Archive | February, 2010

Goji Berries And Their Antioxidants

4812237566 a2a9f1ddba m Goji Berries And Their Antioxidants

Forty or more different types of Goji Berries, also known as the Chinese Wolfberry or Snowberry, are known and can be found throughout the world. Gojis are of the boxthorn species in the family which contains such culinary favorites as the potato, tomato, eggplant, and chili. Many other colorful names have been associated with this incredible plant over the years from Barbary Matrimony Vine to Argyll’s Tea Tree.

Long considered as both a nutritious food and as a medicinal plant, legend has it that the renowned Chinese herbalist, agriculturalist, and first emperor Shen Nung discovered the power of Goji berries in about 2800 BC. Use in Chinese medicine has been documented for over 1900 years.

So, why is the western world just learning of this incredible antioxidant in the 21st century? Commercially available Goji berries have been only locally harvested in the northern regions of China until recently. Organic means of producing the fruits are becoming widely available and the dried fruits hold their healthful qualities well during shipment. Most Gojis are ground shipped rather than flown to maintain nutrients. The most sought after species are known as Tibetan or Himalayan Goji berries.

All are considered Super-foods containing more antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable. In fact, the humble Goji berry contains nearly 5 times the antioxidants than dried prunes. Antioxidants are measured on the Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity (ORAC) scale which is used to measure a food’s ability to absorb free radicals.

While prunes weigh at between 5,000-6,000 ORAC units, Goji berries can boast over 25,000 units. Many articles have been written about the power of broccoli as a great antioxidant, yet this highly touted vegetable contains a mere 900 ORAC units – 25 times less than the Goji Berry!

What about calcium? The Goji berry has oranges beat hands down. In fact, in terms of total nutrition, Goji berries have more beta-carotene than carrots and more iron than can be found in choice cuts of red meat.

B vitamins and antioxidants decrease the risks of cancers, including serious skin cancers, and heart attack. Polysaccharides, known to enhance the body’s immune system, abound in Goji berries, which also contain an abundance of amino acids.

Goji berries and Goji juice are flavorful, as well. Somewhere between a dried cherry and a cranberry, these fruits are not heavy like prunes or raisins. They are light and crunchy making them a great alternative when it comes to getting the recommended 5 servings of fruit and veggies per day. They fit easily in a purse, briefcase, or lunchbox – perfect for people on the go.

The berries are wonderful eaten as dried fruit, but are excellent additions to trail mixes, cereals, breads, pancakes, and muffins. They can be used instead of raisins, blueberries, dates, cranberries, or other fruits in any recipe. Chinese recipes call for them in many fish, soup, and vegetable dishes. Goji tea is also considered a wonderful soothing drink.

If you have a true sweet tooth, try adding Gojis to homemade rice crisp bars. Another fun homemade treat is to add them to salty snack mixes made with cereal squares and Worcestershire sauce. Gojis have a nutty, fruity taste that is not too sweet.

Whether you try Goji berries as a stand-alone snack, in cooking, or as a great juice pick-me-up, the health benefits are not to be missed. It is rumored that Gojis also improve libido, but, that is something best left to the individual Goji user to determine.

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The Amazing Benefits of Goji Berries

A native of Asia, the goji berry has been prized for centuries for aiding in general health and well-being.

The highest quality goji berry is Himalayan, but many other varieties, including those grown in Western China, Mongolia and Tibet also have powerful effects.

There are many types of goji berry, and in Tibet alone, there are 40 different varieties. The best goji products use goji berries that have the active ingredients, Polysaccharides, which facilitate the communication between cells. These products have been tested through cellular analysis to ensure that the highest quality goji berries are used.

Imagine a small red berry, about the size of a grape, growing on a vine in the hills of Tibet and Inner Mongolia. A small red berry that harvesters are careful to avoid touching with their bare hands so as not to oxidise the flesh of the fruit. It is just a small red berry containing more amino acids than bee pollen, more protein than whole wheat and more beta-carotene than carrots. A little red berry that will dry to the size of a currant in the shade of the mountains within which it has grown before being exported across the globe to those who have only recently, despite its 2000year plus traditional history, discovered it.

