The benefits of the Amazonian berry, acai, like other foods comes from its complex physical make-up. In that nutritionally packed little berry comes antioxidants, healthy fats, amino acids, photosterols, vitamins, minerals and fiber. These have all been popular discussions in the health world as to just how well these elements work for us. Research on the acai berry is discovering just how beneficial the nutritional makeup of acai is on a constant basis. It should be noted however that the benefits of the acai fruit are in reference to the skin and pulp, not the seed contained in the berry. Some manufacturers may add in the seed ground up, this is more of a filler technique by the producer to stretch the costly berry through the product being made. Products that try to state their inclusion of the seed in their product should be avoided, even when the company states that the seed adds extra nutrition. Do not believe this as there is no evidence as to that. With that said let’s turn our attention to the benefits that can be had from the composition of healthy acai berry’s skin and pulp. All the nutrients in acai work on the body to provide effective and efficient function in all systems and organs especially the immune, digestive and cardiovascular systems, increases in energy, enhances the libido and stamina, healthy appearance through the skin, hair and nails, a more restful sleep, helps ease inflammation in the body to reduce aches and pains, limits infections and gives a faster healing time, enhances mental focus and clarity as well as restores healthy metabolism for weight loss and has reported to be able to give anti-aging capabilities in mind and body. The high content of antioxidants are most likely to be responsible for most of these benefits and even more recently suspected of having the ability to prevent or at least slow cancers in progress. The other compounds help on their own terms as well such as the healthy fats and photosterols will help with cholesterols levels and with heart health. The amino acids are the building blocks for making proteins in our body, necessary for function of the entire body and also plays a vital role in regulation of the metabolism. Vitamins and minerals are essential to proper function and fueling our bodies while fiber aids the digestion process and helps to detoxify the intestinal walls. Some have claimed acai fruit to be a miracle food and although everyone wishes that were true, it can merely help the body to do what it was already meant to do, just maybe a little better.

The acai berry is just one of many but seems to outshine the others, even being mentioned as “botox in a bottle”. Aside from its reported anti-aging abilities, it has also many other claims surrounding its super antioxidant quantities. Acai cannot be purchased as a fresh berry outside of the Amazon area, but can be found as a frozen product to use with other foods or already in a food product or as a supplement. The acai fruit remains a popular source of nutrition for the natives of the Amazonian regions as well as locals in the Brazil locale. Acai has both traditional and modern uses in food culture. More traditional uses of the acai fruit is to eat it raw or to use it in a pudding type recipe or mixed with a granola cereal. Modern uses of acai has been greatly varied, including the use of traditional methods. Acai fruit have been used in juices, sodas, sorbets, ice creams, purees, smoothies, liquor, candy and even used in savory dishes. It is only a matter of time before it can be used in another manner. The benefits of the acai fruit berry has been compared most often with red wine with the high level of anthocyanins. The reported theory behind why the French have such amazing heart health is considered to be due to the average red wine consumption in the country. The high consumption of red wine is suggested to be the connection with the French having such good heart conditions. The acai berry is reported to surpass the red grape in antioxidants and the anthocyanins, suggesting that it can do even more for the health of the heart. Another lesser known quality of the acai fruit is the fiber content. Again we know fiber is good for our bodies by way of helping in the digestion process and preventing toxins from developing in the digestive tract. The acai berry through its fame has boosted many financial markets including Brazil and other regions of the Amazon and the USA. The tribes of the Amazon generate revenue through harvesting the fruits. Brazil increases their wallet padding by processing and shipping the fruits and the USA as well as others, benefit from using the acai fruit in products making them available for retail. Apparently the acai berry is super more than just for its nutrition.

