Acai- A Natural Stress Fighter

By Mirko Albrecht, Dipl.-qualified NC.

We know two types of Stress

Acute stress and chronic stress. Acai can help to prevent and treat all stress types. 

Acute stress is a type of stress with low level of inter alia epinephrine. Here you need several nutritions to boost the secretions of stress hormons.

Acai is a good source of vitamins such as vitamin C, E, B1, B2, B3 and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, chromium, copper, potassium.

Chronic stress is a form of stress with i.a. increase secretion of catecholamines. Adrenaline and nor adrenaline belong to the group of Catecholamine and/or the stress hormone Cortisol.

Several researchers have found, that sugar the stresshormons secretion decreases.  All fruits contain natural sugar, Acai too. Table sugar is unhealthy, because it decreases the stress resistance, causes deficits of several stress related nutritions and increases the risk to oxidative stress.

But Acai is a powerful fruit-package and it has a low glycemic index and therefore is freeze dried acai powder an ideal support for diabetics.

Stress is very diverse. Below I have listed some stressful situations for which Acai is especially recommended.

The Immune-Stress System

Our immune system is a very important “control centre” of stress. Too much stress (or/and low stress resistance) can weaken our immune system by causing an imbalance in our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and reducing our body’s neutrophil activity natural killer cells (NK-Cells). The vitamins and minerals contained within Acai can help regulate the HPA axis, thus helping protect the body’s natural defence against disease.

Chemicals in our Environment

Our bodies have to fight daily against the effects of chemical substances and pollutants found in our foods, medications and environment. These chemicals produce free radicals in the body, causing oxidative stress, and can lower the body’s ability to absorbe the vitamins and minerals from our diet, causing deficiency of several nutrients. Acai is rich source of powerful antioxidants such as anthocyanins, flavonoids and carotinoids, which can help to reduce the negative impact of the chemicals in our environment.

Heavy Metals and High Blood Pressure

Heavy metals are present in our environment from a wide range of sources, including cigarette smoke, cosmetics, household dust, pesticides and much more. High levels of environmental related heavy metals in the body cause oxidative stress. In particular, heavy metals such as lead, mercury or cadmium have been found to cause elevated blood pressure, which in turn can lead to other serious health-related issues. Antioxidants-rich foods in the diet, such as Acai, are therefore very important in neutralizing the effects of heavy metals.

Freeze dried Acai powder is for me an excellent natural supplement to aid the body’s natural ability to help counter the effects of stress. Acai is a powerful antioxidant and immune-support food.

Acai Extracts show Brain Health Potential

Extracts from Acai may enhance the ‘neuronal housekeeping function’ & potentially protect the brain as we age, suggests new research.

The brain’s natural housekeeping mechanism is called autophagy and involves the controlled degradation of cells, including the recycling of toxic proteins. This system declines naturally as we age, but new research suggests that berry extracts may enhance the process and contributes towards brain health.

Researchers at the USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston presented their findings recently at the Society of Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Super fruits from Central and South America

Acai berries (pronounced ah-sigh-ee), have long formed part of the staple diet of Indian tribes. With the appearance of a purple grape and taste of a tropical berry, it has been shown to have powerful antioxidant properties thanks to a high level of anthocyanins, pigments that are also present in low levels in red wine.

It is presently being sold in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Australia, South America, Japan, USA, and the Middle East

New data

Led by the late James Joseph from Tufts University, the researchers investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of acai extracts in the main defense cells of the brain – the microglia – in rodents. “Microglial activation can result in the generation of cytotoxic intermediates and is associated with a variety of age-related and neurodegenerative conditions,” explained the researchers.

Results presented in San Diego indicated that extracted fractions of the acai pulp protected against the release of pro-inflammatory compounds including COX-2 and TNF-alpha.

“These results suggest that acai may contribute to ‘health span’ in aging, as it is able to combat some of the inflammatory and oxidative mediators of aging at the cellular level,” wrote the researchers.

Fifteen Fat-Burning Foods and Beverages

Wouldn’t it be great if you could wave a magic wand and watch as your belly fat completely disappeared? But since we can’t count on a fairy godmother to show up anytime soon, we have to keep ourselves in check via healthy foods like these!

