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Goji Berries & Juice

Here in the UK, goji berries seem to be the current big thing in health foods. You can buy goji in a number of forms from dried berries through to juices and tinctures. There are also some products made from the whole berry such as Total Goji 100 from Genesis Today.

All manner of extended health benefits are claimed for them. But exactly what are goji berries? And do they work?

What Is A Goji Berry?

The term goji berry refers to the Chinese wolfberry Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense. The barbarum variety is usually associated with Tibet and the Himalayan regions. The plants are a vine like evergreen shrub which grow several feet high. The have light purple flowers and bright red berries.

The most commonly used wolfberry is the Tibetan variety, Lycium barbarum. Although the Tibetan berry appears to be the most popular in the West at the moment, there is much competition amongst the goji growing regions as to which produce the best fruit.

Health Uses

The wolfberry has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many centuries. It is believed to have many important benefits including general strengthening of the immune system and longer life. It has only more recently come to the attention of Western culture where today you can buy it in natural, dried and juice forms from specialist health food shops as well as from online stores.

Claimed or implied benefits of goji berries cover the full spectrum of health issues, however the most commonly reported seems to be generally improved health and vitality.

Do Goji Berries Work?

Many people around the world use goji berries regularly and are convinced that they feel better as a result. That in itself is evidence that at least on some level they do "work". The two big questions are 1) is this merely a placebo effect? and 2) are goji berries significantly better than any other healthy diet?

If goji berries do work then one possible explanation is their constituent elements. Goji berries contain a staggering number of vitamins and other nutrients. Some people have even claimed that they are the most nutrient rich food plant in the world.

It's worth noting that some of these nutrients might by reduced or even eliminated by processing methods. In addition, if the nutrients are provided by the soil then the nutritional value of a particular batch of berries might be directly related to the region in which they were grown.

There has been little scientific research to date on the effectiveness of goji berries. One experiment(1) has suggested that a component of lycium barbarum can reduce fatigue - in mice. Another experiment(2) suggests that a compound from goji berries "may induce immune responses and possess potential therapeutic efficacy in cancer".

These are, of course, simply preliminary results. Even if confirmed it would still be necessary to investigate the optimum dosage in humans as well as possible side-effects.

Until further research is done and the necessary information gathered it's not possible to say whether goji berries are really a miracle food or simply an over-hyped, over-priced fad.

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