Is Acai Worth What We Are Paying For It?

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We are all hearing about the Acai craze (pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”). The current trend is to label this super-antioxidant as a form of weight-loss, while completely forgetting the powerful benefits that Acai has to offer. While it is touted by fast and glitzy companies that want to make a fast buck from what seems to be a rumor, floating on the notoriety of movie stars, promising that Acai was a “part” of their diet, there are few who will agree that it is a proper weight loss solution. Acai is booming with $13.5 million of sales last year, up from a humble $435,000 for the two preceding years.

What I see is that many people will be healthier, perhaps happier, but they won’t loose much weight - Not from Acai Berries at least

You can take Acai for many fantastic reasons, and perhaps I shouldn’t complain that so many people are reaping the benefits of Acai while seeking weight loss, but I am concerned that they will stop taking it because it’s being used for the wrong reasons. Acai is not a miracle cure, but it is an antioxidant powerhouse, in fact, coupled with *Green Tea Extract and Goji, you have a potent antioxidant mixture that will benefit your health greatly. Using Acai for the right reasons gives us a strong free-radical eliminator.

Oprah’s Dr Oz comments about this as well, stating that it is “Another example of a wonderful food”. While Dr. Perricone, who has obviously looked more extensively into Acai then the Oprah-made-popular Dr Oz, says that “Using Acai in your diet can actually slow or reverse the aging process from an external perspective”.

Dr. Perricone suggests that Acai has a high concentration of antioxidants that fight premature aging, and that it has 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes, and 10-30 times the anthocyanins of red wine.

He further explains that Acai:

• has a synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats , dietary fiber and phytosterols to promote cardiovascular and digestive health
• Is an essential amino acid complex in conjuction with valuable trace minerals , vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration

That is a good line-up, especially when compared to spending your hard-earned money on other products that promise much but deliver little. In fact, Acai packs a more potent punch of antioxidant qualities than many other super-foods. While blueberries are very high in antioxidants, and my personal favorite; Acai berry contains up to 5 times more anti-aging and free-radical strength!

So, while I would not endorse the use of Acai, any more than I would blueberries for weightloss, I would very much hold Acai up as one of the most powerful anti-oxident supplements to add to our regimines. I personally use Acai regularly in my diet, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about antioxident protection.

Let’s not throw out the towel on Acai, in fact, we can all benefit by researching this supplement heavily and adding it to our diets to fight other damage that we are exposed to daily.

*The product I am currently using is called “GreenTeaPure“, and is a proprietary blend of Green Tea, Acai and Goji berries.

You Really Can Loose Weight!

Let's face it,

We like to eat, our bodies need food, and, it can really taste good! Other than that, it would be easy to lose weight, you just forget to eat, hey, no problem...except when your stomach growls, then there is that pain and sense of emptiness, such acute senses our stomachs have, you'd think you were dying if you missed a meal, but in many countries they go on with little food at all.

So, how do we beat this! I have a few pointers that will help us.

Try to eat slowly...
Your body can and will absorb your food if you eat slower and chew your food completely. Not only will you get a fuller feeling, faster, but your saliva (yuk, I know) will cover the food better and you will digest the food better, because you release enzymes through your food that way.

After you've finished your plate full of food, just wait! That's right, just hold on for around 20 minutes, try practicing this for longer and longer periods if you can't wait that long, try 5 minutes, then 10, etc. until you get there. I don't know how it does it, but by waiting this long it sends some sort of response to your stomach that you are done. It's worked for many people so give it a try.

Watch what you eat. I know you and I both would rather have the delicious fattening foods, but slowly, discretely start to take yourself off of the bad foods and replace them, bit at a time with healthier foods, especially if you like vegetables, there are ways to cook them that make them delicious! One of my favorites is broccoli, and replacing your meats with vegetables a bit at a time is also a good practice.

Don't knock yourself. When you look in the mirror, don't see "fat" see what's on the inside and realize that certain mirrors actually make you look fatter, or redder, or show more wrinkles, etc. than others. The point is, you have to think well of yourself and believe that you can lose the weight-you can.

Another thing is don't try to lose it in a month, it's much better if you pace yourself and set a realistic goal. Here is a great tip, and I do mean this will help you, especially with cardiac: Walking. If you just start walking a bit a day, then gradually increase to a half an hour, then you are doing your body a great service.

I know how wonderful it would be if we could lose it all in a moment, but it didn't take a moment to put it on did it? So, we are determined; we pace ourselves; we set goals we can achieve; and we take things one day at a time. IF you mess up one day and "indulge", then don't go off and give up! Just get back in the saddle again the next day.

Make sure that you are happy, if you aren't happy, you may eat to compensate, it's called a system of rewards. You may not be getting praise, or complements, so you "reward" yourself by eating something you like. It makes you feel better. Try to find a good outlet with people who will lift you up, make sure to steer clear of people who constantly try to cut you down.

I'm not sure I really like taking the heavy stuff for loosing weight, first, I believe you run risks for health doing that, second, your body will adapt better if you work it into a schedule and a lifestyle change, rather than using quick weight loss gimics to loose it. If you want to use something, then there is a supplement called "CLA" that's short for conjugated linoleic acid. This helps you to naturaly loose weight. CLA is from Safflower oil, and highly concentrated. You take this extremely safe supplement and exersize a bit each day, and most people see results within around two weeks. This works very well for kids, mine saw the results and that was it! Good thing is, it is not expensive, I suppose if they wanted to charge a lot they could, but I'll take "less expensive" anyday, as long as it works, and the site I buy it from has a gaurantee which makes me feel more secure about using their product. Tonalin CLA

Remember, any efforts that you make are good efforts, if they lead to positive thinking and you start to lose weight, then you are doing fantastic!

D Alexopoulos