Is Acai Berry Good For Depression?

There are many people with depression who take antidepressants and many of these people do not realize that there are many natural alternatives. The prescription drugs that many doctors administer on a daily basis can be more harmful to their patients than the disease itself. There are side effects, both short-term and long-term, and some of these drugs are highly addictive.

One of the most recent discoveries that have been made is the Acai berry. It comes from the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, in the Acai palm. This berry is actually smaller than a grape and most of it is just seed. In fact, only 10% of the berry is real fruit. However, this small amount of fruit is packed with all kinds of nutrients our bodies need, and while it doesn’t actually cure depression itself, you can use it to treat many of the symptoms without antidepressants.

For one thing, the Acai berry is packed with antioxidants that our body needs. It is ideal for treating various symptoms related to depression. Some antidepressants are aimed at raising serotonin levels in the brain, and sometimes these lowered levels are the result of inflammation of the brain. The Acai berry reduces inflammation, both in the brain and elsewhere, and can bring these levels back to normal. It can also improve brain cell communication and help improve your metabolism.

Antidepressants have other effects on your body besides treating depression. One of them is its sedative qualities that can make you fall asleep. This is because people with this disease may have trouble sleeping. Another part of the problem that accompanies depression is weight control. Either they don’t eat enough or they eat too much, leading to weight gain, making them self-conscious and adding to depression. It can be a vicious cycle.

Depression also affects your energy levels, and the use of antidepressants doesn’t really help in this area. In fact, some medications can make you feel more lethargic and make you not want to do anything at all. To combat the effects of depression, you must go out and do things, like exercise, and still do activities that you normally would. Acai berries help to stimulate your metabolism, give you energy, and allow you to continue without harmful stimulants.

Some of the symptoms and causes of depression are due to the accumulation of free radicals in our system. While we all have them in our bodies, too many can be harmful. If you don’t know what a free radical is, here is a short explanation. Free radicals are organic molecules that are unstable, either from natural cellular processes or from external sources, such as eating an unhealthy diet, being around contaminations, etc. These molecules are unstable because they don’t have enough electrons, so they try to steal them from other cells in the body, which in turn turns healthy cells into radicals and so on causing a virtual domino effect. While some are not that bad, the problem is that when there are too many they can accelerate the aging process, cause a depletion effect, accelerate tissue damage, and even cause some diseases. Not only do antidepressants do nothing for this, they can actually create more free radicals in the body, further contributing to these problems.

Because these berries are packed with antioxidants, which scavenge these free radicals, taking them can have a good overall effect in treating depression, without the damaging effects of antidepressant medications. It also has the highest oxygen radical or ORAC absorption capacity of any other fruit or vegetable. ORAC is the ability to absorb oxygen free radicals in the body, and although some fruits and vegetables have high levels, around 2,400 for blueberries, the USDA recommends eating 3,000 to 5,000 units a day. Acai berries score higher than this, with 5,500 ORAC.

So where can you get Acai berries to help treat your depression naturally and without antidepressants? You can’t go out to your local market and buy them fresh. They are an extremely delicate fruit and only last for about 24 hours before spoiling. You can buy drinks and powders, as well as different types of tablets. However, you need to be very careful, because some people will try to scam you with inferior quality.