Have you ever heard of Acai (ah-sigh-ee), the dietary superfood?  Just what is it anyway?  It is a fruit, a berry that is harvested in the rain forests of Brazil, Central and South America.   It’s inch long reddish, purple fruit is a relative of the cranberry, blueberry, and other dark purple fruits.

There has been a lot of false hype promoted by unscrupulous marketers of Acai berry products.   The truth is, it doesn’t cure cancer, male baldness, or even guarantee you a flat tummy.   But don’t let the preponderance of false claims diminish the value of this amazing superfood.

Acai berries have five outstanding features that are genuine.   Lets take a look at them.

They are high in antioxidants. Oxidation is a normal process that takes place on a molecular level.   When oxidation reactions take place in the body, free radicals may be produced as an undesirable byproduct.   Free radicals, in turn, start a chain of reactions that end up damaging cells.   Antioxidants disrupt some of the “links” in this chain of reactions, stopping its destructive process.   There is 10 times the amount of antioxidants contained in Acai berries than there are in red grapes, and twice the amount found in blueberries. They contain an almost perfect amino acid complex.   “Amino acids” are complex molecular building blocks that make up our body’s protein molecules.   There are 21 such types of these building blocks, called “amino acids”.   It is rare to find a food like the Acai berry that contains all but two of these.   While our body can manufacture 14 of these amino acids “from scrap” from various food sources, we can only get the other 7 amino acids directly from the foods that contain them.   Beef and chicken have these.   If you are a vegan, you really have to go out of your way to find the rare vegetables that collectively provide these essential amino acids.   The Acai berry is almost a perfect food. They are, as other fruits and berries, high in fiber. Fiber is a vital ingredient in our diet as it provides roughage.   When our body eliminates solid waste, roughage helps move the waste along its way through our intestines. They are a rich source of Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids. These are “good” fatty acids.   They are good for your heart, and they also lower the bad cholesterol level in your blood. They are a good weight loss supplement. They may not help you lose weight by speeding up your body’s metabolism or by decreasing your appetite, but they are nature’s almost perfect food.   Eating a complete food like the Acai berry allows you to eat less food, while keeping your body nutritionally healthy.

Much of our grocery food these days is depleted of much of the vitamins they once had.   These days we really do need to supplement our diets with, well, dietary supplements if we want to feed our body with all that it needs to be healthy.

The information listed above is not medical advice.   Rather, it is meant to increase the reader’s awareness of potential health care alternatives.   For medical attention, advice, diagnosis and treatments, see your qualified health-care professional.

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