Goji comes in many forms these days, including juice, goji bars, goji cream and goji capsules. An excellent tea can be made from goji leaves and goji flowers are decorative and beautiful.

It is said that the Himalayans were the first natural healers, and that they shared their wisdom with the ancient herbalists of China, Tibet, and India. One of their most prized secrets was the fruit of the native goji vine, which had been flourishing in the Himalayan valleys since the beginning of time.

Those who came there to learn took the goji home with them and planted it in their own valleys, thus spreading the legend of this most marvelous and healthful fruit.

Goji is packed with anti-oxidants, powerful molecules that mop up free radicals before they can damage body cells. In Chinese trials, goji shut down cell aging in as little as six hours after the first dose. The credit goes to goji’s poly-saccharides. They boost the body’s production of human growth hormone, which helps build toned muscle and repair skin cells.

Experts say sipping of goji juice daily for as little as three weeks, improves your immune system’s ability to fend off infections. How? Goji’s amino acids and minerals trigger a 300% boost in white blood cell function and double production of infection-fighting proteins. Goji’s polysaccharides actually make viruses more visible to the immune cells that are trying to destroy them.

Research has shown that many of the world’s longest living people consume regular daily helpings of a tiny red fruit that may just be the world’s most powerful food – the goji berry.

It is interesting to have a look at what the plant contains:

1. Contains 19 amino acids — the building blocks of protein — including nine that essential to the body.
2. Contains 21 trace minerals.
3. Contains more protein than whole wheat
4. Contains Vitamin C at higher levels than oranges.
5. Contains complete spectrum of antioxidant carotenoids, including beta-carotene (a better source than even carrots) and zeaxanthin (protects the eyes). Goji berries are among the richest source of carotenoids of all known foods.
6. Contains Solavetivone, a powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial compound.
7. Contains essential fatty acids, which are required for the body’s production of hormones and the smooth functioning of the brain and nervous system.
8. Contains Beta-Sitosterol, an anti-inflammatory agent.

The fruit is eaten either fresh or dried and can be added to cooking, cereals, trail mixes or smoothies as well as being eaten alone. The flavor of the Goji berry is difficult to describe ? sweet with a slight tartness (similar to a cranberry but sweeter).

Incredibly high in iron, Goji berries are exceptionally nutrient rich. They are especially high in Vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2 and B6, and contain considerably more Vitamin C than an orange. The Goji berry has also been found to contain other complex compounds, such as Betaine (useful for improving liver function and reputed to enhance memory), Solavetivone (a compound containing anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties), and Beta-Sitoserol (an anti-inflammatory agent that may also help in the treatment of hypertension). An average daily serving of a cup of dried Goji berries would also contain 4grams each of dietary fiber and protein.

Wolfberry fruits contain phytochemicals with antioxidant activity and could slow the ageing process. A study showed that wolfberry fruit phytochemicals help to prevent oxidation of DNA and helps to restore damaged DNA.

Studies suggest that wolfberry extracts could inhibit DNA mutation and stop the growth of cancer cells. All studies show that regression of many types of cancer could be obtained with patients, treated with LAK/IL-2 and LBP.

The phytochemical zeaxanthin dipalmitate showed a hepaprotective effect on liver cells treated with carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity.

Wolfberry fruits have traditionally been used in China to improve vision disorders such as cataracts, retinopathy and macular degeneration. Studies have shown that wolfberry reduce dark adapting time and improve vision under subdued light. This action may be attributed to the phytochemicals lutein and zeaxanthin, which neutralizes the free radicals formed by sunlight.

Goji berries grow naturally wild and in profusion in the remote ills and valleys of the Himalayas of Tibet and Inner Mongolia and can be harvested with ease.

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The Age-defying Benefits Of The Goji Berry

I really didn’t believe it when a friend, who is a health food expert, told me about the Wolfberry, otherwise known as the Goji Berry. These berries, I was told, contain 18 kinds of amino acids, 21 trace minerals including zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium and phosphorus, and Vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, and Vitamin E.

