Cholesterol

We hear about High cholesterol all the time on TV, radio ads, and of course from our doctors but what is it? Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is in the body, we need cholesterol to help with cell membranes, produce bile, and to break down carbohydrates and proteins. There is good cholesterol, HDL, and bad cholesterol LDL; having high levels of HDL cholesterol is good for your body because we need it to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver to be removed from our bodies.

If your doctor tells you that you have High cholesterol, he means that you have high levels of LDL cholesterol or the bad cholesterol. Having High cholesterol is dangerous because the LDL will stick to the artery walls and cause plaque formation or atherosclerosis which can cause serious health complications.

High cholesterol and heart disease

According to various studies and all doctors, High cholesterol is considered a risk factor to developing heart disease. Having High cholesterol means that the LDL sticks to the arteries and causes plaque build-up and that restricts the blood flow to the heart. If your heart does not get the right amount of blood supply it becomes injured, the LDL mingles with free radicals and then they release toxins which further the damage to the heart. The plaque eventually becomes hard and then it can break into little pieces which can get lodged into the arteries causing heart attacks and other heart problems.

How Acai Reverses High cholesterol

Acai berry has a lot of organic vegetable protein and does not produce cholesterol after digestion. Also, the body easily and more readily digests and absorbs it. Acai plant sterols regulate the LDL levels and help lower the cholesterol counts in the blood through its bountiful supply of soluble fiber. Besides reversing High cholesterol,other multiple health issues can be reversed or eliminated simultaneously by a constant use of the acai diet. This is because the fruit has attributes that promotes health. The body’s total cleansing and detoxification is one attribute of acai that cannot be overlooked. With the body greatly facilitated to excrete harmful LDL, the circulatory function, heart rate and digestive activity of the body will all improve.

We also cannot leave out acai berry’s ability to fight dangerous radicals, making the body quite stronger and youthful. Acai berry has anti-inflammatory properties which work to prevent system slow-downs and the consequent diseases and ailments. These are all additional qualities of acai besides combating High cholesterol and heart diseases. If you include the Brazilian Amazon’s acai berry to your diet, a strong functioning of your body and a constant health is what you should expect, since the fruit promotes a better functioning of your circulatory system as well as gives your body a good HDL percentage.

Juice or Capsules?

Are you wondering on which of the acai berry juice or capsules does a better work in reversing High cholesterol? It’s quite simple: since acai juice is stored with preservatives, you’re not going to get 100% benefit from it as it were. This is because most of its qualities are being reduced by these preservatives. This is not the case with acai capsules. They are pure and 100% loaded! Also, the fact that it is more convenient to carry about makes it much better and easier to use than the liquid acai. Its affordability cannot be over emphasized.

More so, the acai capsules contain neither sugar nor all the glucose present in the juice. You are trying to fight High cholesterol and would probably not want artificial sugar. Do you? Acai capsules are pure and retain the important benefits found in the original fruit.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance produced in the liver. It is not totally bad as it sounds. It performs several functions in the body. Among these are being a structural component of the cell membrane and nerve fibers, are precursors of steroid hormones, vitamin D and bile acids, and break down carbohydrates and proteins.

Cholesterol is circulated in the blood by lipoproteins. There are 5 different kinds of lipoproteins, each with its own characteristics:

· High density lipoproteins (HDL) are the good cholesterol. They are made up of more proteins. They are stable and move the cholesterol from the arteries back to the liver for recycling and removal from the body.

· Low density lipoproteins (LDL) are the bad cholesterol. They contain more fat than proteins. They are unstable and stick to the artery walls. They penetrate the linings of the vessel wall and contribute to heart diseases through atherosclerosis or plaque formation.

· Very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), like LDLs are bad stuffs but can more easily penetrate the artery wall. They have more fat content.

· Intermediate-density lipoproteins. They are formed from the degradation of VLDLs. These carry triglycerides and cholesterol.

· Chylomicrons are mostly composed of triglycerides, which is like a big ball of fat. They transport dietary fats from the intestines towards other parts of the body where the triglycerides are unloaded through the enzyme lipoprotein lipase.

