The Acai Berry and Cholesterol

The Acai berry grows deep among the vastly undiscovered tropics of the Amazon.  Over the past decade, this tiny berry has been discovered by North American and European countries, resulting in many discoveries about its amazing health benefits.  Among many other advantages, researchers have found that the Acai berry helps lower cholesterol levels.

Not all cholesterol is bad.  There are two types of cholesterols; one is LDL, which is bad.  The other type of cholesterol is known as HDL, and this cholesterol is actually good.  LDL is harmful because it hardens into a plaque and sticks to the walls of a victim’s arteries, causing the arteries to harden.  Eventually, the artery may completely close, shutting off blood supply to the heart.  This results in a heart attack.  Conversely, HDL cholesterol is beneficial.  While researchers do not know why, they suspect that it is because the HDL cholesterol carries off LDL cholesterol and takes it to the liver where it is excreted from the body.   Too much LDL cholesterol puts a person at risk of heart disease, heart attack, or a stroke.  Since cholesterol is the most modifiable risk factor of coronary heart disease, this means that it is given the most attention by those who are at risk.

The statistics are astounding.  As many as 490,000 Americans die each year from heart disease.  It costs the country nearly $60 billion annually in medical expenses and disability.  For some, even exercise and diet cannot control what their ancestors have handed down to them.  Having a high level of LDL and a low level of HDL cholesterol is a hereditary form of heart disease that leaves sons to watch as their fathers go into open heart surgery, knowing that they will probably share the same fate in another 20 years.  Since a high level of LDL cholesterol can cause heart disease in a person with no other risk factors, there is much excitement over the Acai berry’s qualities.

The Acai berry is loaded with essential fatty acids such as Omega 3, Omega 6, and Omega 9, which all help to reduce LDL cholesterol and maintain HDL cholesterol.  Adding a food like this to a person’s diet, especially a person who has a genetic predisposition towards bad cholesterol, can help to naturally balance cholesterol levels.  Another promising quality that the Acai berry possesses is a large amount of anthocyanins which are cholesterol regulating compounds.  In fact, even though red wine has a large amount of anthocyanins, the Acai berry has 30 times more than red wine.  Calcium is another mineral that researchers have found to reduce the risk of heart disease, and the Acai berry boasts calcium as well.  It is no wonder that there is so much hope for the potential health benefits that the Acai berry holds within its fragile skin. 

Due to the delicate nature of the Acai berry, which begins rotting if it isn’t used within 24 hours, it cannot be exported to distant countries as a fresh fruit.  Instead, those looking to cash in on the cholesterol balancing benefits of the Acai can take it as a pill, drink it as a juice, or enjoy the frozen pulp in smoothie form.  With so many choices available, it is easy to add this supplement to the diet of a person who would like to take advantage of the cholesterol-lowering benefits of the Acai berry.