These shriveled up little red berries seemed to be more potent than they looked. Upon further research, I learned about several studies where elderly people were given goji berries for 3 weeks, and 95% of them experienced higher energy levels, their T cell transformation functions tripled, their appetite improved and they slept better.

I also learned that goji berries contain essential fatty acids that our bodies require for the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system. That they contain Cyperone and Anthocyanins, which benefits the heart and arteries, alleviate menstrual discomfort and have been used in the successful treatment of cervical cancer. These little miracle berries also contain Physalin, a natural compound that increase natural killer cell activity thus having an anti-cancer effect, and also, Betain, which calms nervousness, enhances memory, and promotes muscle growth.

I looked in my doctor husband’s medical journals and discovered that studies of the goji have been shown to increase the body’s production of an enzyme that inhibits lipid peroxidation, the cause of myelin loss, and that the goji’s flavonoids protect against narrowing of the arteries. And since my grandmother is suffering from dementia this was a doozy of a finding – goji’s master molecule polysaccharides and powerful antioxidants fight the free radical damage associated with Alzheimer’s.

And if that weren’t enough to make you start binging on goji’s day in and day out, more than 40 years of research has revealed that goji berries regulate immunity and enhance the activity defense functions and helps the body deal with daily stress by giving you the energy reserves to help you handle just about anything.

It seems the goji’s unique polysaccharide complex has an element that stimulates the secretion of rejuvenative human growth hormone, the stuff that we have in droves as children and lose slowly as we age.

This all seems too good to be true, but the goji berries from the Himalayas have been around for millions of years, and the people who have been eating them sometimes live well into their hundreds. So maybe they know something we don’t. It has been suggested that about 4 ounces of the mighty goji a day can help fight aging. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt.

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Health Benefits of Goji Berries

Goji berries have been growing in the UK’s hedgerows for centuries. Goji plant that are claimed to have been grown in the Himalaya/Tibet region. Goji Berries are contain 18 Amino acids. Goji Berries also contain Vitamin B1, B2, B6, and Vitamin E .The Goji Berry contains more Vitamin C by weight than oranges. Goji berries play important roles in traditional Chinese medicine ,where they are believed to enhance immune system function, help eyesight, protect the liver, boost sperm production, and improve circulation and longevity, among other effects.The Goji fruits are preserved by slowly drying them in the shade.

The Goji Berry is also being called the worlds most powerful anti-aging food. Goji berries are almost never found in their fresh form outside of their production regions, and are usually sold in open boxes and small packages in dried form. Goji berries are usually used directly, and do not need to be rehydrated prior to use. Goji Berries contain many complex compounds. Betaine, which is used by the liver to produce choline, a compound that calms nervousness, enhances memory, promotes muscle growth, and protects against fatty liver disease. Physalin, which is active against all major types of leukemia.

It has too been used as a handling for hepatitis B. Solavetivone, a strong anti-fungal and anti-bacterial mix. Beta-Sitoserol, an anti-inflammatory broker. It has been used to handle intimate powerlessness and prostate growth. It too lowers cholesterol. Cyperone, a sesquiterpene that benefits the eye and blood force. It has too been used in the handling of cervical cancer. Goji fruit has traditionally been taken internally in the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes, poor eyesight, vertigo, lumbago, impotence and menopausal complaints. Goji fruit is harvested when fully ripe and is dried for later use.

Goji is too a better origin of vital fatty acids, which is really unique for a fruit. Goji is being investigated as a nutrient that is able of reducing the incidence of cancer and too as a way of halting or reversing the increase of cancers. Goji berries are eaten decent off the vine. They have a really tasty, tasty smell, and are really juicy. They are too really better when dried. Goji berries assist the exempt structure to differentiate more effectively between supporter and enemy. The fruits polysaccharides offer cells with particular sugars that back robust exemption and enable cells to transmit more effectively with each new.

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