Acai 101

Where the world of Acai begins, picked from a palm tree in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest

Backyard Bowls is most known for serving Acai Bowls.  In fact, I can say fairly confidently that we serve the best Acai Bowls in North America.  Well over half of our customers are coming in search of an Acai Bowl.  Obviously, this little berry called Acai is fairly important in our business.  So, what's the deal?  What makes this little fruit so special?  Is it really that healthy?  Where does it come from?  Why is it frozen?  Will it get me high?  Can I lose 10 lbs of belly fat by eating it?  Read on my friends, all will be clear soon.

BYB Co-founder Pete, daring you to mess with HIS Acai!

The Basics

Acai (say Ah-sigh-EE) is a small purple berry that grows on a palm tree found primarily in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest.  Though to be honest, Acai is nothing like any berry you are thinking of- it is not sweet at all, it is primarily pit with just a thin layer of edible flesh, and therefore hardly ever consumed in its raw form.  Very quickly after harvest the Acai berries have the flesh stripped off, and the resulting pulp is processed into the myriad forms you find today- frozen pulp packets (as found at BYB), juice, ice cream, powders, pills, beauty products, and even liquor.  Whatever form Acai will end up at, it must happen within a couple days of harvest due to the fact that the berry has almost zero natural sugar and therefore spoils quickly (another reason you will never find raw Acai in America).

Acai is almost always sweetened in one way or another before it's consumed- even in Brazil- whether by adding a sweetener, or blending it with other fruits.  Unsweetened Acai is actually quite bland, but by adding just a touch of sweetness the Acai's natural rich berry-cocoa flavor is greatly enhanced.  BYB uses a lightly sweetened frozen pulp in most of its bowls, though even with the bit of added sugar it is actually less sweet than most common fruits we are used to here in California (we also offer a "pure" unsweetened Acai upon request).  BYB's Acai is manufactured by Sambazon, far and away the world's gold standard Acai producer.

Acai is a berry- a particularly healthy berry- but not a magic pill...

Health

Acai became famous a number of years ago for being an exceptionally healthy food.  Most notably, Acai has one of the highest antioxidant levels of any natural food on our planet.  It also boasts healthy omega fatty acids, and is packed with vitamins and minerals.  A simple internet search will lead you to endless claims about the nutritional benefits of Acai.  It's indisputable that Acai is a nutritionally packed food, but I must say that many people get carried away.  Will an Acai pill help you lose 10lbs of belly fat?  No.  Will a shot glass of fruit juice with a bit of Acai in it cure all your ailments?  Definitely not.  Will Acai make you "feel younger, enjoy boundless energy, and increase sexual performance"??  Come on.  Seriously?

Now don't get me wrong- I LOVE Acai.  I've eaten a bowl more days than not for the last 5 years.  I've been living and breathing Acai, and have nothing but amazing things to say about the effects its had on me.  I firmly believe Acai is an EXCELLENT complement to a healthy diet, and to a healthy lifestyle.  Especially the way that we serve Acai at BYB- blended with other whole fruits or veggies, topped with organic granola, more fresh fruits, and a touch of raw local honey- this is absolutely a healthy alternative to that monster burrito you were thinking about.  An Acai bowl will fill you up, you'll have a ton of fun eating it, and it will give you all the energy and nutrition you need to do whatever it is you like to do.

It's just that I can't stand all the nonsense marketing that tends to follow foods like Acai.  Once a food is dubbed a "superfood", all the snake oil salesmen come crawling out of their caves to capitalize.  Whatever ailment you may have, there's somebody out there that will tell you Acai will fix it.  Unfortunately I don't believe this at all.  Acai is not the magic pill you've been looking for.  It alone will not fix your problems, I'm sorry.  But that's not to take anything away from Acai, because I don't believe there's any single food out there that IS a magic fix.  It's all about your diet as a whole, and the lifestyle you choose to live.

So in a nutshell, Acai is a berry- yes, a particularly healthy berry.  And an Acai bowl is a truly healthy alternative for breakfast or lunch.  No doubt about it.  But you don't need to listen to all the nutritional mumbo jumbo, or to the nonsense marketing, or even to me- come to BYB, eat a bowl, and listen to your body.  It will tell you all you need to know.

These are the Acai pits, once the flesh has been stripped off.  The pits are given to a local brick factory, where they are burned as a source of fuel, rather than headed to the landfill.  Sambazon is awesome...

Sustainability

Another important reason we love Acai- it's a completely sustainable crop, organic and fair-trade certified, and it's cultivation actually helps to protect the Amazon Rainforest.  Our supplier Sambazon (www.sambazon.com) uses its business to do good on a number of fronts- from giving back to the local community, providing meaningful jobs for the locals, helping to preserve the diminishing rainforest, and ultimately selling a healthy delicious food to us consumers.  No other Acai producer goes to nearly the lengths that Sambazon does to make their business sustainable and socially beneficial.

At BYB, here's what we do with our Acai- we make happiness

In the end Acai is a healthy, delicious, and earth-friendly ingredient.  And at BYB we try and do the Acai justice by preparing it in bowls with those same 3 attributes.  I hope this post has cleared some things up, and that you can more thoroughly enjoy the glory that is a Backyard Bowl.