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The Town Drunk

Acai Is A Very Important Berry

August 3, 2009

Have you ever seen beautiful purple flowers? How about a deep red grape or a bright red Fuji apple? If you answered yes (and if you said no – stop reading this article and go out and enjoy nature more!) then you have seen anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments that plants and fruits synthesize. Anthocyanins give plants and fruits their beautiful pigmentation – but it is not all about looks. Anthocyanins can acts as a sunscreen for plants and in fruits the bright color attracts animals which feast on the fruits and in the process disperse the seeds. However, the aspect of Anthocyanins that is of most interest in regard to the acai fruit is their antioxidant properties.

Fruits (like the Acai Berry Fruit) that are exposed to strong sunlight face a tremendous amount of ultra violet light stress. This UV light triggers free radicals to form in the fruit. Fruits, such as the Acai berry, develop high levels of anthocyanins because they have very strong antioxidants properties and can quench the free radicals. Here is the interesting part – the antioxidant properties of anthocyanins are maintained even after they are eaten by another organism. This is why fruits with bright pigmentation tend to have the great ORAC values – they are loaded with anthocyanins! Yes, you guessed it – Acai berries have a tremendous concentration of anthocyanins.

The French have a diet very rich in cheese, sugar, coffee, nicotine, sugar and white flour. With this type of diet you would expect the French to have a very high rate of heart disease, however, the exact opposite is true. The ability of the French to consume a heart clogging diet and yet have a very low rate of heart disease has been labeled the French Paradox.

Researchers now believe they have the reason for the “French Paradox” – anthocyanins! The French drink a significant amount of red wine and the the red wine grape, due to its anthocyanins is what is believed to be responsible for the very low incidence of heart disease. While red wine has a good quantity of anthocyanins, the Acai berry has over 30 times the anthocyanins as red wine.

Find the Benefits of Acai Berry With the Aid of Acai News
Whenever I start a new diet, I make it a point to find out all the necessary information about it whether it be good or bad. So when I wanted to start taking an acai berry supplement, I did the same thing. Thanks to some fantastic acai news, I found out that this berry is located in the rainforest of Brazil and is used by many people in the country for different purposes. I haven’t read anything that spoke negatively of this product and that only urges me to want to try it even more. I guess if no one has experienced any negative outcomes, then I shouldn’t either.

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