Among the 5 classes, only the HDLs are considered beneficial to your health. The rest are risk factors for the development of heart diseases. Although the lower density lipoproteins such as the VLDL contain more fat, when they circulate in the blood, they are converted into LDL. This is why LDLs get the most flack for being the bad cholesterol.

High levels of bad cholesterol are an indicator for risk to developing cardiovascular diseases.

Why do I get the Bad Cholesterol?

Cholesterol comes from 2 sources: your body and from the food you eat. It is important that you watch your diet because your body already produces enough cholesterol to perform its normal functions. There are genetic conditions that make more than enough cholesterol needed by the body. You are likely to inherit this disorder when it runs in your family. When you load up on cholesterol-laden foods, the more you are putting your health at risk for heart diseases.

Phytosterols to the Rescue

The good news is, there are substances called phytosterols to help you fight bad cholesterol. Phytosterols are similar in molecular structure to cholesterols but the former are sterols found in plants while the latter are found in animals. Phytosterols are gaining popularity because of its role in reducing bad cholesterol.

Among the commonly occurring phytosterols are Campesterol, Delta-7-stigmasterol, Delta-7-avenasterol, Stigmasterol, Brassicasterol and Beta-sitosterol.

Phytosterols interfere with the absorption of cholesterol in intestines. They are found to reduce cholesterol in human subjects by 10 to 15%. They work by inhibiting the incorporation of cholesterol into transporters called micelles in the intestines. They compete for attachment to the micelles because of their similarity in structure to cholesterols. This reduces the overall cholesterol absorbed into the body. In turn, the total body cholesterol is decreased, while modifying the levels of good and bad cholesterol.

Phytosterols take time to be absorbed, hence it inhibits the absorption of cholesterol for a long time. It also prevents the re-absorption of cholesterol from bile acids.

Sources of Phytosterols

Rich sources of phytosterols are unhydrogenated vegetable oils, seeds, nuts and legumes. Acai berry is one important source of these healthy phytochemicals.

What is Acai Berry?

Acai berry is a round, blackish purple fruit that resembles grapes. It is considered as the world’s number one superfood because of its exceptional antioxidant properties and other health benefits. It is native to the Amazon rainforest of Brazil.

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is the method to measure the antioxidant capacity of different foods. The ORAC score of acai is way above other fruits, which is why it earned to top spot among the superfoods.

It has various medicinal uses, and among these is its capacity to reduce bad cholesterol.

How Does Acai Berry Reduce Bad Cholesterol?

Acai berry is a rich source of unsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols.

We have stressed the importance of phytosterols in reducing cholesterol by inhibiting the intestinal absorption of cholesterol. Acai contains a high amount of beta-sitosterol, a phytosterol known to help control LDL.

In addition, the fruit contains essential fatty acids called linoleic acid and oleic acid, which are proven to lower the bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.

The remarkable content of antioxidants in acai is due to its anthocyanins, which is a class of flavonoids. Acai is reported to have 10 to 30 times more anthocyanins than a glass of red wine. Antioxidants are important in fighting off free radicals. LDL is harmless unless it is oxidized. By preventing the oxidation of LDL, we are preventing the sequence of events associated in the formation of plaque in the arteries and the subsequent diseases that result from it.

The dietary fiber in acai is also significant in managing cholesterol levels. A high fiber diet promotes a healthy digestive system and helps lower the bad cholesterol.

Acai Berry Capsules

Acai supplements in capsule form are preferred over the juice form because of several reasons.

The acai juice is added with other fruit extracts and stabilizers, making the concentration of the main ingredient lesser. The amount of acai supplying the anthocyanins and other health properties are not enough to make a difference in your health. The capsule form utilizes on acai and does not need preservatives to improve its shelf life.

The pasteurization and reconstitution involved in processing the juice destroy the biologically active ingredients in acai. The health benefits you are paying for are lost.

Acai juice is rich in natural and man-made juice, which is bad for diabetics. Acai in freeze dried form was not found to have the same deleterious effects.

