"Acai: Little Berry Shows Big Growth"

The "Natural Products Insider" wrote a very informative article on the business of Acai. Read it here. It also does a good job summarizing it's nutritional content, how it's harvested and what that means to saving the Amazon, and so on. It's interesting to see just how new the Acai berry is to the US market. $3.8 million in sales during the 12 months ending November 3rd, 2005 vs. only $435,000 in sales the prior year. That is explosive growth, and still most American's haven't even heard of it yet. Pass this blog and the above article around... it's definitely something worth sharing.

Not all Acai created equal

Acai is the world's most potent source of antioxidants (oxidative damage is thought to cause disease and aging - antioxidants are thought to be a disease preventer, and anti-ager).

ORAC is the most popular antioxidant measurement and studies show the Acai berry is about 10 to 20 times higher in ORAC value compared to other berries like Blueberry which were at one time thought to be the highest in antioxidant properties.

But apparently this does not mean you can just buy any Acai drink, powder or supplement. According to one scientific comparison (discussed in This article), MOST commercial Acai products are severly depleted in comparison to a recently picked berry.

Acai berries begin losing their nutrient value soon after being picked. In one study only one Acai product ranked high on the ORAC scale at 1026. This Acai product has a trademarked name, "OptiAcai". Other commercially produced Acai products averaged 155 on the scale. 155 is still good in comparison to blueberries which are only a 24 per Gram on the ORAC scale, but if you're paying a premium price for Acai, you ought to expect a premium product. OptiAcai ranks a 1026 on the ORAC scale. That is 7 times higher.

This article explains the study. So just don't buy just any Acai product, they are definitely not all created equally. If you buy some juice found in your neighborhood health food store, and Acai is listed as one of the ingredients, the chances are that Acai is only a small part of the juice, and the Acai used is 7 time less potent than OptiAcai.

The cost of eating 168 servings of fruit every 4 weeks

168 servings of fruit every 4 weeks is 6 servings per day. Yikes.

The USDA recommends 5 to 7 fruit servings... by the way, a serving according to them is 6 ounces - about the size of a small piece of fruit. At one point I tried juicing and bought an expensive juicer. I found it cost me a ton to buy a variety of fruits, and I'd invariably let some of it spoil by not getting to it in time. Eventually the sheer headache of the mess and clean up was too much and I gave up on my juicing fad. But however you attempt to consume 5 to 7 servings of fruit per day, I thought it would be interesting to take a second look into the cost.

I visited Safeway.com and shopped their Produce section online for a wide variety of fruits, and for the cheapest option for each fruit. For example, I chose Apples in bulk at $0.80 per pound, and then assumed I'd only eat 6 ounces or 30 cents worth of apples when I had a serving. I found 23 fruits, and just averaged the cost of all of them to insure a variety if I were to do this for real. Despite apples being 30 cents per serving, oranges at 24 cents and grapefruit at 23 cents, the average cost of a serving was $1.16. The most nutrient-dense fruits were the most expensive, including blueberries at $4.08 per serving, pomegranate at $2.99 and blackberries at $2.16 per serving. Finally, I took these 3 expensive ones out, and the average of the remaining 20 fruits was $0.87 per serving.

By averaging the 5 to 7 servings per day recommendation to 6, I calculated the more expensive daily cost at $6.95 per day, and the less expensive version at $5.23 per day. Now you shouldn't stop eating the fruit you already do just because you're adding a nutrient-dense fruit juice. But since the USDA says we Americans eat less than 1 serving per day, I'll be kind and calculate that you'd only need to add 5 more servings of the cheaper fruits, and that's $4.36 per day to reach the recommended amount of fruits.

So.... my choices are... spend an additional $4.36 on fruit... and either juice them, or always have a piece of fruit in my mouth. Or drink a premium grade Acai based nutrient-dense fruit juice with no mess or fuss. I never ate fruit before (other than my juicing experiment a few years ago) - so I'm worse than the 1 per day, so my choice was an easy one. For me to get fruit in my diet.... and extremely nutrient-dense fruits with significant variety at that, multi-fruit juice blends are an easy choice for me.

