Posts Tagged ‘health benefits’

Buying Acai Berry – What to Know

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

It is well known by now that the acai berry that grows in the Amazon river regions, give the purchaser some amazing health benefits. It can not be disputed that the acai berry is a great fruit to add to one’s diet on a regular basis. However, it can be confusing as to what to purchase and how to purchase it. Like most items of interest that become popular and have a spotlight shining on them, there are dishonest individuals ready to pounce on the unknowing. So it is your job as the consumer to become aware. And what do we need to be aware of when making an acai berry purchase? First place to start out would be to know a bit about the berry itself.

Acai Berry Information

The acai berry deteriorates fast after harvesting, so unless you are in South America, you will not be able to locate a fresh berry. Instead the berries are freeze-dried or frozen as a pulp and then shipped out to different parts of the globe. Companies will then take these products and use them for their product. Acai products can come in many different ways, the more is better to appease the different palates that people have. Acai can be found for sale as a supplement, as a juice or part of a juice blend, soda, frozen pulp, smoothie, frozen desserts, snack or health bars, candy or in chocolate bars. There could be even more than that as well. A good place to purchase acai is through a reputable and knowledgeable health food store or grocery store or online website. Again, be sure who you are making a purchase from is reputable. There are many websites especially, that are only looking to make money off the popularity of acai. Some offer free trials and then turn into a nightmare as a person tries to break off sales with the company only to find out he or she was enrolled in some kind of plan, wracking up money on the credit card. Other companies may not try to trick you into making expensive purchases, but will sell an inferior product. Often in the case of supplements, without looking at the ingredients carefully a person could be buying a product that has only minimal acai, but lots of other things that may or may not help enhance a person.

The best way to try an acai product is to try your local health food store, if you have one, and try a product made with acai as an ingredient and go forward with that. Pure acai supplements and pure acai frozen pulp will obviously give you the most concentration of beneficial acai per dosage or serving, but acai has a very unique taste that often requires a taste for. So trying acai in small portions will help you as the consumer, in what is best to buy. Some do not care for the taste and decide that supplements are a better way and others will like the taste of acai and love to experiment with new recipes for it. Smoothies are a popular way to serve acai in, often mixed with yogurt and banana and strawberries. Keep a lookout on your purchases, including your purchase for acai so that you know what you are buying.

Why Is the Acai Berry So Good for a Person?

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Much fanfare has been given to foods that carry high nutritional content, especially the ones that provide high antioxidant levels. With reason for sure if you look into why the antioxidants are so good for you. Some of these foods are commonly known while others are lesser known, such as with the acai berry.

This small little berry found growing in the Amazon regions has been discovered to pack quite the punch in the nutritional content categories, surpassing most of the known highly beneficial foods. So for good reason the acai berry has come into the spotlight and is being discovered further everyday by more individuals in search of a healthier body. As more people discover just how good the acai berry is for the human body, more companies are looking for ways in which to use the berry in their products, thus spreading the benefits of the acai berry even further. Just how good is the acai berry for you? What are the details surrounding the acai berry? To start at the basic surface of the acai berry’s health benefits, the acai berry provides high levels of antioxidants, amino acids, essential fatty acids and a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

Acai Berry Antioxidents

The antioxidant levels of the acai berry has been rated as the highest scoring of fruits and vegetables tested and as we know, antioxidants provide a world of benefits to the body in both preventative measures and restorative measures in keeping the body’s health at its best by removing the bad and fixing the good. As an effect on the body from ingesting acai berry products, there have been many healthful reports on many areas of the body. Among these are a smooth and lasting boost to a person’s energy level and enhanced function of the digestive tract. Mental and visual clarity and focus have also been reported, as well as detoxifies and cleanses the body of harmful radicals and toxins. A sounder, more beneficial sleep has been noted and an improvement in immunity strength also. The skin has been reported to be healthier and have a more youthful appearance. Many health conditions and diseases have been shown to be improved or eliminated from a person and these include diabetes, cholesterols, cardiovascular, inflammation problems and even cancer. The acai berry has also been associated with enhanced sexual performance and desires. The acai berry is obviously a great addition to any person’s dietary intake and can only do good for the individual taking it. The acai berry can come as many versions to the consumer, the least common is fresh unfortunately. Since the acai berry has a high deterioration rate, the fresh acai berry can not be located away from the regions in which it grows.

The most common forms to find the acai berry for consumption outside of the growing area would be as a supplement, as a frozen pulp or in a prepared food product that is ready for purchase. While supplements and the frozen pulp will give the highest benefit value, it can only do a body good to even get in small amounts of the acai berry ingested, such as with a juice blend.

