Acai Berry History

Acai in Brasil

The history of the berry from the Brazilian Amazon that is changing the concept of healthy food. Acai (açaí - a-sigh-ee) is a palm tree that grows in the North of Brazil. It is known by the native people (indigenas) as "içá-çai", which means “fruit that cries”. The Acai tree can be found all over the Amazonia region. To make Acai Roots, juice is extracted from the pulp of the skin of the seed. No trees are harmed in the process. For hundreds of years, acai (açaí) has been a traditional food of the native people of the Amazon – and part of its folklore, finding its way into legend as well as onto the table. Once upon a time, there was an Amazon Indian girl named Iaca, whose father was the tribal chief. His tribe had grown so large that there wasn’t enough food to go around. So, the chief decreed that all newborn babies must be killed. When Iaca, his own daughter, bore a child, the chief had his decree carried out. Iaca mourned her baby’s death alone in her hut for days. Then she thought she heard a baby crying. When she went outside in search of the baby, she saw a palm tree shooting up from the earth, covered in fruit. Full of despair, she lay down under the tree and died. The next day, the tribe found Iaca’s body under the new tree. The tree’s fruit satisfied their hunger and renewed their energy, and the chief lifted his harsh decree, declaring that the fruit would be named after his daughter (“Acai” is “Iaca” spelled backwards). With abundant food for all, the tribe grew and flourished. Acai has been enjoyed for decades by the people of Brazil. A bowl of Acai is usually eaten in the morning with breakfast. In the 1950’s, doctors began to realize the health benefits of Acai. In the 1960’s, the famous Gracie jiu-jitsu family recommended eating Acai before and after workouts. Recently, several new medical studies in the United States and Europe have found even more exciting health benefits of Acai. To learn more about acai health benefits click here.

Acai in Rio

Even though acai grows far away from Rio de Janeiro (thousands of miles), it was in Rio where acai gained a lot of publicity and some real powerful endorsers. Brought to the city in the 70-80's by northern Brazilians who moved to Rio, or "cariocas" (people born in Rio) who had roots in Para or Amazonas - acai started being consumed as a natural source of energy by cariocas on a daily basis. Cariocas are known for their very active and healthy lifestyle - and acai was a perfect combination. At that point another Amazon treasure called Guarana had been used for many decades as a natural energy booster, and since acai could only be brought frozen from the North - it was created the Acai Bowls Rio Style ("acai na tigela"): a delicious and healthy combination of frozen acai, guarana, fresh fruit and granola. This style of acai quickly became very popular with amateur and professional sports practicants such as Surf, Jiu-Jitsu, Capoeira, Futebol (soccer), Beach Volley, Futvolley, etc.

Acai Roots Story - the lifestyle

Our story with acai starts in the early 80's when our founders - all of us were born and raised in Rio - growing up and being spoiled with most tasteful acai smoothies and bowls on the planet. Two of us grew up in "Zona Sul" (South Zone) - the area in Rio where acai became real big first. Our third founder grew up in Barra da Tijuca - where acai was also part of the "mandatory" healthy diet combined with outdoors activities (playing ball at the beach, running, surfing, etc). The roots of our company were being slowly formed with the lifestyle and obviously lots of acai! Acai in Rio (for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to visit this amazing city) is everywhere, it is literally part of the carioca's life. You go to the beach you eat acai, you go to have lunch next door, you eat acai with your favorite sandwich or before you go to the gym, or just during a busy working day! It is just part of our lives.

Acai Roots DNA was created back then when we were growing with this lifestyle. Many years later when we met in California around 2003 we were talking about how great was growing up in Rio with that super active lifestyle - practicing lots of sports (all of us are very much into it), and having acai everyday - and that was a big missing piece for us: the acai. We all knew we could find some acai here (there was already a couple of companies bringing it to the US), but we all agreed it just wasn't what we grew up with. It was nice to be able to get it here, but the fact it was so different really made us decide to start Acai Roots. Plus we also knew that just bringing the acai wasn't really the big thing, the big thing for us was to bring our lifestyle - and that you can only do if you grew up with it - you can't replicate that.

Acai Berry Health Benefits

This is a list of some of the health benefits that have been seen with the acai berry.

