Acai Berry and Weight Loss through Lifestyle Modification

Acai berry is a recommended part of any weight loss program and a healthier lifestyle. Its high fiber content aids both in digestion and weight loss as it decreases unwanted fats and has the ability to cleanse the waste materials from the digestive tract. Its fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6 help increase metabolism, escalating the body’s ability to burn fat. You might be craving for a handful of acai berry right now, but just before you try it, here are 10 strategies you should know for permanent weight loss and building abs.

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NUTRITION

1.   Stay focused on being healthy, not on becoming thin

Many people become more successful at long term weight loss when their motivation changes from wanting to be thinner to wanting to be healthier.

Change your mindset to think about selecting foods that will help your body’s health rather than worrying about foods that will affect your body’s weight. Eat whole and organic foods with low glycemic load, good fats and high phytonutrient content. Eating a low-carbohydrate, low-glycemic load diet will help you control your appetite and decrease cravings. You’ll feel full sooner, you’ll find it far easier to stop eating once you’re satisfied, and you’ll find yourself less hungry between meals.

2. Eat breakfast and avoid skipping meals. While skipping meals may help you lose weight in the beginning, it fails in the long run. Skipping meals may make you feel too hungry later in the day, causing you to overeat at your next meal. Follow the three hour rule. Dieters should eat every three hours throughout the day, but stop eating within three hours of your bedtime.

3.   Eating slowly lead to weight loss

Did you ever notice that thin people take an awfully long time to eat their food? Eating slowly is one method that can help take off pounds. That’s because from the time you begin eating it takes the brain 20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. Fast eaters often eat beyond their true level of fullness before the 20 minute signal has had a chance to set in. The amount of calories consumed before you begin to feel full can vary significantly depending on how quickly you eat. So slow down, take smaller bites and enjoy and savor every tasty morsel.

4. Increase water intake.

This aids in the feeling of being “full”, as well as cleaning out your system. The Institute of Medicine advises that men should consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day while women should consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

EXERCISE

5. Exercise is essential for weight loss

Exercise is probably the most important predictor of whether you will succeed at long term weight loss and weight loss maintenance. In order for exercise to be helpful in weight loss, you should strive for a minimum of five 10-30 minute sessions per week. This helps many in combating the old “no time for exercise” excuse. Exercise doesn’t have to be a structured hour at the gym – make it fun! Shoot some hoops, play a game of tennis, go for a run with your dog, or gather friends and go for a hike. The key is finding active things that you like to do and doing them regularly. Yes, vigorous activity works best, but anything that gets you off the couch and moving can help shed pounds.

6. Raise your metabolic rate.

A primary factor in determining your metabolic rate — the rate at which you burn calories — is the number of mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria are tiny energy factories that fuel every cell. The more you have, the more energy you will burn, which will keep you leaner. Unfortunately, we cannot simply take a mitochondria supplement. However, fat cells have very few mitochondria because fat cells store energy rather than burn it, whereas muscle cells have many because they need energy to perform their job. So as you build muscle cells from a regular exercise program, you increase your mitochondria, thereby permanently raising your metabolic rate, even when you are not exercising.

LIFESTYLE

7.   Find out why you overeat

All too often overeating is triggered by stress, boredom, loneliness, anger, depression and other emotions. Learning to deal with emotions without food is a significant skill that will greatly serve long term weight control.

8. Lose weight slowly with small changes

It is important to realize that the more quickly weight is lost, the more likely the loss is coming from water and muscle, not fat. Fat loss is best achieved when weight is lost slowly. Strive for a weight loss of no more than 1-2 pounds per week. One pound of weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. By making small changes like eliminating 250 calories a day from food and expending 250 calories a day from exercise, you can lose one pound (of mostly fat) per week.

9. Weight loss support: join a weight management group

A big key in long term weight control comes from receiving encouragement and support from others.

10. Give yourself a non-food reward for all of your accomplishments.

Don’t save your rewards just for reaching major goals, but reward yourself every time you pass up a cinnamon bun or walk right on by the vending machine. Take the money you would have spent on the candy bar and put it in a special “rewards” jar. As it adds up, get yourself special treats like a body massage or a new perfume. Anything that makes you feel special.

To sum it up, only a “lifestyle modification” will help weight loss. Ninety percent of people who lose weight will gain it all back within 2 years, that’s a fact. Relying on pill alone won’t work. All we need to do is choose the right foods and engage in healthy habits.  If you find yourself overwhelmed at the thought of incorporating the mentioned techniques into your lifestyle, just pick one and go from there. The minute you start somewhere you are on the way to a healthier and happier life.

No Wonder Acai Fruit is a Wonder Berry. Let’s take a look at the main reasons you might consider it for your health and well-being. There are a few reasons why.

1. Acai Berry Fights Diseases and Defies Aging
The acai berry is packed with powerful, free radical fighting antioxidants. Free radicals, the byproducts produced by or ingested in the body, disable the body performance at maximum potential, hinder the cell protection system, and cause premature aging. Good thing, two active antioxidants anthocyanins and flavonoids prevent cellular damage and slows aging.

Anthocyanins is a nutrient-rich coloring which gives the acai berry its dark purple color and provides protection from various health conditions like peptic ulcer, cataract, varicose veins and many others. Meanwhile, flavonoid, collectively known as Vitamin P and citrin, reduces the incidence of cancer and heart disease.

What’s more? Acai berry has higher counts of antioxidants than in pomegranate, nearly twice as high than in blueberry, 6 times more than in mangosteen and noni, 10 times more than in grape, and 33 times more than in red wine.

