Doctors Best - Best Acai 500 mg. 120 Vegetarian Capsules

Doctor's Best Best Acai 500 mg is a dietary supplement suitable for vegetarians that provides science-based nutrition and beneficial antioxidant protection while maintaining cellular health. Best Acai contains a potent, certified organic, freeze-dried form of the fruit. Ripe acai fruits that grow wild in the Amazon are harvested at their peak; the skin and pulp are separated from their seeds and dried in a unique, low-temperature freeze-drying process that preserves the wholesome goodness of the entire fruit. In order to preserve the fruit's nutritional density and phytochemical composition, processing of the fruit needs to be performed on the day of harvest. Most 4:1 acai products are "spray dried" powder extracts that contain significant amounts of maltodextrin - unlike Doctor's Best certified organic freeze dried acai powder with no added carriers. The process of freeze-drying in fact concentrates the beneficial compounds in acai berries by removing only the moisture content from the fruit.

Acai is an exotic palm fruit from the Amazonian rain forest. The story of acai dates back hundreds of years to its use by the peoples of the Orinoco basin area of Brazil, where the fruit was treasured as a source of sustenance for the people. Acai berries were also used traditionally to support several areas of health, including the digestive system and the skin. More recently, the fruit gained attention in the 1990s when surfers of coastal Brazil reported that beach beverages containing acai provided them with sustained energy levels during their activities. Scientific research has confirmed the wide-ranging nutritional value of acai fruit, including surprisingly high concentration of desirable mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids in the pulp.

Benefits:

• Science-based nutrition
• Dietary supplement
• Beneficial antioxidant protection
• Maintains cellular health

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Supports Cellular Maintenance and Longevity
Free radicals are both the byproduct of metabolic processes within the body, and the result of environmental factors, including diet. Being molecules or molecular fragments with unpaired electrons, they are unstable and reactive - and this hold the potential to disrupt cellular structure and function if they are not adequately neutralized by the body's antioxidant system. The defense system is composed of a select few enzymatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), and non-enzymatic antioxidants like vitamins C & E, glutathione, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, and miscellaneous others derived from dietary intake. While some radical production is necessary for normal physiology to carry on (for example, metabolism and immune function), excessive radicals may lead to imbalance - and even cell death - by causing oxidation of the biomolecules that compose their membranes, lipids, proteins and DNA.

Acai is a rich source of polyphenols, most notably anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, quercetin and other flavonoids, as well as lignans. Anthocyanins, the compounds that provide the deep purple characteristic of acai skin, are present chiefly as cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin - 3 - rutinoside. While anthocyanins are known to exhibit antioxidant activity, they are believed to account for only 10% of the total antioxidant capacity of acai. A wealth of diversity in chemical structures of other polyphenols in acai account for eh majority of acai's antioxidant potential.

Most remarkably, acai has shown extraordinarily powerful antioxidant properties as measured in the superoxide scavenging assay. Since superoxide radical is one of the more notorious free radicals (contributing to the generation of other reactive oxygen species, like hydroxy radicals), the ability to scavenge the superoxide radical can be considered a first line of defense against oxidative stress. In the free radical hypothesis of aging, anything that provides an edge in fighting oxidative stress can contribute to longevity. This was shown experimentally by manipulating the superoxide radical scavenging ability in flies, where researchers were able to significantly increase the longevity of the altered flies. Many groups of researchers have now proposed that polyphenol-rich foods bestow antiaging properties in those who consume them.

Because of its high nutritional value and superior antioxidant capacity, acai is considered one of the top superfruits in existences today. One laboratory test that measures how well a particular food can inhibit free radical activity in vitro is the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) assay. When the certified organic freeze-dried acai powder used in Best Acai underwent ORAC testing, the results showed an average ORAC score higher than any fruit or vegetable that had been reported by the USDA. While there are limitations to ORAC testing in that this represents the ability of nutrients to suppress free radicals in a test tube, higher ORAC scores are good indicators of antioxidant power.

In a Brazilian study, eleven commercially available acai pulp samples were analyzed using the TOSC (Total Oxidant Scavenging Capacity) assay. It was found that all eleven of the samples performed very well as scavengers of peroxyl and peroxynitrite radicals. In the scientific community, in vitro acai experiments have generated interest in potential immune-modulating activities, usually attributed to the polyphenol content of acai. In a recent laboratory study, four flavonoids not previously known to be in acai were isolated from freeze-dried acai pulo. One of them , called velutin, was found in vitro to strongly modulate the transcription protein NF-kB, which plays a key role in immune response. Also recently, another group of researchers found that acai polysaccharides - rather than polyphenols - yielded potent immune activity in both in vitro and, more importantly, in vivo. This study used extracts from acai pulp to discover that the acai polysaccharides altered function of some immune cells in mice and calves.