Help the rainforest

You can actually help the Amazon rain forest and global warming by buying Acai berry products. You see, locals harvest the Acai tree for the "heart of the palm" or palmito. This is actually the growing tip of the tree. With the tip removed the tree ultimately dies. Just a few years ago there was little to no market for the Acai berry as no one outside of the Amazon realized it's extreme nutrient density and ORAC value. So smart Acai based juice companies help the Amazon by paying the locals significantly more for harvesting the Acai berries only if they left the hearts of palm intact.

Is this woman bananas?

The woman in this article eats 21 different fruits per week. No, she's not bananas, she is a breast cancer survivor and has heard that fruits can play a role in preventing cancer. If we all ate that much fruit there wouldn't be a need for a multi-frut drink. Then again, her variety of fruits is probably not as nutrient-dense as Acai, and the other powerful fruits only found in these latest juice blends.

Plus, given the loss of nutrients in the mass produced fruits most people eat, the 21 different fruits may also be depleted unless she's eating organic fruits. Finally, since most studies and health experts say she should also be eating 5 to 7 portions of these 21 different fruits each day.... that's a lot of bananas.

For some of us that's too much effort... shop for them, carefully select them, eat them before they spoil, etc. Just the sheer effort of eating that many fruits a day is too much for busy professionals or parents, and imagine getting children to eat that much fruit?

I only drink my nutrient-dense fruit juice... I've never eaten much, if any fruit. That isn't something I'm proud of, but it was my reality. And apparently the same is true of most American's since the average daily fruit consumption is less than 1 serving per day. In other words, MLM fruit juices are for everyone, and may also be beneficial addition to even this cancer survivor's diet. So don't go bananas... drink a nutrient-dense fruit juice instead.

Nutrient decline in fruits & vegetables

The news just gets more disturbing about our diets, even for those who think they eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Dr. Donald Davis at University of Texas at Austin (in the Biochemical Institute in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry) studied nutrient values from 50 years of data from 1950 to 1999. Sure enough, nutrient value has declined significantly.

In this news release Dr. Davis said "The declines, which ranged from 6 percent for protein to 38 percent for riboflavin, raise significant questions about how modern agriculture practices are affecting food crops."

He continued.... "emerging evidence suggests that when you select for yield, crops grow bigger and faster, but they don’t necessarily have the ability to make or uptake nutrients at the same, faster rate."

You can read the full report here.

An obvious answer to these declines is to eat organically grown foods. Naturally grown foods don't use methods to increase yield that sap nutrients. And an even better answer is to consume the most nutrient-dense of all foods that are also organically or picked from the wild. This is the magic of nutrient-dense fruits like the Acai berry and Wolfberry which are ONLY found in the Wild. A fruit juice blend that contains fruits harvested from the wild can provide a superior amount of nutrients, so much so that you only need to drink a few ounces to get 100% of the antioxidants your body needs each day. Unfortunately, store bought fruits have become sad cousins to their 1950's cousins, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

Gel packs when you're traveling

Don't want to travel with a glass bottle full of your favorite nutrient-dense fruit juice? Hopefully they've got Gel packs. Whether you are traveling, or just need a convenient one serving size, Gel packs are a great choice.

But the value here is that you can pack these in a kids lunch box, take it to work, spread it onto your salad, or travel with it without having to worry about breaking a bottle. Personally, since I only do a shot in the morning, and one at night, taking it with me is only necessary when I travel. And so far I've packed the bottles in my suitcase trusting they won't break enroute. This coming holiday I shipped them ahead to my brother's house where I'll be staying... they get to try some, and I've got a bottle waiting for me when I arrive. But I'm off on a trip to Hong Kong and Thailand, so this time I'll bring Gel packs with me.

Amazing Personal Testimonial

VAL'S TESTIMONY

My daughter-in-law, Megan Wolfenden, sent me a case of (name of product removed) from the new Australian warehouse that had just opened in April 2006. Megan was still living in the U.S. at the time and had just enrolled as a (name of product removed) distributor. She knew that I suffered from chronic arthritis in both hands, but particularly my right hand which was swollen to almost twice the size of my left hand and extremely painful all the time and she wanted to know if (name of product removed) could help me.

Normal household activities such as cleaning, vacuuming, cooking etc. were always very painful chores. Peeling veggies, lifting saucepans and plates from cupboards, nearly impossible. I could not fill my car with petrol and driving was a painful thing to do.

When looking after my grandchildren, everything I had to do, such as dressing them, changing nappies, picking them up and holding them brought sadness to my heart and tears to my eyes, as I knew the time was coming soon when I wouldn't be able to do it at all.

