The Acai berry seems like a magical food that cures everything. It can have positive effects on the heart and the brain, help you lose weight, clean the body of toxins, and much more. It's even been claimed that the Acai berry can fight cancer. But really, can one little berry do all of that? Well, some claims may be exaggerated, but a study from the University of Florida shows that yes, the Acai berry really can help battle cancer!
The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has published an article by Stephen Talcott, an assistant professor at the University of Florida. Professor Talcott had studied the effects of the Acai berry extensively, and he noticed a very unique and amazing property: when he introduced an Acai berry extract to leukemia cells, 86 percent of those cells self-destructed. Talcott believes this may have been caused by the high amount of antioxidants contained in Acai berries. The berries contain almost 30 times the amount of antioxidants in a glass of red wine.
In a follow up study done shortly after Talcott published his finding, six different extracts made from the Acai berry were tested. Out of the six, four were shown to kill a significant number of leukemia cells over a 24 hour period. Different concentrations of the extract were tested, with different ones killing between 35 and 86 percent of leukemia cells.
While the study shows that the Acai berry extract can help defeat leukemia, there's no sure sign that it can prevent leukemia or other forms of cancer and disease. In fact, eating guavas, mangoes, and grapes has been shown to help reduce the number of cancerous cells in a body. Scientists such as Talcott have yet to be certain just how much of an effect foods high in antioxidants have against cancer, but they are certain that they are beneficial. The problem is that metabolism, nutrient absorption, and other factors often increase or decrease the antioxidants' effects. Since these factors can vary from person to person, it's hard to say exactly.
Acai berries have not been fully researched yet; in fact, about 50 percent of the berries contain unidentified compounds, and scientists are uncertain how those compounds affect the human body. One of the main issues found in researching berries is that the berries are perishable and lose much of their potency shortly after being picked. Scientists have only been studying the Acai berry for ten years or so, and there's still much to learn about the fruit.
Article Source
