A few decades ago, the acai berry was little more than obscure fruit consumed in the forests of Brazil. But today, it is one of the most requested and pricey fruits on the market. How did acai achieve celebrity status apparently overnight?

As you would expect, the arrival of acai berry to most USA citizens was on TV. In a 2007 episode of the Oprah Winfrey show, the world famous host extolled the benefits of the berry with expert guests who claimed the fruit couldn’t only help people shed pounds, but also slow the aging process.

The Acai Berry Today

An easy Google search on acai berries will yield hundreds and thousands of results and introduce you to numerous products, all of which claim that acai is a brilliant, miracle food. Some people even posit the little berry can cure cancer.

The berry itself is dark purple in color and looks a lot like a red grape, only a bit smaller. It is native to the Amazon forest where ithas been consumed for centuries by native Brazilian tribes. In fact, it is frequently said that the acai berry is eaten with such frequency that it comprises over forty % of their total food consumption. These tribes also harvest the berry to sell them to local fruit companies.

Coming to America

shortly after the fruit appeared on the Oprah show, requirement for the acai berry went through the familiar roof. Supermarkets across the country claimed that they were inundated with requests for the small miracle berry.

With this fame, the market demand spawned numerous acai related products. Currently, the most popular product is acai berry juice, which can be discovered in most supermarkets and organic food outlets. Many products can also be bought over the internet.

In the following couple of paragraphs, we shall try to separate the grain from the chaff, fact from fiction. We will begin by taking a look at some of the most typical claims of acai berry purchasers.

The Claims

One of the most common claims of sellers and clients alike is that acai can actually rev up your constitution and cause your body to use up more calories. This has pushed the diet-crazed Yank public to snap up the juice and related products whenever and where ever they’d find them.

It’s also said that the fruit helps cure sleeping disorders like insomnia and may even work as an aphrodisiac and increase sexual need and performance. Many folk also claim that it can improve mental clearness, very similar to Ginkgo Biloba.

What we do know

There’s absolute confidence that acai is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods on the face of the earth. This is critical because antioxidants help the body fight off free radicals that will cause damage to the DNA and can also clog arteries. However , despite reports by many eager users that the wonder berry can basically reduce getting older, it has never been proven that serious amounts of antioxidants can reverse, stop or perhaps slow aging.

But we do know that antioxidants increase LDL, the good cholesterol, while reducing HDL, the bad cholesterol. And in lab tests, researchers have discovered that the berry has ten times the antioxidants of grapes and double the antioxidants of blueberries.

The fruit is also claimed to be the perfect mix of antioxidants, necessary greasy acids and amino acids. This has assisted in making it an immediate success with athletes and other health-fixated people. It’s no question why professional South Yank football players often break on acai berries before any big game.

But how can they taste? Many consumers respond the berry reminds them of an exotic mix of berries and chocolate. Perhaps that it is why the fruit is used to flavor cocktails, make smoothies and as a topping for ice cream in its native Brazil.

The Hype Machine

Like most things in a client society, folk have a tendency to get carried away, particularly when dealing with auseful product. It is clear that the acai berry is indeed one of the healthiest fruits in the world today, and it can offer users an abundance of amazing health benefits. But nothing we have seen has proven that it is a real miracle fruit, and claims this small berry can reverse or halt the process of aging oreven cure cancer is a bit more than wishful thinking.