#11: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth

00Angela00

This is day eleven of our education of the 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. Woo Hoo! Some of these you won't be surprised by, some you will. I'll take one out of each food group each day to mix it up a bit.

All information is from the book by jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth".

Day 11: Acai Berry Juice

Acai berries grown on an Amazon palm tree and have been prized for hundreds of years by Brazilian natives for their ability to provide a sense of strength and energy and a high nutritional content. The juice tastes like and interesting blend of berries and chocolate

“The acai berry got the best public relations boost any food could possibly hope for when Dr. Nicholas Perricone picked it as one of his ten top antiaging superfoods and it was subsequently featured on Oprah, giving this little Brazilian native instant celebrity. Does it deserve the hype? The answer is a qualified maybe. I’d never call the acai berry one of the ten top antiaging foods on the planet. But put the acai berry into a search engine and you’ll find no shortage of ringing endorsements and glowing testimonials about its powerful health benefits. Unfortunately, most of these come from companies that are marketing acai berry juice. That doesn’t mean there isn’t great stuff in this berry—there is. But it does mean that you should take the hype with a lot more than a grain or two of salt.”

•The berry is rich in antioxidants

•Rich in anthocyanins, that have an extremely high antioxidant activity and can reduce inflammation and protect blood vessels and the nervous system, including the brain

•Contains a rich diversity of polyphenols that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer

•Though there is no published human trains, one study showed that extracts from acai berries triggered a self-destruct response in up to 86% of leukemia cells in a test tube

•One researcher said that the acai berry showed a lot of promise, but that it would be a stretch to assume that it contained compounds you couldn’t get elsewhere (in other fruits and vegetables and in tea and wine, for example). That doesn’t mean it’s not a great food—just that it’s no magic bullet.

WORTH KNOWING

The acai berry itself—which is difficult to find and not usually consumed outside of Brazil—is rich in a number of compounds, including healthy fats. Which of these compounds—specifically the fats—survives in the juice depends on the philosophy and methods of the manufacturer.

For the previous posts:
day one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57017--1-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day two: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57180--2-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day three: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57278--3-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day four: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57482--4-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day five: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57516--5-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day six: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57602--6-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day seven: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57689--7-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day eight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57791--8-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day nine: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/57940--9-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth
day ten: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/58069--10-the-150-healthiest-foods-on-earth

jfilon

Hah, I totally agree! While its antioxidant benefits are aplenty, it's been getting a lot of hype. Still, I love the taste of it. Make amazing smoothies. . . :drinker:

Oh and just so everyone is aware - it is pronounced "ah-sigh-eee". Not "ah-kai". My friend lived in Brazil for two years and it is his absolute biggest pet peeve when people pronounce it that way hahaha.

rosabella

These are the most awesome posts!! Thank you SOOO much!!!

jb_sweet_99

Yet another wonderfully informative post!! Thanks again Angela! :flowerforyou:

JoyousMaximus

These things are pretty tasty but they are SO expensive! They were selling them dried at Henry's (a grocery chain in CA). It was $25 for a 6oz bag! I'll stick to blueberries.

bperucco

I love the new energy drink that is out featuring Acai. As far as I know, there is only one company that actually freeze dries them rather than spray drying them, which preserves 95% of the nutritional value since we can't go pick the fruit ourselves off of the palm.

Acai has made quite a difference in my life! Great find!

Also, you might want to research Dr. Alexander Schauss (spelling might be off). He is one of the most famed researched for the Acai berry and even has a couple of books out on it.

00Angela00

These things are pretty tasty but they are SO expensive! They were selling them dried at Henry's (a grocery chain in CA). It was $25 for a 6oz bag! I'll stick to blueberries.

WOW! I can't believe their that expensive! Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm sold enough on them to spend that much money!

00Angela00

Hah, I totally agree! While its antioxidant benefits are aplenty, it's been getting a lot of hype. Still, I love the taste of it. Make amazing smoothies. . . :drinker:

Oh and just so everyone is aware - it is pronounced "ah-sigh-eee". Not "ah-kai". My friend lived in Brazil for two years and it is his absolute biggest pet peeve when people pronounce it that way hahaha.

