Açaí is a small, round, reddish-purple berry that grows on the açaí palm trees, which is native to Central and South America, especially the Amazonian rainforest.
They have an earthy taste reminiscent of a cross between blackberries and unsweetened chocolate, with a slight metallic aftertaste. It has been touted as a superfood, a term that generally refers to a food that is high in nutritional density and low in calories.
Acai Nutrition
There are many different acai products in the market, from powders and juices to teas and smoothies. Each of these products has a different calorie content and nutritional value. One portion or 100 grams of pureed açaí nutrition value, according to the USDA is:
Calories: 60
Fat: 5g
Sodium: 7mg
Carbohydrates: 6g
Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 2g
Potassium: 105mg
Iron: 0.6mg
Calcium: 35mg
Apart from all this, acai fruits also contain vitamins A, C, and E, B vitamins (B1, B2, and B3), magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese.
These berries are clearly full of nutrients, but the main health benefits are said to come from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a type of antioxidant that gives them their color and helps fight free radicals. The following are some additional health benefits of acai:
1. Maintain Digestive Health
One of the many acai benefits is a healthy digestive system. Acai helps maintain our digestive system thanks to its fiber. Fiber is a type of indigestible carbohydrate, unlike sugars and starches, which break down into glucose.
Fiber adds bulk to your stool, making it softer and easier to pass. Regular bowel movements help prevent constipation and keep our digestive system functioning smoothly. Fiber also acts as a prebiotic.
These good bacteria improve digestion, boost nutrient absorption, and protect us from harmful pathogens that could cause digestive disorders such as GERD and IBS. Therefore, a healthy gut microbiome is essential for overall digestive health.
2. Prevent Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders affecting your heart and blood vessels, such as stroke and heart attack. There are many causes of cardiovascular diseases, such as overconsumption of alcohol and tobacco, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet. The last one, an unhealthy diet, can lead to high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels.
The anthocyanins in acai may inhibit the formation and absorption of cholesterol from food in the intestines. They also force the liver to produce more bile acid, which helps our body eliminate excess cholesterol, thereby preventing the buildup of bad/LDL cholesterol.
By eliminating LDL cholesterol, they are less likely to oxidize, a process that clogs the arteries and causes atherosclerosis.
3. Reduce Risk of Cancer
Cancer affects many people worldwide. Unfortunately, there are no cures for cancer, and it is one of the main causes of death. A cancer patient can only rely on medications and treatments that prolong life. This chronic disease occurs when our body undergoes chronic inflammation.
Chronic inflammation occurs when our immune system continues to send out inflammatory cells to defend itself even when there is no injury or infection. This causes inflammatory cells to attack cells, which damages our DNA and leads to gene mutations, the hallmark of cancer.
Therefore, we need to reduce cancer risk by consuming food rich in antioxidants, like acai berries, that reduce inflammation.
One of the many acai benefits is that it can potentially boost energy. Acai contains natural sugars like fructose and sucrose, which are a good source of energy. These natural sugar sugars are broken down by the gut into adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
ATP is the primary source of energy that our body uses to carry out various bodily functions such as homeostasis, organ function, cellular growth and repair, and many more.
Natural sugars are also easily absorbed from our small intestine into your bloodstream, as they have a simple chemical structure requiring minimal breakdown and travel directly from the intestines to the liver. This results in a quick energy boost, which can be beneficial before a workout.
5. Strengthen Bones and Teeth
The acai berry contains several essential vitamins and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and manganese, all of which contribute to strong bones and teeth. Calcium is a mineral stored in our bones and teeth that provides structural components. It is composed of hydroxyapatite, a mineral that keeps our bones and teeth healthy.
Another mineral that works in tandem with calcium to strengthen our bones and teeth is phosphorus. Phosphorus plays a role in the production of hydroxyapatite and adds stability.
Magnesium also keeps our bones healthy by ensuring that our body can absorb the calcium it needs. Keeping our teeth and bones strong and healthy prevents periodontitis, fractures, and osteoporosis.
6. Keep Skin Healthy
Our skin is the largest organ in our body and plays a pivotal role in keeping us healthy. It protects us from external threats and retains moisture, which is important for optimum cellular function and skin health. Acai berries contain powerful antioxidants that potentially contribute to healthy skin.
These antioxidants can fight free radicals that can damage healthy skin cells, which causes wrinkles and signs of aging. They can also break down proteins in old and damaged skin cells and aid in collagen production, both of which allow newer skin cells to grow. This keeps us looking healthy and young.
7. Control Blood Sugar Levels
Acai berries may potentially help fight diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition when your blood sugar is too high. In normal situations, our body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, which enters the bloodstream. Our pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that allows glucose to enter our cells for energy.
Acai has a low glycemic index, meaning it causes a slower and smaller rise in blood sugar levels once consumed and digested. This slows down glucose absorption into the bloodstream and prevents increases in our blood sugar levels. It also improves insulin sensitivity.
Apart from controlling blood sugar, the acai fruit also helps maintain brain health, the organ that controls all cognitive functions. Cognitive functions are processes we use daily to carry out our normal activities like memory, attention, learning, problem-solving, communication, and decision-making.
Acai contains anthocyanins, which protect brain cells from damage caused by free radicals.
