Acai preserves are made of up to 99% acai fruit. That’s an impressive statistic. While some pills and powders that claim to offer the goodness of acai in a handy processed form, it’s clear that there is no alternative to having the berries in front of you, looking and tasting just like they were picked yesterday.

The nice thing about many of the acai preserves that are on the market is that they are not processed in any way — and if they are it is only very minor processing — and this natural approach really does mean that all the nutritional goodness that acai is so famed for is retained within acai preserves. Less processing is better.

Looking inside the acai preserves jar you will see a puree-like substance which is deep purple in color This is the natural color of the acai berry; it still looks like this because the whole of the acai can be used in acai preserves. The taste is that of a rather fruity chocolate syrup, and it is very rich and very delicious. It takes a little while to realize that acai preserves are actually really beneficial, because they taste like they should be really very bad for you!

If you are looking — or have ever looked — for a source of acai juice, then you may have come across Monavie. Most likely you passed this product by since it is almost twice the price of the other products on the market. If you didn’t then you may have tried it out then given up, realising that the Monavie acai juice actually has very little acai in it at all.

The Monavie product has have a very dark background and it does not stop at providing sub-standard products to its unsuspecting customers. It has enraged nutritionists, scientists and even the government by telling potential buyers that its acai juice does a lot more than it can prove. We know that acai juice is good for us, but we don’t know exactly what it can do. Suggesting, as the Monavie product did, that its Monavie juice can prevent cancer and diabetes is more than simply misleading, it is bordering on fraudulent.

Monavie is particularly unpopular within the acai juice industry. It claimed that the juice contained Celadrin. Quite simply it didn’t and Imagenetix — owner of the Celadrin trademark — started litigation proceedings against Monavie.

It has not been an easy ride for Monavie, but you can only say that they brought this upon themselves.

I’m a bit of a health nut and I’m eager to jump on any new fads that happen to come my way. Acai juice is just one of those fads… or is it? The thing here is that acai juice has actually been shown to be very good for your body and mind. Far from acai being a passing fad, I think it is a food that is slowly going to enter or food chain and stay there for good.

And this is great news as far as I am concerned: I love the stuff. Getting acai in its juice form — a tip I got from Oprah Winfrey herself — is incredibly convenient as I can take it any where. I can have my acai fix while I’m driving, while at work, or even while I’m working out at the gym — a double whammy of health if ever there was one.

I’ve got to say that I’m impressed so far with the effects that it’s having on me. Obviously I can’t prove that it is the acai juice that is doing me the good, but it certainly feels that way. And who am I to argue with empirical evidence like that? Acai juice is the winner!

The acai diet – a diet that includes, somewhere, the delicious and nutritious acai berry — is growing in popularity. Often precious little is known about the berry itself; this partly because very few of those using the acai diet will ever see an acai berry in its natural form. Unfortunately, the acai berry degrades rapidly after it is harvests, and the raw material in its berry form is only available within the immediate growing area.

When acai berries are exported for those of us who enjoy the benefits of an acai diet, it is generally in the form of an acai juice or an acai pulp. Powdered acai is also available but I can not recommend this as a useful addition to a stable acai diet. As powdered acai is tasteless and nowhere near as nutritionally valuable as the pulp or juices, why would you use it, after all?

The acai berry provides as much as 42% — by weight — of the food consumed in the Amazon region. This is impressive and almost amounts to an acai diet by default. Image how healthy those lucky locals must be! It is worth a thought, then, to consider just how important the acai berry is to the people in the region, providing a huge proportion of their food their food and much of their income.

Acai and the anti-aging diet

Acai is a Brazilian berry original from the Amazon Region that is considered to be one of nature’s most complete and healthy foods. The acai berry is loaded with antioxidants, amino acids, essential omegas, fibers and protein. Some of the health benefits associated with the acai berry are: increase in sustained energy, help with healthy cholesterol management, improvement of digestive system, strengthening immune system, among others. Oprah’s website described acai as “one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world…”, while the book, The Perricone Promise, calls it the “nature’s perfect energy fruit.” over at www.tangent.com.

People everywhere are looking for answers to the problems of aging — not only its outward manifestations, like wrinkles, but also the physical and mental ones as well. Doctors of every kind recommend the obvious lifestyle changes like more exercises and a healthier diet, but many are starting to recommend very specific foods with very specific properties, with acai topping list.

In an article written for the popular online health resource Webmd.com, Kathleen M. Zelman (and reviewed by Louise Chang, MD), talks about the power of foods which have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties to stave off the onset or effects of illnesses like heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and even Alzheimer’s. The fact that as we get older, our bodies are more and more susceptible to the long-term effects of “oxidative stress” and cellular inflammation makes foods with the properties to fight these effects the most attractive for people looking to age well.

Citing Dr. Nicholas Perricone, she relays that the foods that are rich in antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory, are things like cold-water fish and richly-colored fruits and vegetables. Dr. Perricone, as we have discussed in previous posts, provided a list of ten “super foods” chosen for their ability to fight off the effects of age — the acai fruit is at the very top of the list, topping all vegetables, nuts and seeds as the best food you can get with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.

While this confirms what we already knew, it’s always refreshing to see people who are health advocates and experts echo what we have been telling our customers and people in general: that acai is an incredible food to eat for energy, fiber, and for its rich content of omega acids and anti-oxidants. It truly is nature’s super food, and we are so glad to be able to bring it to you in a way that is sure to transmit those healthy benefits. If you are new to our site and blog, check out all of the acai products we have, including acai powder, freeze dried acai, and acai supplements and get with the acai roots lifestyle!