2. Acai Berry is the Ultimate Energy Booster
Acai berry is 52% carbohydrates, is comprised of 19 different essential amino acids, and has a protein content equivalent that of an egg. These properties are vital for proper muscle contraction and regeneration, and muscle development. It also has a high lipid content to prevent tiredness and theobromine which acts as a bronchial dilator increasing oxygen intake, thus increasing endurance, strength, and athletic performance.

Indeed, this fruit has become a popular choice among athletes. Its natural properties are accountable for giving the body its quick and sustained energy with added vitality and improved stamina throughout the day. Taking in one as you wake up will ultimately give you a morning boost.

3. Acai Berry Aids in Digestion and Weight Loss
Acai berry is a high source of dietary fiber, comprising 44% of the whole fruit. Fiber aids both in digestion and weight loss as it decreases unwanted fats and has the ability to cleanse the waste materials from the digestive tract. Fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6 present in acai berry also help increase metabolism, increasing the body’s ability to burn fat.
Astonishingly, the fiber and fatty acids in acai berry can help you shed the pounds you want especially when joined with a regular exercise and a proper diet.

4. Acai Berry is Great for the Heart
Acai Berry contains 3 essential fatty acids –omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9 which are known to protect the heart from damage caused by heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular complications triggered by high cholesterol levels. The fatty acids help lower LDL (harmful cholesterol), while maintaining HDL (beneficial cholesterol). A valuable amount of phytosterols in acai berry also assists in reducing of blood cholesterol.

5. Multivitamins and Minerals-Rich Acai Berry Promotes Mental Clarity and Healthy Body
Acai berry takes pride in its almost complete set of vitamins and minerals and increased absorption of these nutrients essential for overall body health. Potassium is the most abundant mineral in the acai berry, important in managing water balance, acidity levels, blood pressure, and proper transmission of electrical impulses in the heart. Over 1000 IU of Vitamin A for every 100 grams of acai maintains good eyesight while Vitamin B complex—thiamine, riboflavin and niacin prevents body deficiencies, assists in neural cellular function, and promotes alertness and mental clarity. The Vitamin C in acai berries which is more than in blueberries boosts collagen production and healthy cartilage formation. The Vitamin D supports absorption of calcium which is good for the bones while Vitamin E is a strong antioxidant which protects against aging, heart disease and cancer. Other minerals such as phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and iron complements the whole set of this one of a kind berry.

6. Acai Berry is an All-in-One Delicious Wonder Berry!
Surprisingly, acai berry doesn’t taste like your ordinary bitter gourd. You may think anything this healthy must taste terrible – however, just the opposite is true. Acai has a berry and chocolate taste which is truly unique and delicious. Acai berry can be eaten in its raw form or as a supplement, smoothie, juice blend, liquor, puree, ice cream or as a frozen dessert. Thanks to our modern technology, we can now reap the mouthful benefits of acai berry straight from its Amazon origins, because it is already easily accessible in health stores, supermarkets, and online.
As an all-in-one healthy and delectable package, no wonder, Acai berry is the “wonder berry” you wouldn’t want to miss!

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Acai Berry - The Health Benefits

The acai berry, until recently, was relatively unknown to most of the modern world. However, people living in Brazil’s rainforest have used this berry as a constant supply of nutrition for centuries.

The Acai Berry Fruit and its special background

The Acai berry (pronounced Ah – SIGH- ee) came from the açaí palm in a variety of palm trees from the genus Euterpe. Its name came from the European adaptation of the Tupian word ïwasa’I that means ‘fruit that cries or expels water.’

There are many species of Acai in which eight are native to Central and South America, from Belize southward to Brazil and Peru. They grow mainly in swamps and floodplains up to 15–30 meters.

The fruit, a deep-purple colored about 1-inch in diameter is similar in appearance and size of a grape. It is produced in branched panicles of 500 to 900 fruits. It has a single large seed that is inedible. It has lesser pulp compared to a grape and its taste is most often described as a blend of mixed berries and dark chocolate.

The Nutrient

Scientists have found that Acai berry contains two particular antioxidants known to be incredibly helpful to overall health. These are called anthocyanins and flavonoids.

Anythocyanin is a substance that helps make fruits turn blue, purple, or red color. Flavonoid, collectively known as Vitamin P and citrin is a class of plant secondary metabolites. Both substances are able to benefit the body by fighting off free radicals that is tagged as responsible to Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and the overall aging process.

The Acai Berry Fruit - History

The History

In the early civilization around 8,000 years ago, people wandered across the Bering Strait in Alaska then gradually moving south until they reached the Amazon rainforest where modern day Brazil is located. During this time, it was discovered by the local natives that a particular palm tree that has a tiny, purple berry was “good for a person’s health.”

The natives continued to benefit from this type of berry making up to 40% of their diet for centuries of seclusion. When the Amazon was rediscovered in the 16th century by the West, Acai berry was also revealed but since it is highly perishable and there is still no technology to preserve it, there is no chance that it can be moved out.

When new preservation techniques were used, such as freezing and freeze-drying, the Acai berry began to go all over the world after long era of isolation in the Amazon. In the 20th century, with better refrigeration techniques, the berry began to be shipped fresh to Rio, Brazil. It was quickly preferred as a kind of refreshment there. Acai smoothies also became a favorite through these decades. From health food to a way of life for the population of Rio, many uses for Acai were discovered to the benefit of the residents. The fruit became a staple food for many locals during this period.

Acai Berry Today

When the benefits and good taste of the acai berry began to spread, there was no stopping it. Throughout the 1990s news spread about an Amazon “super fruit”. But just recently, news about Acai berry literally exploded, with demand for the Acai berry and Acai products ballooning.

From being healthy to its delicious taste, Acai berry became a favorite throughout Brazil. With today’s technology, anyone in the world can enjoy its goodness from a range of products like Acai smoothie, juice, and even as pill.