What Is Acai Berry

You've probably heard all the hype, but just what is acai berry, anyway? Don't feel bad if you don't know. Acai berry is a tropical berry that doesn't grow outside of Central and South America. So why is this important to you? Is all the hype for real?

See more benefits of taking acai.

Acai berry is the fruit of the acai palm, a common tree in Central and South America. Acai berries are reddish-purple fruits about an inch long--the size is similar to a grape.

Acai palms produce two crops of acai berries each year. These crops are harvested and used for a variety of purposes. The acai berries are not edible freshly picked. This likely makes you wonder, what is aci berry good for if it can't be eaten raw. Surprisingly, it is good for quite a lot.

Harvesting acai is more than picking berries. In fact, the entire palm tree is used. Often, the tree is chopped down and the palm heart is removed with one tree providing up to 50 pounds of this tasty vegetable.

The leaves, or fronds, are used for the roofs of houses for native people. The acai berry is used as a food as well as a medicine. In Brazil, for example, fresh pulp from processed acai berries is used in tapioca, mixed into ice cream and used for juice. Medicinally, acai root is used to treat many ailments, including:

• Diarrhea
• Jaundice
• Skin ulcers
• Fever
• Malaria
• Diabetes
• Hepatitis
• Hemorrhoids
• And many other conditions

What about acai berry is good for if you can't get it fresh? That is a good question. Sadly, there is little research outside of South America on this healthful fruit because it can't be grown anywhere else. Scientists see little value in studying something that can't be produced in other countries.

Acai: An Extraordinary Antioxidant-Rich Palm Fruit from the Amazon

A few studies, however, have been done by a scientist named Dr. Alexander G. Schauss. These studies led Dr. Schauss to publish the book Acai: An Extraordinary Antioxidant-Rich Palm Fruit from the Amazon.

Thanks to these studies, you can find substantiated answers to the question, what is acai berry good for? In this book you'll learn that even though most people can't get fresh acai berry, they can still enjoy the many benefits of it.

Even if you purchase acai berry supplements, the benefits of acai do not degrade. You can also enjoy acai as a juice or purchase it as a frozen pulp. Any way you get acai, you can enjoy a number of benefits due to the abundance of nutrients contained in these little berries.

Even though there is lots of hype about losing weight with acai, there really isn't any scientific evidence that backs this up as a special quality found in acai berries. To be sure, adding healthy fruit to your diet is a smart move, but acai doesn't have any special weight-loss powers. It does, however, have some other special qualities that are truly outstanding.

The one thing that acai has in very high amounts is antioxidants. In fact, it has been shown in studies that acai has higher concentrations of antioxidants than any other food! Red wine used to be touted as a great source of antioxidants, measured in ORAC Value, to the disappointment of those who do not drink alcohol. They can be happy to know, acai juice beats out red wine by up to 30 times.

Acai berries also are rich in plant sterols. Plant sterols have the wonderful ability to block cholesterol. Additionally, acai berries are rich in protein and many other vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Acai is a health food indeed!

Yes, acai berry is a good addition to a healthy diet. As more studies are done we may discover great benefits that have never been seen before. However, it is interesting to note that in North America, acai is an expensive "health food" inflated with exorbitant claims. In Central and South America, acai berry is a food for poor people. The part of the acai palm used for actual medicinal purposes is only the root.

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