I had stopped playing tennis and golf and even swimming caused a lot of pain in my wrists and thumbs.

My osteopath gave up on me as an X-ray showed my right thumb joint was "bone on bone". He sent me to a Hand Specialist in Macquarie St. who told me I would have to have cortisone injections for ever, but that he could operate and give me a "joint replacement" in my right thumb which would stop the pain, but would result in limited mobility of the hand. I rejected the operation, and said I would think about the injections. He sent me downstairs to be fitted for hand braces to alleviate further wear and tear on the joints.

I had been taking glucosamine for about 10 years, drinking Noni for 7 years thinking both would help, but I had to take anti-inflammatory tablets to get through the day. I had been taking Voltaren, then Celebrex, then Vioxx (Doctors stopped those because of the dangerous side effects) and at the time the box of (name of product removed) arrived I was taking Mobic and 80 mgs of Micardis for high blood pressure daily. I also wore the ugly thumb and wrist braces from time to time, particularly when driving my car.

After taking 60 mls of (name of product removed) morning and night for about four days, I began to feel less pain in my hands, then to my amazement and delight, the swelling began to subside. By the time I had finished the second bottle of (name of product removed), my right hand was almost back to the size of my left hand, and my blood pressure had dropped to acceptable levels.

After everything that I had been doing with medication, supplements, chiropractors and doctors over the years all of which cost huge amounts of money, I could not believe that simply by drinking 60 mls of (name of product removed) Active twice a day there would be such a miraculous change to my health and lifestyle. I can now do all the things I couldn't do before because of the pain. Thank you Megan and (name of product removed) for changing my life.

Dr. Oz says drink 100% fruit juice

From today's Oprah - but also found on her web site - Dr. Oz encourages people to drink "100% fruit juice". But some are better than others which is what this site is encouraging you to explore.

One with Acai is better than plain old Orange juice. And those that use the whole fruit - especially the skin - and not just the juice will provide far more nutrition and far less sugar than the name brand "100% fruit juice" drinks. Dr. Oz says the 100% fruit juices are high in calories - not so with many of the nutrient-dense ones sold by MLM's.

Sugar rush heaven from Jamba Juice

I LOL'ed reading this blog from "thedeliciouslife". $5 for a Jamba Juice drink that includes Acai AND you get a sugar high, caffeine rush, can't sleep for 3 days, and have to do a 45 minute cardio workout to burn off the 570 calories - of mostly sugar.

It's no wonder America is getting fatter and fatter. Afterall, you feel OK having that Big Mac for lunch because you started your day with a "healthy" Jamba Juice drink - one of which packs almost 2,000 calories in it.

Most people I speak to see the inherent value of a high antioxidant fruit juice, but for the next person who does tell me the one I drink is expensive, I'm going to have to ask if they spend $3.75 on a coffee, $5 on a smoothie, or $8 on a glass of wine?

Premium Fruit Juice - cheap by comparison:

In a vain attempt to duplicate the nutritional value of a multi-fruit, nutrient-dense, fruit juice with individual fruits and juices, I found I could only get half way there, at twice the cost:

1. 11 of the 19 fruits + Glucosamine costs a minimum of $253.78 every 4 weeks
I stopped at 11 fruits because the other 8 were too hard to find.... so it's probably well over $500 per month when you include rarer, and therefore more expensive, fruits. Plus I included 6 juices (not nearly as valuable as whole fruits) - Pomegranate, Cranberry, Purple & White grapes, Prune, and Blueberry juice. The fruits were Banana, Pear, Kiwi and Passion fruit. The cheapest powder form Acai and cheapest Glucosamine I found were about $30 per month each. Plus, $253.78 is ONLY 4 ounces per day of each of the juices, 1 piece of each fruit, and 2 ounces of Acai powder per day. This equates to $9.06 per day..

2. Average Starbucks Latte = $3.20 per day.
And this is if you only visit Starbucks once per day.

3. Pack of Cigarettes = $4.00
This site mentions a study that estimates the true cost of a pack of cigarettes at $40 per day due to increased cost of health insurance, increased medical care costs, and lost earnings due to "smoking related factors" among others. Using the same logic, but in reverse, an expensive fruit juice's health benefits are likely to lead to a REDUCED cost due to lowered health care costs - AND personally I'm finding work more productive with my increased energy which means I can earn more = and that is an effective lowering of your costs.

