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Health Facts: Goji Berries - The ‘Miracle’ Berries
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | June 25, 2008 | 7,148 views
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Goji berries are a recent hot commodity in the increasingly trendy high-end health food industry. Goji berries have been used in Tibetan and Chinese Medicine for centuries. People in the US and Europe are just now realizing what those in Asia have known and benefited from for many, many centuries.
Also many in traditional medicine have noted that many of the longest living people in the world eat a diet rich in the goji berries (also known as Lycium Barbarum), and this tiny red fruit may well be one of the most powerful of all anti-aging foods known at this time.
Goji berries are stuffed full of many beneficial properties. people that consume our yummy Goji Berries on a regular basis notice other benefits such as better eyesight, great hair color, improved libido, improvement in mood, more quality sleep, a definite enhancement in their energy levels, and over all a brighter outlook on life. Dried Goji Berries are a great way to improve your health while enjoying a tasty treat!
Goji Berries contain fatty acids, Vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, and E. Goji Berries also contain beta carotene and iron.
Goji berries grow on an evergreen shrub found in temperate and subtropical regions in China, Mongolia and in the Himalayas in Tibet. They are in the nightshade (Solonaceae) family.
Goji Berries have received a lot of attention in the last few years. Goji berries are also called wolfberries.
Antioxidants:
Antioxidants are found in a variety of different foods that we eat. The value of the antioxidant in the health system is that it helps to not only give the immune system a boost, but also control free radical cell growth which is thought to be a contributory factor to cancer.
Goji Berries are most known for the fact that they are very high in antioxidants, full of essential minerals and amino acids, some of which the body is unable to produce on its own. Goji berries are a better source of Vitamin C than oranges!
Amino Acids:
Amino acids play central roles both as building blocks of proteins and as intermediates in metabolism. The 20 amino acids that are found within proteins convey a vast array of chemical versatility. The chemical properties of the amino acids of proteins determine the biological activity of the protein. Proteins not only catalyze all (or most) of the reactions in living cells, they control virtually all cellular process.
Humans can produce 10 of the 20 amino acids. The others must be supplied in the food. Failure to obtain enough of even 1 of the 10 essential amino acids, those that we cannot make, results in degradation of the body’s proteins—muscle and so forth—to obtain the one amino acid that is needed. Unlike fat and starch, the human body does not store excess amino acids for later use—the amino acids must be in the food every day.
Goji Berries contain 19 amino acids including Isoleucine and Methione, this is 6 times more than Bee Pollen provides. The Linoleic acid that is found in Goji Berries promotes body fat loss and has been found to be 15 times more nutritional than spinach, and taste better too. No other plant can make that claim about Amino acids!
Damage to our DNA opens the door to every imaginable disease and accelerates aging. In the course of living, our DNA is damaged by free radicals generated as a byproduct of normal metabolism and by exposure to toxins.
Although our bodies are equipped to continually repair themselves, they can become overwhelmed by too many free radicals, especially as we age. This results in the premature death of healthy cells, which may contribute to a variety of degenerative diseases and mutated cells that can lead to cancer — unless antioxidants counter the onslaught.
Polysaccharides:
Polysaccharides is another world for complex carbohydrates and is just one of the many goji berry benefits. We need complex carbohydrates in order for our bodies to grow and thrive. Storage polysaccharides include starch and glycogen. These are found in different foods such as starches which consist of potatoes, rice and corn. We need these as dietary fiber. Bacterial capsule polysaccharides are produced by humans to ward off viral infections. They play an important role in our health as they act as a barrier within the cell walls and the environment in which we live. They are normally seen as membranes that cover important organs.
Goji berries contain 4 unique polysaccharides that are found in no other food source known to man, which fortify your immune system and are responsible for controlling your body’s most important defense systems. Scientists atrribute most of goji’s amazing health properties to these special polysaccharides.
With countless generations of people using goji every day to stay healthy, this powerful little berry has finally captured the attention of a new generation of research scientists, who have discovered a range of special protective molecules found only in goji. Dozens of studies are now confirming that these unique Lycium barbarum (goji’s Latin name) polysaccharides (LBPs) are largely responsible for this potent fruit’s remarkable benefits.
Benefits Of Goji Berries:
If you have never had the pleasure of tasting Goji Berries, not only are you missing out on a great fruit, but also all of the health benefits that go with it. Improving your health can be accomplished by eating the completely natural Goji Berries that Mother Nature has provided. When Goji Berries are eaten regularly or consumed in the form of our juice, it has be observed that they help reduce heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other illnesses and diseases that seem to be running rampant.
Goji berries are incredibly nutritious, perhaps the most nutritionally rich fruit on the planet. For their weight — a daily serving is only 10 to 30 grams — goji berries have more vitamin C than oranges, more beta carotene than carrots and more iron than steak. They contain an impressive amount of naturally occurring minerals, amino acids, polysaccharides, phytonutrients and anti-oxidant vitamins.
The dried goji berries are one of the most popular choices as a healthy snack. The benefits of eating them dried are better because they are not being diluted with other ingredients like a lot of the goji juice products that are on the market today.
In 1930, a Chinese man died at the age of 252 years old. This man, Li Qing Yuen, lived longer than anyone else in recorded history. A daily part of his diet was the miraculous Goji Berry.
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 rate highly in terms of Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), a test developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the details of a study finding that foods with high ORAC values may help to slow the aging process and to protect cells from oxidative damage (from free radicals).
Here are ORAC values (in units per 100 grams) for some foods with high amounts of antioxidants:
- Goji Berries – 25,000
- Prunes – 5,770
- Raisins – 2,830
- Blueberries – 2,400
- Kale – 1,770
- Strawberries – 1,540
- Spinach – 1,260
- Brussels sprouts – 980
- Plums – 949
- Oranges – 750
The Ningxia Hui region of Northern China, where goji berries are grown and eaten on a daily basis, has 16 times as many centenarians — people 100 years old or older — as the rest of the country. As residents of the region age, they are much more active, healthy and vibrant than their peers in Western cultures. The small, red goji berry, traditionally regarded as the “longevity fruit,” is a key ingredient in their healthy diet.
Goji is a rich source of the Potassium, which is vital for health and longevity. Insufficient potassium interferes with the normal function of the pituitary gland, which produces growth hormone.
Improving Vision:
The goji berry contains two key nutrients for healthy vision: zeaxanthin and lutein. These are concentrated at the center of the retina and protect the eye from the most common causes of age-related loss of sight, including macular degeneration, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.
Free radicals also attack the eyes, and zeaxanthin and lutein protect against such damage. Animal research in China has shown that eating goji berries can reduce free radical damage of the retina.
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.
Controlling Cholesterol and Blood Pressure:
Goji berries have the ability to combat two key factors that promote heart disease: oxidized cholesterol and elevated blood pressure.
Cholesterol becomes especially dangerous when it oxidizes as a result of free radicals, and the oxidized blood fats then attach to artery walls as plaques. Our bodies have a built-in defense system, an enzyme called superoxide dismutase (SOD). SOD produces antioxidants to prevent cholesterol from oxidizing, but levels of SOD decline as we age.
Chinese research shows that goji berries can increase our production of SOD, reducing oxidization of cholesterol. Goji berries also contain other antioxidants that decrease oxidation of cholesterol and help to control blood pressure.
There are multiple benefits of this awesome fruit. Do your research, make it part of your healthy diet, and ‘Spread this word’ about Goji Berries.
SOURCES:
Gojiberries.Us
How Goji Berries Work
Topics: Health |
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