Advanced Diets Advice & News

What is a Superfood?

Antioxidant rich foods are sometimes referred to as Superfoods.  “Phyto” is simply another word for plant, and nutrients are basically any chemical that is required for an organism to continue growing and carrying out all the normal functions of repair, giving the organism energy, and helping out in other body processes.

A lot of foods contain phytonutrients (plant nutrients)—all fruits and veggies, for sure and acai berry has been given the Super name.  How does this make them more super???  “Superfood” is more of a marketing term, but there are particular fruits like Acai that contain more phytonutrients than other vegetables and fruit do—a great deal more.  And because in life things are often presented as a mix of science and art (fact and creative thinking), the Acai Berry has been “branded” as a Superfood.  There’s nothing wrong with a food being super healthy for you; by most accounts the acai fits the bill.  It has high concentrations of anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, Omega 3’s, and fiber.  Getting these super nutrients is absolutely required to maintain excellent health, growth, and rejuvenation.  It’s not necessary to refer to the Acai Berry fruit as a “Superfood”, you can just call it food if you want.  You can decide for yourself if taking the Acai Berry gives your health super benefits.  Nutritionally speaking, you may have to consume a combination of other fruits and vegetables to get the same benefit as you would with the Acai.  This is one reason why taking your Acai is super and has an abundance of advantages!

Where Did Acai Berry Get its Superfood Label?

It’s all dependent upon whom you ask whether or not acai is a Superfood.  The naysayers of the Acai, and even dieticians, say that the Superfood terminology is not necessarily correct and that using “Superfood” in conjunction with the Acai is more of a marketing tool or trick and that there isn’t even a legal definition of the term “Superfood”.  Doctor Perricone of early Acai fame and influence lists the Acai Berry as one of the top ten Superfoods.  Some of the benefits of Superfoods are that they may help with age-related illnesses and disease, possibly even slowing down the aging process.  Blood pressure and cholesterol levels can also possibly be lowered with Acai.  One of the more popular claims is that it has some effect on regulating the metabolism to help in losing weight so it has been added to diet pills.  Others go so far as to state that it can prevent cancer.  The research is still being done and the jury is still out as to proof or disproof of these claims, but there is some very exciting anecdotal data that points to a lot of hope and promise.

What Can a Superfood do (or Mean) for Me?

Regardless of whether or not science has completely proven or verified (or even caught up to the facts!) of every single possible claim of the efficacy of the Acai Berry Superfood, this may indeed be irrelevant to you.  There may be less of a motivation for the scientific community and drug companies to back studies involving the Acai and give their “stamp of approval”. How would they be able to monetize their findings if all they could offer was an inferior synthetic form of the Acai (a revised version of what nature produces)?  And they don’t yet (hopefully never!) totally control plant substances found in nature.  Should this prevent anyone from already using the vast body of evidence that science has provided about what a healthy diet consists of?  The components of a healthy diet are already pretty well established and found naturally in the acai Superfood.  Draw your own conclusions and come to your own decision on whether the Acai Berry can improve your health and offer any of the benefits that are stated.

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