gojiberry review

Goji Berries are beautiful red berries that grow on the Lycium shrub in the Himalayan mountain range. Himalayan healers and practitioners of Asian medicine have utilized goji berries or goji juice since ancient times. As with most all berries and fruit juices, goji berries or goji juice is very nutritious, providing important components to a healthy diet. Goji berries or goji juice is special though due to the abundance of eight essential sugars known as glyconutrients contained in them, along with important nutrients and vitamins.

It is said that goji berries or goji juice was used by the ancient Himalayan healers. They shared this information with herbalists in ancient India, Tibet, and China. When they returned to their homelands, they took goji berries with them and spread the legend of the goji berries mystical health powers and planted the seeds in their native soil.

Just as there are many varieties of grapes and apples, there are many varieties of goji berries or goji juice. The most potent goji berries or goji juice is made from Himalayan goji berries. The berries from the Himalayas are believed to contain more of the essential glyconutrients than other varieties of goji berries or goji juice. These are the goji berries that are celebrated in legend as having potent anti-aging properties.

Goji berries or goji juice is a convenient way to get the goodness of glyconutrients into your diet each day. Quality brands of juice made from goji berries like those grown in the Himalayas use two pounds of goji berries in each liter of the nutritious juice. Since the juice is packed with so many of the goji berries, it only takes a few ounces of juice each day to make a real difference in the way you feel. When deciding between goji berries or goji juice, it is much more convenient to drink the juice daily.

Adding goji berries or goji juice to your diet is a proactive way to a healthier life. Goji berries or goji juice gives your body the glyconutrients that it needs to keep your cells functioning optimally which is the basis for good health. Adding goji berries or goji juice to your diet is a great way to make sure that you give your body what it needs each day.

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Goji berries are shriveled red berries that look like red raisins that grow on an evergreen shrub found in temperate and subtropical regions in China, Mongolia and in the Himalayas in Tibet. They are usually found dried, have a slight tangy taste, and belong to the nightshade (Solonaceae) family. Some other Names for Gojji berries include Lycium barbarum, wolfberry, gou qi zi, and Fructus lycii.

Goji Berries have more vitamin C pound for pound than oranges. Scientifically controlled studies using vitamin C for colds show that it can reduce the severity of cold symptoms, acting as a natural antihistamine. The vitamin may be useful for allergy control for the same reason: It may reduce histamine levels. By giving the immune system one of the important nutrients it needs, extra vitamin C can often shorten the duration of the cold. Being an important factor in collagen production, vitamin C is useful in wound healing of all types. From cuts and broken bones to burns and recovery from surgical wounds, vitamin C taken orally helps wounds to heal faster and better. I love using the dried goji berries in a salad for zap flavour and healthier salad.

Goji berries have been used for 6,000 years by herbalists in China, Tibet and India to:
- protect the liver
- help eyesight
- improve sexual function and fertility
- strengthen the legs
- boost immune function
- improve circulation
- promote longevity

Goji berries are also rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. One of zeaxanthin’s key roles is to protect the retina of the eye by absorbing blue light and acting as an antioxidant. In fact, increased intake of foods containing zeathanthin may decrease the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people over the age of 65.

In recent years, goji juice has become popular as a health beverage. Companies marketing goji juice often mention the unsupported claim that a man named Li Qing Yuen consumed goji berries daily and lived to be 252 years old. Marketers also list extensive health benefits of goji juice, even though there are few published clinical trials in humans.

In traditional Chinese medicine, goji berries are eaten raw, brewed into a tea, added to Chinese soups, or made into liquid extracts. Goji berries have appeared in snack foods in North America. For example, the health food store Trader Joe’s sells a goji berry trail mix. Whole goji berries are available at Chinese herbal shops. Goji juice can be found in some health food stores, online stores, and through network marketers.

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Facts first-Goji berries have more protein than whole wheat, about 500 times more vitamin C than oranges and more carotene B than carrots. And do you think this is enough? Those berries are considered to have high concentration of anti-carcinogenic and anti-aging compounds. These highly salubrious compounds provide you immunity against cancer, aging, heart disease, diabetes and problems of nervous system in addition to various other health related problems.

Gojies are perhaps the only fruit that contains vitamin E, vitamin B1 and B6. What is more they also come with about 18 amino acids (building blocks of proteins) and about twenty one trace minerals. And you were thinking these are only berries. Goji also possesses essential fatty acids. It is perhaps the richest source of carotenoids on this earth.

If you think that all this is too much and it is nothing sort of a miracle, why not try it for yourself. After all, what you would be losing? And if it is what I am trying to make you realize, just think how much you are going to benefit. If you visit Tibet or Mongolia you would find that for centuries, Goji berries have been prescribed by herbalists for a whole lot of problems. What is more every year a two week festival is held to honor these small red berries. And there are ample reasons for naming it the “happy berry” because local folklore says eating them when you start the day keeps you smiling all through the day.

