Acai Berry and Cancer

Acai Berry & Cancer

The popularity of the acai berry is growing every day. As a result, more and more nutritionists and scientists are researching its unique nutritional qualities and healing abilities. It was only a matter of time before someone ran experiments regarding the acai berry’s ability to fight cancer. The exciting results of that experiment are below, but first let’s cover a few things that may help you understand the acai berry’s cancer fighting abilities a little better.

Free Radicals & Antioxidants

Free radicals are nasty little molecules that come from pollutants, pesticides, cigarette smoke, etc. They attack the cells in the body and can even damage DNA. Free radical damage within cells has been linked to a range of disorders including cancer, arthritis, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes. Your body, of course, has a way to fight back. It does so in the form of antioxidants, which strengthen cells and fight off free radicals.

ORAC Attack

The USDA has a method of measuring the levels of these antioxidants in foods. It’s called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity score (ORAC for short). Where does the Acai berry measure up on this score? Well, it pretty much blows away the competition.

It’s been estimated that 80-90 percent of the world’s population fails to consume even half of the recommended antioxidant intake to fight the free radicals the body encounters in a day. Foods with a high ORAC score (like the acai berry) are worth their weight in gold to the health-conscious person.

Acai Kills Cancer Cells in Lab Study

Now that you know how the acai berry theoretically fights cancer; let’s talk about that experiment we mentioned earlier. The University of Florida published a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that found that acai berries triggered a self destruct response in up to 86% of human cancer cells. Assistant Professor Stephen Talcott says “This was only a cell-culture model and we don’t want to give anyone false hope. We are encouraged by the findings, however. Compounds that show good activity against cancer cells in a model system are most likely to have beneficial effects in our bodies.” The University will now study the effect of acai antioxidants on healthy human subjects. Talcott adds “A lot of claims are being made, but most of them haven’t been tested scientifically. We are just beginning to understand the complexity of the acai berry and its health-promoting effects.”

The Final Word

While the acai berry certainly isn’t proven to cure cancer, exciting research indicates that, at the very least, the high level of antioxidants may help your body fight it. Hopefully further research will reveal more benefits of this amazing food.