ORAC comparisons: Acai vs. Goji

ORAC is the most commonly used measurement of antioxidant content. In doing internet searches to find the ORAC scores of various fruits and foods Acai rarely comes up because it is still so new in the United States. And so you see sites like this one that state that "Goji" (a made up name for Wolfberry) has the highest Antioxidant ranking of any food at 25,300 per 100 grams.

However, as the Dr. Schauss study (see article here) of the Acai powder "OptiAcai" is 1,026.9 per gram, or 102,690 per 100 grams. So Acai - even in powder form after the patented flash pasteurization - is 4 times great than "Goji".

Of course some Acai based drinks contain Wolfberry (again, Goji is a name one particular company made up to brand it's Wolfberry products).

Nutritionists recommend a variety of fruits. The above "Goji" site sells a product called Ningxia Goji™ Goji Juice which appears to be only Goji. And it costs $160 for 1,000 milliters and they recommend you drink 60 to 120 ML's per day which means your $160 lasts 8 to 17 days. That really expensive no matter how you look at it.... but even more so when you consider it's just one fruit.

Acai trounces Goji.... but Goji is a "super fruit". But so is Amalaki (which is Kiwi or Indian Gooseberry) and Blueberry and Pomegrate and Cranberry and so on. Find a juice with all of these and more and you're in good shape. Don't rely on just one... not even when it's Acai.

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.