• Boosts energy levels
• Improves digestive function
• Improves mental clarity/focus
• Promotes sound sleep
• Provides all vital vitamins
• Contains several important minerals
• Is an extremely powerful free radical fighter
• Acai has very high levels of fibers
• Cleanses and Detoxifies the body of infectious toxins
• Strengthens your immune system
• Enhances sexual desire and performance
• Fights cancerous cells
• Slows down the aging process
• Promotes healthier and younger-looking skin
• Alleviates diabetes
• Normalizes and regulates cholesterol levels
• Helps maintain healthy heart function
• Minimizes inflammation
• Improves circulation
• Prevents artherosclerosis
• Enhances visual acuity

Tell Us Your Acai Experiences

Please let everyone know your experiences with the Acai Berry.
Also, please feel free to post reviews of products that you have used.

Why is Anti-oxident Important?

Acai Berries, ORAC, Omegas and Anthocyanins

We know, just the title of this article is enough to have your eyes glaze over and fall asleep at the computer. Don't worry, we will not get too technical and boring, but if you want to learn about how Acai works its magic - you need to learn a little science…
What are Free Radicals and Antioxidants?

We are all made up of atoms. Atoms that have a full outer shell of electrons tend to be happy, peaceful and inert atoms. They tend not to enter into chemical reactions and enjoy a mellow life in your body.

Atoms that do NOT have a full outer shell of electrons are unhappy and unstable. Something is missing in their life - and they very badly want to get another electron so they can be stable and inert. These unstable atoms are called - Free Radicals.

Free radicals tend to move quickly to try to steal an electron from whatever molecule happens to be around them. Of course, whoever they steal an electron from becomes a new free radical and the process is like a domino effect.

Free radicals are not evil or bad - in moderation. Our body performs many functions and there will always be some free radicals created. However, if the level of free radicals gets too high in the body, you can run into major problems. Numerous diseases and health issues have been linked to high levels of free radicals.

One of the more common types of free radicals are oxygen free radicals. These are oxygen atoms missing an electron. You know that rust you see on the side of your car - well the same thing basically happens inside our body. Oxidative stress is what it is called when oxygen free radicals start to cause damage in your body.

What causes Free Radicals?

Breathing, eating, moving - basically living! Yes, basically any stress we put on our body can cause free radicals. While obvious things like polluted air, smoking, stressful events and unhealthy foods can cause free radicals - many "healthy" activities can also create free radicals. Almost any type of exercise will put stress on our body - we all know the saying "no pain, no gain". Well, all this stress on our muscles creates free radicals.

Antioxidants to the rescue

So, how do you turn a free radical into a harmless cell? You give the free radical the extra electron it so desperately wants. What substance can supply this extra electron? You guessed it - antioxidants. Antioxidants are any substances that prevent or slow the oxidation process. Remember, free radicals cause oxidation - and antioxidants prevent oxidation. Antioxidants work by donating an electron to a free radical so it becomes a stable oxygen molecule.

What is ORAC?

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. ORAC measures the ability of just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube. In short, ORAC is a lab assay that can measure the antioxidant activity of any substance and give it a number. The higher the ORAC number - the stronger the antioxidant properties of the substance.

National Institute on Aging developed the ORAC method and the US Department of Agriculture and Brunswick Labs have been instrumental in perfecting the ORAC assay procedure and testing various foods to determine ORAC levels.

While the exact science behind ORAC gets beyond the scope of this article, it is clear that if you want foods with greater antioxidant properties, you look for foods with high ORAC levels. The USDA recommends we consume 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units daily. In truth, 80% of the population is consuming less than 1,000 ORAC units a day. The USDA recommended "5-a-day" fruit and vegetable servings will give you an ORAC score of about 1,750 units.

Fruits and vegetables tend to have the highest ORAC values. Per 100 grams - Apples score a 218, Bananas a 221, blueberries 2,400. And what about fresh Acai? Acai has an amazing 5,500 ORAC score. More amazing, freeze dried Sambazon Acai actually has an ORAC value of over 50,000 per 100 grams. We will talk more about Sambazon Acai in another article.

How about Anthocyanins?

