More About the Rachel Ray Acai Berry Hype
Acai Berries are a powerful combination of many healthful benefits. They are a good source protein and fiber. If protein and fibre weren't enough, acai also provides a good quantity of vitamins B and A, and omega-9 and omega-6. They are also a very good source of essential fatty acids. Acai berries are also a significant source of anthocyanins which are a particular antioxidant nutrient. This nutrient is what provides red wine with its antioxidant benefits.
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.
Healthy lifestyle information is becoming more common. We are regularly hearing that we should eat more foods rich in healthy oils and antioxidants.. It is commonly known that antioxidants are absolutely critical to enjoying good health. Antioxidants help us fight the ongoing threat of illness and disease and the deteriorating and debilitating effects of aging. Antioxidants are well recognized as an essential and critical part of a healthy lifestyle.
As a science oriented person and an avid healthy lifestyle reader, I was interested in learning more about Rachel Ray and acai berry. Recently, I was very interested to learn that some food scientists had investigated the antioxidant benefits of commonly available acai juice blends. Three acai juice blends containing presumably varied and definitely unspecified concentrations of pure a?a? juice were compared for in vitro antioxidant capacity against other commonly known antioxidant beverages. These other antioxidant beverages included red wine, tea, six types of pure fruit juice and pomegranate juice. I want to note that acai juice blends were being compared to pure fruit juices so we need to be a bit skeptical about the results. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was approximately equal to that of pure cranberry juice, and was higher than that of pure apple juice, tea and pure orange juice. The antioxidant capacity of the acai juice blends was actually ranked poorer than that of pure pomegranate juice, pure blueberry juice, and the unspecified type of red wine. Is their misinformation being provided by Rachel Ray about acai? I do not think so. Acai juice blends are significantly better for you than some pure fruit juices but not as good as either red wine or pure pomegranate juice.
I have seen these blends and there is no telling whether they are 90% acai or simply apple juice with a splash of acai. The problem with this study is that it uses juices with unspecified quantities of acai. The above experiment was done on commercially available acai berry juices. In fairness to Rachel Ray and acai she promotes a specific type of acai juice which might have a greater concentration of acai. - 17274