The juice of the acai berry contains nutrients and antioxidant properties, but the truth has been stretched beyond acceptable levels of marketing practices.The story of the Acai berry and it's juice begins many years ago in the Amazon.
Apparently, an Indian tribe there grew so large that there wasn't enough food to go around. So the tribal chief devised a plan to stretch the food supply... He decreed that all newborn babies should be killed.
When his own daughter, Iaca, gave birth to a baby, he was afraid to show partiality. So tragically, Iaca's baby was killed along with all the other newborn infants.
Iaca went into solitary confinement, mourning her baby's death alone in her hut for days.
After many days, she thought she heard a baby cry, and went into the jungle in search of the baby. What she found instead was a huge palm tree deep in the jungle, shooting toward the sky, literally blanketed with dark-colored fruit.
Realizing that if this food source had been discovered earlier she would still be cuddling her dear baby, she leaned against the tree in total desperation and died.
The next day the tribes people went in search of Iaca, and discovered her body there under the tree... Along with the food supply that could have saved her baby and so many others.
The chief declared that the tree his daughter died under should be named after her, so it was called the açaí (Iaca backwards). The indigenous people know açaí as "içá-çai" -- which roughly translated means, "the fruit that cries".
Some Problems With This Product
Inflated ORAC values.
Many companies tout açaí as a "Super Food" and claim ORAC values in the high thousands (or more). ORAC is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities in biological samples.Fact is, ORAC numbers can and do vary depending on harvesting conditions and your own body. Many companies multiply the ORAC numbers by 100 grams to make ORAC numbers appear higher than they really are (for the amount you're ingesting).
Açaí is truly a great food, with strong anti-oxidant properties*. Is it the only food you should eat? Absolutely not! It’s really not even at the top of the chart on ORAC values.
Many other foods have strong ORAC numbers too -- red grapes, blueberries, raspberries, spinach... and many more. So strive for balance and include açaí as part of your big plan for taking control of your health*.
Be sure the ORAC values you are comparing are per milligram, not per bottle of supplement or some other inflated measure!
Obscure amounts of açaí, use of other juices and use of cheap fillers.
Pure açaí is expensive... therefore many products that contain açaí use token amounts of açaí, and load up with cheaper juices or flavorings. This affects not only the real ORAC value of the product, but also exactly how much açaí you are actually consuming. Many times, it's very difficult to tell how much that is.
Besides other juices which may have lower nutritional value than açaí's, some products are contaminated with fillers of dubious value, like soy lecithin, citric acid, maltodextrin, or seeds. (Remember, seeds have no nutritional value.)
High-quality pure açaí should be very dark, not a lighter color. So color tone is a reasonable guide to the quality level of the product. (source)
The reality is that consuming a variety of different fruits and vegetables in different colors, in their raw form, is the best way to get good nutrition for your body. There are plenty of these types of foods that are excellent sources of antioxidants and are nutrient-rich. Remember the days of "Popeye" and how spinach was the food touted as being the all-powerful, nutrition packed thing to eat for strength? Guess what, it's no different now. Spinach is still that same great food for your health.
While you may not get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, you might be looking for that 'miracle' supplement to help keep you healthy. Certainly there are plenty of them that are touted as being 'the one' to do that. There isn't just one. Many fruits and vegetables will help. That's why we recommend Juice Plus+® if you aren't eating enough of those foods, because it contains nutrients from 7 different fruits and 8 different vegetables. No hype. No promises. Just whole food nutrition instead of one singled out little berry that comes from a unique part of the world. Is Acai good? Sure. But your own backyard has everything you need for a healthy diet.
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
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