Acai and Rachel Ray: Can the Hype be believed?
We all know Rachel Ray swears by Acai. Acai is a berry promoted by Oprah, Rachel Ray, and Dr. Perricone. The acai berry grows rampantly naturally in the rain forests of the Brazilian Amazon. Acai berry is dark purple or green in color. After harvesting the berries, the local population use the berries to make a fruity pulp. They add this pulp to a variety of foods as a flavoring. Acai berry has been used for centuries in the Amazon but is really a relatively new concept in North America and Europe. Acai has only been introduced in a mass way in the past few years.
Scientific teams have discovered that the acai berries are a wonderfully rich source of an antioxidant nutrient called anthocyanins. This is the exact same substance that provides red wine with it's the antioxidants. Acai Berries are also rich in protein and fiber and also provide essential fatty acids, vitamins B and A, and omega-9 and omega-6.
Acai has gotten a lot of press since being introduced to us by Dr. Nicholas Perricone on the Oprah show. He wrote a book in which he states acai berry is the most perfect food in the world. Acai Berry ranks among his top ten superfoods and if these superfoods are taken regularly they are supposed to make a person feel significantly younger within 10 days. Acai berry has captured the imagination of many celebrities. Rachel Ray drinks acai berry juice daily and speaks about it on her own television show.
It is commonly known that antioxidants are essential for good health. They help us fight the on-going threat of disease and the deteriorating effects of aging. We are regularly hearing that we should eat more foods rich in antioxidants such as raspberries and blueberries and spinach. Antioxidants have long been recognized as an essential and critical part of a healthy diet.
I think highly of Rachel Ray and her opinions on wellness, drink and food. As a science oriented person myself, I was interested in learning about Rachel Ray and acai berry. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to read that recently a team of researchers decided to investigate just how much antioxidant benefit was actually in commonly available acai juices. Three store bought and readily available acai juice blends containing unspecified and presumably varied concentrations of a?a? juice and/or acai pulp were compared for in vitro antioxidant capacity against other commonly known antioxidants including tea, six types of pure fruit juice, red wine and pomegranate juice. The results are surprising at first glance. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was approximately equal to that of black cherry or cranberry juice, and was higher than that of apple juice, tea and orange juice. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was actually ranked poorer than that of Concord grape juice, pomegranate juice, blueberry juice, and red wine. How does this make me feel about Rachel Ray and acai? Acai juice blends are significantly better for you than orange or apple juices, but not as good antioxidant-wise as either red wine or pomegranate juice. Simply put it still means that readily available acai juice blends provide a health benefit.
The problem with this study is that it uses juices with unspecified quantities of acai. I have seen these blends and there is no telling whether they are 90% acai or simply apple juice with a splash of acai. In fairness to Rachel Ray and acai she generally touts a specific acai juice and the above experiment was done on commercially available acai berry juices. - 17269
Scientific teams have discovered that the acai berries are a wonderfully rich source of an antioxidant nutrient called anthocyanins. This is the exact same substance that provides red wine with it's the antioxidants. Acai Berries are also rich in protein and fiber and also provide essential fatty acids, vitamins B and A, and omega-9 and omega-6.
Acai has gotten a lot of press since being introduced to us by Dr. Nicholas Perricone on the Oprah show. He wrote a book in which he states acai berry is the most perfect food in the world. Acai Berry ranks among his top ten superfoods and if these superfoods are taken regularly they are supposed to make a person feel significantly younger within 10 days. Acai berry has captured the imagination of many celebrities. Rachel Ray drinks acai berry juice daily and speaks about it on her own television show.
It is commonly known that antioxidants are essential for good health. They help us fight the on-going threat of disease and the deteriorating effects of aging. We are regularly hearing that we should eat more foods rich in antioxidants such as raspberries and blueberries and spinach. Antioxidants have long been recognized as an essential and critical part of a healthy diet.
I think highly of Rachel Ray and her opinions on wellness, drink and food. As a science oriented person myself, I was interested in learning about Rachel Ray and acai berry. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to read that recently a team of researchers decided to investigate just how much antioxidant benefit was actually in commonly available acai juices. Three store bought and readily available acai juice blends containing unspecified and presumably varied concentrations of a?a? juice and/or acai pulp were compared for in vitro antioxidant capacity against other commonly known antioxidants including tea, six types of pure fruit juice, red wine and pomegranate juice. The results are surprising at first glance. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was approximately equal to that of black cherry or cranberry juice, and was higher than that of apple juice, tea and orange juice. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was actually ranked poorer than that of Concord grape juice, pomegranate juice, blueberry juice, and red wine. How does this make me feel about Rachel Ray and acai? Acai juice blends are significantly better for you than orange or apple juices, but not as good antioxidant-wise as either red wine or pomegranate juice. Simply put it still means that readily available acai juice blends provide a health benefit.
The problem with this study is that it uses juices with unspecified quantities of acai. I have seen these blends and there is no telling whether they are 90% acai or simply apple juice with a splash of acai. In fairness to Rachel Ray and acai she generally touts a specific acai juice and the above experiment was done on commercially available acai berry juices. - 17269
posted by X - Men at
3:25 AM
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