Antioxidants and Snowboarding
Randa Shahin
One of the more recent discoveries of the vast and mysterious Amazon rain forest has been the acaÍ (ah-sigh-ee) berry. This berry is tiny with a bluish-black flesh that has a similar build to coconuts.
This little berry has 10 times more antioxidants than other leading antioxidant carriers such as pomegranates, blueberries, cranberries, and wine. Antioxidants are measured through the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) test. AcaÍ in a freeze-dried form has an ORAC of 1027, while black raspberries are at 340, wild blueberries are at 260, wolfberries are at 220, and cranberries are at 125. How does this help our health? Through the chemical processes that our bodies go through, free radicals are formed. Free radicals cause our healthy cells to become damaged and diseased. Antioxidants donate electrons to free radicals there by stabilizing and neutralizing free radicals to prevent further damage to the body.
Not only does acaÍ contain an incredible amount of antioxidants, it contains nineteen essential and nonessential amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. It’s a good source of dietary fiber, which helps maintain normal blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of diabetes. It also contains essential fatty acids, omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9, help lower cholesterol along with phytosterols, also known as plant sterols. Minerals include calcium, chromium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, and zinc are also present, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, and E are present and help to boost the immune system, improve cellular function, and reduce inflammation.
However, acaÍ does not travel well, and most of its nutritional content will dissipate within 48 hours. To be able to consume the berry outside of Brazil, people need to find it in a juice or in a freeze-dried form. One juice brand that has been moving mountains is called MonaVie. When selecting an acaÍ product, look for companies such MonaVie, who do not add any water or sugar, and include the whole fruit, including the skins and seeds, where most of the nutritional value of fruits and berries are contained. In addition to the acaÍ, MonaVie contains pear, camu-camu, cranberry, banana, prunes, purple grapes, nashi pear, wolfberry, pomegranate, white grape, aronia berry, apricots, lychee fruit, blueberry, bilberry, kiwi, acerola cherry, and passion fruit. All of these fruits and berries are picked wild in their respective locations.
In a test-tube study at the University of Florida, extracts from acaÍ berries initiated a self-destruct response in 86% of leukemia cells that were tested. Other diseases that have had improvements through the aid of acaÍ include: fibromyalgia, depression, arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease (high cholesterol, high-blood pressure, stroke).
AcaÍ has also provided the citizens of Brazil with a renewable economy that preserves the rain forest. It grows naturally in the Amazon and is harvested by hand, so thousands of acres of the Amazon are being preserved to allow for harvesting of this sensational “superfruit.”
For snowboarders and other athletes, good sources of antioxidants like the acaÍ can be very important, especially when dealing with injuries. My friend Carolyn English broke her back the same summer that I broke my neck, and we had the same neurosurgeon, so her story really hits close to home for me, and shows the power of nutrition in recovery.
Carolyn’s Story
In August 2008 I was at Windell’s Snowboard Camp killing it all week, when the second to last day of camp, I decided it was time to step up my skills. So late in the afternoon after a day of kicking butt, I went over to the big jumps and decided to attack them. I choose to hit the 65 ft jump over the 75 ft and boy am I glad I did. When I was approaching the jump I thought that I was going to fast so I did two extra speed checks, which ruined it all for me. I came up short, hit the knuckle and instantly broke my back.
I wound up having a blown fracture in my T-12, 70% compression in my L-1 and bruised intestines. I was told I couldn’t ride for a year and, as you can imagine, I was totally devastated. I moved all the way from New York to Oregon to snowboard, and this was not what I wanted to hear.
As the snow fell, I took the time to get more involved with my overall health and discovered MonaVie. Throughout my recovery, my neurosurgeon remarked on how well my recovery was going. Less than four months after my accident I was able to step up my level of activity and I began biking, snowshoeing, and ballet, along with all the swimming I was doing before. Four more months went by of boring slow sports, but I still felt blessed to be able to walk. I went into see my doctor for my 8 month check up and my doctor said that my cat scan looked good so I could pretty much do anything I wanted. It was SO exciting to learn that my recovery was quite a bit shorter than the original prediction of 9-10 months. This is what made me truly believe in MonaVie. I know that I worked my butt off to get back out on the mountain, but if MonaVie wasn’t in my life, I truly don’t think I would even be close to being back on the snow. Thanks MonaVie!
For more information about antioxidants and the health benefits of acaÍ, check out some of the resources at http://www.aibmr.com/resources/articles-and-reports.php
For more information about Monavie and its health benefits checkout http://www.mymonavie.com/rshahin - feel free to contact me with any questions.
References
Speer, S. (2007, February). The New SUPERFOODS. Vegetarian Times, Retrieved April 8, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.
Rodier, H. (2007). Acai and Targeted Health Concerns. Health Journal.