As we age, our brain health declines because free radicals produced by the body's normal processes and environmental exposures accumulate in brain cells. The lack of nutrients weakens our brain cells and lead to dementia, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, making poor choices, taking longer to solve problems, etc.
9. Mood Enhancement
Anthocyanin in acai may play a role in mood enhancement. Our mood regulates our physical and mental well-being.
When we do not regulate our mood, it can contribute to the development of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. It can also affect our physical health by weakening our immune system, increasing the risk of heart disease, and worsening existing health conditions.
Anthocyanin plays an important role in neurotransmitter production, like serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin affects our learning, memory, happiness, sleep, sexual behavior, and hunger. Dopamine influences feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. Both serotonin and dopamine result in mood enhancement.
10. Boost Immune Health
Our immune system is a network of cells, organs, and proteins that work together to protect us from pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These pathogens cause sickness and infection.
Our immune system can fight these pathogens by producing antibodies to keep us healthy. They can distinguish between healthy cells and pathogens and eliminate them accordingly.
People with weak immune systems cannot fight off bacteria effectively, which makes them more vulnerable to life-threatening infections like pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. They also heal from wounds, cuts, or surgeries slower, increasing the risk of infection. Acai contains powerful compounds that strengthen our immune system and repair and maintain body tissues.
11. Anti-Oxidant Properties
Acai berries are rich in antioxidants, which neutralize free radicals throughout the body. Free radicals are harmful molecules that can damage healthy cells and lead to diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
According to a study, açaí extract is a more powerful antioxidant than both vitamin C and vitamin E, and supplementing with açaí products may help improve the body’s antioxidant defenses.
In the same study, researchers found drinking 200 milliliters (ml) of açaí juice daily for a month led to significant increases in antioxidant levels and activity. It also decreased markers of oxidative stress.
12. Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Inflammation is the body's natural response to injury or infection. Our immune systems activate immune cells and chemicals in the injured area to eliminate pathogens and prevent infection.
It also starts the healing by increasing blood flow, promoting cell growth, and rebuilding damaged tissue. Inflammation is crucial for healing, but chronic or uncontrolled inflammation can cause irreversible damage. Chronic inflammation is our immune system's inability to stop its defense response.
The immune system will continue to heal the body even though there is nothing to heal, damaging healthy cells and causing various health problems. Thankfully, açaí berries have anti-inflammatory compounds that can help reduce inflammation in the body.
13. Reduce Risk of Arthritis
Arthritis is a generic term for conditions that cause pain and inflammation in a joint, the part of the body where two or more bones meet to allow movement. There are more than 100 types of arthritis, and unfortunately, there is no cure. There are only treatments for pain management, improving joint function, and slowing disease progression.
There are many causes of arthritis, and one of them is inflammation. Chronic inflammation can damage joint membranes, cartilage, and bones. Symptoms of these damages include joint pain, stiffness, difficulty moving, swelling, redness, weakness, and fatigue.
Therefore, we need to reduce inflammation by consuming food like acai, which is rich in anti-inflammatory compounds.
Anthocyanins may potentially reduce exercise-induced muscle damage. During exercise, our body uses energy and produces free radicals, which cause temporary damage to our muscle fibers, leading to soreness and inflammation. Anthocyanins might help reduce inflammation and muscle cell damage.
Anthocyanins also improve blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscles, enhancing the delivery of nutrients needed for muscle recovery after exercise. Therefore, having an acai supplement or an acai bowl as a healthy post-workout snack could go a long way, but it is important to note proper hydration, rest, and stretching are still important for muscle recovery.
15. Maintain Eye Health
Many old adults suffer eye problems like dry eye and age-related vision decline, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Our bodies use oxygen to generate energy, which also produces free radicals. Free radicals can damage cells in the eyes which is linked to the development of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye that leads to blurry vision, double vision, and poor night vision. Meanwhile, AMD is an eye disease that can blur your central vision, meaning people with AMD cannot see things directly in front of them. Antioxidants in açaí berries are known to help protect the eyes from these eye problems.
16. Promote Scalp Health
Acai contains a trace amount of zinc, which may promote scalp health. The sebaceous glands in our scalp produce sebum, a natural oil that helps keep hydrates the hair hydrated and protects the scalp. Excess sebum leads to dandruff and greasy hair, but thankfully, zinc regulates sebum production and prevents these issues.
Zinc also plays a vital role in healthy hair follicle function and cell division required for hair growth. According to a study on the concentration of zinc serum in people diagnosed with alopecia areata, people with hair loss problems had lower levels of zinc concentration than people without scalp conditions.
17. Aid Weight Management
According to theorists, acai could potentially aid in weight management because of its fiber content. Fiber promotes satiety, meaning it keeps us full longer because it takes longer to digest, keeping us feeling fuller for longer and reducing the urge to snack between meals. This potentially reduces your overall calorie intake.
Fiber-rich foods, like acai, are high in water content, which adds volume to food without significant calories. This makes us feel full faster with fewer calories consumption.
Fiber also slows down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream after a meal, preventing blood sugar spikes and crashes, which reduces hunger pangs and cravings. This reduces our urge to eat and lowers our calorie intake.
