You may not know about Acai Berry but Rachel Ray is raving about this little Amazon berry. It has also been featured on the Oprah show. It is one of the 10 superfoods promoted by Dr Perricone. Studies have shown that this little berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world! Acai berries are the high-energy berry of a special Amazon palm tree.

Acai berries are only found in the Amazon rainforests and they taste like a mixture of the richness of chocolate and the tang of berries. Acai berry is full of health promoting things such as essential fatty acids and antioxidants. Although acai may not be available in Loblaws, but you can readily find this gem in health food stores.

Among the many benefits of Acai is that it can prevent and sometimes reverse signs of aging. A mixture of antioxidants assist in fighting premature aging. Acai has 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and up to 25 times then the established health benefits of red wine. These antioxidants work together to keep your skin soft and smooth and supple and youthful looking. Acai can also actually reverse some pre-existing facial wrinkles.

Acai also contains a super healthy combo of dietary fiber, healthy fats, and phytosterols. This mixture of elements work perfectly together to aid and promote cardiovascular health. Phytosterols that are found in plant sources are effective in treating conditions such as arthritis and high cholesterol. The healthy plant sterols act to block absorption sites faster than those of animal sterol (cholesterol), and therefore reduce the total amount of cholesterol absorbed by the body. Total cholesterol levels can be reduced by the consumption of plant source phytosterols. This represents a remarkable health benefit to anyone prone to high cholesterol.

Acai berries also contain an extremely healthy essential amino acid complex which act in conjunction with valuable trace minerals to promote proper muscle health regeneration and contraction.

The health benefits of acai berry are numerous and varied. The important essential fatty acid content of acai is very similar to that of healthy oils such as flax seed oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil and olive oil. It is also is a great source of oleic acid.

Oleic acid is critical to good health for a number of reasons. Oleic acid helps omega-3 rich oils such as fish oil go into the membranes of our cells; together they help make cell membranes healthier by making them more flexible. By keeping our cell membranes supple and flexible, our cells can function more efficiently. This benefit can not be overstated as high insulin levels create an inflammation, and inflammation causes premature aging. From another health perspective, oleic acid exhibits other benefits as it has been shown to prevent the progression of dangerous and deadly heart disease.

The oleic acid found in acai berry is also used as an ingredient in Lorenzo’s oil. This oil was made famous in a movie about a parents search for a cure for their son’s mystery illness. This medication prevents the onset of adrenoleukodystrophy which is a condition effecting boys that causes symptoms similar to those seen in multiple sclerosis patients. Although not a complete cure, Lorenzo’s oil can delay onset or progression of the ALD in those who do not yet show signs of the disease..

There seem to be many reasons to at least try the acai berry diet. The taste alone, berries plus dark chocolate, sounds compelling.

Tags: acai, acai berry, Diet, diet pills, diets, Weight Loss

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 8:24 am and is filed under Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.