Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Why “Acai”? The Story Of The Berry

With much of what we eat, and much of what we do, we know very little about the story that has brought it to its present status. OK, sure, so we know – most of us anyway – that hamburgers are so called because they were invented in the German city of Hamburg. But what of the Acai berry? What’s its story? Well, the following is a theory, a rumour and possibly a legend. It may well have been made up, but it sounds good and that’s what is important.

An Amazonian tribal chief recognized that his tribe were running out of food and in order to ensure that they survived he came up with a radical solution. All new born babies would have to be killed in order to make the food that was there go further. When his own daughter Iaca fell pregnant, the chief, fearing accusations of bias, killed his only grandchild. Iaca mourned for days until she heard a baby crying in the distance. She left her tent to find a palm tree covered in purple berries.

Heartbroken that her daughter had been killed for apparently no reason, Iaca laid down against the tree and died of a broken heart. When the tribe found her body, they noticed the tree and others of the same nature. Through finding this tree the tribe was able to eat well and recovered its strength. The decree was lifted and the tribe thrived thanks to the trees. In memory of Iaca, the trees were named for her, with the word “Iaca” reversed to become Acai.

 

Maybe We’re Not So Clever

The fact that it has taken so long for the general public in the US, UK and other English speaking countries to discover the benefits of Acai berries raises some interesting questions. Not least of these surrounds the fact that we in the English-speaking parts of the world have a tendency to often think of ourselves as being quite advanced. There is an awful lot of patronising nonsense talked about other countries, where if they should manage to achieve anything beyond poor or average results they are patted on the back and given faint praise.

Now look at the fact that for many years we have been looking at ways of losing weight which have led us down some blind alleys and to some very peculiar behavior. Why do we have the right to patronise anyone when natural solutions existed all this time and we have been following diets which actually put our health at risk? Maybe we aren’t actually all that clever. The Acai berry has now been shown in many peer-reviewed studies to have a definite effect on weight loss and energy. And here we were, looking for the answer in some very improbable locations.

It is always best to look for a natural solution to questions of health and well-being. Our bodies cry out for the right fuel, for something which will work with the make-up of our system with a minimum of side-effects. With chemically-created products, what we end up with is a lot of by-products which leave us feeling sluggish. This doesn’t happen with Acai berries.

Our Diet Plans vs The Acai Berry

Since before most of us were born, diet plans have been big business and made money for people who could best be described as unscrupulous in many cases. Although by the law of averages some of these plans have worked very well, some have been quite disastrous and looking back we have found that, in some cases, the major effect of a diet plan may be to adversely affect our health, in some cases to the point where it becomes fatal. This has happened on more occasions than we would like to think, and the diet industry does bear some responsibility for putting plans out there that were inadequately researched.

Although some people view a natural solution to a weight problem as something of a cop-out, the truth of the matter is that there are many benefits to aiming for natural weight loss. Some of the commercial diet plans we see may well have quick results, visible effects which would seem ideal. Shortly thereafter they either stop working as your body adjusts to the change or, worse, the nutrient that the plan failed to take account of begins to make its absence known and you become deficient in it.

With a natural solution, the benefits can find their way into your system without disturbing its balance. It can be something as simple as taking some of the chocolate or fried food out of your diet and replacing it with Acai products. No empty calories, no nutritional deficiency and a body which feels fighting fit – what could be better?

Weight-Loss Supplements – Natural vs Chemical

The importance of the weight-loss industry to the growing business of health products has become very clear in recent times, with celebrities happy to endorse products which help them lose weight fast and with apparently no ill-effects. Yet it should be noted that many people actually end up chemically addicted to slimming pills and end up looking frighteningly gaunt. Skinny does not automatically equal healthy, no matter what numerous health bibles may try to tell you. The danger with manufactured chemicals is that chemicals work to an equation – they may give you something, but be sure that they will also take something in return.

