The Highest Antioxidant Fruit Ever
Which fruit is the clear front-runner when it comes to antioxidants? Hint: It’s smaller than a grape and darker than a blueberry.
It’s the acai (pronounced "ah-sigh-EE") berry, and it may beat every other fruit or vegetable by a mile. Case in point: The freeze-dried berry has 30 times the disease-arresting anthocyanins of red grapes.
Cholesterol, Cancer, and . . .
The berries are so nutritious, writes John La Puma, MD, author of ChefMD’s Big Book of C
ulinary Medicine, that they may help lower bad cholesterol, inhibit inflammation, and fight off arthritis. They may even have cancer-fighting powers. In a lab study, acai berry extract killed between 45 and 86 percent of a sample of human leukemia
cells.
Drink Up
The antioxidant quotient is reason enough to eat this fruit, but acai berries are also chock-full of B vitamins, magnesium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, and sulfur. In South America, acai berries are pureed and served warm as a sauce or soup. Check your local health-food store for acai juice, smoothies, and other products containing this berry nutritious fruit.
Tip
When it comes to acai, we like concentrated powder for its ease of use and wallet-friendly price. The powder’s lots more affordable than the pills or liquid, and you can use it in so many ways! Yogurt, juice, shakes, oatmeal, ice pops? How do you acai?
