Acai Berry And Goji Berry - Superfoods?

I came across an excellent article by that talked about some of the most powerful superfoods today. Majority of the foods listed were foods that I, and most of us dieters were familiar with, such as:

-Grass-Fed Meats and Wild-Caught Salmon
-Almonds, Walnuts and Other Nuts
-Avocados
-Garlic, Onions, Leeks and Shallots
-Tomatoes
-Sprouts
-Grass-Fed Raw Dairy Milk, Cheese, and Butter
-Fermented Foods

However, there were two superfoods mentioned that caught my attention. These two foods were acai berry and goji berry.

I remember my mother mentioning something about the acai berry fruit which is a prime ingredient in a new popular health product called MonaVie. Once I read Mike's article, I realized why this is such a powerful fruit.

I never heard of goji berry before and I find this food to be very interesting and something I'll add onto my never ending list of health foods!

Here is an excerpt from Mike's article that talks about these two berries...


1. Goji Berries - Goji or wolf berries have long played important roles in Chinese medicine where they are believed to enhance immune system function, improve eyesight, protect the liver, boost sperm production and improve circulation, among other things. They can be eaten raw, consumed as juice or wine, brewed into an herbal tea, or prepared as a tincture.

Goji polysaccharides show antioxidant activity in vitro. As a source of dietary fiber, however, polysaccharides would yield products from bacterial fermentation in the colon, such as several short-chain fatty acids, e.g., butyric acid, which may provide health benefits.

Goji berry fruits also contain zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering roles.

Several published studies, mostly from China, have also reported possible medicinal benefits of Lycium barbarum, especially due to its antioxidant properties, including potential benefits against cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, vision-related diseases (such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, having neuroprotective properties, or as an anticancer and immunomodulatory agent.

2. Acai Berry - The fruit is a small, round, black-purple fruit about 1 inch in diameter, similar in appearance and size to a grape, and the newest wonder food.

Acai is particularly rich in fatty acids, feeling oily to the touch. It contains high levels of the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid. It is also rich in palmitic acid, and the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid. β-sitosterol (beta-sitosterol), a phytosterol that competes with dietary cholesterol for absorption and so may reduce blood cholesterol levels, is also unusually rich.

A recent study found 19 amino acids, with especially high contents of aspartic acid and glutamic acid. The dense pigmentation of acai has led to several experimental studies of its anthocyanins, a group of polyphenols that give the deep color to berries and other fruits, and are high in antioxidant value.

Twelve other flavonoid-like compounds were additionally found, including homoorientin, orientin, taxifolin deoxyhexose, isovitexin and scoparin, as well as several unknown flavonoids. Proanthocyanidins, another group of polyphenolic compounds high in antioxidant value are present, with a profile similar to that of blueberries.

A number of studies have measured the antioxidant strength of acai. A recent report using a standardized oxygen radical absorbance capacity or ORAC analysis on a freeze-dried acai powder found that this powder showed a high antioxidant effect against peroxyl radical. This is approximately 10 times more than blueberries or cranberries.

Only 10% of acai's high antioxidant effects could be explained by its anthocyanin content, indicating that other polyphenols contribute most of the antioxidant activity.

Acai was found to have a higher amount of "slow-acting" antioxidant components, suggesting a more sustained antioxidant effect compared to "fast-acting" components.
Acai containing polyphenolics could reduce proliferation of HL-60 leukemia cells in vitro. 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. In addition, Acai contains anti-inflammatory agents that inhibit COX 1 and 2 enzymes, thereby making it effective against arthritis, allergies, and other inflammatory diseases.