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Is acai berry a genuine weight loss wonder or just an over-hyped marketing creation?
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If you've been focusing your attention to the health trends of the last several years, chances are that the names of several exotic-sounding fruits have not escaped you. Among these fruits is a drupe that goes by the name of acai berry. The acai berry seems to have gradually grabbed a considerable share of the attention of today's health crazed populace.
Why, you might ask?
Well it's because marketers seem to have put out all the stops in promoting the supposed weight loss abilities of the acai berry. And a welcoming public seems to have wholeheartedly embraced and lapped these claims up. |
But does this fruit's supposed weight loss capabilities really live up to all that deafening hype? Does it really deliver? Or are these merely conjured up by an overly imaginative marketing machine whose arguments have been unquestionably accepted by a public so ready for a 'miracle cure'?
Why don't we try to find out?
Awareness on the acai (pronounced ah-sa-yee) berry seems to be at an all-time high. While it has been initially marketed as a weight loss enabler, it has also now been promoted as an anti-aging food and a tonic for general well-being.
These dark purple drupes are native to Central and South America . Possessing a taste that's said to be reminiscent of a combo of chocolate, berries and wine, acai berry has long been eaten by the people of the Amazon region to maintain their health and vigor.
And it seems they had a sound basis for that.
Recent test tube research conducted on the acai berry found that it contains a wealth of healthy constituents. These include omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, iron, as well as antioxidant polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins. The studies also showed that it is in the pulp of this fruit that the highest levels of antioxidant compounds can be found. Furthermore, it was found that the acai berry has a bigger antioxidant content than even blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.
Due to these findings, it seems like acai berry is at the very least, a potent source of healthy compounds that may be of help in lowering the risk of developing ailments brought about by free radical damage such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Free radicals are destructive by-products of an unhealthy environment, emotional & physical stress, as well as some of the body's normal everyday functions. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants may help fight certain diseases by neutralizing free radicals.
That being said, how about the various claims by health marketers that acai berry is a great weight loss food? What findings have the recent research yielded to support this?
Unfortunately, this claim is still not yet backed up by credible research evidence at this time. Even as the fruit has been found to contain a lot of healthy compounds, a constituent that purportedly contributes to weight loss has not been identified and isolated. Unlike green tea for example where the antioxidant compound EGCG (epigallocatechin-gallate) has been identified as responsible for certain 'fat burning' actions, acai berry did not show a similar compound on which to base the claims for weight loss.
David Grotto, RD, author of the book "101 Foods That Could Save Your Life", may have eloquently elucidated this when he said that while acai berry is a nutrient-rich source of antioxidants, "there is nothing magical about the fruit to cause weight loss".
The website WebMD.com somewhat echoes this when it says that "the jury is still out on whether there is something special about acai's ability to shed excess pounds."
It appears that based on current research, acai berry is not a 'magic pill' that can easily bring about weight loss in so short a time, as claimed by the ubiquitous marketers of this South American fruit. But it is a highly-nutritious food that can be placed alongside other berries that impart invaluable benefits to health and well-being.
So it thus seems that the old-fashioned way of achieving weight loss - healthy lifestyle, exercise, nutritious food and sufficient rest - is still the best path to take. |
HealthFoodBenefits.com
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