What is the Acai Berry

2. What is the Acai Berry?

The acai berry (pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”) is a small grape-sized berry that grows in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil. Natives of the region have harvested this berry as part of their diet for hundreds of years.

The much desired acai fruit is only 10% of the actual berry. The other 90% is made up of the seed or pit. The acai berry is harvested by the thousands and put through a process that separates the pulp from the seed to produce a thick, edible puree.

America Discovers the Acai Berry

Although the acai berry is legendary in Brazil, only recently has its popularity spread to America. Doctors, scientists, nutritionists and countless media outlets rave about its many nutritional qualities and health benefits. This recent surge of interest in the acai berry has been aided by Bestselling author and anti-aging expert Dr. Nicholas Perricone who has touted the berry as the “Number one super food in the world” in his book “The Perricone Promise” and in appearances on TV shows such as Oprah. Calling the acai berry “the number one super food in the world” might sound like a stretch, but this view is not unfounded. The little berry is packed with an amazing amount of free-radical fighting antioxidants and is considered to have the best overall nutritional value of any fruit on earth.

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a method used by the USDA of measuring antioxidant capacities of different foods. Other popular fruits don’t even come close to the antioxidant power of the acai berry.


Acai Power

All this talk about antioxidants and nutritional value, what does it mean exactly? In simple terms, the acai berry can help:
 Support the immune system
 Aid in weight loss
 Improve digestion
 Reduce pain and soreness
 Promote healthy sleep
 Increase energy & stamina
 Increase libido
 Fight cancer & disease
 Lower blood pressure
 Fight aging & inflammation
 Protect against heart disease

Palate Pleaser

With all of this nutritional value and antioxidants, the acai berry must taste awful, right? Wrong. The acai berry has a flavor that is best described as a delicious blend of berries and chocolate. Perhaps that’s why the Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about how acai berry is replacing wheatgrass as the drink of choice at health bars all over the country.

Acai Berry Diet

Not only is acai berry replacing wheatgrass as the new health fad, it also seems to be the newest fad diet as well. Clever companies are realizing what a huge discovery acai berry is and capitalizing on it with heavily marketed diet supplements. While many of these weight loss claims are exaggerated, the acai berry has been scientifically proven to contain several key ingredients that aid in boosting the metabolism, suppressing appetite, and building muscle tone.