Have you ever seen beautiful purple flowers? How about a deep red grape or a bright red Fuji apple? If you answered yes (and if you said no - stop reading this article and go out and enjoy nature more!) then you have seen anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments that plants and fruits synthesize. Anthocyanins give plants and fruits their beautiful pigmentation - but it is not all about looks. Anthocyanins can acts as a sunscreen for plants and in fruits the bright color attracts animals which feast on the fruits and in the process disperse the seeds. However, the aspect of Anthocyanins that is of most interest in regard to the Acai fruit is their antioxidant properties.

Fruits (like the Acai Berry Fruit) that are exposed to strong sunlight face a tremendous amount of ultra violet light stress. This UV light triggers free radicals to form in the fruit. Fruits, such as the Acai berry, develop high levels of anthocyanins because they have very strong antioxidants properties and can quench the free radicals. Here is the interesting part - the antioxidant properties of anthocyanins are maintained even after they are eaten by another organism. This is why fruits with bright pigmentation tend to have the great ORAC values - they are loaded with anthocyanins! Yes, you guessed it - Acai berries have a tremendous concentration of anthocyanins.

The French Paradox and Anthocyanins

The French have a diet very rich in cheese, sugar, coffee, nicotine, sugar and white flour. With this type of diet you would expect the French to have a very high rate of heart disease, however, the exact opposite is true. The ability of the French to consume a heart clogging diet and yet have a very low rate of heart disease has been labeled the French Paradox.

Researchers now believe they have the reason for the "French Paradox" - anthocyanins! The French drink a significant amount of red wine and the the red wine grape, due to its anthocyanins is what is believed to be responsible for the very low incidence of heart disease. While red wine has a good quantity of anthocyanins, the Acai berry has over 30 times the anthocyanins as red wine.

Omega Fats - giving fat a good name

Let's face it - fat is not a pretty word. Most people would think that the phrase "fat and healthy" is an oxymoron. However, when you start talking about Omega fatty acids you realize that the right fats can be very healthy and beneficial.

The three most common forms of Omega Fatty Acids are Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9. While it is beyond the scope of this article to go into the full chemistry of fatty acids (and we would certainly put ourselves to sleep just writing it), suffice to say that significant research has shown numerous health benefits to a diet high in unsaturated omega fatty acids. In fact, on September 8, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave "qualified health claim" status to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids, stating that "supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease." While that may not sound like much, for the FDA to allow any healthy claim on something that is not a drug is very impressive.

Why do you need to know what Omega fatty acids are? Because in our next article we will talk about the fact that Acai is an excellent source of Omega fatty acids and we just wanted you to know that is a good thing!

Recap:

Wake up - the boring definitions are over! In case you slept through the above lesson - here is the recap... Free Radicals are bad. Antioxidant, Omega fatty acids, Anthocyanins and food with high ORAC values are good. Oh yeah, and the French tend to eat a lot of cheese.

Now that we know the general vocabulary used when discussing Acai we can move on to looking at the specific nutritional makeup of Acai and what makes it a superfood…

How the Acai Berry Changed My Life!

I'm over 50 years old and I'm moderately active and in pretty good shape. But I'm also overweight somewhat. Anyway, about two years ago, I was carrying a heavy crate of cables and I put all of my weight on one foot to step over an object and yow, I felt something rip behind my right knee. I've had never felt so much pain in my life and immediately hit the ground screaming. As it turned out, I tore the patellar tendon behind my knee. I put ice on it for a good while and after cooling it for a few days, I could limp on it pretty good. After a couple of months, I could almost put my full weight on my leg. It was still hurting constantly however. Apparently the inflammation from the injury had also moved into my knee joint and that was now just as sore and painful as the torn tendon. Constant knee pain is just plain miserable.

I finally went to the see a doctor and had x-rays performed on my knee. He agreed that I had injured the tendon and that there was a lot of inflammation in the entire knee. He told me to take a double dose of Naproxen for 6 weeks and gave me a bunch of knee exercises to do. Wow, and I paid him how much to tell me that? Anyway, thankfully, after several weeks the pain was mostly gone. Naproxen unfortunately, is a drug that is on the "dangerous to your health" list if you take it for too long. So the doctor told me not to take it for more than 6 weeks. My knee did feel much better though for a while.