4. Pint of beer at a bar = $4.00

5. 1 bottle of $21 wine per week = $3.00 per day
Here in California we seem to consume a lot more than 1 bottle per week and/or pay a lot more than $21 per bottle, and the Acai berry alone is said to have 33 times more antioxidants than red wine grapes.

6. My health = Priceless
As I mentioned in my personal testimonial, I have more energy all day, a pain free shoulder, an overall elevated mood, and I sleep soooo much better. This new found health is truly priceless for me.

7. Competitors (they barely compete) comparison:

• Goji Juice - only 5 fruits (and Goji is just another name for Wolfberry)
  
• "Xango" or Mangosteen = $4.60 per day, has 10 fruits, but NO acai


• Noni juice - only 1 fruit = $3.82 per day


• NingXia (their brand name is another name for Wolfberry just like "Goji") = they recommend only 1 ounce per day which is $1.38 per day but NingXia has NO acai, only contains 9 fruit - only 2 of which are whole fruits.

USDA's fruit recommendations - how bad is the American diet?

The "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005" is a report published every 5 years by the USDA (US Dept of Agriculture). In this report they are recommending 2 "cups" of fruit a day, which appears to be 4 "servings" per day.

Yet according to the USDA's Economic Research Service, in 2004 (the most recent year studied) the average American per-capita serving of fruit was 0.85, for a total of 77.9 calories, and 5.1 ounces of fruit. What's more, this includes ALL sources of possible fruit including "soft drinks" with at least 10% fruit juice, even those with water and sugar as major components. Download all of the research from this page if you're interested.

That is a VERY sad state of affairs in the average American diet. Not only that, but less than half of the so-called fruit consumption is from "fresh fruit".

The USDA recommends consuming a variety of fruits, and that we decrease those foods that are less-nutrient-dense (like bad fruit juices, fruit cocktails with syrup, etc), and finally they recommend consumption of "whole fruits". While they say to avoid juice, they really don't mean nutrient-dense fruits - they mean the junk you find on store shelves..

The USDA makes no bones about the fact that increased fruit and vegetable consumption is key to reducing the liklihood of all kinds of diseases including cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. A nutrient rich, organic, whole fruit product is something Americans appear to need in a desprate way.

Glucosamine's health benefits

Glucosamine's health benefits have been studied over the past 20 years and that is the additiveI'm assuming contributed to healing my Shoulder Impingement.

There are quite a few opinions and studies about Glucosamine so I'll link to a couple of my favorite.

DrugDigest discusses studies in relation to cartilage deterioration, arthritis pain relief, healthy skin, healing of wounds, anti skin wrinkling, and Crohn's disease and other bowel problems. It also points out that Glucosamine can irritate your stomach, so taking the recommend dosage of 1500 Mg a day is ideal. Those allergic to Shell fish, and diabetics should be cautioned according to this report, so I encourage you to read this article if either is a concern. HOWEVER, there is now also a plant-based Glucosamine, so even Vegan's can now get Glucosamine.

Visit the Glucosamine Product Guide for information about dosage, and how much Glucosamine costs as a supplement - they say $30 to $80 per month, and you still want to get fruit in your diet.

This article, from the Arthritis Foundation, is similar to the first one above, but a bit more concise. Healthy drinking to you all. Finally, this page is full of links to various Glucosamine research pages.

A diabetics story

This call takes a bit to get started, but once she gets into it, this is the personal audio testimonial from a diabetic. The link below should open a Windows Media Player and start playing:

MP3 Audio File

My personal testimonial drinking an Acai-based Fruit juice

I started this Blog to promote because I was curious why drinking a nutrient-dense fruit juice gave me such amazing health improvements.

This is the first Network Marketing company I've ever been a part of, and it's all because of this wonderful juice. Check out the top 6 for me and read other testimonials here.

My physical improvements are:
1. 2+ year old "shoulder impingement" problem now gone.
I stopped going to the gym because of how much pain I was in when lifting weights - it literally felt like I was tearing into my rotator cuff and my tendons were going to snap. Within a week or two of drinking my new juice my shoulder pain is gone.


2. I've ALWAYS had trouble sleeping. Now I'm sleeping so heavily and soundly that it almost feels like I'm on a sedative. I'm sleeping 8 hours, whereas before 6 hours was a lot for me, and I was having far too many 1 to 4 hours nights. Not surprisingly my daytime energy now is significantly better.

