California Academy of Health Catalog

Full product catolog for California Academy of Health (CAOH).

Can you clear-up some questions I have on acai processing, please

Question: CAOH,

I like the what I’ve read about acai juice (Acai Max), but wonder when it is processed from it’s natural state, does it change the vitamin and mineral content. Thanks for the update!

Sherry

Answer: Hello Sherry,

I have copied below some data from our blog which replies to a question about or freeze dried acai powder (Absolute Acai).

3. Is your Acai spray dried? – We utilize freeze drying only. At present the processing method likely to yield the most beneficial açaí berry product is lyophilization (freeze-drying). Lyophilization is widely employed in the pharmaceutical industry to stabilize drugs and extend the lifetime of their potency. The lyophilization process is a stabilizing procedure in which a substance is first frozen and then the quantity of the water within the açaí is reduced, initially by a primary drying process and then by a secondary drying process to levels that will no longer support biological activity or chemical reactions. This process avoids the five destructive factors (heat, light, air, moisture, and time) producing a stable material which retains a greater concentration of active, volatile constituents. Because lyophilization is the most complex and expensive form of drying, its use is usually restricted to delicate, heat-sensitive materials of high value such as our Absolute Acai.

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc

Response from Sherry: Dr. E

Thank you, I appreciate your response. Has a study been done on the product comparing the liquid state versus freeze dried state on vitamin/mineral content. Also from the natural berry to the liquid state. I’m interested as any time products are changed from their natural state, something is usually lost or changed in the translation.

Sherry

My response back: Sherry,

To the point: Freeze dried is the closest to natural as any process will allow. If you want the FULL benefits of acai, freeze dried IS the ONLY way to go.

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc

Sherry’s response back: Hi Marcus,

Thank you for your recommendation and I appreciate your response, but you did not answer my question. I’m very much interested in finding out if there are any comparative studies for vitamin/mineral and content/changes from the berry state to liquid vs freeze dried. That’s ok if you don’t have the answer, I’ll just have to research more.

Much appreciation,

Sher

My response back: Sherry,

The berry has no juice. It is water added to the skins that makes the juice. So there will be no research on the juice. I hope this helps. Go Here Fro More

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc

Sherry’s response back: Thank you. There are so many vitamins, minerals, herbs that claim something that I’m very much interested in educating myself and what I’m taking into my body. I like your products, and just wanted to see if there had been any studies done that compared the vitamin/mineral content from the natural state of the product (berry) to freeze dried. The juice product is still the berry in its natural state, other than the process that adds water and makes it into juice.

I’m not a doctor or in the medical field, how vitamins and minerals affect your body has always interested me. If you do find any information or studies done, or to direct me to any books you can recommend, it will be greatly appreciated.

My response back: Sherry,

I should have added more detail for a clearer picture. The juice is skins and water, yes, a natural state, as is flash freezing. The point I’m trying to make is that the freeze dried acai IS the closest anyone will ever get to “real, fresh, whole fruit.” The juice will never be close to freeze dried, here is why: The juice is at best 15% acai and 85% percent water – they call this 100% acai juice (I have no idea how this ever came to be the standard but it is what it is). So, 10oz of “so called” 100% juice gives you just 1.5oz of actual acai. 1.5oz of freeze dried acai gives you 1.5oz of actual acai.

Research is irrelevant unless you are very wealthy and would like to consume a quart or more of the juice daily. Please e-mail me back to let me know if this helps.

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc

Sherry’s response back: Dr. E

It makes better sense proportionately-wise, actually a better deal going freeze dried for the amount of actual acai. Thanks again for the explanation,

Sher

What type of container is your Acai Max packaged in, glass or plastic?

Q: What type of container is your Acai Max packaged in, glass or plastic? I hear that if acai juice is put in plastic, there is a chance of leaching???

Gary

A: Gary,

We use medical/food grade plastic and the data on leaching does not apply to our plastic in question. Please follow the link below for more clarification.

Blog Post – Plastic

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc.

Very pleased to have acai available through CAOH

I purchased the Acai Max. CAOH offers a blend with greater acai concentration at a cheaper price. The taste is comparable to more expensive blends. Overall, very pleased to have acai available through CAOH.

Audrey Reinbold

p-Coumaric Acid and your Juices

Question: Hi there,

I see you have some information of p-coumaric acid on you blog, I was just wondering if you know whether this chemical has GRAS status or if you are aware of any human clinical trials that have used p-coumaric acid? Do you have any supplements with just this compound in them?
 
Regards,

Arjan

Answer: Arjan,

That particular chemical is found in many different fruits (mangosteen, acai) and even peanuts. The issue is here is the actual percentage of the chemical found in each product. Unfortunately it’s in Parts Per Million (PPM). Until it is available in a standardized, stand alone form, it really is a non-issue in determining which fruit you should choose. My recommendation is to have as many dark colored (purple, blue, red) fruits as you can per day.

Here is a link on p-coumaric acid

Sincerely,

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc.

Related Products

Mangoteen Elixir
Absolute Mangosteen
Acai Max
Absolute Acai
Pomegranate Concentrate    

Acai Max vs Sambazon’s Acai Concentrate

Dear, Barbara

I am glad you are happy with the Sambazon product. It’s good but very different from our Acai Max. I understand your confusion about 100% pure, I get asked about it daily! Sambazon’s concentrate is 100% pure, until you add water or juice. The purity is diluted by the volume of liquid added. It’s a 100% pure drink not 100% pure acai. I hope you get that concept.

Our Acai berries are wild grown in the Amazon Rain Forest. They are hand picked and cold pressed to extract the juice. To the pure juice we add Amazonian camu camu, pomegranate, raspberry, elderberry & other antioxidant rich juice extracts. This synergic blend of juices possesses the super antioxidant, ellagic acid.

• Ellagic Acid is a potent anti-carcinogen.

• Ellagic Acid has the ability to inhibit mutations within a cell’s DNA.

• Ellagic Acid is considered to be a cancer inhibitor which has the ability to cause apoptosis or normal cell death in cancer cells.

• In addition, research has found that Ellagic Acid has antibacterial and anti-viral properties
  (above taken from our website)

Barbara, this is hard to condense into an e-mail but the other important point is there are thousands of dietary antioxidants, phenols being just one classification. When we add the camu camu, pomegranate, raspberry, elderberry, & other antioxidant rich juice extracts to the acai juice, we are enhancing and supporting the activity and benefits of the acai. Acai is not in a class by itself, neither is any other fruit or vegetable juice and that’s the truth. Each fruit or vegetable is unique and has its own benefits and weaknesses. A variety of fruits and vegetables is your best insurance policy for getting all that you need nutritionally.

CAOH is not about hype, we are not flashy or fancy. What we do is put out high quality heath products that meet or exceed our competitor’s. We also offer our products at a lower price because we are not an MLM and we don’t have tens of thousands in advertising costs.

As a final note: add up the money you will have to spend on camu camu, pomegranate, raspberry and elderberry juice. Add up the cost of gas to go to the stores to purchase the juices, add in the price of Sambazon’s concentrate and you have just spent a good chunk of change. We have done the work for you and saved you a lot of money. I feel our Acai Max is a superior product. Whatever product you want to use is up to you. I hope I was able to enlighten and educate you a little.

Sincerely,

Dr. E