Acai Berry -- The Discovery And The Disservice!

The whole buzz of about Acai berry is a disservice to the Amazonian natives.

Acai berry, a once overlooked Brazilian palm berry, became famous after it created sensational rave in The Oprah Show. Over the globe, it is considered as a popular health food, simply because the mass media is parroting the claim mindlessly. No credit has been given to the Amazonian natives.

Acai berry is not the newfound Holy Grail to health by the Western world.

For hundreds of years, the native tribes in Amazon jungles are harvesting the Acai berry for food and medicinal purposes. In fact, the healing properties of Acai berry are not new to the Amazonian tribes. It is said that regular consumption could improve immunity system, and boost energy level. The natives even mash the Acai berry into pulp to ferment it into wine, which is rich in minerals.

In the 50’s, doctors realized the health benefits of Acai berry. The medicinal benefits of Acai berry only were publicized when it was discovered to fight the disease Schistosomiasis, which affects more than 10 million Brazilians. Yet no further research had been conducted.

Later, Acai berries are utilized by Brazilians as part of their daily diet. It can be a mixed of Acai pulp and juice. It looks like porridge, and tastes like red wine with chocolate. The Brazilians usually take it in the morning with their breakfast. In spite the fact that Rio de Janeiro is far from the Amazon Rainforest, it is in this location where Acai berry gained popularity.

The famous Gracie Jiu-Jitsu family even recommended eating Acai berry before and after workouts. The pulp is usually mixed with Guarana, which is also a berry. The Guarani tribe that lives in Amazon first used this.

This rainforest berry definitely demonstrates to have beneficial health properties. Yet, the Western world, especially the health bureaucracies and institutions hardly put this into serious research to prove the claim. All the time, the limelight goes to talk shows and commercials aired by health supplement suppliers!

Recently, new independent medical studies in the United States and Europe have been conducted to discover more health benefits of Acai berry.

In the first research, Acai berry has proven to be absorbed in the human body when consumed Acai juice and pulp, like the Brazilians used to do in daily routine. This finding by Texas AgriLife Research scientists was in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The study involved 12 healthy volunteers. They were given a single serving of juice or pulp made from Acai berry. It was found that significant increase of antioxidant activity in the blood 12 and 24 hours after consumption. Both Acai pulp and juice showed noteworthy absorption of antioxidant in the blood.

However, there was no study to confirm the disease-preventing health benefits of Acai berry. This is the area where the recognition of Acai berry lacks, even though it has been used by Brazilians for decades.

Besides, global recognition of Acai berry is the key to rally support from governmental institutions to save the dying Amazon rainforest and the natives that live within it.

One prominent green movement to save Amazon rainforest was started by Sambazon. This company sells products that are based on Acai berry. Part of the money goes to the natives to teach them the trade of farming Acai berry instead of destructive logging.

Nevertheless, the race to save Amazon rainforest looks like an uphill struggle, because people are just crazy for Acai berry!

It is like killing a goose for the sake of getting its golden eggs.

How is it possible to promote better awareness of dying Amazon while greedy mega-bucks health supplement companies are merely touting the benefits of Acai berry products?

The worst scenario could be this — The supposing green economy movement to save Amazon could end up with greed for money. Greed, before anyone realizes, could push man to destroy the forest for the sake of cultivating certain money crops or plants. Man will, in the end have to live with Amazon forest of just Acai Berry!

Therefore, remember the dying Amazon rainforest. It needs your help. Without it, there’ll be no Acai berry palms, and nobody will ever have chance to buy Acai berry products.