You’ve heard all there is to hear about the new ‘megaberry’. The acai, pronounced “ah-sigh-ee” is the great super food coming out of the deepest darkest Amazon basin in Brazil. You’ve seen it hyped on the Oprah Winfrey show as the richest natural source of antioxidants in the world. The New York Times will tell you that it is a little gem of a berry loaded with amino acids and all the right kinds of unsaturated fat. Everybody will tell you how great the acai berry is for your health and how if Dorian Grey had taken it daily he wouldn’t need that old junk portrait in the attic. However very few people are telling how to get hold of the acai berry.
You see the acai berry is 90% pip-stone (which is inedible) and the juicy pulp is up to half constituted of fat. Unfortunately this high fat content pulp means that it goes way off very quickly once ripe and picked. What they don’t tell you is that the very best way to consume this fruit is to go to Brazil for both of the harvest seasons and eat them direct from the tree. Acai berries decay in under 24hours after being picked. They’ll never tell you that you will see truck loads of acai berries bringing their cargoes of goodness to a store near you.
What we can tell you is that fresh acai berries are not a realistic option outside of Brazil but frozen acai pulp definitely is. There is a company called Sambazon, the first and still the best producers and distributors of acai have this excellent quick freeze method for preserving acai pulp straight from the plantations. So now we can also tell you that acai sorbet can be enjoyed in juices, smoothies and ice cream at an outlet near you.
So what can we tell you if you want a version of acai that isn’t frozen or in an ice cream? What if you want it in pill form so you can get the benefits while working out at the gym or sitting at your desk? We can tell you that Sambazon do this too. We can tell you that Sambazon call it a ‘freeze dried super food’ and it is nature made convenient for the modern World. In fact we can tell you in all honesty that acai powder is an improvement on nature because it is concentrated antioxidants and amino acids minus the water.
And here is the most telling statistic of all when it comes to getting into acai berries. For every 100 grams of fresh acai the ORAC score is 5,500 while for acai powder it is 50,000. Just in case you didn’t know let us tell you that the ORAC score stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, a scientific test that measures the antioxidant concentration in foodstuffs. What did we tell you? This acai stuff is great!
January 7th, 2009
So what is this acai juice? It is the essence of small (about the size of a large grape) berry that is the fruit of a kind of palm tree.
Where does the acai berry come from? It is widespread in South America. The Amazon basin and the region of Para in Brazil to be more precise.
What do the people of Brazil use açaí for? The eat it and drink it in many different dishes – from drinks and shakes to breakfasts and bars. Brazilians use açaí to flavor meat and fish dishes, too, topping them with a pulpy, curd-like substance made from the fruit.
Why is the acai fruit in such high demand? Not only is the açaí a tasty meal ingredient but is also renowned for amazing health benefits.
What can the acai do for my health? Acai juice is said to be therapeutic for gastric workings, dermatitis, low sex drive, and even sleeplessness. The açaí berry is naturally low in sugar, too. The University of Florida found that acai actually destroyed cultured leukemia cells and continue to follow this research route.
So does the acai cure cancer? NO! Don’t get carried away. All we know is that açaí is a great food with several health properties that will do you good as part of a healthy balanced diet.
Where have I heard of the acai fruit before? Only recently have people ioutside of Brazil discovered the advantages of this so called ’superfood’. NBC’s Today program featured acai in a story in 2004, and Oprah Winfrey pushes it on her website.
Where can I get hold of some acai berry juice? Get on down to your favorite juice bar or smoothie maker and you might find açaí as one of the ingredients open to you. Also, we plan to review all he acai berry products on the market and save you the time of going through every one. We test all, you reap the rewards 
Can I eat the acai berries straight from the tree? No way, they have to be picked when ripe twice a year and heavily processed because they do not stay fresh more than 2 days.
We hope this mini guide on acai berry fruit has helped you.
December 25th, 2008
Would Oprah Winfrey lead you astray on such a vital issue as your health? Certainly not, so when she promotes a food product such as acai fruit juice on her TV program and her website you have to listen up. The Acai is the berry of a palm tree that is known to Brazilians as “The Tree Of Life”. This is because of its health-enhancing properties. Dr. Perricone, Oprah’s health guru rates it at number one in his top ten of super foods.
So what is so great about this acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berry juice? Why would the TV food guru put a totally unknown plant at number one? Well of course, TV is all about hype and melodrama and frankly the whole idea of ranking foods is ludicrous and unscientific. So don’t go out and line up a supply of acai juice to put yourself on an acai diet to the exclusion of everything else. However this grape like fruit from the Amazon basin is a nutritious alternative to one of your daily fruit portions in your balanced diet.
Açaí is said to taste like a mixture of blueberries and chocolate. When ripe it is a beautiful dark purple color that is nature’s way of saying “come and eat me I will be really good for you”. And so Brazilians, especially in the Para region have been pulping it and juicing it and putting it in drinks and foods for centuries. Obviously you can’t go out into the rain forest and harvest a handful so you will need to find a specialist grocer or health food store. Oprah recommends the pulp in as natural a state as possible, without added sugar.
What really excites Dr. Perricone, apart from the sexy exotic nature of this cult berry is the large amount of antioxidants in each humble berry. Antioxidants, as all foodies know, help to slow down the body’s aging process. Red grapes are similarly blessed with antioxidants but only to about one tenth of the level in acai. The acai also has a life giving mix of mono unsaturated fats, those are the good ones, fiber and phytosterols all of which give your heart and digestion a really good shot in the arm.
Acai doesn’t stop there because it is a source of essential amino acids and trace minerals that are necessary to proper muscle function. In terms of fatty acids the acai is as good as olive oil. Oleic acid is a nice substance because it helps another nice substance omega 3 fish oil (also in Dr. Perricones top ten list) to get into your cells. And what fruit is rich in oleic acid? You guessed it, acai berry juice.
December 16th, 2008
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