ACAI BERRIES

Ian
I was in a shop recently and saw a drink that contained acai berries. What are they and have they got health giving properties? Thanks DL Malin


Reply
The acai (ah-sigh-ee) berry has been around for thousands of years but was not introduced to the western world untill the 1990's. The berry is said to possess tremendous health properties (it is the superfood of the month!) and was first used by the tribes of the Amazon jungle as a cure for various ailments. The berry has natural antioxidant properties, as well as being a natural cholesterol controller. When eaten it helps reduce the bad cholesterol in our blood and increases the good cholesterol. The tribes of the Amazon knew of these properties and found out that it helped build the immune system, fight infection, protect the heart, and control prostate enlargement (nature's viagra!). It was a great energy food for the tribes-people.

The acaí berry comes from a palm that has a long thin trunk up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from which hangs ribbon-like leaves. Acaí berries hang from these branches in clusters that look like groups of bluebottles. Traditionally the acai berries would be picked by hand and people would shimmy up the tree and cut the branches from the top of the palm tree rich in acai berries. Now that the acai berry has been discovered as a highly sought after crop by the population of Brazil, it is mass-produced. It only has a 24-hour life span in which the properties of the juice are still active. The acai berries must be loaded into baskets and onto boats soon after picking. Each acai palm tree produces round about 20 kg of fruit per year and the wine produced by this fruit has become the most important product in terms of finance after wood forest products for Brazil. Belem in Brazil now employs over 30,000 people on a daily basis to keep up with its enormous demand.

Researchers soon got hold of this magic acai berry and realised that it would be of great importance in the well-being and health of the western world, our diets are often over filled with fat and fast food, acai is naturally full with energy, it has a vibrant taste of berries with a hint of chocolate, is rich in proteins, fibre, vitamin E, minerals and essential Omega oils to reduce our bad cholesterol caused by our western diets. The berries fatty acid ratio resembles that of olive oil this is thought to be a contributing factor to low incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean populations. Known as the miracle fruit, acai berries also helps in preventing cancer due to it's antioxidant properties that are five times more potent than gingko biloba, a commonly used herbal therapy product. The juice has been introduced into other products like bars and health snacks to be sold at gyms and health spars. Its history is important as by studying the effects that the berry has had on the local population of the Amazon we have discovered that its traditional use as an energy booster for hunting and good libido has lead to acai berry juice to being a very commercially viable, sustainable product that hopefully will employ people living in the rainforest areas without destroying their environment.

Environmental.