The acai berry has gained widespread popularity as a powerful antioxidant with an ORAC number much higher than other fruits and vegetables, also considered valuable antioxidants.
So what gives this dark blue, black Brazilian berry such amazing powers of slowing the aging process, acting against a host of chronic diseases like inflammation, helping reduce the risks of cancer and supporting the healing process after injury?
Firstly, what is an antioxidant?
A normal part of body metabolism involves the death of old and damaged cells and their replacement by new cells. When these processes take place the body forms Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which are free radicals containing oxygen, including a superoxide, a hydroxyl radical (containing an oxygen and hydrogen atom) and hydrogen peroxide.
These molecules are very unstable because they have lost an electron, and this is not the normal state for atoms in nature. All atoms try to find a stable state, which means the electrons – which orbit the core nucleus like planets – try either to lose or gain an electron to get this balance back.
When it achieves this, an unstable molecule becomes stable once more, after a series of chain reactions started by the free radicals during normal body activity. This is where the antioxidants, and specifically the acai berry given its very high ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) number, play their key role.
As a polyphenol the acai berry has a very high capacity to act as an antioxidant to mop up those free radicals which can be so destructive to cells in our bodies. As an anthocyanin the acai berry belongs to the sub-group of over 4,000 flavonoids identified in nature and considered to be a very important for health and wellness.
But what is it about acai berries that make them such a strong antioxidant, with anecdotal evidence of amazing recoveries from conditions like strokes, rheumatoid arthritis and help reduce the risk of cancer and atherosclerosis?
All the berries which record high ORAC values, such as strawberries, raspberries, bilberries, cranberries and blueberries and more, have the polyphenol structure containing a key area which acts as a mop to soak up these damaging free radicals.
The water soluble anthocyanins pelargonidin, peonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin and malvidin occur in all or some of the common berries which we eat for their health enhancing benefits.
For example, raspberries and cranberries are rich in pelargonidin, while cherries are rich in peonidin and cyanidin.
Only blueberries and bilberries seem to have all the above anthocyanins, while acai berries have these and more.
These berries get their intense colour from cyanidin, a special version of the anthocyanin, after it is formed from the colourless leucocyanidin during a key process called the Kreb’s cycle.
The double bond is the key
Many commentators highlight the benefits of mono- or polyunsaturated fats when it comes to a healthy diet, and this is linked to the greater stability of the structure of these fats compared to saturated fats, as in butter.
They are ideal for absorbing the highly reactive free radicals produced as part of our normal body functions, because they possess what are called double bonds, which is why they are called unsaturated.
The polyphenolic anthocyanins in the acai berry also have these double bonds which are available to help soak up the dangerous free radicals which hunt for the nearest electron to satisfy their need for stability.
In clinical terms, the free radicals cause long term damage to our body tissues and organs, with aging being one of the more common symptoms.
So when you consider that around 50 per cent of the acai berry consists of fat, of which three quarters is mono- and polyunsaturated essential fatty acids in the form of Omega 3, 6 and 9 oils, and add this to the potent effect of the anthocyanins, it helps to explain why this berry is such a powerful antioxidant.
With so many double bonds from the anthocyanins and the omega fatty acids in the fruit, the acai berry is an antioxidant reservoir ready and available to protect your body from a continual attack from these reactive species.
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