Mark Knopfler

There has been plenty of discussion lately about the positive benefits of an acai diet. Acai is a wonderful little fruit from the Amazon region which has been widely billed as the newest — and most potent — super food.

The benefits of an acai diet are many fold: increase in energy, improved digestive system, assistance to your body’s immune system, and, most importantly, combating of the effects of aging. This latter reason is the most obvious fuel to the fire that is the massive increase in people taking up an acai diet. The simply fact is that people everywhere are searching for a ‘cure’ to the ‘problem’ of aging.

And an acai diet really can work. Not only does acai combat the physical effects of advancing age — increasing energy and allowing the skin to stay supple and wrinkle free — but it also does an excellent job of improving the mental health of those taking acai as part of their diet. Overall acai provides access to an overwhelming feeling of well being.

Oprah Winfrey raves about Acai as a weight loss supplement on her show, and lists it as the #1 superfood for age defying and other health benefits. The following quote can be found on her website “ This little berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world!”

Of course it’s not just Oprah that is raving about Acai – its been featured on scores of tv shows like Rachel Ray, and are all over the internet in recent months. But just what are acai berries? This short article attempts to address this question that is on a lot of peoples’ lips.

Lose Weight with Acai Berry
Acai can be a great weight loss aid. The berry’s incredibly high levels of essential fatty acids, fiber, phytosterols and amino acids work together to help your body burn fat more efficiently, process food more quickly and shed the unwanted pounds that you’d like to lose.

Antioxidants
Acai berries have far more antioxidants than any other fruit – three times as much as blueberries, which is second. Besides that, the nutrients in acai berry help many other diseases, from diabetes to arthritis to blood clotting.

Fatty Acids
Did you know Acai Berries are the only fruit to contain appreciable amounts of fatty acids? Don’t be fooled by the terminology though, some fatty acids are good. Our bodies need essential fatty acids to maintain proper health. We are unable to produce Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. It just so happens that these fatty acids are plentiful in Acai berries. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids help increase your metabolism. The are also very effective at inhibiting hunger. Both of which helps you to lose weight more quickly. In providing these Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, the Acai berry can help you shed those extra pounds.

Fiber
Acai contains a generous amount of fiber, which helps your digestive tract to move food through your body. In this way, excess food is eliminated rather than absorbed and turned into fat. Similar to the fatty acids mentioned above, fiber also helps to satiate hunger.

Amino Acids
The Acai berry is rich with amino acids, which are widely known as the building blocks of protein. Your muscles need these amino acids in order to operate properly, and to regenerate from resistance training trauma or other exercise stress. Since the fatty acids in Acai increase your metabolism and the amino acids build your muscles, we can say that the nutrients in Acai berries help your body burn fat and energy more efficiently, causing you to lose weight.

Phytosterols
These building blocks of cell membranes help fortify your digestive tract, moving waste materials out and absorbing nutrients more efficiently. Acai berries are an excellent source of Phytosterols.

Disease Fighting and other Health Benefits
Published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a study showed that extracts from acai berries triggered a self-destruct response in up to 86 percent of leukemia cells tested.

Acai berries are already considered one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants,” said Stephen Talcott, an assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “This study was an important step toward learning what people may gain from using beverages, dietary supplements or other products made with the berries.

Why Use Acai ?
I personally enjoy the Acai Berry because of it’s antioxidant properties. In this day and age of phytoestrogens, chemicals, pesticides, and other nasty environmental toxins, we can’t get enough antioxidants. Others swear by it as a weight loss aid and energy booster. Less proven, but also important, are the disease fighting properties that are being subscribed to the wonder berry. Whatever your reason for interest in trying Acai Berry products, below are the 2 most common forms that you will find outside of Brazil.

Acai Berry Supplements
Supplements are the most convenient way to get your Acai Berry. But beware – there are some unscrupulous sellers who push garbage and dissappear tomorrow. In particular, stay far away from the “Free Trial” offers. They say you only need to pay some nominal amount for shipping, like $3.95. But they get your credit card number, then keep shipping you more product at exhorbitant amounts like $89. They hide the fact you signed up for a subscription, and make it very hard to contact someone to cancel. A huge rip-off. So, which should you try? The best we can recommend right now is Acai Pure. This is a 100% acai berry product is not gummed up with fillers or additives. It is not loaded with accessory supplements for marketing purposes. AcaiPure includes only the highest grade Acai powder available anywhere on the planet, and is America’s #1 anti-oxidant cleansing formula! You can find numerous polls around the web that rank Acai Pure higher than most other acai berry products. Acai Pure is always ranked in the top 3 and is often rated #1.

Acai Juice or Drinks
You can get acai juice products from various MLM companies like Monavie. You can also go to your local health food store, GNC, Vitamin World, etc… and get an acai juice product. Unfortunately, these Acai berry juice supplements are notoriously full of sugar or are diluted with other fruit juices so much that they are not even worth taking for the health benefits. The only one I have been able to find that is 100% Acai, with no water or other fruit juices mixed in is Amazon Thunder.

You know it’s not diluted as soon as you open the bottle and try to pour it out. I say “try” because its sometimes like pouring ketchup. It’s closer to a paste than a juice. This tells your right away you’ve got nothing but mashed acai berries. I must say, I found the taste a little strange at first, but am now totally addicted to it! I believe this is by far the most concentrated, undiluted, and intact form of Acai and the best way to get all the nutritional benefits from this wonder berry. The only problem is the convenience factor is not as great as a supplement form.