Amazon Acai Berry | Medicinal Effects of the Acai Berry
The Acai berry, or Acai Fruit (pronounced ah-SIGH-ee) grows on splendid palm trees (L. Euterpe oleracea) in the flood plains of the Amazon tropical forest in Brazil and looks like purple grapes strung on trim stems hanging down from the top of the tree. The Acai berry is about the size of a blueberry. The Euterpe oleracea palm tree can grow to an altitude of 65 feet in tropical areas. The locals frequently eat the young leaf buds like cabbage, which gives the tree another name – “cabbage palm”. This tree is also the supply of “hearts of palm”, an alien vegetable exported from Brazil.
The Acai berries are pulled out daily in the wild, and dried within 24 hours of harvest. The Acai berry is 10% fruit pulp and 90% indigestible nut, so the pulp must be cautiously separated from the nut, which yields a thick Acai fruit pulp product.
The Acai fruit has a tasty tropical berry taste and provides extraordinary nutrition. Some say the Acai berry tastes like a blueberry with a chocolate flavoring. The people living in the Amazon area in Northern Brazil have consumed the Acai berries for hundreds of years, and its therapeutic and sustaining powers are renowned.
Because the Acai fruit is fragile, it was not until modern freezing methods made long-distance transfer possible in the 1990s that scientific study into this amazing berry could begin in the USA and other countries outside Brazil. Now this “undiscovered” Brazilian Acai berry has become a media icon!
The Amazon Acai berries were lately featured on MSNBC News . The Acai berry is reported to be the No. 1 Superfood in the world.
In the Amazon state the Acai berry was conventionally used as an energy booster for hunting and improving libido.
Often called “the wonder fruit”, Acai berries also help decrease the risk of cancer, due to their antioxidant properties which are five times more powerful than Gingko biloba, a commonly-used herbal remedy product.
The nutritional value of the Brazilian Acai berries includes: high levels of Antioxidants, Omega Fatty Acids, Iron, Amino Acids, fiber, and many other vitamins and minerals.
Medical Properties and Health Benefits of the Acai Berry Fruit
The Brazilian Acai berry is recognized to have the following properties:
Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Anti-Cancer, Ant-imutagenic, Anti-inflammatory and Strengthens Cardiovascular System
The Acai berries hold very high amounts of essential fatty acids and omegas (Linoleic Acid and Oleic Acid), confirmed to lower LDL and sustain HDL cholesterol levels. They also include an amazing concentration of antioxidants to assist fight premature aging. The Acai berry is a intense source of a particular class of flavonoids called anthocyanins (red-blue phenols with powerful antioxidant properties).
The main anthocyanin in the Acai berries is cyanidin-3 glucoside, which has been found to be 3.5 times stronger than both Trolox, a Vitamin E analogue, and the prime anthocyanin found in red wine, malvadin-3 glucoside. Anthocyanins have been found to exhibit many potential healing effects, including healing of diabetic retinopathy (the loss of sight which often bothers persons with diabetes) and fibrocystic ailment of the human breast.
The ORAC value of the Acai berries is higher than any other safe to eat berry in the world!
December 29th, 2009 at 9:07 am
[...] makes the Acai berry a good food for cleansing your colon is its fiber report. The Acai berry fruit, which grows in the Brazilian tropical forest, has large numbers of soluble and insoluble fiber, [...]