Why? This is important since the nutritional makeup of acai is effected when heated. So therefore, if you are looking for ways to use acai in a recipe you may want to find a recipe that keeps it cold for maximum benefits in health. Try using a pure juice or puree product over a dish of ice cream. This keeps the acai cold while sweetening it with the ice cream. Another healthier idea for using acai, is possibly the most popular way to use it – in a smoothie. Smoothies can be made out of anything your imagination puts together really. Add yogurt, banana, some other berries, your acai product of choice and a bit of milk (soy, cow, etc.) for the right consistency. Try an acai milkshake by taking ice cream, acai and blending together. You could definitely add other things to it as well and make a smoothie type milkshake. There have been well-known companies making an acai sorbet or sherbet product, but why have all those preservatives when you could make your own with an ice cream maker. Again, other fruits could be added for a well-proportioned healthful snack. Another common way to eat acai is to blend it with yogurt, milk and vanilla. Place this mixture over granola and top with berries for an acai type parfait. Another options may be to use vanilla wafer cookies in substitution for the granola. Interested in keeping healthy while entertaining? Try an acai fruit cocktail such as the Acai Margarita created by the Aspen Restaurant in New York City, New York, USA. They put together two parts of Silver Patron silver tequila, one part triple sec, good splash of lime juice and an equal amount of Sambazon original acai grocery pack. Shake the mixture and pour over ice. Not normally used in larger meal preparations, acai has been seen to be used in a few savory dishes such as a chicken mole variation. Again, this is using acai in a cooked meal and may not provide the nutrition you may be hoping for it to have. If that is of no concern to you than try experimenting with acai on your own for your own unique recipe. The most common recipe using acai is the smoothie and when looking through the recipes for acai you will see the many variations of smoothies made using acai. The next common use is probably in cocktails. Acai does not have a typical sweet berry taste, so there are limited options for its use. A couple of good websites for acai recipes would include www.acairecipes.org and www.sambazon.com/recipes.html . They may give you a great favorite recipe or your next big recipe idea. Healthy acai eating!

Unless in the Amazon rain forest areas, this will be the case. Do not worry though since the acai berries are frozen or freeze-dried to give a frozen product to use in foods or making juice from or for use as a dietary supplement. A great website for people in the USA is http://www.acaiberryproducts.org/ . This website lists most of the acai fruit products that acai fruit fans have been able to locate in the USA, products that contain acai as a main ingredient, pictures and also review the products in order to get a good idea if that product may be what you are looking for. This done as a source for information rather than the many websites that try to sell the product to you, giving a fair report on the products. And there are many products, the most popular of which is juice blends. Acai can be found in its most purest form as either raw crushed berries in a jar or as a frozen puree. There are many juices most of which appear as juice blends. Acai fruit has been reported to taste something like a chocolate covered cherry, but do not expect it to be very sweet. A sweetener of some kind is usually combined with acai berries in order to be more enjoyable. Popular beverage mixtures are the relatively expensive Mona Vie that also contains other superfood fruits for a powerful antioxidant mixture or less concentrated juices such as V8 juice blends with acai. If you interested in the juice that was used in the Oprah Winfrey show with Dr. Perricone, then you would be interested in Dynamic Health’s Acai Plus Juice. It is a combination of acai, pomegranate, blueberry and raspberry juices. If you are tea drinker there are teas with acai added in to them. Have a serious sweet tooth? Acai candies would be a great product for you then – combining sweets or mostly, chocolate with acai berries. The sweet tooth can be indulged while receiving beneficial nutrients from the acai fruit and in the case of the chocolate acai products antioxidants and great flavor from the chocolate as well. Of course there are the supplement products as well and those come in a wide variety of options as well. Acai can come as a pure state or combined with other natural ingredients to create a super formula for great health. Acai supplementation is available in traditional powder or capsule form as well as liquid extract, sprays or patches. Purchasing acai products may not be as easy as shopping at your local supermarket, but can be found relatively easy. Natural food or health stores carry the many acai products and sometimes may be found at wholesale clubs. The easiest way to buy acai is through the Internet. Not only is it easier but the variety is really endless, simply perform a search and you will find many offerings. Regardless of the acai fruit product, they will all help you towards a healthier body.

The acai berry has hit the world with great force and is in great demand. The acai berry offers those who consume it many great things. The chance to boost energy levels, enhance mental clarity and focus, ingest vital vitamin and minerals, have a better night’s sleep, increase function of the immune system, add more fiber to the diet, cleanse and detox the body, aid digestion, increase sexual libido, speed up the healing process, help control blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels, maintain heart health, reduce depression, aid weight loss efforts, relieve arthritis inflammation, increase strength, etc. The benefits of antioxidants have been told over and over again through news reports and the like. Acai fruit has possibly the most antioxidants available in a food and this is why so many are interested in acai. The most common form to find acai is in juice form and because of its rather bland flavor, it is usually added to other beneficial fruit juices. The most popular acai juices are perhaps Mona Vie, Amazon Thunder, Sambazon, Bossa Nova, Zola and Dynamic Health. There are many, many more acai juice products available on the market today and that number is constantly increasing as large corporations realize the marketing power of the acai berry such as V8, Tropicana and even tea companies. Some of these juice products may or may not be available in your shopping area, so try looking for them online. Dynamic Health’s Acai Juice Plus blend has been in high demand since its use on the Oprah Winfrey show with her celebrity doctor, Dr. Perricone announcing the amazing benefits of acai fruit. Next in popularity may be the Mona Vie Active Acai Juice Blend, which combines the benefits of acai berries with specially selected healthy fruit juices from around the globe. The company’s research led into perhaps the most beneficial juice blend on the market today, but carries a hefty price tag with it. Amazon Thunder produces many forms of acai products, but one of them is a juice puree. The puree may be drank or added to other drinks such as a global favorite – the smoothie. This is not an overly cheap product either. Sambazon, Bossa Nova and Zola are about the same roughly. Bossa Nova is acai juice with options for other flavors added to the acai juice. Sambazon has wide variety of juice products and blends containing acai juice. Zola has original acai juice pulp and two other acai drinks that have either blueberry juice or pineapple juice. All three contain an added guarana seed additive for sustained energy levels. The right juice for your hopes and interests will depend on your purpose for consuming acai juice. For the most health benefits a person may want to chose a pure acai juice product, but if only interested in adding a healthy value to a good tasting beverage, a person may want to consider a cheaper and more readily available juice product. Narrowing your search among the many juice products may result from trying the product. Reviews based on the taste or flavor of a food, including juices vary greatly upon that person’s particular palate and are rather unreliable as a source for information.