Fruits
 

Grapefruit: Want to ingest fewer calories during meal time? Eating half a grapefruit prior to gathering around the dinner table can help fill you up enough to where you are able to resist that second helping of tortellini. The plentiful amounts of soluble fiber in grapefruit slow down the digestion process.

Watermelon: Everyone has experienced the stuffed feeling that comes from this colorful fruit. The water invades the space that your stomach leaves open for food, thus making you less likely to pig out. Apples and pears produce a similar result, too.

Berries: If Hollywood still made horror films based around foods, The Attack of the Killer Sweet Tooth could easily be the name of a new thriller. Instead of allowing yourself to succumb to the temptation of a cookie, pop some blackberries or strawberries into your mouth. Frozen blueberries also provide the illusion of enjoying a cold, high-calorie treat (step away from the Häagen-Dazs!). Of course the acai berry fits in this category  BUY acai now

Veggies

 
Cucumber: Refreshing and crunchy, is there anything better? Cucumber has very few calories and helps to stave off liver disease and pancreatic cancer, and even keeps your nails looking amazing due to the high mineral content. Keep a few slices in the fridge for a nourishing bite!

Hot peppers: Although they haven’t been directly linked to weight loss, spicy habaneros or jalapeños aid in curbing the desire to gorge since we typically eat less when our food has a fiery flavor. Hot peppers also comprise the compound capsaicin, which speeds up the metabolism.

Celery: If you’re a self-proclaimed snacker, celery will be your best friend. Not only does it satisfy the need to eat something, but it has virtually no calories (one cup of celery equals a measly nineteen calories). Tip: instead of adding cream cheese or peanut butter to the stalk, give fat-free cottage cheese or fat-free black bean dip a go!

Protein
 

Greek yogurt: Some of us can’t stand traditional yogurt, but when it’s this thick and creamy we will race down to our favorite market just to stock up on it. Besides its wonderful texture, Greek yogurt “keeps you satisfied longer,” according to sports nutritionist Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, because all proteins take their sweet time leaving your stomach.

Eggs: Start the day off right with seven grams of protein! Having an egg in the morning will keep your body busy because digesting eggs burns more calories than a carb-infested breakfast.

Fish: It has been engrained in our brains that fish is full of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. But did you know that wild salmon, tuna, and sardines all make your body more responsive to the fat-burning hormone leptin, which is responsible for suppressing your appetite? If you won’t eat fish, turkey can also help you ditch the extra pounds, as it encourages the release of tryptophan, which helps you sleep. Remember: lack of sleep wreaks havoc on your waistline!

Antioxidants Against Skin Ageing

Your skin is the barrier between your body and the outside world, and every day it is exposed to pollution, sunlight, cigarette smoke and other factors that impact its health and appearance. All of these, as well as many of the body’s normal physiological processes, can culminate in the production of free radicals.

Free radicals are molecules that have become unstable because they’ve lost an electron. Whilst their creation is a natural (and healthy) part of our bodily functioning, they accumulate in greater quantities as we get older. Unfortunately, the body’s ability to handle them declines at the same time. This accumulating imbalance is believed to contribute to many of the effects of ageing, including those observed in the skin, such as fine lines and wrinkles .

Sunlight and ultraviolet radiation are some of the most potent generators of free radical damage in the skin. Observing their effects is as simple as comparing the difference in texture of the skin on your outer forearm (which is often exposed to the sun) with the skin on your torso, which (unless you’re prone to sunbaking) is less likely to be sun damaged.

Depending on your age and the climate where you live, you’ll notice that the skin on your outer arm is likely to be thicker and coarser, and perhaps even more freckled or pigmented, dehydrated or prematurely aged.

These changes to the skin texture occur in part because free radical damage interferes with the integrity of elastin and collagen, depleting their ability to remain supple and elastic. With their ongoing decline in integrity, the skin loses its firmness and becomes wrinkled, and ageing becomes apparent.

To minimise the ageing effects of free radical damage on your skin (and elsewhere in your body), protect yourself from sunburn and UV-radiation, and don’t smoke or use recreational drugs. Avoid alcohol binges too.

Antioxidants are compounds that donate an electron of their own to restabilise free radicals, and are the body’s way of minimising free radical damage.

