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The Super-Solution
Chichester News,13th November 2009
Recently more than ever, I have been aware of web sites promoting the life changing benefits of acai berries. Plucked from acai palm trees in South America, these grape-like beauties are promoted as the solution to various health conditions, but the biggest money spinner is the promise of weight loss.
Now please let me make it very clear that I am not against acai berries or any other newly branded super-food. If it is high in fibre which improves digestion and liver function, nutrients that keep our blood healthy and our DNA intact, and protein to build disease fighting antibodies, then let's all consider eating them for breakfast with oat muesli and a big dollop of natural yoghurt. If they speed up our metabolism so that we lose weight as well without moving from the TV, even better.
The problem is that as you read this article there are probably people hunting the rainforests for the next promise of eternal youth and beauty, and the new super-food will appear on a golden cushion on Oprah sometime next year. If I were launching a new super-food I'd send a free lifetime's supply to Oprah and Angelina, but what should everyone else be planning to do once they realise that they cannot afford to pay for it forever?
Well instead one could eat lots of blue, red and purple berries, fruit and vegetables, pulses nuts and seeds, and plenty of spices as well, so pick up a book on healthy Indian home cooking. A lot of claims about supper-foods are founded on their ORAC rating which is effectively a scientific measure of the ability of the food to mop up harmful molecules in the body, but many less glamorous foods also have a reasonably high rating and you can eat plenty of them without spending a fortune.
If you do decide to order your super-food online do be aware that a lot of people have been hooked into scams based on a month's free trial of berries only to find that unless they have managed to cancel before the end of the trial period, they are automatically upgraded to a three months supply. Avoid free trials, and cheap products and supplements with a low concentration of the main ingredient. Harvesting and shipping berries from South America is not a cheap operation and some companies are not able to staff their cancellations department!
Good health is essentially based on proper diet, adequate exercise, a positive attitude, and an occasional boost. Do not build your health strategy on only one of these cornerstones and remember to look at the cause of your health issues rather than only relying on one food, tablet, or powder to deal with the symptoms. Sometimes supplements are appropriate if your body needs a boost that your normal diet cannot provide. Do your research on the supplier, the purity and quality of the product, but beware of clever marketing, else the health benefits could prove to be rather expensive and ineffectual in the long term.
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Titles
The Super-Solution
Vein Truth
Fat Chance
Probiotics - Or Not?
A Healthy Portion of Stress
Pants!
Interval Training – Why be Boverd?
Leeks – Wear Them, Wave Them, & Eat Them
Get a Grip on Your Love Handles
SmartHealth Eating Plan
Don't Waste Your Time Getting Fit & Healthy
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