The powerful compounds in Nopal Cactus and Açaí Berry, dietary fiber and antioxidants, have been fused into a single nutritious serving to provide you with the power and strength you need to live each day with passion and purpose so that you can thrive healthy, joyful, loving and peaceful.
Nopal (or nopales, the plural form in Spanish) is the edible soft pad of the prickly pear cactus. Because nopales are commonly referred to as prickly pears in English, it is important to clarify that cactus pads (nopales) and prickly pear fruit (tuna) are two different parts of the plant. Most of the literature found on nopal cactus available today refers to the cactus pad and the prickly pear indistinctly. However, although both, the cactus pad and the fruit, have extraordinary healing properties on their own, we must look at their health benefits separately.
Grown in the high mountains of the central and semi-arid regions of Mexico, Nopal is the common culinary name for the pad of the prickly pear cactus of the species Opuntia ficus-indica. Nopal cactus was a very important plant to the indigenous people of Mexico in pre-Hispanic Aztec and Maya times due to its use in religious celebrations and disease treatments. Most importantly, it was used as a holistic and medicinal food. For over 7,000 years, nopal cactus pads have been well known for their nutritional value not only in Mexico, but in more recent years all over the Americas, Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean.
Due to its high content of natural dietary fiber, nopal cactus can help in the digestive processes, in the treatment of obesity, in the control of hyperglycemia (type-II diabetes), hyperlipidemia and hypercholesterolemia, and fat levels (high LDL cholesterol and arteriosclerosis). In addition, nopal cactus powder produced from mature nopal pads is a natural source of the 17 amino acids, including the six essential ones.
Nopalcan is the purest form of nopal cactus in powder which makes it an excellent source of insoluble and soluble fiber, and some indications of calcium (molar ratio .348 oxalates to 1 calcium – the more mature the nopal, the less oxalate), iron, as well as vitamins A and C, all macro and micronutrients necessary in the human diet. When nopal pads are dehydrated, their nutrient content per net weight increases, as does their shelf life. Dehydration also makes it easier to have daily dietary fiber intake from nopales in higher doses.
In recent years, studies and scientific papers on Nopal Cactus have proven the healing power of this edible pad. Due to their relatively high amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals, but most of all, due to the high content of dietary fiber (soluble and insoluble) in mature pads, nopales are considered the Superfood of the ancient Aztecs.
Nopal cactus pads are well known for its ability to:
Taking dietary fiber from nopal cactus powder provides physical, psychological, and spiritual advantages. By adding more soluble and insoluble fiber into your diet, you reduce the rate of entry of glucose into the bloodstream, producing the right amount of insulin to drive nutrients into the cells, and storing the necessary amount of glucose in the liver and muscles for future usage. Your brain gets signals of satiety, letting you consume the right amount of calories based on your body biochemistry and activity level. As you consume the right amount of calories, your eating slows down, which makes all digestive processes, absorption of nutrients and waste elimination, faster and more effective. As the efficiency of these processes increases, so does your metabolic rate, which in turn makes you burn fat faster; resulting in weight loss. While all of these processes are occurring, your body saves higher levels of energy to be used for more physical, mental, and spiritual daily activities, such as exercise, playing with your kids, spending quality time with your loved ones, achieving personal and work goals, and much more. The higher the energy levels in your body, the more feelings of joy, love, peace, and bliss, as well as a general sense of wellbeing, are experienced.
Açaí-berry(pronounced ah-sigh-ee) is a dark purple round fruit that grows on acai palm trees in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil. Although the drupes contain pits like olives, they are commonly referred to as berries. For thousand of years, the indigenous tribes used it as a medicinal plant due to its healing properties, just as Aztecs used nopal cactus plant in Mexico.
The ancient tribes discovered that açaí-berries have a natural high content of antioxidant, fatty-acids and minerals and used it for medicinal purposes to help them build a strong immune system, fight infection, protect the heart, regulate cholesterol levels, have more energy, prevent oxidative stress, protect the cells from the damage of unstable molecules and slow the effect of ageing.
Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals – defined as any molecular species capable of independent existence that contains a highly reactive unstable unpaired electron in an atomic orbital that either donates an electron to or accepts one from a healthy molecule, causing oxidative stress. Antioxidants are endogenous, produced by the body, such as such as Glutathione (GSH), Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase and Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and exogenous, those that come from outside the body in the form of vitamins and minerals found in plant-based foods or by taking supplements. Unfortunately, as we age our bodies produce less of endogenous antioxidants and we depend more on exogenous ones. As the endogenous antioxidants decrease the activity in the body free radicals activity increases contributing this to the progressive production of adverse changes that build up throughout the body as we get older such as premature aging and degenerative diseases.
However, many studies have demonstrated that by increasing our endogenous antioxidant cellular levels with a diet rich in antioxidants alone, we can greatly help prevent many age-related health issues and degenerative diseases like Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Heart Disease, and many other health concerns.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/
All plants produce antioxidants and even some meat, dairy products, and eggs may contain some antioxidants, mainly because they come from the nutrient-rich plants the animals fed on. However, must fruits and vegetables are the best source of antioxidants. Some of these foods have reached the “superfoods” status because of their high antioxidant content based on the rating tool called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) used to measure the antioxidant capacity of foods. Some highlighting foods with high ORAC scores are berries, cocoa, spices, and legumes, being açaí berries at the top of the list due to their disease-fighters properties.
However, according to two articles published by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, freeze-dried açaí berry powder has a higher ORAC antioxidant value than any other commercial açaiberry product due to its drying technique.
Source: WWW.FOODNAVIGATOR.COM/ARTICLE/2006/11/08/ACAI-BERRIES-TOP-THE-ANTIOXIDANT-RANKINGS-SAYS-STUDY
Definitely, it is its high content of antioxidants called polyphenols, particularly, anthocyanins, the ones that give the blue-purple color to this berry as well as its high content of phytochemicals, that have been linked to slowing down the aging process by protecting the skin cells from the damage of free radicals and preventing oxidative stress.
Due to its polyphenolic structure, polyphenols type of antioxidant may help prevent the malfunctioning cells and reduce the immune system response to foreign invaders such as viruses. Some researches carried out in relation to polyphenolic compound in açaí berries suggest that these berries may reduce the development of malfunctioning cells and even prevent tumor growth.
Studies show that the content of two essential fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-9 in açaí berries, maintain healthy cholesterol levels and it may even reduce them as well.
Açaí berry is also linked to weight loss and weight management, and to its high content of dietary fiber it helps curb cravings if it is used in its freeze-dried form in smoothies and baking recipes as an alternative to fatty snacks. Studies have also associated açaí pulp with the reduction of fat deposits in the body.
As you keep adding açaí berry powder to your meals the body starts feeling healthier as this berry serves as a booster increasing stamina and energy levels while reducing fatigue and making the body work more efficiently.
Due its content of anthocyanin antioxidant, thanks to its purple color, açaí berry assist in controlling cholesterol levels, therefore, the heart-healthy function.
Ancient Amazonic tribes used the berry to heal digestion issues due to its strong detoxifying capacity due to it is a great source of dietary fiber which helps flush out the system toxins and waste and make it again clean and functional.