Benefits from the Acai Berry

Friday, September 5th, 2008

The globe has paid attention to the new reigning “superfood”, the acai berry. Why? It has gotten it’s due recognition as being a berry full of everything good for a human body to consume – antioxidants, monounsaturated fats, essential amino acids, high protein level, a broad selection of vitamins and minerals and a source of dietary fiber. All of these elements make up for a powerful little berry with a lot to offer anyone who eats it. How can these compounds or elements of such a small berry help a person’s health? In many, many ways. The dietary fiber of course works to cleanse and enhance functions in the digestive tracts, resulting in a detoxifying effect. The essential amino acids and the monounsaturated fats work to regulate bodily functions especially the heart, blood glucose levels and cholesterol levels to name a few. The high amount of protein are great since our bodies are made of mostly a protein build and require protein to keep it in good working order. Proteins are also said to help lower cholesterol levels. The large amount of vitamins and minerals make up the powerful antioxidant punch that the acai berry provides. There are numerous reports of health benefits stemming from the large dosage of antioxidants that work to fight the free radicals within our body that cause us harm and come from the intake of the acai berry.

Acai Berry

The benefits go on and on from these antioxidants such as strengthened bone and muscle, reduction of inflammation and swelling which can help with those recovering from injuries or surgeries or those who suffer from inflammation diseases such as arthritis. Also improved by acai’s antioxidants are improved vision and mental clarity and focus, helping those even suffering from Alzheimer’s. More benefits from acai include a regulating of blood glucose levels, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. Many diseases have seen improvement or elimination from ingesting acai – these include certain cancers and diseases of the heart. The immune system has been shown to work better from intake of acai, as well as an improvement in digestion and a boost to a person’s energy level. Better sleep and improved blood circulation has been accredited to acai also. The hair, skin and nails has been noted to be improved with the ingestion of acai, having restorative powers that leave the skin in particular with a more youthful and improved look. These benefits are great and there are probably more that are not listed here, but aren’t these enough? Really. It should be noted that these benefits were noticed with more than the occasional sip off and acai juice blend, but rather these were signs after people had used acai as part of their daily nutritional intake. As with anything, a person should be diligent about eating healthy to aid in the efforts of the acai berry’s nutrients and health benefits. If you are interested in acai as part of your diet, consider how serious you are about that and that will help determine just how much you wish to add to your daily intake. If a person wants just a good dose ever now and then, a product that contain acai would be good. On the flip side, someone who wishes to get the most everyday out of their nutrition, would want to consider a pure supplement or a pure acai product to consume.

Shopping for the Acai Berry

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Looking to supplement your diet with the amazing health benefits that the acai berry has been shown to offer? So are many other individuals, which only increases day after day. Why? Because they try it and then know it works and passes the great news onto others. The benefits to what the acai berry can do is vast and highly in search of. Everyday people are searching for ways to get acai into their bodies in order to take advantage of all the wonderful reports stating just how good it is for the body. When you start your search for acai berries, you will notice that acai berries do not come in a fresh state available for purchase in the market or grocery.

Acai Drinks

Instead, what you will find is food products that contain acai in them, or you can purchase the acai berry in full strength as a supplement or as a frozen pulp product. Why is that? It is due to the fast breakdown of the active ingredients found in the acai berry that in turn provide so much good in the body. There is no point in serving fresh berries to consumers if they do not contain the well-desired nutrients. So in order to keep the berry from losing its health values, companies will freeze the berries after the pits have been removed. Avoid purchasing products that make claims as to using the pit or seed as added nutritional value to their product. It has been looked at and found that using the pit of the acai berry is more of a method to stretch the product rather than adding any additional nutrients to the product.

Unfortunately, like most other products that have the spotlight shown on them, acai berry products such as the diet programs do have scam artists willing to take your money and provide an inferior product. This can also be the case when looking for acai berry supplements, so just make sure you are dealing with a reputable company and do your homework before buying. This will also help in deciding which method of intake is best for you, the individual. Everyone’s likes and dislikes are different so you will need to figure out which method would be best for you. Also take into consideration what strength of acai berry you would like to be ingesting. Some people will simply add it to the diet when choosing a beverage and yet others will get very serious about it and choose to go with supplement forms or as a pure pulp product in which they can prepare their own dish and get the most out of the acai berry that is possible. There are also individuals in between those differing attitudes. It is up to you as the consumer to be informed and decide what is best for you. It has been mentioned that acai berry comes as a beverage, like juices or soda, and also that it can be available as a supplement or frozen pulp. It has not mentioned however, that acai berry can also be found as a dessert, snack item such as chocolate bar or health bar, and also as a wine. Acai can be purchased online, in grocery stores and in specialty stores like health food stores.