Antioxidants occur in many forms. The body produces some, but many are consumed in the diet. When using natural organic skincare products you’re even applying antioxidants to your skin from the outside!thocy

For glowing, healthy skin, your diet should contain abundant quantities of antioxidant-rich fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds. Some foods are renowned for their exceptionally high content of antioxidant nutrients and of these, our favourite is the acai berry from Brazil.

The antioxidants in acai berries are a variety called anthocyanins and proanthocyanins. They have a deep purple colour and are also found in red wine, blueberries and similarly coloured foods, and they are believed to be responsible for these foods’ anti-ageing health benefits.

The levels of anthocyanins and proanthocyanins in acai berries are much greater than those in wine and berries. For example while a glass of red wine may contain 24-35 mg of anthocyanins per 100 millilitres, the same quantity of acai contains 320 mg .  Scientists are still evaluating all the health benefits of acai berries, but with an antioxidant content as powerful as that, there’s little doubt they’re invaluable when it comes to helping your body mop up free radicals!

To reap the free radical-fighting benefits of acai berries for your skin, add some RioLife Organic Freeze Dried Acai powder to your morning smoothie or juice, stir it into your yoghurt or sprinkle it over your breakfast cereal.

Superfoods: Separating Facts from Fiction

Acai berries

These berries were named the No.1 superfood by nutritionist to the stars Nicholas Perricone for reportedly having higher antioxidant levels than blueberries. The fact they can only be harvested twice a year in the Amazon Basin makes them sound as high-maintenance as one of Perricone's famed clients, Gwyneth Paltrow. Nevertheless, the American Chemical Society verified the claim in 2006.

 Broccoli

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 The William H. Macy of the vegie world, this homely food is also a powerhouse: loaded with vitamin C, folic acid and carotenoids, which are packed with vitamin A and can protect your cells from the damage of free radicals, which lead to premature ageing.

Cinnamon

Jerry Seinfeld once said the mystery ingredient that makes every dish tasty is cinnamon. But does it really reduce blood levels of total cholesterol, including triglycerides, and help lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes? Yes.

Dark chocolate

The food equivalent of a supermodel who's also a Mensa candidate, dark chocolate helps prevent heart disease because of the inhibiting effect of polyphenols on LDL cholesterol, which promotes coronary disease. And a BBC news report showed melting dark chocolate in one's mouth produces an elevated heart rate more intense than when we kiss passionately.

Edamame

Like a beauty queen who's fallen from grace, soy products - once touted as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease - have recently been charged with causing hideous side effects such as loss of libido and breast growth in men. The bottom line, dietitian Milena Katz says, is that young soybeans are ''fine as a protein but so are chickpeas''.

Flaxseed

Does this tiny brown seed truly improve heart health by lowering blood pressure, inflammation and blood triglyceride levels, helping to prevent clots in arteries? Only if you eat ground flaxseed or incorporated in flour or meal, rather than whole.

Ginger

Not just the hottest cast member of Gilligan's Island, ginger is a key part of traditional Chinese medicine. Why? Because this underground stem is rich in phytochemicals, including beta-carotene (which helps maintain good eyesight), curcumin and salicylates, which can be used to relieve numerous ailments, including nausea, motion sickness and pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis.

Herbs

Garden-variety green herbs could pull off a public relations coup if word gets out about their health benefits. Dill has six times more beta-carotene than rockmelon or pumpkin, and basil and parsley have twice as much vitamin C as oranges.

Israeli couscous

Model Catherine McCord is touting this version of the ubiquitous grain, rather than the tinier African variety. It has the same health benefits - one cup provides 42 per cent of the daily recommended dose of vitamin C and its high fibre content helps slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, helping to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes - and it is toasted rather than dried, which lends it a nuttier flavour.

Jicama

Like a great indie film, this South American root vegie is both obscure and good for you: a great source of vitamin C, folic acid (crucial in brain development) and beta-carotene.

Kale

Two of this leafy green's antioxidants - lutein and zeaxanthin - lower the risk of age-related eye disease and its vitamin A helps fight infection. You can also make chips with it by sprinkling it with olive oil and salt and baking for 10 minutes. What more do you want?