When choosing acai supplements, make sure that the manufacturer did not use pesticides in the acai berry tree. High standard of cleanliness must be observed in its processing to assure you that you are getting the best out of the fruit without the unecessary dangers that come with its manufacturing.

Acai berry, the new natural super-food to recently hit the headlines, is being hailed as a “jack of all trades” wonder food. It is hardly surprising when you go through the list of ingredients that are naturally present in this little dark purple berry found only in the rain forests of Brazil.

A berry full of wonder

At the risk of boring you, let’s run through what this giant of a super-food actually contains behind that dark purple skin.

The main talking point about Acai is just how amazingly rich it is in antioxidants. Before Acai came along, the common Blueberry was hailed as the super-food with highest levels of antioxidants; but no more. Acai now wins hands down. But Acai has another little secret ingredient too which is anthocyanins. It is this that ascribes to the dark purple pigmentation, somewhat similar to a dark red grape. Red wine, now recommended by health gurus, in appropriate quantities of course, contains good levels of anthocyanins, but Acai has since been found to contain as much as 30% to 40% more. Anthocyanins are themselves potent antioxidants.c

But it doesn’t stop there. Acai also contains Omega oils (Omega 3, 6, and 9). It is also fiber rich, with an amazing 45 grams per 100 grams of berry. The list goes on with 19 different amino acids and proteins understood to help promote the growth and health of body tissues. It addition Acai has three plant sterols amongst its constituents which are known to promote heart health, and aid digestion. Also present in its make-up are the vitamins B1, B2, B3, C and E. And to round all that off it also has the essential minerals; potassium, calcium, copper, magnesium and zinc.

Acai can promote heart health

Acai promotes a healthy heart in three different ways; with antioxidants, with sterols, and with fiber.

Antioxidants are known and generally accepted as contributing to the prevention of certain chronic diseases including; heart disease, strokes, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s. As our bodies consume oxygen, we produce something called free radicals. They are also created by some environmental factors including; pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides. The body’s immune system can sometimes manufacture free radicals too, to deal with certain infections. The problem with free radicals is that they attack normal healthy cells. These cells themselves then become free radicals and so forth creating a chain reaction. In this chain reaction, organs and tissues become damaged and this accumulates as we age. Antioxidants actually neutralize and destroy these free radicals, and so you can understand their importance and their benefit. The fact that Acai is so rich in antioxidant content is very significant, and is why Acai is so highly sought after.

Sterols or Physterols are natural chemicals that are found in certain plants. They are well known for their beneficial effects to cardiac health. It is proven that people who eat diets that contain the fruits and vegetables that are rich in sterols enjoy prolonged heart longevity. Sterols are recognized as helping to protect against cardiovascular diseases including; atherosclerosis, hypertension, heart disease, and the danger of seizures. Acai is high in sterols.

Finally fiber is not only good for your gut, and for dietary consumption by diabetics, but it is also recognized as being an important contributor towards a good healthy heart. Acai is high in fiber too.

Acai and other Cholesterol medications

Acai is in itself an effective treatment against high cholesterol levels. There has been some speculation that the taking Acai could possibly interfere with any cholesterol medications based on bile acid sequestrants like; cholestyramine, colestipol, and colesevelam. However it is only speculation and tests have proved inconclusive.

Forms of Acai

Acai capsules are known to be the best and safest form of Acai product on the market today. They are 100% natural and organic. They do not contain any additives, preservatives or preservatives.

Acai juice does not contain the same high Acai content and has certain additives and preservative preventing it being labeled “organic”. Also, as with any type of fruit coming over the boarder it must be irradiated. This is a process required by US FDA in order to kill any existing micro-organisms, a process that raises much concerns about the possible changes and mutations it can cause the fruit to under go.

Also, if you are like many other consumers who take the Acai for its health benefits you may not want to be obligated into signing up for the business opportunity that most Acai juice products on the market require. Unlike MLM companies promoting the Acai juice you don’t have to join or invest in any MLM or scheme when purchasing the solid acai berry products.

In terms of convenience, Acai tablet or capsules are far easier to carry around and are simpler to ingest. You can now see beyond reasonable doubt the importance of acai berry and what it has to offer when combined with cholesterol medications.