Although the acai berry has been around for thousands of years, it wasn’t introduced to America until the late 1990’s. Only recently has everyone started to witness the amazing benefits this berry produces firsthand. From lowering your cholesterol to improving your digestion and increasing your energy to improving your mentally clarity, the acai berry is truly becoming known as America’s #1 Super Food.
But where does this miracle supplement come from? What follows is a brief history of this amazing little berry.
Acai Berry History
The acai berry was originally used in the Amazon jungle to treat a variety of ailments. Some tribes use this berry exclusively in their diet, and they live long, healthy lives. In short, the medicinal benefits of the acai berry are nothing new. It’s just taken a while for the American public to catch on to how potent this berry really is.
The tribes of the Amazon discovered that taking the acai berry regularly helped improve their immune system. When eating the berry regularly, they got sick less often, felt more energetic, and fought off numerous medical conditions. They even used the berry to make wines for everyone to drink. The more they took the acai berry, the more benefits they realized the fruit could produce.
Where Does Acai Berry Grow?
The acai berry is grown on large palm trees in the Amazon rainforest. In the past, members of the tribe would climb up the tree to fetch the berries.
For many centuries, the healing power of the acai berry was unknown outside of the Amazon rainforest where this amazing fruit grows wild. The rainforest's of the world are thought to hold the keys to treating and preventing many of our most feared diseases, and as the rainforest disappear, those cures disappear along with them. The acai berry, however, used by the indigenous peoples of the region for thousands of years to enhance health and vitality, has already been discovered.
It wasn’t until just a few short years ago that the acai berry was introduced to western civilization.
The acai berry grows as a wild plant on top of many native palm trees in the Amazon rainforest, with the fruits of the plant being harvested by local farmers and used to make a healthy and nutritious fruit pulp. When quickly frozen, this fruit pulp can retain its vast nutritional value even when being shipped around the world. The acai berry is known for its deep purple color, as well as for being a rich source of many important antioxidant vitamins.
The major benefits of the acai berry are thought to include its strong heart health benefits. The acai berry is known to be a rich source of compounds called anthocyanins. These anthocyanins are the same compounds thought to give red wine its health benefits, but acai berries may contain even higher concentrations of these healthy chemicals than wine, with none of the health risks associated with alcohol.
The acai berry is also a rich source of protein and dietary fiber, in addition to high levels of both omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, thought to have a protective effect on the heart and cardiovascular system. The omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids contained in the acai berry may also play a role in lowering levels of cholesterol in the blood.
In addition to these important benefits, the acai berry is thought to play a vital role in slowing down the aging process. In health food circles, the acai berry is known as one of the most powerful of the anti-aging superfoods. It is thought that this anti-aging effect is a combination of the high levels of anthocyanins and the strong antioxidant vitamin content the fruit contains. In fact, the acai berry is known to contain ten times as many antioxidant vitamins as grapes and twice as many as blueberries.
For many years the acai berry has been hard to find, even in health food stores and natural grocery stores. As the reputation of this super fruit continues to grow, however, its availability is on the rise. It is now possible to buy acai berries in their raw form, as well as purchasing a number of excellent, highly concentrated fruit drinks made with the healthful and powerful acai berry.
The acai berry is truly one of nature’s most healing foods, and a worthy addition to any healthy diet.