However, once I came off of the Naproxen, the pain and inflammation began to come back. The exercises had helped too by strengthening the muscles around my knee but it was still pretty sore. But it was at least some better than it was before I had gone to the doctor. So I just put up with the pain and if it got really bad, I would take Naproxen again for a day or two.

Then one day months later, I went to my brothers house and he excitedly told me that the pain he had been suffering from for years from a neck injury was nearly completely gone. He told me that he had been drinking a fruit juice called Mona vie for a few weeks. He told me all about the acai berry and it's benefits. So I bought a few bottles from him to try out and much to my surprised I immediately began to feel it's effects. The pain in my knee slowly began to disappear and I had this energy I had not felt in 20 years. I had not changed my diet or activity level at all at this point. I just started drinking the juice. I also begin to noticed that the skin rashes I had been putting up with for years began to disappear.
I was sold and began to drink the juice daily!

During that time in my life, I was taking medications for allergy, asthma, high blood pressure, and pain. I felt like a frigging pharmacy. However, I'm now happy to say that I am completely off of all medications and I've lost 50 pounds in the past 7 months to boot. I'm not saying that the acai cured me of these problems. I did a lot of other work on my own too, like exercise. What I am saying is the Mona vie and the acai, and now other pure acai products I buy, gave my body the necessary nutrients and fuel to properly heal itself. Acai isn't a drug it's a super food.

The best thing I've gained by far from all of this, is what I've learned about myself and how critically important good nutrition is to maintaining great health and energy. Did you know that if you're not getting enough anti-oxidant in your diet, then you are slowly loosing the battle. I now eat an organic and mostly vegetarian diet. When I switched to this diet, I started to loose weight immediately. If you are having issues with inflammation and pain or sleep get a natural organic anti oxidant supplement with acai berry. I've been taking acai every day now for the past year and I couldn't be happier about it.

What I've learned is that our diet and our food supply in the U.S. is pretty terrible. All the preservatives, additives, pesticides, and hormones and the lack of anti-oxidant in our food supply are making us weak, rapidly aging us, and making us sick. The incidence of illness in the U.S. has increased remarkably in the last 40 years and even children are now getting cancer and diabetes at an alarming rate. That kind of illness in children was almost unheard of when I was a child 40 years ago. I'm am now a permanent user of acai products and I've never felt better in 30 years. If you interested in more info on the acai berry, check out the links. Those are the products I buy and they are all extremely high quality products.
Sambazon Organic Acai

Learn more about the incredible Acai Berry.

Why is the Acai Berry so amazing?

In alternative health, açaí is all the rage. While relatively new to the American consciousness, açaí has been around for centuries and has helped many people with its healthful qualities. In order to benefit completely from açaí, however, one must truly understand what it is and what it does.

What is Açaí?
Açaí is a distinct purple berry indigenous to the Amazon rainforest. The açaí fruit may be found in some of the large palm trees that grow in the thick forest; these trees can reach as high as 82 feet! Unlike cherries, which grow individually in trees, the açaí berry grows in bunches, more like bananas. One average, each palm tree can yield anywhere from three to eight bunches.

What's so great about açaí?
You might say açaí is fast becoming known as a wonder food for its versatility. Açaí has nutrient properties and is naturally rich in:
* Omega fats (the good kind, unlike the saturated fats found in fast food)
* amino acids
* electrolytes
* antioxidants
* protein
* vitamins A, B1 and E
* minerals

Only in recent years have people in North America discovered how açaí makes them feel energetic and healthy. Not only are consumers finding the benefits of açaí to their interest, but researchers and the media are amazed by the power of this small berry. NBC's Today did a feature story on açaí in 2004, and more recently researchers at the University of Florida tested the attributes of açaí to discover it actually destroyed cultured leukemia cells!

Will açaí cure cancer?
We can't say for certain. All we know is that açaí possesses some very strong health properties that may benefit people in the long run.

Does açaí cause any side effects?
Current research indicates no known side effects to taking açaí in any form. Though açaí has been around for ages, it is still quite new to the United States, and no doubt is still being observed by health professionals. However, the testimony of the overall health of the Amazonian people speaks well for this little fruit with big potential.