There has been a rise in the popularity of natural supplements in recent years for this exact reason. A refreshing number of people are keen to lose weight only up to the point where they can be sure it isn’t going to do them harm. As soon as we start reading about the potential ill-effects of a chemical supplement, we quite rightly prepare to run for the hills. There is no point in slimming down to a “desirable” weight only to find that we are about half as healthy as we used to be, and are no more energetic outside of about a half hour when the effects of the pill are at their peak.

By taking Acai berry supplements in capsule form, it is possible to get the active ingredients into your system fast and benefit from them without the extreme downside that chemical pills always seem to carry with them.

Mainstream Low-Fat Alternatives – The Best Option?

There is always going to be a low-fat food industry, certainly for as long as any of us will live. The simple fact is that people want to lose weight, and anyone with business acumen can make themselves a large amount of money by seeking to cater to that wish. Or, at the very least, they will seek to appear to cater to it. it does not take much research, though, to see that a lot of the additives in low fat foods as sold ready-made in supermarkets can actually be detrimental to your health. In some cases, they will be more harmful than any typical “full fat” option.

It is natural to look at low fat foods as a way to eat the same basic thing without suffering the health consequences. However, the fact of the matter is that there is only so much that can be achieved by hoovering all of the salt or sugar out of a dish and replacing it with lower-calorie alternatives, and the same goes for any kind of “like for like” substitution. Real weight loss comes from changing something more substantial. A chocolate bar or a soft drink may well be sold in great numbers with the tendentious claim that it is “Diet” or “light”. But get down to brass tacks, read the list of additives and you will find it is scarcely any better for you. Replace a daily chocolate bar with a handful of Acai berries and you will get much further in your ambitions.

Acai Berries on the Internet – A Worthwhile Industry?

As with many of the major growth industries in the world today, the health sector has made great use of the Internet in order to create and satisfy a demand for its specific products. This is intelligent business, as there is no doubt that people will increasingly turn to the Internet to find out how they can address their problems. One of the most common recurring concerns for people is weight gain – and, by extension, weight loss. This has been picked up on by Internet businesses, who know their market well.

Among the real success stories of Internet health marketing is the Acai berry phenomenon. By addressing people’s desire to lose weight in a responsible manner, Acai berries have superseded a number of other methods, including weight-loss supplements that work by making you feel as though you have eaten enough – instantly depriving you of the nutrients that are contained even in some of the more questionable foods. To get thin and stay healthy, you cannot simply decide to replace food with supplements. You need to continue eating food. It’s not about alternatives to food, it is about alternative types of food.

This is why Acai berries have taken off among a certain type of consumer. Intelligent people realize that, sooner or later, short-cut weight loss plans present you with a bill – one that generally ends up being paid in health. If you’re constantly feeling weak or ill, then how have you gained anything? Internet Acai berry marketers know this is the way to go.

Inform Yourself Before You Decide Anything

It is perfectly normal to look at the range of solutions out there for just about any problem and just put them all together. If one thing says that it will do the same as all the others, then it naturally follows that there is little difference between them. However, there are obvious and clear differences between many things which ostensibly appear exactly the same, so you should not get trapped into thinking that a diet plan full of promises is one which will deliver on those promises. It is important to make an informed decision. The risks otherwise could seriously harm your health.

One of the few drawbacks to the rise of Acai berry use for weight loss is that now people know how successful Acai berries can be, they will gladly use the name and use lower-quality, less beneficial alternatives that cost less. Looking for the cheapest solution because it guarantees that it uses the active ingredient used by all its competitors is short sighted. It may well feature Acai berries somewhere in the production process – but not necessarily in properly active quantities.

Fortunately there is a good and growing list of Acai berry-dedicated sites that will allow you to find out all that you need to know about what you should be looking for when it comes to losing weight with an Acai berry solution. Try not to assume anything before you have researched your decision. The best-researched solution will be the best for you, every time.