Acai Health Watch

This was an interesting feature on CNBC discussing the acai berry with Lindsay Duncan, founder of Genesis Today.  His company produces the acai berry juice sold at Walmart.  We’re thrilled that more people are being exposed to the health benefits of drinking acai berry juice.  We’d be interested in how the Genesis Today product compares with other acai berry juices on the market today.

Here’s how the relationship between Genesis Today and Walmart began, according to Duncan.

“They [Wal-Mart] just wanted to learn about my 27 years of helping people heal their body with nutrition,” he said. “It’s kind of what like Whole Foods has done. They believe that food’s your medicine. And that’s what we do, and they wanted to pick my brain and find out what foods do I believe are the most healthy foods in the world.”

Inside Wal-Mart’s Acai Berry Juice Maker – Retail * US * News * Story – CNBC.com.

Are you sometimes skeptical when you’re reading the health benefits of acai berry juice put forth by the juicemakers themselves?  You should be!  As you know, false claims (lose 10 pounds in 10 minutes!) abound when it comes to antioxidant-rich superfoods like the acai berry, pomegranates, mangosteens, etc.

Here’s a more impartial article from WebMD that gives it to you straight on the health benefits of the acai berry.

“Some studies show that acai fruit pulp has a very high antioxidant capacity with even more antioxidant content than cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, or blueberry. Studies are ongoing, though, and the jury is still out.

People eat acai berries to address various health conditions. But so far, acai berries have no known health benefit that’s any different than that of other similar fruits.”

Acai Berries and Berry Juice — Are There Any Health Benefits?.

This interesting article discusses how acai’s antioxidants, when detoxifying the body, help eliminate the toxic compounds associated with insulin resistance in diabetics.  This in turn, could lower the amount of sugar in the bloodstream.  Does this mean you replace insulin with acai berry juice?  Absolutely not.  And check with your doctor when it comes to how you control your sugars.  But given the way the acai berry improves cellular communication and speeds up metabolism, it may have a positive effect on your overall health.

But what about sugar in fruit?  As a natural food with a low glycemic index and tons of fiber, it may not elevate blood sugar levels in the way that other fruits or refined products can.

Here’s an excerpt:

“By reducing insulin resistance, the acai berry may help reduce the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. Insulin and sugar may then leave the blood and enter the cells where needed. By facilitating this process, acai may reduce the health complications that diabetics experience, such as problems with the eyes, dangerous ulcers on hands, arms, feet and legs, heart and brain problems, strokes, hormonal imbalances, and immune system dysfunction. Dr Nicholas Perricone, M.D has hailed acai as “one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world. . . nature’s perfect energy fruit.”

Natural Alternatives – Acai and Diabetes.

As you know, there are many ways to consume acai, including acai juice, and frozen acaiberry pulp.  One less popular, but highly convenient and cost-effective type of acai is in its powder form.

Acai berry powder has several advantages:

1.  It weighs very little, so if you are ordering it from a distributor by mail, you’ll pay next to nothing in shipping.  Large mona vie juice bottles come in extremely heavy cases and are difficult to carry and store.  You can tuck a package of acai berry powder into your pocket or bag.

2.  Acai berry powder is flexible.  It can be added to foods like yogurt or ice cream, as well as drinks like smoothies.  It’s also more portable than carrying a bottle of juice around.

3.  You have control over what you consume.  While some acai products such as acai berry juice blends may combine lots of unwanted ingredients, powders contain all of the ORAC capacity, fiber, vitamins and minerals without a high glycemic load, lactose or gluten.

Be sure to look for acai berry powder that is naturally extracted from the acai fruit before being processed into powder.  It should also be certified organic, and free of additives, fillers and preservatives.