Acai Health Watch

Here’s our latest acai berry beauty find: You can now enjoy an acai berry spa experience in your own home with Pangea’s Japanese Matcha Tea With Acai and Goji Berry Facial Mask. We’ve discussed quite a few beauty products recently that incorporate the acai berry or acai extract, and this face mask is the lastest one we’ve come across.  It’s a triple threat, containing not only the antioxidant-rich acai extract, but matcha tea and goji berry.

Matcha tea is a powdered green tea that’s full of amino acids, and also packed with antioxidants,including potent catechins. It’s known for its role in Japanese tea ceremonies where it evokes a sense of calmness and serenity, setting a perfect tone for a spa treatment.

The goji berry extract included in this Pangea face mask benefits the skin with its anti-aging, nutrient-filled profile.  It is also becoming known for its anti-inflammatory properties which make it ideal for a skin treatment.

Want to learn more about it?  This facial mast costs around forty dollars for a 2 ounce container and can be found in whole foods markets, large drugstores, and beauty retailers like Sephora.

Bissinger’s Confections of St. Louis has a history dating back hundreds of years to a tradition of European confections.   But stodgy they are not.   While you may find chocolate assortments, chocolate dipped fruit, truffles and caramels, Bissinger’s also has a line of gummy pandas that are exploding with antioxidants.

Take for example, the acai blueberry gummy pandas, one of the first acai confections we’ve seen from a traditional candy maker.  Made with organic ingredients, the blueberry acai gummy pandas are made with dried blueberry, dried acai and organic sugar, among other good things.  It was also awarded “Outstanding Confection” at the 54th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.

Other gummy panda flavors include Goji Guava with Camu Camu, Green Tea and Pomegranate White Tea.

Bissinger’s Gummy Pandas

Canadian television has notified viewers that certain acai berry products, including acai weight loss and anti-aging supplements are impure, and that they contain trace elements of slidenafil, also known as the prescription drug Viagra.  Many of these acai products are available for purchase throughout North America through the Internet.  Serious side effects can occur when Viagra is combined with other medications, so steer clear of these products until we have more information.

• Anti-Aging Acai Berry
• Guarana Blast
• Brazilian Pure
• Anti-aging Vital Rez V
• Weight Loss VitalAcai
• Dietary Supplement Acai Power Blast
• Muscle Mass

CTV News | Health Canada warns against using certain acai products.

There are so many great ways to try the acai berry, and while acai powders and supplements are great, they aren’t exactly cheap.  So we were delighted to find this Teavana Imperial Acai Blueberry White Tea.  This unique tea blend is aromatic and soothing. Slightly sweet and never bitter, it’s great iced or hot, or even mixed into a fruit smoothie.  For either the acai berry devotee, tea enthusiast or someone just beginning to explore the medicinal, calming qualities of tea, this makes an ideal gift. It’s a wonderful way to relax and pamper.

What are the health benefits of drinking tea? Green, black and white teas have been found to inhibit growth of cancer cells.  Older women who drink tea are less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.  Drinking tea considerably decreases the chance of death as a result of a heart attack.  It is high in antioxidants which may help protect against cell-damaging free radicals. Drinking tea also helps maintain strong bones and may even help treat symptoms of diabetes.

Also check out Teavana Youthberry White Tea which includes finely ground acai paired with white tea and tropical fruits.

It’s important that the freeze-dried acai supplement products you buy contain all of the health benefits, such as a blend of antioxidants, that you’d expect from the fresh berry.  Freeze dried acai should be 100% pure and contain no additives or fillers.

In the freeze drying process, moisture is removed at a low temperature from the frozen acai berry, leaving very little moisture at the time of packaging. Oftentimes, the original flavor is maintained but unlike fresh acai, the product is stable and can have a long shelf life without additives or preservatives.  (Acai berries spoil quickly when picked).  Freeze drying preserves the maximum amount of nutrients in the process, and also makes the acai product easier to transport.

Freeze dried acai is available in different forms to suit your lifestyle.  Two ways to purchase freeze dried acai are in powder or capsule forms.

Freeze dried acai powder such as Navitas Naturals Acai Power Freeze Dried Powder (8 oz) is typically added to juice or smoothies and adds a tasty zing to recipes.  We particularly like that the Navitas Naturals line is all certified organic.  Each scoop is typically equivalent to several fruit servings.  Acai freeze dried capsules are made from acai powder, just synthesized into a capsule form.

Remember, not all forms of acai berry supplements are created equal.  Freeze dried acai, whether in powder or capsule form, offers considerably greater nutritional value than “concentrated acai” or “acai extracts,” or those dried using other methods.