Acai Findings: Into The Future
Since proper clinical trials are only just beginning to appear for acai fruit, most of the scientific evidence accumulated to this point has come  from in vitro or murine studies. A pivotal study using rats yielded results that justified the basis for a similar study in humans. In this study, rats fed a high-fat diet supplemented with acai had a more favorable blood lipid outcome than those fed the high-fat diet alone. Interestingly, the rats fed the high fat diet supplemented with acai also displayed reduced food intake (less of an appetite). It remains unclear if the blood lipid outcome was due to the reduced food intake or to other properties of acai, like polyphenol content.

In a recent, open label pilot study in humans, 10 subjects were given 100 grams of acai pulp twice daily for 1 month (there was no placebo group). The study was designed to investigate possible effects of acai consumption on markers of cardiovascular health. Compared to baseline measurements, there were significant improvements in certain parameters - similar to those seen in the rat study described above - by the end of the study. Although this uncontrolled trial confirmed the safety of acai consumption in addition to hinting at the potential of this fruit towards cardiovascular health in humans, further investigation is warranted (randomized controlled trials with a greater number of subjects) before definitive statements can be made regarding this facet of acai's potential.

Since health benefits have become associated with a high-intake of polyphenol-rich foods, the goal of consuming an appropriate number of servings of fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis is more clear than ever. As a compliment to the normal diet, Best Acai certified organic freeze-dried acai fruit powder offers a concentrated source of the remarkable variety of compounds found in this Amazonian wonder.

Beneficial Antioxidant Protection
Human bodies produce free radicals as a byproduct of many metabolic processes. Free radicals are molecules with unpaired electrons that have the potential of causing harm if not adequately neutralized by the body's antioxidant system. While some free radical production is necessary for metabolism and detoxification, excessive amounts of free radicals may lead to compromised health.

Acai is a rich source of anthocyanins and other phenolics. Anthocyanins are compounds that have potent antioxidant activity, allowing for the neutralization of potentially harmful free radicals. By neutralizing these free radicals, anthocyanins from acai may serve to maintain the healthy function of numerous systems and organs. Some of the anthocyanins that have been found in acai include cyanidin-3-glucoside and ctanidin-3-glucoside-coumarate. Other phenolics include catechin and epi-catechin (the same compounds in green tea), quercetin derivatives and other flavonoids. It is likely that the synergistic effects of these compounds as present in acai fruit are responsible for its potent antioxidant activities.

Freeze-dried acai fruit powder has undergone numerous assays to assess its in vitro antioxidant capacity. Once the fruit is selected, the antioxidant potential of the acai fruit degrades quickly with extensive processing and various environmental factors. The freeze-drying process ensures that the beneficial antioxidant and other health-promoting compounds of this fruit are preserved to the maximum extent. The freeze-dried acai generally scores very high on a number of in vitro assays including the ORAC test, one standard measure of free radical scavenging ability.

Other assays have been performed on acai pulp, including the in vitro TOSC assay. In a Brazilian study, eleven commercially available acai pulp samples were analyzed for antioxidant potential using this assay. It was found that all eleven samples performed very well for the ability to scavenge peroxyl and peroxynitrite radicals. The researchers also concluded that the activity of the anthocyanins alone could not account for the free radical scavenging actions of the acai fruit pulp. Other compounds, many of which are possibly yet to be identified, make significant contributions to the remarkable oxidant scavenging capacity seen with the fruit.

Maintains Cellular Health
Acai's deep purple coloration makes it a rich source of beneficial polyphenols. While these compounds are potent antioxidants as outlined above, they also confer benefits beyond their free radical scavenging activity. A number of these phytochemicals are known to have beneficial effects on cellular health. Some mechanisms employed by polyphenols include the induction or inhibition of enzyme function and alteration of signal transduction, enhancing the ability of cells to communicate more effectively with each other. Many polyphenols are considered "biological response modifiers," since they possess multiple effects, including the ability to decrease oxidative stress to cells. Since polyphenols are water soluble, they are also well-absorbed and assimilated, allowing them to efficiently promote cellular health.

Because of the health benefits associated with a high intake of polyphenols it is crucial to get an adequate number of servings of fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Best Acai freeze-dried acai fruit powder with its high polyphenol content can provide invaluable supplemental source of these health-promoting compounds to a normal diet.