Why the Acai berry is important

So what does all this information mean to you?

Health is a very important issue to many people. As much of the countries health is increasingly declining, ways to improve health are becoming more needed.

Because much of the food we eat is filled with perservatives and chemicals, because the water we drink and the air we breathe isn't as clean as it once was, because of stress, and because of the impurities of life, our bodies are full of toxins, oxidants, and things that have a great potential to make us unhealthy.

One of the reasons why the acai berry is such an amazing and important fruit is that it has antioxidant proporties unlike any other. Antioxidants help to rid our bodies of the oxidants that are aging us, making us unhealthy, and wearing out our bodies.

With the implementation of the acai berry into your diet, you may see great changes in your health and well being. From getting better sleep, to losing weight, to many of the other benefits that the acai berry has to offer.

Acai harvesting and deforesting

One of the sad realities of the acai berry is that trees were cut down for harvesting. The fruit was originally not as widely used as it is now, but the tree itself was very widely used. The heart of the tree contains the "heart of palm" which is very popular as an export. Heart of palm is most commonly used in a salad, and is an ingredient that most people have tried - even though they may not know it.

Since the popularity of the acai berry has grown, there is now motivation for locals of the amazon to harvest just the fruit, saving the tree from being cut down. This is a very positive step, because must of the Amazon is being cut down in deforestation efforts. By supporting companies who help to preserve the nature of the Amazon, you are supporting the livelyhood of the local people, as well as the planet at large.

Some Cautions about Acai

Acai is becoming more well known. Due to its growing popularity, many people and businesses have rushed the acai market, trying to claim their own stake in the booming market. Because acai is becoming increasingly popular for use in nutritional beverages, supplements, and flavorings, some caution needs to be taken when choosing the right kind of acai.

Acai is rich in essential fatty acids, which makes acai a very perishable fruit. Once the fruit is ripe and mature, it is a short time after the fruit is harvested from its palm that the nutritional value and antioxidant content of acai begins to decline. Depending on the preservation process, unless it is processed quickly, much of the nutritional value and antioxidant content may be lost from the fruit.

Because acai is best used immediately after it is harvesting, finding a reliable product of acai can be a bit of a challenge. Depending on which form of acai you are taking, there are some things to look out for.

Do not buy acai based on the lowest price, because you will get ripped off. Quality comes with a price, and quality acai - the acai that has still retained its nutritional and antioxidant content - may be more expensive than its cheaper brands attempts at tapping into the market.

Due to the difficulty of processing acai, most powders and capsules of acai are not worth buying. If you do buy acai capsules or powders, it is important to look for the organic certification of the acai, to be certain that harvesting and processing methods use help to try and maintain acai's nutritional and antioxidant content. Be aware that the product has been freezedried and carefully preserved. Also be aware of the products ORAC score on their labels, which also give a good indication of the quality of the product.

If taken in the juice form, look out for some key factors. Color and smell are an indication of the quality and processing of acai. Real acai fruit is a dark purple, almost to the point of being black, so the product should be a very dark color (without artificial coloring). If it is light purple or a lavender color, then it is not quality acai (or in some cases may not be acai at all). Acai itself should have little to no oder, unless it is mixed with other fruits. One indication is that if it smells like sunflower seeds or walnuts, then it may be rancid. Once acai juice is opened, be sure to keep it refrigerated. Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from heat, as this can quicken the spoiling process - or oxidized. Remember that acai is supposed to be an anti-oxidant, so help to preserve it so that it will retain its antioxidant content.

Acai sales

Natural Products Insider, an online health network, put out an article in 2006, talking about the rise of Acai sales for the years 2004-2005.

The sales looked like this:

Although this is an old chart, it still shows a significant up-trend in people buying Acai. As knowledge of the health benefits of Acai have grown, so have its sales. Makes me wonder what the chart would look like if it were updated.

Acai and cancer cells

There is an interesting article that describes some research that was done by the University of Florida, in which the berry was found to destroy cancer cells. More specifically, leukemia cancer cells.

This is an interesting finding, which sheds some light as to why the aborigines that are native to the Amazon, who are constantly in the sun, have such a low rate skin cancers.

I don't think this is a conslusive cure for cancer, but any advancement to help cure cancer is needed.

Acai Juice

To get the juice from the berry, what first happens is that the berries are soaked in water. As they are, the skin of the berry is softened. Once soft enough, the pulp is squeezed from the berry, and the seeds are discarded.

Because the juice form is the most common, as well as the most popular, form of the Acai berry outside of the Amazon, there has been many companies that have tried to take advantage of the introduction of this superfruit onto the world market.

Some of these companies include
Mona Vie
Noni
Gogi
Xango
BossaNova
Sumbozon.

While many of these companies are network marketing in nature, they do offer a good source of the products with Acai. Not all are straight Acai juice. Some companies have fruit blends whose main fruit is the Acai berry.

How do these juices compare? One way that they are ranked goes back to the ORAC score (see "the antioxidant acai").

While some of the juices do better than others when rated on the ORAC score, Mona Vie tops the list. This is in large part due to the process of which the Acai berries that Mona Vie uses is freeze dried and then used in the United States. The company has a patented technology that allows them to pasturize and flash-freeze dry the berries, allowing them to retain most of their nutritional and antioxidant levels.

Acai in the news

One of the major articles about Açai was on Oprah. Then again, anything that is on Oprah is going to be huge.

Oprah's site

There are many news articles out there, especially lately

The Antioxidant Acai

In order to understand the importance of the antioxidants in the Acai berry, it is first important to understand what free radicals. In the chemistry world, free radicals are atoms that have unpaired electrons, which makes the free radicals very reactive.

