Acai Berry’s Gifts to the Diabetic

by moveforward on May 29, 2009

The issue of obesity rising in many millions of individuals throughout the world have resulted in a significant increase of diabetic sufferers each year and the numbers still continue to rise. One of the most celebrated discoveries of the Western world has been the curative properties of the acai berry, a fruit that has been used by the Amazons of Brazil since time immemorial but has even gained national attention by being called the “superfood” by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Rachel Ray. Now, the question being raised is whether the acai berry can help alleviate the conditions of millions of diabetics the world over.

One of the hallmarks of diabetes is cellular degeneration as a result of the body’s inability to process glucose in the body and produce its own insulin. What often occurs is the excess glucose is not broken down or discarded as waste making it a harmful compound within the body. This creates a large impact on the body’s overall chemical balance which gives rise to the deterioration of the body. On the other hand, acai berry has been discovered to be packed with Omega 3 compounds and fatty acids that help the overall health of the body by providing the necessary building blocks for cell regeneration and repair.

This is from a cursory look of the diabetes and acai berry, but as of yet, there as been no scientifically verified relationship between acai berry and diabetes. But many doctors see that acai berry compounds can assist in the regulation of the body’s insulin levels which in turn controls blood sugar content. With this, many doctors have recommended the use of acai berry as a supplement to an existing drug protocol for the management of diabetes. The most recent study on the effect of acai berry on the body is a University of Florida lab test that the fruits chemical compounds was able to kill 86% of leukemic cancer cells. This is a positive indication of the potency of the acai berry as a whole but finding the study that focuses on diabetes is still yet to be done.

Diabetes, over time, ravages the immune system as it continually puts stress on the body’s regenerative system and is a main factor in the deterioration of cells. It is in this effect that acai berry is believed to help the body by providing the body with supplemental vitamins and minerals that can help counteract the diabetic’s daily travails. Another way that diabetes can assist the body is in the simple matter of daily-recommended fruit intake. This is one of the many problems that ordinary individuals face, as they fail to include fruits in their daily diet. But by including the acai berry in the diet plan of a diabetic, this daily requirement can be easily fulfilled.

But instead, the daily diet of an individual consists of fast food, processed meat and sugar packed meals that either exacerbate an existing diabetic condition or help in the development of the disease in those genetically predisposed to it. Coupled with low activity levels, the high sugar content and lack of activity often results in stressing the body internally as it is unable to process the excess glucose on the bloodstream resulting in diabetes, especially in the older generation. The massive amounts of refined sugar and transhydrogenated fat in an individual’s daily diet results in the excess glucose that make cell membranes brittle leading to degeneration. As one continues on this poor diet, the body becomes starved for regenerative antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that make cells unable to protect themselves through their cell membranes. One of the indications of a pre-diabetic condition is chronic pancreatitis. This also indicates that insulin levels have become so inimical to one’s over-all functioning that aside from the increased blood sugar levels, other cells in other organs of the body become brittle and weak.

It is in this opening that acai berry is most helpful and useful. The chemical compound content found in acai berries have been seen to help the body’s cells to metabolise and repair itself. The acai berry also provides an added energy boost to help in their cellular and ultimately organ related functions by helping the cells’ membranes malleable to be able to ingest the insulin that the body produces.

As acai berry is a fruit, it still contains sugar compounds that prove to be the death knell of diabetics worldwide. But the sugar in acai berry is fructose, a naturally occurring sugar compound that is very different from the sugar compounds that have been part of the individual’s daily diet. The high fiber content of acai berry effectively counteracts the effects of fructose as these fibers absorb the excess fructose that the body cannot assimilate. The body reaches a ceiling point as to the processing of sugar from the food ingested, usually determined as the 25% of the total calories consumed in a day. Anything beyond this threshold is detrimental to the body, but with the ingestion of acai berry, the excess fructose is actually taken out as waste by the rich fiber content of the fruit itself.

The easiest way to have the benefits of acai berry best absorbed by the compromised system of diabetic sufferers is by drinking the fruit in juice form. The acai berry has, aside from the high Omega 3 and Omega 3 fatty acid content, anthocyanins that help in the prevention of capillary damage and disproportionate production of proteins in the body. Many doctors recommend drinking just one glass per day of acai juice, as this would provide the daily requirements for the prevention of the deterioration of capillaries that are precursors to other major organ damage and failure. Another way to get the benefits of acai berry is by including it into your medicinal diet as a pill in concentrate form. Since fresh acai berry is very hard to come by, taking an acai berry concentrate pill can also provide you with the antioxidant, omega 3 and anthocyanin compounds that occur naturally with the acai berry. In the end, the acai berry supplements can help in the overall management of diabetes for a better and healthier life for you.

SOURCES:

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes-news/960-news-finding-about-diabetes-acai-berry.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Acai-Berry-and-Diabetes&id=1812432

http://ezinearticles.com/?Acai-Berry-Diet-and-Diabetes&id=1918005

http://www.acaiberrynow.com/diabetes

http://www.projectopus.com/node/86811