In the Blue corner, packed solid with Anti Oxidants is the current anti aging heavy weight champion of the world, acai berry, aka ‘the purple punch’. In the Red corner the up and coming young hopeful, the resveratrol cruncher, sensation of the decade!
Who will win the battle of the Anti Aging Titans?
A question I’m sure a lot of people would like answered. But will we ever really know the truth behind these power houses of nature?
The body is an extremely complex organism – trying to find answers to our health, weight and aging problems with any one nutrient is, let’s face it, a futile quest! One reason most diets don’t work. They are based on simplistic equations generally involving calories, carbohydrates and fat intake, encouraging people to do reckless things to their body in order to shed a few pounds! The truth is, nature is crying out that we should consume more complex carbohydrates.
Although all the hype about Resveratrol and Acai Berry is not unfounded their story can’t be told in isolation. After all there are many other gifts of nature with anti aging properties (wheat grass, barley, Aloe Vera, Goji, Pomegranate, grape seeds to name a few) and many other minor players that allow the so called miracle workers to do their job. The body is a system that nature understands better than any scientist, doctor or nutritionist.
The single most important thing we can do to fight the aging process is to switch to a diet based on unprocessed plant foods. Packaged in the way nature intended I can almost hear them crying out to be eaten. It is not an accident that fruits and vegetables of bright colors are packed with anti oxidants!
Putting all our faith in one miracle nutrient is really not the answer – we improve our odds of longevity by taking ‘all’ nature has to offer and that includes the Acais and Resveratrols of this world.
Before we embark on the latest fad diet we’d all do well to take on board these important considerations!
Well, how about it then? Can a winner really be chosen for the title of greatest anti ager?
I doubt it because each benefits us in different ways. Resveratrol, common in grapes, may be able to activate the anti aging gene but probably has little effect if everything else about our lifestyle is in contradiction. Acai Berries have many powerful anti-oxidants (some of which are also present in grapes and their seeds) but then so do many other products of nature. My advice would be to combine the wonderful properties of these anti aging titans with everything else nature has to offer.
