Sunday, June 14, 2009

Acai Berry

Is Acai Berry the best antioxidant?

Acai Berries have been touted as the best antioxidant dietary supplement. There are good reasons why many people use this antioxidant dietary supplement. I am going to go over some of the reasons you should try them.

There are tons of free radicals in your body. These free radicals roam around your body and damage your cells. I won’t go over the mechanics of this, but suffice it to say, these are bad. If you want more details, I recommend trying Wikipedia or WebMD.

Free radicals are neutralized by antioxidants. However, in the process of neutralizing a free radical, the antioxidant is destroyed. This means you have to keep replenishing the supply of antioxidants in your body.

One way to get more antioxidants is to eat antioxidant rich foods. Below are some fruits and vegetables and how much antioxidants they have in them. I can’t tell you exactly what ORAC is, but more is better so you want to have higher values if you are trying to get more antioxidants.

* Broccoli – 900 ORAC
* Peach – 1,300 ORAC
* Strawberry – 2,600 ORAC
* Blueberry – 3,200 ORAC
* Pomegranate – 10,500 ORAC
* Acai Berry - 18,400 ORAC

The problem with high antioxidant foods is that they are either hard to come by, out of season for most of the year, or just plain aren’t appetizing to most people. Fortunately there is a solution.

Once you start getting more antioxidants, you should start feeling better and generally be healthier. They aren’t a miracle weight loss pill that will allow you to sit around and do nothing and still lose weight. They will help you have more energy which makes you more active which leads to weight loss. You should lose weight, just not in the way most diet pills do.