What is a Superfood?

Foods that are packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants are also commonly called superfoods.  “Phyto” is basically a fancy name for plant, and nutrients are primarily any chemical that is necessary for an organism to continue growing and carrying out all the normal functions of repair, giving the organism energy, and assisting in some of the other very important processes of the body.

A lot of foods contain phytonutrients (plant nutrients)—all fruits and vegetables, for sure and acai berry has been given the Super name.  So, does this make them super?  “Superfood” is more of a marketing term, but there are particular fruits like Acai that contain more phytonutrients than other vegetable and fruit do—much more.  And because in life things are often presented as a mix of science and art (fact and creative thinking), the Acai Berry has been “branded” as a Superfood.  There’s nothing wrong with a food being super healthy for you; as acai berry really does fit the profile.  It has high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, essential omegas, and fiber.  An adequate amount of all of these nutrients is necessary to bolster and maintain human health, growth, and rejuvenation.  It’s not necessary to refer to the Acai Berry fruit as a “Superfood”, you can just call it food if you want.  It’s totally up to you to make the decision as to whether Acai gives your health outstanding benefits.  Nutritionally speaking, you may have to consume a combination of other fruits and vegetables to get the same benefit as you would with the Acai.  That’s “super” cool, because it’s a “one stone, many birds” advantage!

Who Says the Acai Berry is a Superfood?

It really just depends on who you ask if the acai berry is a Superfood.  Dieticians, nutrition experts, and other naysayers of the Acai berry, say that Superfood lingo is not necessarily accurate and that using “Superfood” in conjunction with the Acai is more of a marketing tool or gimmick and that there isn’t even a legal definition of the term “Superfood”.  Doctor Perricone of early Acai fame and influence lists the Acai Berry as one of the top ten Superfoods.  Some of the benefits of Superfoods are that they may help with age-related illnesses and disease, possibly even slowing down the aging process.  Blood pressure and cholesterol levels can also possibly be lowered with Acai.  One of the more popular claims is that it has some effect on regulating the metabolism to support in fat loss so it has been added to diet pills.  Others go so far as to claim that it may prevent cancer.  The research is still being done and the jury is still out as to proof or disproof of these claims, but there is some very exciting anecdotal evidence that points to a glimmer of hope that it may help.

What Can a Superfood do (or Mean) for Me?

Regardless of whether or not science has completely proven or verified (or even caught up to the facts!) of every single possible claim of the efficacy of the Acai Berry Superfood, this may indeed be irrelevant to you.  Drug companies and the scientific community may have no interest in giving Acai a stamp of approval. How would they be able to monetize their findings if all they could offer was an inferior synthetic form of the Acai (a revised version of what nature creates)?  And they don’t yet (hopefully never!) totally control plant substances found in nature.  Should this prevent anyone from already using the vast body of evidence that science has provided about what a healthy diet consists of?  The components of a healthy diet are already pretty well established and found naturally in the acai Superfood.  It’s just a matter of drawing the conclusions and sensible parallels about how the Acai can enhance your health and give you the benefits you may be seeking.