Acais Beauty Skin Deep
Mostly it's a pit - all but 10 per cent of the
Acai berry is inedible - but that doesn't prevent it from being one of the trendiest items on the food chain.
Where Oprah and Hollywood lead, it seems the rest of us will follow and both have touted acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) as being the best thing since, well, the pomegranate.
In this case, however, acai seems to live up to its impressive and growing reputation, and was recently declared a superfood by health guru and best-selling author Dr. Nicholas Perricone, who extols its ability to help reduce signs of aging.
Available in North America only in the last two years, the small, dark purple fruit, product of the palmberry tree, grows wild in the Amazonian jungles of Brazil where natives have benefited from its powerful health properties for generations. Generally pureed, acai is traditionally served as a sauce, consumed as a drink, or enjoyed as an ice-cream-like slushie and sold by street vendors in Brazil, where it's become an integral part of beach culture.
Acai appeals to the most sophisticated palate, its taste reminiscent of red wine with low but intense notes of chocolate, and has become a popular choice in west coast juice bars, where it's mixed with other fruits and fruit juices in a smoothie.
"Açai is a particularly potent source of anthocyanins, the powerful class of antioxidants that helps prevent blood clots, improves circulation, relaxes blood vessels, prevents artherosclerosis and combats cancer. In addition, açai is also a source of oleic acid, which in addition to promoting heart health blocks the action of a cancer-causing oncogene found in about 30 per cent of breast cancer patients," says Jon Barron, world authority on alternative health and nutrition and president of the Baseline of Health Foundation.
Low in calories and fat, high in fiber, acai contains no cholesterol and stores most of its goodness in its skin, which is also richly endowed with phytosterols, vitamins C and E, manganese, chromium, copper and boron. It contains more calcium than milk.
Research indicates that acai may help protect against viruses and prostate problems, improve lipoprotein metabolism and bolster the immune system-it's also widely considered a powerful aphrodisiac. Adherents swear by its revitalizing, energizing properties; the pulp is mixed with pure Brazilian guarana extract-a native seed ground into powder-which gives consumers a little caffeine-like buzz.
Because the açai fruit spoils so easily, it is not readily found in stores in the United States. "And even if it were, it's not really a user-friendly fruit. Only the skin has flavor and health value -- which means your only real option is finding either açai juice or frozen pulp in a health food store," says Barron who serves on the Medical Board of the Health Sciences Institute.
A dietary staple among Brazilian athletes, acai is harvested wild and demand is helping to improve the quality of life among the poor in the Amazon estuary.
Berrying the Competition:
The antioxidant content in acai leaves rival fruits struggling to play catch up:
50 times greater than mangoes.
Three time greater than blueberries.
Two times greater than pomegranates.
10 to 33 times greater than red wine grapes.
Acai products are available on online at Amazonthunder.com
"Can you get the nutritional value of acai from other sources? Absolutely," says Barron. "Olive oil, for example, is a high source of oleic acid. But if you can find it, açai is a great addition to your dietary program. It packs a lot of nutrients in one source and contains about 30 times the anthocyanin level of red wine."
Written By: Harold James
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If you get your health guidance from the mainstream media, you'd think the healthiest way to live is to guzzle red wine and drown everything in olive oil.
That's basically what they've told us in recent years. First, it was the "French paradox"--the fact that the French, who generally eat lots of cheese, cream, and butter; drink lots of wine; and smoke like chimneys, are healthier than Americans. Scientists told us it was all in the wine-specifically, in the anthocyanins-the antioxidant flavonoid that gives red grapes their deep color.
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