Going back to the original formula in MonaVie, it contains first and foremost the acai berry juice. If you are not familiar with the acai berry, it comes from the Amazon and is considered as one of the top superfoods available on our planet. This little berry is highly rich in beneficial nutrients like antioxidants, phytonutrients, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. While beneficial alone, the acai berry juice is mixed with eighteen specifically studied and chosen fruits. These other fruits are also beneficial to the body in many ways. They come from around the globe to join the acai berry in a well-balanced nutritionally rich juice drink. While acai may be the star the other eighteen fruit do not take much of a back seat themselves. They are acerola, aronia, banana, bilberry, blueberry, camu camu, cranberry, kiwi, lychee fruit, nashi pear, passionfruit, pear, pomegranate, prune, purple grape, white grape and wolfberry in the original MonaVie blend. The MonaVie premium juice blends are designed for fast absorption by the body. The recommended dosage is between two to four ounces each day. While some say that the price tag on the MonaVie products are too expensive, many fruits and vegetables can be bought in local markets to have the same effect there is also the ease of using an already created product. As with most things in relation to health the debate will continue to go on and a consumer will need to decide what is best for him or her.

Many have come to know the acai berry from a segment done with Dr. Perricone on Oprah’s television show. For those who have not heard of acai berries before, they are the fruit produced by the acai palm in the regions surrounding the Amazon River. In the television segment spotlight, the acai berry was claimed to be the latest superfood. What is a superfood? A superfood is often given to a plant product that can promote many health benefits to a person. The acai berry does seem to fit into this classification. Depending on where you look for exact information the details will vary slightly, but all will come down to a single point – the acai berry is very good for you. Most superfoods will include fiber, vitamins, minerals and of course the all powerful antioxidants in large supply. Some of the leaders in the fight to be at the top of the unofficial antioxidant list includes of course acai, blueberries, purple and red grapes, pomegranate, salmon and many others. The make up of the acai fruit gives information as to why this exotic fruit is so good in antioxidant value. The acai fruit first contains a great supply of healthy fats which are good for us on their own but when speaking of antioxidants, the good fats allow the antioxidants to be absorbed in our bodies effectively and efficiently. The main purpose of antioxidants is to combat the free radicals found in our bodies which cause many types of damage to us from signs of aging to diseases including cancers. Acai berries are reported to be able to provide as much as two to three times the antioxidant power of blueberries and ten times the antioxidant levels than red grapes can and we all familiar with how red wine used in moderation is so beneficial for us. We get a variety of different antioxidants in the common foods that we eat and most will beans, grains as well as fruits and vegetables, especially the ones that have bright colors in appearance. Acai fruit just happens to have more of the antioxidants in its fleshy pulp. So what is so special about antioxidants? The free radicals, as mentioned briefly before, are the end result of cells using oxygen. It can be compared to a car’s exhaust being the end result of using gasoline. If the free radicals increase in quantity in our bodies, then they can cause more damage to the body. Since antioxidants play a seek and destroy maneuver on the free radicals, if we increase our antioxidant level within we can therefore decrease the free radicals and then reduce the damage on our bodies. Common health conditions associated with the oxidation damage caused by free radicals are cancers, diabetes, heart disease, macular degeneration and many others as well. Antioxidants have also been associated with aiding the immune and digestive systems. Aside from antioxidants, the acai berry contains other elements in its nutritional make-up that help our bodies in other ways as well. It does appear to be a super food.