The History of the Acai Berry
The acai (ah-sigh-ee) berry has been around for thousands of
years and not until the 1990's was it introduced to the
western world. The acai berry was found to possess
tremendous health properties. The acai berry was first used
by the tribes of the Amazon jungle as a cure for various
ailments. It is estimated that the indigenous tribes people
routinely use up to 2,000 of the 3,000 known rainforest fruits
for medicinal purposes. The Amazon borders eight different countries and has the
world's largest river basin. Not only does the Amazon supply
one fifth of the worlds freshwater, it has the highest diversity
of birds and freshwater fish. The Amazon is the largest
rainforest in the world where one third of all animal and plant
species live. The acai berry is just one of these fruits that has
been discovered in this vast region. The Shuar tribes are one
of these Amazonian tribes that have for centuries, through
tradition, kept the use of plants (acai berry) for medicinal
purposes. Shuar medicine men or women are called uwishin (oo-wee-
sheen') a healer that works with medicinal plants, somebody
who knows all the secrets of the rainforests. Uwishin, have a
great deal of knowledge of medicinal plants and their cures,
they learn from others, and through experiments from the
plants themselves. One plant removes snakes venom from the
body. It is the work of the uwishin to research and find
solutions to illness. The acai berry was discovered to have natural antioxidant
properties, as well as being a natural cholesterol controller.
When eaten it helps reduce the bad cholesterol in our blood
and increases the good cholesterol. The tribes of the Amazon
knew of these properties and found out that it helped build
the immune system, fight infection, protect the heart, and
control prostate enlargement (nature's viagra). It was a great
energy food for the tribes-people. The acai berry, which is a
palm fruit, was traditionally pulped to make wine that was rich
in minerals. The acai berry was also discovered to fight
schistosomosis, which is transmitted by snails. Schistosomosis
affecting more than 10 million Brazilians. The aca¨ª berry is also
used to produce an antibiotic that helps to fight against
'Staphylococcus aureus,' a common infection contracted mainly
in hospitals. A berry so useful but only known to the
traditional tribes men and woman of the Amazon, a lost
secret. The aca¨ª berry comes from a palm that has a long thin trunk
up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from
which hangs ribbon-like leaves. Aca¨ª berries hang from these
branches in clusters that look like groups of bluebottles.
Traditionally the acai berries would be picked by hand and the
tribe's men would shimmy up the tree and cut the branches
from the top of the palm tree rich in acai berries. Now that the
acai berry has been discovered as a highly sort after crop by
the population of Brazil it is mass produced, as it only has a
24 hour life span in which the properties of the juice are still
active. The acai berries must be loaded into baskets and onto
boats soon after picking. To get it to the markets in Belem's
they would have to transport the acai berries over night. Each acai palm tree produces round about 20 kg of fruit per
year and the wine produced by this fruit has become the most
important product in terms of finance after wood forest
products. Belem in Brazil now employs over 30,000 people on
a daily basis to keep up with its enormous demand. So we know where it comes from, what about it's recent
history? After being introduced into the western world it was
realised by the modern beach going Brazilian surfer as a
natural way to regain energy. The acai berry was pulped and
frozen to keep it fresh and became a natural additive to the
smoothies drunk along the beaches of Brazil. It was known to
help your prostate and was seen as a natural viagra for the
boys of the beach. It soon became a drink for the trendy, for
the sand and surf brigade. The researches soon got hold of this magic acai berry and
realised that it would be of great importance in the well-being
and health of the western world, our diets are often over filled
with fat and fast food, acai is naturally full with energy, it has
a vibrant taste of berries with a hint of chocolate, is rich in
proteins, fibre, vitamin E, minerals and essential Omega oils to
reduce our bad cholesterol caused by our western diets. The
acai berries fatty acid ratio resembles that of olive oil this is
thought to be a contributing factor to low incidence of heart
disease in Mediterranean populations. The acai berry contains
similar properties as red wine in controlling fats in the blood
and is a fair contributor to go up against the wine diets of the
Mediterranean people. Known as the miracle fruit, acai berries also helps in
preventing cancer due to it's antioxidant properties that are
five times more potent than gingko biloba, a commonly used
herbal therapy product. Acai berry juice has been introduced into other products like
bars and health snacks to be sold at gyms and health spars.
It's history is important as by studying the effects that the
berry has had on the tribesmen in the Amazon we have
discovered that it's traditional use as an energy booster for
hunting and good libido has lead to acai berry juice to being a
very commercially viable product. It's most recent history is that it has been endorsed by such
talk show hosts as Oprah Winfrey and has been seen as a
feature on her show, a berry with star success. So lets say
good bye to guranum and hello to the acai berry. Todd Levering is a raw organic health food advocate and owner of several health clubs around Seattle, WA. He's mostly known for promoting the health benefits of the Acai berry for it's natural antioxidant properties and the powerful beverage Xocai, which contains Acai. To learn more from Todd about this amazing new beverage, please visit: http://acaipro.com
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