Acai The Gift Of The Jungle Part 2

Continuing the reasons that we recommend acai.  You may have heard of the French paradox. The paradox is that since the French diet is high in potentially heart toxic foods such as cheese, sugar and white flour, the French should have a high incidence of heart disease. Quite the contrary their incidence of heart disease is very low. The reason is believed to be wine. That's right, wine.  The French drink lots of red wine. This wine is thought to protect them in spite of their diet.

Why?

Red wine in particular is rich in antioxidants.  The most potent of them are anthocyanides. Well the acai acai berry has 30 times the anthocyanine as red wine. Acai also contains a good amount of healthy omega 3 and 9 fats and is high in protein containing 19 different amino acids. Acai also is a good source of fiber, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and E. as we; as potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc. This is alot of powerful nutrition from a little berry.

How do we translate all of this information into your health needs. It is our opinion that some acai should be in everyone's diet. We have had numerous participants in our programs who have related improvement in their well being and energy levels are taking acai juice on a regular basis.  As we have said, we drink two to four ounces a day.

Do your homework before you buy. The acai market, like the market for all food supplements is not controlled by the FDA. All products containing acai are not equal. Do not buy acai products that contain the acai seed and do not buy acai products that are made by spray drying the fruit. Spray drying involves heating the acai to high temperatures and then spraying with maltodextrin. The high temperatures destroy many of the nutrients in the fruit and the spray remains on the fruit. It has no nutritional value.

Let us know if you notice positive changes in your feeling of well being and in your energy level after a few weeks taking acai.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Acai The Gift Of The Jungle

Acai is another nutrient that we recommend. It is available as either a juice by itself or blended with other fruits such as blueberry, pomegranate, mangosteen and goji. Acai is one of our top choices for nutrient honors, yet it is a substance that many of you may never have heard of. In 2004 the New York Times stated "Rich in Antioxidants and amino acids acai is thought to be one of the most nutritional fruits of the Amazon Basin." In 2005 Oprah named acai the #1 super food.

What are the possible health benefits of acai? Advocates claim that acai:

• helps maintain the healthy function of the body's systems
• increases energy, libido and stamina supports the immune system
• is a powerful anti-inflammatory reduces pain and soreness

Are all of these claims valid? We honestly do not know, but we believe that there is credibility in the story line about acai. We have pointed out the difficulty of finding valid clinical data  not only on acai but on  almost all food supplements. We take acai ourselves. Read on to learn why.

The Acai is a palm tree native to tropical Central and South America.  Studies of the traditional Cabocio native populations of the Amazon revealed that acai is a major component of their diet.  Incidentally these native tribes are incredibly health.

How potent is the acai berry? It has 10 times the antioxidant power of red grapes and twice that of blueberries. Tests have been developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure the potency of an antioxidant to neutralize a free radical. The most reliable test is the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity} The higher the ORAC rating the more potent the antioxidant. The current recommendation of the USDA is that we consume 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units daily. Unfortunately it has been determined that about 80% of the American population is consuming less than 1,000 ORAC units a day. These people will lose the battle against aging unless they change their eating habits.

Fruits and vegetables have the highest ORAC values. Per 100 grams apples score 218, bananas 221, blueberries 2,400. Fresh acai has an ORAC score of 5,500!

More about acai in our next post!

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net