How to Eat Açaí Bowls So They Are Actually Healthy
The açaí berry comes from the Amazon. It’s a small berry-type fruit that is high in antioxidants, contains a few grams of healthy fats and zero grams of sugar. Its dark purple color may lend benefits such as balancing your cholesterol, protecting from cancer, and strengthening your immune system.
The thing that concerns us, though, is that this trendy health food has largely turned into a diet destroyer. Why is it that the açaí most people are eating is loaded with their entire days worth of sugar? Here is the deal: açaí on its own has a somewhat bland, slightly bitter flavor. So, to make their product taste better and sell more, many açaí companies add boat loads of sugar to the fruit. In doing so, they create a snack that ruins your balanced diet by adding too many grams of sugar, disrupting your blood sugar levels and causing an even greater sugar addiction.
We’re fascinated by the work that many functional medicine doctors are doing to reveal how addicting sugar is (more so than cocaine, according to lab studies). Sugar is so damaging to your immune system and your susceptibility to disease. Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Lustig, and the documentary Fed Up have all been excellent sources of information and inspiration for us on the topic. We shared a blog post several months back about ways to crowd out sugar, and we can tell you first hand, that if you apply these tips consistently you will notice a reduction in your sugar cravings, even if you didn’t realize you had them before!!!
So back to the açaí problem. We are NOT sending you this newsletter to tell you that Organic Krush açaí bowls are depleting your nutrition. We are sending it to tell you that after months of experimenting, (this all happened 5 years ago) we found the solution! We determined that if you could balance the flavor of açaí with other fresh fruit such as banana and some healthy coconut water, you could create a delicious blend with the purest of health benefits! It was a painstaking process, as açaí is a delicate and complicated fruit to work with, but we eventually perfected the ratios and invested in equipment to ensure that we serve you the perfect açaí! (You do not need fancy equipment at home, a good blender will do the job! For insights into homemade açaí, see our Instagram highlights).
When you visit one of our stores, you can choose between a kid-sized or regular-sized açaí bowl. ALL of our açaí is made the same way: frozen açaí blended with banana, and a small amount of coconut water + orange juice. That’s it!!! Then, you choose your healthy toppings: organic berries, homemade granola, almond or peanut butter (no added sugar, of course), cacao, seeds, the combinations are endless! Some guests blend in protein, others add spirulina or boosters like chia and flax seeds. Any way you choose to create your bowl at Organic Krush, you can feel great knowing that instead of unknowingly loading your body with sugar, you are loading it with the health benefits that açaí is meant to provide!
When you shop for açaí on your own at the grocery stores, look for açaí that has no added sugar. The nutrition label should state 0 grams. We tend to like the frozen açaí (vs powder or juice), as it ultimately creates the best frozen bowl.
We love our açaí bowls as an afternoon snack because they feel indulgent, they boost our energy and the topping combos are endless! And did we mention they are dairy free, gluten free and vegan? This makes them the perfect snack or light meal replacement for just about anyone.
Towards great health!
Michelle