Fat Loss 4 Idiots Opinion

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

First Acai Berry Research is Inconclusive

By Terry Halford

Acai berry research is just starting to get into gear now. For such an obscure plant, found only deep in the amazon, this is actually quite an achievement! Of course, having hundreds of celebrities and thousands of people of high standing in North America all insist that the acai berry has helped boost their metabolism and/or helped them lose weight may have something to do with this success. No matter where you look on TV, in magazines and on the internet, there are multiple ads making these claims. There are innumerable reports available on research of the acai berry. The acai berry is harvested in Brazil, and a few other countries in South America, from the acai palm, which grows on the banks of the amazon river. Naturally, Brazil is the head runner in the farming and production of this berry and its products.

There are so many different reports, almost all claiming something different on what the antioxidant value of the acai berry is. One report states that it is lower in antioxidants than the list of fruits already on the high-antioxidant value list. Another report denies this fact and says it is equivalent or higher in value than the fruits on this list. Actual product marketing naturally shows it to be much higher still.

Naturally, all fruits and vegetables are more nutritious if you can get them fresh. However getting the acai berry fresh in the United States, or really anywhere outside of Brazil, is a big problem. This is because it cannot last long enough to ship it in the fresh form, so they have found a way to condense it to powder as a freeze dried form. The problem with this is that the manufacturers are not making the pure form. They are adding bulk ingredients to make the product stretch further and up their profits. They are adding preservatives to give it a longer shelf life. Like with any other product, it has become all about the money.

Since the acai berry cannot be grown in the United States and has to be exported, it is questionable if the US FDA will approve it deny it. Why should they, when it can't even be grown here? Right now distribution and approval of exporting the berry is under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian government. Since the FDA is not getting involved in the production of this berry at this time, there will not likely be any forth coming official reports from them on the real nutritional value of this fruit.

A professor at the University of Florida has recently done a study on the effects of acai on leukemia. His results show that it caused 81% of the leukemia cells to self destruct in his test tubes. Some researchers are even claiming that their studies are showing that acai may very well be a super drug that will cure almost any ailment or disease... Repeating their results in other labs is the hard part, of course.

The FDA has gully authorized the use of labeling claims that plant sterols reduce the risk of heart disease. Several of the acai berry research reports claim that acai is very high in plant sterols, and would be very effective in stopping coronary heart disease. This seems to be the one fact that has no opposition in the whole world of acai berry research. - 17269

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