3. I'll mention energy again because my biggest struggles were in the afternoon. I've noticed that I'm fully energized all day now. I drink 2 ounces in the morning, and 2 ounces at night. Yet I sleep like I'm on drugs, and I wake up much easier instead of clinging to my pillow. What's more is my energy is consistent throughout the day including the afternoon - my former problem time.

4. I'm now drinking less coffee and I "think" it's because my desire is down. I'm only drinking 1 cup now out of habit and because I like it, but now I have no trouble filling a smaller cup, and stopping at one. Before I'd fill up the largest cup, or buy a Starbucks Venti, and go for 2nds, 3rds and even 4th cups.

5. I feel like I have less interest in drinking alcohol, so I'm drinking less. My favorite health book of all time is from the 1990's, Dr Braly's "Food Allergy & Nutrition Revolution" in which he says alcohol "probably" raises a certain brain chemical provided by the Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's). So EFA supplements help. The Acai Berry is high in EFA's, so I'm guessing this explains my decreased interest in alcohol.

6. My overall mood is up too. Any one of the above could explain that - more energy, drinking less coffee and alcohol - but many phytonutrients are linked to lowered depression, and so obviously better moods.

Well, I suppose the more problems you have, the more benefit you'll receive from a nutrient-dense fruit juice and the more personal testimonials you'll have. I guess that makes me "lucky" :) I haven't gotten blood work done, but given all of the benefits I've seen, I'm inclined to believe in the claims of those who say their cholesterol has dropped to healthy levels, and those of arthritis suffers who no longer need medication for it. By the way, this is not advice, I'm not a doctor, this is just my personal experience and layman's research.

Network Marketing - the good, the bad, the ugly

Mention "Network Marketing" or "MLM" and some people will just shut down as they mumble something about "Amway". On the other hand, others respond VERY positively. Last week I mentioned Network Marketing to a friend, and she told me her parents still receive a risidual income of over $10,000 per month from a 10 year old supplement company they particapted in, and they and their family still buys products from.

So the responses range wildly and widely. But the fact is that Amway was primarily in the news in the 1970's when the FTC came down with a 1976 decision on their practice of making money off their motivational & instructional materials rather than their consumer products.

Author Richard Poe wrote a book in the '90s called "Wave Three: The New Era of Networking Marketing" in which he described the evolution from really bad implementations that deservedly earned bad reputations, to what Network Marketing has become. And here we are nearing the end of 2006 and Richard Poe is saying there is even a Fourth Wave.

Two key differences between bad and good MLM's are that 1) bad ones have high "entrance fees", and 2) Distributors are forced to purchase expensive inventories. When they can't sell them, the MLM collapses and everyone but those at the top lose money.

So look for companies with a low Distributor fee, where you are NEVER required to buy ANY other promotional material, and the product pamphlets, and there is a lot of information on the internet that is ALL free. Secondly, if you want inventory for Retails sales you can stock up, but you don't have to sell that way. You can just get people to sign up for their own auto-shipment, or place orders as recieved and mailed directly to the customer.

Also choose one where you can stop auto-shipment at any time, and start up your "business" again at any time. The old bad ways are gone from Network Marketing - at least in the good companies. Besides... you can choose to just drink one of the fantastic juices sold via MLM and not sell it yourself.

Chocolate vs. Acai for Heart Disease & Cancer prevention

If you watch TV news you probably heard that Chocolate was recently shown to prevent Heart Disease and Cancer. Unfortunately, as general news sources do, they either mis-interpreted the study, or the public just heard what they wanted to hear - that they could freely eat chocolate. But check out this article clearly stating that it is NOT chocolate, but rather "flavanols" found in Cocoa. Chocolate is made from Cocoa, but merely containing "some" Cocoa while over loaded with Sugar and Milk Fat is NOT good. Yet another article found here states that bad harvesting and processing practices can signficantly reduce the flavanols in Cocoa - so you can only imagine what makes it to the American consumer product. After reading these two articles, I'd only eat raw hard chocolate which is harder to find - and NOT eat the candy packaged "Dark" chocolate brands.

