Açaí Juice — Is It Really A Super Juice?
Some claim it as “purple gold,” health food stores stock it on their shelves, and it started in the Brazilian Amazon. Oprah Winfrey featured it on her show and health specialists endorse it. The acai fruit finds its way into a number of juices, smoothies, and nutrition bars which means it is catching on in the U.S. Is acai worth all the hype, some ask.
The acai berry cures a number of ailments, provides energy, and increases the libido, Amazon tribes have said. Recent scientific studies agree, indicating that the acai berry is one of the most nutritional foods in the world Grown in the Amazon, the Açaí starts as the fruit of palm trees in Brazilian rainforests The berry is filled with antioxidants, amino acid and fatty acids, and natural energy, and has a subtle chocolate taste. This combination creates a “superfood” that helps prevent high cholesterol, heart disease, and cancer, researchers say. Recent studies show that the Açaí fruit can help destroy some cancer cells in the body, making it a leading ingredient in many alternative medicine diets
Even though the acai fruit is a staple in the Amazonian diet, it is new to the U.S.. The U.S. phenomenon is credited to Southern California brothers who discovered the fruit on a surfing trip and returned to the U.S. to co-found the company Sambazon, which features the acai berry in a number of its products
Because the acai fruit spoils too quickly to be distributed widely in its natural form, it’s mostly found as a main ingredient in other food products, like protein bars and juices A higher concentration of antioxidants is found in pulp form rather than acai juice products and is now showing up in some health food stores as an unsweetened pulp form.
Acai offers is appealing to a society focusing more and more on sustainable development The acai fruit is a renewable resource that gives thousands of harvesters the opportunity to provide for themselves without destroying the Amazon rainforests New concerns arise, however, as the popularity of Açaí juice products increases, requiring more of the acai fruit to be harvested
As Açaí juice products are distributed in food chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, the acai fruit’s popularity will only increase. Research already provides evidence that the acai fruit is worth the hype; now it’s time for Americans to fully embrace it
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