn't previously well known in the US and other western
countries. Since Noni's profitable
appearance in the U.S. market several years ago, many enterprising companies
have been searching for the next and newest (highly profitable) noni-replacement from an "exotic" tropical fruit such as the
Acai berry.
To further compound the situation, most of the drinks made from Acai
berry for commercial exploitation, are reconstituted from Acai concentrate,
thereby destroying much of the inherent beneficial nature of the berry due
to pasteurization and the manufacturing processes the ingredients go
through. Often flavours and preservatives,
sodium benzoate/benzoic acid are added to allow the product to
keep for indefinite periods which may cause their own problems due to the
formation of
carcinogenic benzene in hot bottled preparations. More modern cold
bottling as carried out by better manufacturers does not create the same
environment for benzene to form. However, if the product becomes hot at
any time during transport or storage, it is possible and indeed, a very
probable risk that
benzene will be formed in the formula.
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Oftentimes actual mgs of active ingredient, anthocyanins,
in a whole bottle of liquid Acai juice may be far less than what the
average person would consume by eating 20 or 30 red grapes. Before consuming
hyped up
liquid health drinks, you need to be sure that the manufacturing process
hasn't resulted in the formation of benzene. A reputable company using cold
bottling techniques should be able to supply independent lab test results to
verify their product is
benzene free or at least under the acceptable
official guidelines for benzene contamination in health drinks. If you
are already consuming a liquid antioxidant formula make sure you ask the
company for written documentation that their product has been certified free
of benzene!
The Health-Report team, have looked thoroughly into many of the
so-called wonder products out there and have come to the conclusion that
most are not worth paying anything for as far as health benefits are
concerned. As mentioned above, you may as well eat a few dozen red
grapes or perhaps black currants, or blackberries each day as pay for an exorbitantly
priced bottle of Acai juice drink which will have little or no effect on
your health.
Having said that, some manufacturers that supply freeze dried
powder concentrate have been able to maintain the integrity of the original
Acai fruit. Freeze drying means the manufacturing process does not
interfere with the good properties nor does it involve destructive
pasteurization and preservatives to be added as is the case with liquid "health" formulas, to ensure they keep for long periods.
Not all dried antioxidant formulas are created equal either. The
CERTIFIED ORGANIC freeze dried antioxidant product we recommend at the Health-Report
site is easily the best we have ever encountered... One serving contains
over 7000 ORAC
units. A months supply, is equal to
210,000 ORAC units. To get the equivalent amount of ORAC units from other
foods, you would have to buy the approximate amount of the following Foods or Supplements - 5 kilos of
blueberries - 24 bottles of Noni juice 8 kilos of raspberries - 10 bottles
of Goji juice - 10 kilos of strawberries - 7 bottles of Mangosteen juice.
The ORAC score easily exceeds the recommended level
of 2000 to 3000 ORAC units per day we are advised to consume.
Supplying yourself with quality "anti-aging" antioxidants along with a
healthy diet, is your first and best line of prevention against metabolic
diseases such as cancer and heart disease as well as preventing the onset of
premature aging.
Ask us where to buy the Certified Organic Acai plus
antioxidant formula in your country.
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