Acai Berries may help lower blood pressure

Acai Berries help beat blood pressure

Almost every time you go to the doctor, you’ll get your blood pressure taken. What your doctor is actually doing is measuring the amount of force your heart is using as it pumps the blood around your body.

When it’s too high, you’re at increased your risk of developing cardiovascular problems due to the extra stress on your blood vessels (hence the medical name for high blood pressure, ‘hypertension’).

High blood pressure is incredibly common, affecting as many as one in seven Australian adults, and becoming more prevalent as we get older.

In the 1990s, the famous Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) studies demonstrated that changing your diet can help lower or manage high blood pressure.

This series of clinical trials showed that the most effective diet against hypertension is one that avoids salt (aiming for less than 2300 mg, and preferably less than 1500 mg of sodium per day), saturated fat and cholesterol (from meat and full-fat dairy products).

On the other hand the DASH diet contains plenty of foods rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and fibre, including fat-free or low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and nuts.

In particular, it contains 4-5 servings per day of fruit, and 4-5 servings of vegetables. These foods contribute potassium to the diet in abundance, which in turn helps to balance sodium levels and maintain healthy blood pressure.

Now, new research suggests that the type of fruit and veggies you choose could also be important in managing your blood pressure.

In a study that tracked the diets of nearly 157,000 people over 14 years, consuming high dietary levels of a group of antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins was shown to have a significant protective effect against hypertension. Participants in the study who ate the highest levels of anthocyanins had an 8% lower risk of developing high blood pressure than those who ate them in small quantities or infrequently.

So where do you find anthocyanins? They’re a group of flavonoids, typically found in red, blue and purple coloured foods, such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

Anthocyanins are particularly rich in the acai berry, an extremely nutritious, high-energy superfood from the Amazon rainforest. Since fresh açaí berries spoil extremely quickly, here in Australia they’re mostly consumed in freeze-dried powdered form, which has the advantage of also concentrating the antioxidant levels in every serve. For example, just 5 grams of RioLife Organic Acai Berry Powder provides a similar level of antioxidants to around 120 blueberries.

Other ways to help manage your blood pressure include stopping smoking, avoiding excessive quantities of alcohol, participating in regular exercise, and keeping to a healthy body weight.

Selected references:

Cassidy A, et al. Habitual intake of flavonoid subclasses and incident hypertension in adults. Am J Clin Nutr 2010 doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.00678

US Dept Health and Human Services, NIH. Your guide to lowering your blood pressure with 

RioLife takes $20,000 to the Amazon educate children.

On a Recent trip to Brazil Co Founders and Directors Andrew Cameron and Jeremy Liddle spent quality time visiting the harvesters and Acai Berry processing facilities in the city of Belem which is the Acai Berry Capital of the World! Here Brazilians consume 400 tones of this incredible fruit a day!!

A very important part of this trip was visiting the ACAIMU School, which is independently supported through the Amazon Friendly initiative. RioLife donated $20,000 to the school which will keep it up and running for an entire year. 

The school currently has 98 students that  would otherwise have no access to quality schooling, they are brought to the school by boat every day, given lunch and classes 4 days a week. They even have their own cool school t shirts to wear:)

It brings great pride to the RioLife team and it's supporters to be able to make such a difference where it counts most, the education of youth. With education these children are empowered with the ability to make a difference in their homeland, the Amazon Rainforest, which is disappearing at an alarming rate.

The Acai Berry is now giving more than just great health and energy to people, it is creating positive change.

To finally meet these incredible kids and their teachers was a real milestone for the Directors and it's commitment to giving back to the communities of the Amazon. We have seen the plans to build a second school which is much needed. We hope with further sales of Acai Berry we will be able to fund development which has been at a halt for the last two years.

What is the Amazon Friendly initiative?
Amazon Friendly was set up in 2004 as a vehicle to help give back to the Amazon and its communities. It is a commitment to doing things the right way, being responsible to the environment and its people, conducting business that is sustainably conscious and fair to all parties involved. A part of this is supporting education of the most important people, youth. Amazon Friendly contributes to the ACAIMU School built specifically for the children on the island where Acai is harvested and otherwise would not receive quality education.

For more info  www.amazon-friendly.org

A big thank you goes out to all our Loyal customers and supporters over the years to help make this happen. We look forward to creating more positive change in the future.