Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Acai Berry - The World's Number One Superfood?

By Dan da Silva

Very few people realize the fact that our body is becoming a hub of different toxins day by day; thanks to the pollution in the air we breathe and the food we eat. Right from sleep disorders to hormonal imbalances, people all over the world are worried about the gradual health deterioration. The irony is that we can hardly do something to arrest that. Well, at least that is what we could have concluded before the world came to know of this super food called Acai berry. If you are expected to deliver like a super human, you are also supposed to have some super food ingredient in your diet.

The acai berry (pronounced ah-sigh-ee berry) has now been recognized as a fruit that has immense healing powers and antioxidant properties. It is a small grape " like fruit that grows mostly in the Amazon rain forests in Brazil. The natives of this forest need not be introduced to this berry. This has been a part of their standard diet for hundreds of years. Well, we now know for sure how these tribals manage to live comparatively healthier lives without the intervention of modern medical science. Though the fruit is native to Brazil, it is now used all over the world for the health benefits it offers. The fruit is in huge demand but, as things too good are not available in plenty; the acai berry is also not available in plenty. By that we mean to say that the whole of the fruit is not edible. Most of the fruits body is occupied by its seed. The fruits undergo a complex process pulp extraction and it is only then that we get the mushy edible pulp which is full of nutrients. Because of this reason the fruit is grown in thousands, so that the extract is marketable.

The acai berry owes its popularity to Dr. Nicholas Perricone who is considered to be one of the most eminent anti aging experts on the planet. In his best selling book The Perricone Promise, the berry has been called as the Number one super food in the world. The announcement has been made in popular T.V shows such as The Oprah also. Once again America takes credit for discovering and gifting this wonder fruit to human kind.

Some people believe that calling the berry as the best super food is an overstatement. However the truth is that the acai berry has some of the most powerful free " radical fighting antioxidants on earth. The contents have not been found so far in any other fruit on the planet. It has also been seen that the most popular fruits on the planet do not even come close to the level of antioxidants present in the acai berry

All said and done, the question is how can the presence of powerful antioxidants give the berry its celebrity status? Well, antioxidants are known to help us in different ways. They fight the free radicals that get accumulated in our system through pollution, smoking, drinking and also unhealthy life styles. A glass of acai berry juice can absorb all those bad elements and clean the system. That is again the same reason why acai berry can keep your wrinkles at bay and make you look younger. The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity of acai berry is very high as compared to other fruits and that is why it functions like a sponge which absorbs all the harmful radicals that enter our system. Not only is it capable of offering anti " aging solutions, it is also capable increasing the life expectancy of humans, as suggested by ongoing studies.

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