When I walked into a smoothie shop the other day, I could swear half the drinks had Acai Berry. And right there on the chalkboard were all kinds of claims: Acai has antioxidants; it can help you lose weight; it can make you attractive and get you a raise! Joking aside, I keyed in on the weight loss claim. I’ve seen Acai Berry in a few effective weight loss supplements like Leanbean, so I decided to research the specs and see what the science says! Is Acai Berry really contributing? Let’s find out.
Fast Facts:
Acai refers to both the whole plant and the small round fruit of the species Euterpe oleracea, in the palm family.
The Acai Berry has multiple minerals, as well as Fiber, Vitamins, and those all-important antioxidants.
According to data from the USDA, Acai has more than three times the Antioxidant score as blueberries.
Several studies have concluded that, while Antioxidants aren’t a silver bullet, they can help with an overall weight loss effort.
What is Acai Berry?
The Acai Berry is native to South America, and has been a staple diet among indigenous peoples there for centuries. Indeed, the whole plant has been extensively utilized by natives, including the heart of pine from the tree, the external fibers and leaves, and yes, the juicy berries.
Acai has a relatively high fat content, along with its minerals, Vitamins, and Antioxidants. That fat content isn’t bad for you (it’s similar to avocado and coconut oils), but it does mean that Acai Berries are extremely perishable. That’s why being able to get them in a supplement or extract form can be so helpful.
How Acai Berry Can Help with Weight Loss
In and of itself, a serving of Acai Berry doesn’t have enough Fiber to contribute to weight loss, as great as fiber is. Instead, the possible fat-burning advantages of Acai Berry come from the presence of its Antioxidants, which are many times higher than any other fruit. So let’s take a look at how those Antioxidants may help slim down our waistlines.
Lowering Insulin Resistance
I’ve covered Insulin and Insulin Resistance in a few articles recently. The basic idea is that if our cells resist the signal from Insulin to pull sugar out of our blood and burn it for fuel, then the sugar will continue to circulate in our body until it’s converted to body fat.
One way Antioxidants like the Resveratrol in Acai Berry can help is by reducing the oxidative stress on our cells, making them more sensitive to Insulin. Another study of Diabetic patients found that Antioxidants improved the benefits of medication to a significant degree. What does that mean for the rest of us? We burn more sugar! Meaning less of it converts to fat, and our metabolism runs higher. Our workouts are more supercharged.
In another anomaly of body chemistry, if our blood sugar is too high for too long, our appetite actually increases. So with Acai Berry, not only are we burning fuel better, but our appetite comes down to a healthy level.
Reducing Activity of Fat Cells
Does it ever feel like no matter how little fat and sugar we eat, our stored body fat doesn’t go down? Well it turns out that our very fat cells may be resisting their own destruction.
We won’t cover the entire science of Adipocytes, or fat cells. Suffice to say here that two of them are responsible for large numbers of fat cells growing larger. Those two cells are adipokines and leptin. When we face oxidative stress, the activity of those two cells goes up. So matter how many calories we burn, those inflammatory fat cells keep working just as hard to stay big and active.
Meaning when we have to get Antioxidants to remove that stress, so the activity of those adipocytes goes down. And with that cellular function addressed, our more macro weight loss attempts can start to show out.
How to Get More Acai Berry
The expensive route is that smoothie bar I was at. One of the problems with that route, though, is that smoothies and juices often come with extremely high sugar content. And when juices are separated from the cellulose and fiber cells of their plant origin, the sugar turns into the bad kind. I’m not saying don’t eat Acai Berry. But if you’re looking for lower sugar, more affordable options, let’s move on.
Effective Supplements
At the moment there are literally dozens of Supplements on the market containing Acai Berry. Off the top of my head I can think of Leanbean, a weight loss supplement specifically designed for active women. If that’s you, I would recommend giving it a shot. On the other hand, there are tons of Antioxidants in other effective supplements, like Capsiplex and Lean-XT.
Last Word
Antioxidants don’t really have a downside. As long as you’re consuming them from natural sources, and finding ways to get them in low-sugar form like as extracts in supplements, then they can only help you along your weight loss journey.
That said, not every Antioxidant is created equal. And it seems Acai Berry climbs to the top of the heap. Give it a try yourself, and always feel free to drop us a line to share your progress!