Vitamin Information Center

Lately I’ve been worried that the olives in my martini just aren’t enough. They’re kinda old-fashioned, after all, and the jar says nothing about polyphenols or flavonoids.

So where am I supposed to get the essentials, like antioxidants and anthocyanins, without sacrificing alcohol content?

Acai berries to the rescue, distilled by a marketing-savvy visionary into hard liquor. The alcoholic answer to green tea is launching in Dallas under the brand name VeeV on Feb. 22, with a campaign focused on the drink’s healthy ingredients. While not making any specific claims, they aren’t exactly shy either, reminding us that acai berries are “the world’s preeminent superfruit,” and that people can “enjoy themselves while doing some good at the same time.” (Isn’t this how we justified tequila shots before class during college? Um, so I’ve heard)

It’s tough to find any information on acai berries that doesn’t quickly devolve into a breathless recounting of their nutritional benefits (ZOMG! Acai berries contain 57 percent more antioxidants than pomegranates!) Even if the berries are, as Oprah puts it, “one of the most powerful foods in the world,” is there any reason to believe this liquor will confer health benefits on consumers?

Nutrients don’t survive the distillation process unscathed. But that’s OK. This is the land of health fads–someone tried the same tactic with quinoa vodka, too–and are we really prepared to argue with the all-knowing Oprah?

The ORAC, or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, is an index that shows the amount of antioxidants in a single food source. It has become an important indicator of a fruit or vegetable’s ability to eliminate free radicals that damage cells in the human body.

Free radicals
Imagine rust forming on metal. As rust eats away the surface, the metal erodes and eventually becomes unusable. This is how free radicals attack our body - they weaken our cells, organs, tissue and other important parts, leading to diseases such as cancer, heart ailments, osteoarthritis and dementia.

The ORAC scale
The ORAC test identifies and measures important antioxidants in a food source. Foods with a high ORAC score can raise the antioxidant levels in the blood by up to 25 percent. Doctors recommend that we consume fruits and vegetables with a total ORAC score of 1,750 per day.

Different plants have different levels of antioxidants. You may consume five kinds of fruits and get only 1,300 ORAC units. Yet a handful of blueberries can give you an ORAC score of 9,000 per 100 grams. The USDA’s recommended level of ORAC units is 3,000 to 5,000 daily.

Acai tops the ORAC list
Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries and pomegranates score high on the ORAC index. But no single food source comes close to the ORAC score of the acai berry from Brazil.

A new research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows that the acai has the highest ORAC antioxidant value of any food.

Compared to blackberries (53), pomegranates (105), and blueberries (92), acai has an amazing ORAC score of 1,027 per gram. Some samples of freeze-dried acai even turned out ORAC results of up to 50,000.

While these figures are impressive, they do not apply to all acai. Acai berries that have been frozen, spray dried or air dried have a lower ORAC score because many of the phytochemicals, enzymes and nutrients of the acai fruit are lost in the procedure.

To achieve the highest ORAC values, buy only acai products that are properly freeze-dried.

Açai Machine juice smoothie and Pomegranate juice are joining the Naked Juice line-up. Both are antioxidant rich and all-natural, 100% juice containing no added sugar or preservatives.

These two new products are loaded with antioxidants which naturally help defend and protect the body against free radicals – molecules that can attack and damage cells. The latest addition to the popular line of ‘Machine’ smoothies, Açai Machine includes 178 açai berries in every 15.2oz bottle. Açai Machine also includes added antioxidant benefits of vitamin A, C, and E, as well as elderberry, beet, black currant, and grape seed extracts.

Naked Juice Pomegranate joins the brand’s Antioxidant Family alongside Pomegranate Açai, Pomegranate Blueberry, and Cherry Pomegranate Power. With four California pomegranates in each 15.2oz bottle, Naked Juice Pomegranate is a hefty antioxidant attack against free radicals.

Açai Machine and Pomegranate are made from fruits, with no added sugar or preservatives. Each 15.2oz bottle contains over three servings of fruit. Both products will be available nationwide later this month for suggested retail prices of $3.79 (Açai Machine) and $4.49 (Pomegranate).