These reactive free radicals cause oxidation to occur. Signs of such a process can be found in leaving a peace of metal outside in the elements.

When in the human body, these free radicals have damaging effects on the bodies cellular structure (like cell membranes or DNA). These damages by free radicals have been linked to a great number of diseases, among which are certain types of cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, cognitive disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Free radicals are also linked to the aging process.

The main type of antioxidant that is found in the Acai berry is anthocyanins. The Acai is one of the world's richest sources of these anthocyanins. They are what give the Acai is dark, rich purple color. These anthocyanins are very potent antioxidants. They seek out free radicals and destroy them. They repair and protect the integrity of cell membranes and DNA. They are also able to absorb radiation, including UV light.

A way to gauge the antioxidant level of a fruit is the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbtion Capacity) Value . The Acai berry ranked at the top of antioxidant fruits in the world.

Nutritional and Health Benefits

There is more to this little berry than just a huge seed. This little berry packs a punch (nutritionally speaking of course), and has now been thrown into the realm of a "superfood".

Because of its nutritional contents, the Acai berry offers a pleasing and natural energy boost, that can be enjoyed without the overstimulating and addicting properties of caffeine.

The Acai berries are an amazing source of:
- antioxidants - exterminates free radicals in your body
- anthocyanins - lowers your risk of heart disease (Acai has 30x more than red wine)
- phenolics
- calcium - helps strengthen bones
- Vitamin E - essential for repairing damaged tissue
- phyto-nutrients
- B vitamins,
- potassium
- copper
- manganese
- fiber,- keeps your digestive system active and healthy
- protein
- omega-3 fatty acids
- oleic acid (omega-9) - helps lower cholesterol, and helps your body absorb vitamins
- fatty acid

How is it used?

To the people native to the Amazon, the Acai berry has many uses, although the tree itself also has many uses. Ethnobotanists have found that there are more than 20 different uses that can be found in various parts of the palm.

The Acai berry is mainly used to make a variety of different fruit flavored products. It is used to make wine, ice creams, candies, a paste that is mixed with different foods, and so on.

The Acai berry first found it's non-brazilian users in surfers, who used it as an energy drink. From there, word grew little by little until it caught onto the mainstream, and now many people know about Acai.

Here in America, the most popular form of Acai is Acai Juice, although there are also various forms of Acai powders and capsules.

The seeds of the Acai berry have a variety of uses (this is for the seeds that are not replanted to grow more Acai palms). A growing popular use for the Acai berry seeds is to use them as decorative pieces in jewelry, fashion accessories, or as souvenirs for tourists to the areas. Among the natives to the area, the seed has been used for a variety of things. The oil from the seeds have been used to remedy scrofula (tuberculosis with swollen lymph glands). Sometimes they are crushed and used to make various teas (which remedy fever and jaundice), which are sometimes used to treat skin ulcers.

The root of the tree is often used for medicinal purposes to treat such things as hepatitis, diabetes, kidney disease, menstrual pain, and malaria.

What Acai tastes like

Although the Açai berry looks a lot like blueberries, don't be fooled - they don't taste like blueberries. Want to know what Acai tastes like? Here is what you do...

Get a blender, and the following ingredients:
1 banana
1 mango
1 apple
5 blueberries
3 strawberries
4 raspberries
4 cherries
5 blackberries
3 pineapple wedges
a cup of orange juice
a cup of any other juice
a little lemon or lime
a little honey

Ok, now combine, and blend. Take a drink. Isn't that good? Ok, the smoothie you made tastes NOTHING like Acai, but hey, you did just make a great smoothie!

So what would you expect to experience if you popped one of these little black (or purple) wonders into your mouth and bit down? Well, first of all, you would probably break a tooth. Each Acai berry has a large (in comparison to the rest of the berry) seed in its center, which would be responsible for having one less tooth. The seed itself takes up about 80% of the berry, but the 20% remaining is what gives the Acai berry its magic.

For people that have had the opportunity to eat the Acai berry fresh from the tree, they say it is comparable to boysenberry, or cherries, but with a "chocolate overtone."

Unfortunately for anyone outside the Amazon, it is only available in freeze dried or powder form, or in the more common juice form

What is Açai?

Açai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) is a fruit, a berry. Well, first its a tree, then its a berry. Ok, first it is a seed, then a tree, then a berry.

In the regions of Brazil, it is called acai, assai, acai-do-baixo, acai-do-para, acaizeiro, piria, jicara, palmiteiro, and Amazonas.
In English, the Açai is also called cabbage palm (but less used now).

The Açai Palm tree looks like many typical palm trees, although you won't find any of these in Palm Beach, CA. It is native to South American, only growing in the Amazon jungle area. It is found mainly along floodplains, swamps, and other saturated and humid areas. Most Acai palm trees grow to 25 feet, very slender, with a full plum of branches.

Most people have had part of this tree before. The inside of the palm is cut out and used as a salad bar delicacy that we know as "heart of palm".

Each Açai palm has shoots of thick bunches of Açai berries. Each branch can hold up to 700-900 of these little Açai berries. It gets pretty crowded on such a small branch, and so the berries are harvested twice a year, usually from July to December, with each stem producing around four to eight bunches.


The seed starts out a green color in its early development stages. As the berries mature, then turn a very dark, rich, color of purple (they get bigger too, but that is kind of a given). The berry itself is about an inch in diameter, roughly the size of a grape, but with the appearance of a blueberry.