subject: What The Public Should Know About Goji Berries [print this page] Goji Berries Goji Berries
Goji - pronouced as GO JEE - berries are also called wolfberries in other countries and are one of the most popular food supplement in the market today. These delicate red berries are traditionally grown in the Himalayan valleys of China, Mongolia and Tibet, as well as in the Xingjiang and Ningxia provinces of China. Today there are a lot of goji berries that are being cultivated and combined with other ingredients to form health supplements that can promote weight loss, sex drive, skin care and even cancer prevention.
Back then, traditional Chinese doctors used these berries to treat certain ailments. Goji berries have also long been used in various Asian dishes as an ingredient or a garnish. Goji berry bushes grow to be one to three meters high. Because of its delicate nature, they can't be picked by hand;. Instead they are gently shaken from the vine. Frequently they are set out in the sun to dry, whereupon they become slightly chewy. Apart from eating the fruit raw, you can also drink the goji berry juice. It is especially popular in the regions where the goji berries are grown, and can be combined with tea to make a tonic. 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. The amount of desiccation varies in goji berries - some are soft and somewhat tacky in the manner of raisins, while others may be quite hard.
When taken as a food supplement, goji berrise are cooked before eating. One popular food menu with goji berries is the combination of rice congee, almond jelly, mixed with chicken or pork, vegetables and other herbs such as yam, licorice root, Astralagus membranaceus and Codonopis pilosula. The goji berries are also boiled as an herbal tea, often along with chrysanthemum flowers and/or red jujubes, or with tea, particularly pu-erh tea and packaged teas are also available.
Today you'll find that a lot of these goji berry juice and other products have their own marketing literature which indicates that their product can stop the signs of aging, promote weight loss and improve overall body health; without knowing that these claims were never backed by scientific and medical studies.
In May 2008, a clinical study published by The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine indicated that the date including body weight didn't show incredible differences for those who took the Lycium barbarum berry juice and those taking the placebo; the study concluded that subjective measures of health were improved and suggested further research in humans was necessary. The study was then surrounded by criticism concerning its data interpretation and design.
Goji berries have many health benefits. What makes the goji berries so healthy is because of its antioxidant content. Published studies have also reported possible medicinal benefits of Lycium barbarum, especially due to its antioxidant properties, including potential benefits against cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, vision-related diseases (such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, having neuroprotective properties or as an anticancer and immunomodulatory agent. Components of the wolfberry root like the glucopyranoside and phenolic amides possess inhibitory activity in vitro against human bacteria and fungi.
Wolfberry contains significant percentages of a day's macronutrient needs - carbohydrates, protein, fat and dietary fiber. About 68% of the mass of dried goji berries exist as carbohydrate, 12% as protein, and 10% each as fiber and fat, giving a total caloric value in a 100 gram serving of 370 (kilo) calories.
Goji berries contain many nutrients and phytochemicals including 11 essential and 22 trace dietary minerals, 18 amino acids, 6 essential vitamins, 8 polysaccharides and 6 monosaccharides, 5 unsaturated fatty acids, including the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, beta-sitosterol and other phytosterols, 5 carotenoids, including beta-carotene and zeaxanthin , lutein, lycopene and cryptoxanthin, a xanthophylls, numerous phenolic pigments (phenols) associated with antioxidant properties.