And Goji berries are not restricted to Mongolia and Tibet. Chinese medicines have used them for centuries and you can find a poem dedicated to their benefits written by the opet Liu Yuxi of the Tang dynasty (772-842 AD). It goes without saying that people residing in this part of the world just love to have Gojies. But in the west, Goji is a little known commodity and just a fraction of the west knows about it. And that is what we intend to do. To let all of you know the essential qualities of Goji berries.

WHAT ACTUALLY IS GOJI BERRY?

The native of Tibet and Mongolia is technically known as Lycium Barbarum (Latin). It comes from the family of Solanaceae (flowering). Some of the other plants of the same family include potatoes, tobacco and tomatoes. Scientists have so far found out eight different varieties of lycium berries. Chinese believe that Chinese Wolfberry as a Goji berry that can cure male sexual dysfunction but scientists claim that Chinese Wolfberry is not actually a true Goji berry and is just related to Lycium Berbarum.

Goji berry is a small bright red fruit that is shaped almost like a raisin and grows on vines with green leaves. You would find that owing to its delicacy the berries are shaken from the vines during harvest and not picked. They are then carefully dried in the shade. When you eat it, you would find it very chewy and taste would be a cross between cranberry and raisin. Goji berry is also known as happy berry, gou qu zi and gouqi.

IMPORTANCE OF GOJI BERRIES

Actually it is not just possible to include all the benefits of Goji berry here but let us have a cursory look at it. Gojies are rich sources of vitamins and other nutrients. They contain vitamin B1, B2, B6, C and E and also has about eighteen amino acids. They are considered perhaps the richest source of vitamin C. only Australian billygoat plum and the South American camu camu are better sources. As for minerals, they contain zinc, phosphorus, germanium, iron and calcium in different proportions. What is more they also contain antioxidants essential to human health.

It is true that Goji berries are still an unknown commodity in most parts of the world but it is surely gaining good grounds in the west. And why not, after all, it is perhaps one of the most nutritious natural products available on the earth. With time the whole world has to awake to its potential benefits but since now you know what it is all about, treat yourself to Goji berries. There is nothing for you lose with it. There are only gains associated with Goji and you would do well to avail it.

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You have probably heard something about Goji Berries considering they are currently been hailed as a Super food’ in health magazines and television advertising. So what exactly are these super berries?

Goji (pronounced go-jee) berries stormed the marketplace in 2006. They are far from a new fad or trend though. In Asia they have been considered a nutritious food and used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. By next decade it is believed they will be a billion dollar industry.

Goji berries are also known as Chinese Wolfberry, Lycium barbarum (the latin name), Fructus Lycii and Gou Qi Zi. The discovery of Goji Berries is rumored to have occurred when a doctor investigating an ancient society in an isolated part of the Tibetan Himalayas found that the villagers lived to 100 years or more. In addition they seemed to be robust and healthy with little signs of the usual degenerative aging process such as grey hair. After some investigation he discovered that the common factor was that these people lived near water sources that were surrounded by Goji Berries.

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

Goji berries are small, deep red berries that resemble the shape and texture of a raisin. They grow on a tall evergreen shrub on long vines. They first sprout as purple and white flowers which then turn into the berries which grow to around 1-1.5cm in diameter.

WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE?

When you bite into a Goji berry you will find that it has a similar chewy texture to a sultana. However they are not quite so sweet, with a slightly tarter taste something like a cherry or cranberry.They can be eaten straight, come in a juice form, a tea, bars, chocolate coated, added to trail mixes or smoothies.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GOJI BERRIES?

Goji berries are called a super food because of the abundant nutrients they contain. In fact they are said to include the most nutrients found in any food product in the world. This includes:

-Approximately 500 times more vitamin C then oranges

-More beta carotene then carrots

-Good source of vitamin A

-Contains vitamin E

-Rich in antioxidants

-Contains B group vitamins- B1, B2 and B6

-Contains 18 amino acids

-Contains 21 minerals including; selenium, zinc and calcium

-Contains essential fatty acids

-Contains approximately 13 percent protein

Both Asian and now some western studies have shown that Goji berries help with health in numerous ways:

-Help liver and kidney function

-Protect eyesight

-Strengthen the immune system

-They combat free radicals reducing the affects of aging

-Increase sexual function and fertility, for example boost sperm production

-Prevents the growth of cancer cells

-Lowers blood pressure

-Improves circulation

-Lowers cholesterol levels

-Balances blood sugar levels

-Can assist with skin problems

-Can help reduce the severity of an anxiety disorder

-Helps with insomnia

-Protects against heart disease

It is recommended that a person consume a small handful of Goji berries daily to gain health benefits.

WHERE TO FIND GOJI BERRIES?

Goji Berries are now widely available at health food stores, Chinese herbal shops, online stores, organic stores and some supermarkets.

CAUTIONS

Although not thoroughly investigated Goji berries may cause reactions with other medications such as blood thinners like Warfarin. If you are taking any medications you should research any possible drug interactions.

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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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