Do you use fresh ones for the smoothies or the dried ones? I've never seen fresh ones sold in the states before?

vrdz3215

I once got roped into to being a seller for a product that was made mainly with Acai berries called MonaVie. The claims were that if you drank 2 oz. of MonaVie a day, you could come off all the medications you were on (blood pressure, cholestrol..etc.) and actually there was a girl who had some form of skin disease that made her have white blotches on her skin...she began to drink the MonaVie and came back to one of the meetings like a month later and the blotches were gone. I no longer sell the stuff, frankly i didnt sell much of it because it was sooooooooo expensive, like $25 for a weeks supply which was one bottle and for a case that would last you a month it was like $150.00, but I do think that the Acai berry has many good uses...but I do not think that it is the MIRACLE fruit that will make you lose weight like the adds on the internet I see everyday are screaming.....

Sebidian

BPerucco, Can you share the name of the drink? Thanks!

00Angela00

I once got roped into to being a seller for a product that was made mainly with Acai berries called MonaVie. The claims were that if you drank 2 oz. of MonaVie a day, you could come off all the medications you were on (blood pressure, cholestrol..etc.) and actually there was a girl who had some form of skin disease that made her have white blotches on her skin...she began to drink the MonaVie and came back to one of the meetings like a month later and the blotches were gone. I no longer sell the stuff, frankly i didnt sell much of it because it was sooooooooo expensive, like $25 for a weeks supply which was one bottle and for a case that would last you a month it was like $150.00, but I do think that the Acai berry has many good uses...but I do not think that it is the MIRACLE fruit that will make you lose weight like the adds on the internet I see everyday are screaming.....

That's totally been my only experience with Acai berry was through MonaVie. My husbands friend sells it and tried to get Randy to, and for christmas he sent us a gift pack of two bottles to try. We did the shots every day and I honestly didn't feel a difference, but it tasted good haha

JoyousMaximus

I once got roped into to being a seller for a product that was made mainly with Acai berries called MonaVie. The claims were that if you drank 2 oz. of MonaVie a day, you could come off all the medications you were on (blood pressure, cholestrol..etc.) and actually there was a girl who had some form of skin disease that made her have white blotches on her skin...she began to drink the MonaVie and came back to one of the meetings like a month later and the blotches were gone. I no longer sell the stuff, frankly i didnt sell much of it because it was sooooooooo expensive, like $25 for a weeks supply which was one bottle and for a case that would last you a month it was like $150.00, but I do think that the Acai berry has many good uses...but I do not think that it is the MIRACLE fruit that will make you lose weight like the adds on the internet I see everyday are screaming.....

That's totally been my only experience with Acai berry was through MonaVie. My husbands friend sells it and tried to get Randy to, and for christmas he sent us a gift pack of two bottles to try. We did the shots every day and I honestly didn't feel a difference, but it tasted good haha

My dad received a bottle when he retired as a joke.

00Angela00

I once got roped into to being a seller for a product that was made mainly with Acai berries called MonaVie. The claims were that if you drank 2 oz. of MonaVie a day, you could come off all the medications you were on (blood pressure, cholestrol..etc.) and actually there was a girl who had some form of skin disease that made her have white blotches on her skin...she began to drink the MonaVie and came back to one of the meetings like a month later and the blotches were gone. I no longer sell the stuff, frankly i didnt sell much of it because it was sooooooooo expensive, like $25 for a weeks supply which was one bottle and for a case that would last you a month it was like $150.00, but I do think that the Acai berry has many good uses...but I do not think that it is the MIRACLE fruit that will make you lose weight like the adds on the internet I see everyday are screaming.....

That's totally been my only experience with Acai berry was through MonaVie. My husbands friend sells it and tried to get Randy to, and for christmas he sent us a gift pack of two bottles to try. We did the shots every day and I honestly didn't feel a difference, but it tasted good haha

My dad received a bottle when he retired as a joke.

haha, that's funny. Along with energy It's "supposed" to be anti-aging too right? That's a good retirement gift, I'm going to start doing that as a joke. haha

runnerwithstyle

I love Acai Smoothies!