So what are your options??? Well look at the list in the article I'm referencing. She states that "a wide variety of foods and beverages contain flavanols: Green and black tea, acai, pomegranate, cherries, apples, apricots, blackberries and raspberries, purple grapes, kale and many others." "Others" include Kiwis, blueberries, bilberries, Aronia berry and cranberries. Find these fruits in your high-antioxidant fruit juice and you'll get all of the benefits you need.

Diabetes & fruit

A friend asked if her Diabetic father-in-law could drink a nutrient-dense fruit juice. After some research I discovered that the lack of fruit is a contributor to Diabetes. So as a Diabetic, getting fruit in your diet is important. The difficulty is finding fruit that is low glycemic. And in this case, a fruit juice that is low glycemic.

I started my research at the American Diabetes Association's site and this article on fruit. In general they are saying "fruit is good" but diabetics should be careful not to go over board. They should use blood glucose monitoring to see how fruit works in their body, so doing the same with a fruit juice is probably a good idea. I'm not a doctor, so don't take my advice and consult your own doctor if you have questions or are concerned.

These other sites have useful information as well:
Acai Berry & Diabetes

Sugar & Fruit answers

Fruit Salads & Diabetes

The bottom line appears to me that Diabetics should find a low-glycemic nutrient-dense fruit juice BECAUSE they REQUIRE better nutrition.

Antioxidant study of the Acai Berry

PubMed.gov, a service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institues of Health, reported on the Antioxidant capacity of freeze dried Acai Berry or "Euterpe oleraceae mart". The reading is technical, but with references to Acai as "exceptional" speaks for itself.

Read the full article here:
PubMed.gov

or paste this link into your browser:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17061840&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

Brazilian berry destroys cancer cells in lab, UF study shows

Read the full story here http://news.ufl.edu/2006/01/12/berries/

Key exceprts:
"extracts from acai (ah-SAH’-ee) berries triggered a self-destruct response in up to 86 percent of leukemia cells tested"

“Acai berries are already considered one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants,”

“Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer,” said Bomser, who researches the effects of diet on chronic diseases. “Getting at least five servings a day of these items is still a good recommendation for promoting optimal health.”

Pills vs. Liquid supplements

Have you ever been on a supplement kick? You had a health problem, then read up on the vitamins and nutrients you thought would help, visited a GNC or VitaminShoppe and purchased several bottles of pills.


Then you began swallowing them every day. At first it was painful - so many are gigantic. But you figured you'd get used to it, and your health is worth any cost or inconvenience - right?


In time, as your health improved, you slacked off. Missed a day here or there, and eventually stopped.


If this is a familiar story, then a nutrient-dense fruit juice is for you. Drinking a juice - once in the morning and once at night, is as easy as it gets. Plus it tastes good, and it's only a 1 or 2 ounce shot which is one gulp. Rinse your glass and you're done.


Are you a juicer? This might be worse. The clean up mess, the large portions you try to drink, etc. It's just another problem that causes most of us to let the expensive juicer gather dust.


Fruit in a bottle is already made, you get it shipped to your home or office, you pour a "shot", gulp it down, and you're done. Order at least one month's worth and see for yourself.

Macronutrients vs. Phytonutrients

Do you need a product whose label shows high levels of nutrients like Vitamin C? Well, not if you believe "phytonutrients" are more important.

"Phytonutrients are nutrients concentrated in the skins of many vegetables and fruits, and are responsible for their color, hue, scent, and flavor. To a lesser extent, they are also found in grains and seeds."

In the last few years, phytonutrients have been getting greater attention, as more and more research uncovers just how powerful these nutrients are for our health. Phytonutrients are pigments, or more precisely, the biologically active constituents of pigments. They are potent antioxidants that can neutralize free radical damage. Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that, if left unchecked, can lead to premature aging and poor health.

Clinical trials are now revealing that phytonutrients can enhance the strength of the immune system, and may play a role in promoting good health and longevity. Other studies have shown that the phytonutrients in blueberries and bilberries slow brain aging and maintain healthy vision in rats.

It has long been known that plant-based nutrients are among the most beneficial of foods to consume a great deal of and phytonutrients may hold the key to explaining why this is so.

Açai, for example, is one of the world's most powerful antioxidants. The benefits of antioxidants have been documented thousands of times over, but these benefits cannot be added to a nutritional facts or supplemental facts panel. Therefore, if you feel a particular macronutrient is important to your diet, you should continue to take the supplements you feel necessary.