Acai Berry and Cancer
The Acai Berry and Cancer - ORAC Rating
The acai berry's popularity is growing everyday, as a result, more and more doctors and scientists are researching its unique qualities and abilities. Naturally, these would include experiments on the effectiveness of the acai berry on cancer. The awesome results of the experiments are below along with some general information to help you understand the cancer fighting abilities of acai berry a little better.
Antioxidants and Free Radicals
Free radicals are molecules that enter the body from pollutants like pesticides, cigarette smoke, and other harmful materials. They attack the cells in your body and are linked to a range of terrible disorders including arthritis, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and even cancer. Naturally, your body has a mechanism to fight off free radicals, in the form of antioxidants, which strenghen your cells and help them fight back. The acai berry has the highest amount of antioxidants found in any other fruit, including blueberries, making it the number one defense against free radicals.
ORAC Score
The USDA uses a method called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) to measure the levels of antioxidants in food. The acai berry has a score of 167, with the closest to it being the blueberry with a score of 32. The acai berry clearly blows away the competition. 85% of the world's population is estimated to fail to come as close as half the recommended antioxidant intake to fight off free radicals the body encounters daily.
In a Lab Study, Acai Kills Cancerous Cells
The University of Florida recently conducted an experiment that found that acai berries triggered a self destruct response to about 86% of human cancer cells. Although, the experiment was only a cell-culture model, meaning not to give people false hope. However, compounds that show positive activity against cancer cells in a model are very likely to have beneficial effects in a real body. Tests are now being done on healthy human subjects on the effect of acai antioxidants. The findings of this experiment may not prove to cure cancer, but it is encouraging to know that something may be done to help fight it with the help of the acai berry.
