Weight Loss Fads - Part 6 - Acai Berry Weight Loss Benefits

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Alright, so we’ve already figured out what acai berries are and went over their nutritional value, but we need to dig deeper.

They do seem like a very good option as a food choice, but a lot of people are supplementing with acai berries for different reasons.

The obvious reason that we’re going to cover is weight loss.

I was curious as to why the whole acai berry weight loss craze started, so I did a little research.

History of the Acai Berry

There is actually a strange legend about the first usage of acai berries in the Amazon.

It is said that there was a time when the tribes of the Amazon were afraid of famine. So one of the tribal chiefs decided that all newborns would be sacrificed until the famine ended and more food was available. Sounds like harsh times doesn’t it?

Well that chief had a daughter named Iaca and she happened to be pregnant. When she had her baby it was sacrificed and naturally she fell into depression.

One night she heard her child crying in the forest and went out to find her sacrificed baby. She didn’t find her child but she came across an acai berry tree (acai palm). Her tribe found her the next day, dead next to the acai palm tree.

The new food source, acai berries, ended the famine and helped the tribe grow. Some interesting facts... Acia is:

• Iaca spelled backwards
• AKA “the fruit that cries”

So acai berries have been used as a food source for thousands of years, long enough for creative legends to sprout, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s that they were introduced into the “western world”.

Acai berries go bad quickly, because of their high fat content, so unless you live in the Amazon you’re not going to be able to get a hold of fresh acai berries. We have to settle for frozen acai berry pulp or freeze dried acai berry powder.

So now we know the legend behind the berries and the scarcity of their freshness, but where do the weight loss claims stem from?

It seems to me that most claims stem from the energy boost you can get from eating acai berries. To figure out where the energy comes from you’d have to go back and look at the nutritional value in acai berries.

It’s a very nutritious fruit, but is acai berry’s high nutrient value enough to help boost your fat loss over any other type of healthy food? Personally I think it would be a great addition to your diet but honestly where do these claims of boosted fat loss come from? I REALLY hope it’s not because of their high fiber content.

The claims may have popped up because of their high levels of antioxidants. You see, when you work out (especially endurance workouts) or lose weight you raise the level of free radicals in your body. As rad as they sound, it’s not a good thing! And don’t worry, there are plenty of other things that cause free radicals to form; exercise isn’t a bad thing!

Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with unpaired electrons that are formed when oxygen interacts with certain types of molecules. This causes them to be very reactive as they try to re-stabilize themselves and this can cause damage to your cells. Once they’re formed they can cause a chain reaction, and go crazy on your cells!

Your body creates antioxidants to take out the free radicals and stop the chain reaction, but sometimes your body can’t create enough. This is where you supplementing or eating foods rich in antioxidants can be beneficial. By consuming antioxidants, you’re helping your body out which reduces cell damage and helps your body run more efficiently.

So here’s the theoretical process:

1. You workout and your body is better at utilizing oxygen and you break down your fat (fat oxidation), which both cause a jump in free radicals.
2. Your body creates antioxidants to hold off the damage to your cells, but needs backup.
3. You consume acai berry products filled with antioxidants and end the oxidation process.

So, in theory, supplementing with acai berry products while you workout can reduce the stress and cellular damage to your cells. In this sense, can acai berries help boost your weight loss progress? Possibly a little, but acai berries themselves don’t seem to cause weight loss on their own. The antioxidants in them would only help keep your body in balance and running more efficiently, which in turn could mean more weight loss if you’re already working out.

I’ll continue to research acai berries, but let’s move on for now.

>> Continue Reading Part 7 - Colon Cleanse Weight Loss Benefits >>