Goji berries – long life and iron health!

Known as the fruit of immortalitythese small elongated “raisins” are a very good source of complete vegetable protein (15% of its composition), since they provide the eight essential amino acids.

They also contain 10% fiber, 65% carbohydrates and only 10% fat, mostly unsaturated, and mainly linoleic acid.

Goji berries also provide an endless list of micronutrients, such as B vitamins (thiamine or B1 and riboflavin or B2), vitamin C and powerful carotenoid antioxidants such as lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin; these last two, known for their benefits to improve vision.

They also contain minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc.

Goji berries: enjoy eternal youth

Due to its high content of carotenoids, polyphenols, polysaccharides and trace minerals that slow down cell aging, goji berries reduce oxidative stress in the body, one of the major causes of aging. His lycopene protects the heart against oxidative stress from free radicals.

Furthermore, the berries contain plant sterols –betasitosterols and kukoamines– that help rebalance cholesterol and reduce blood pressure, respectively.

Its zinc content stimulates the immune system. Other antioxidant components, such as vitamin C and carotenes, help fight infections and diseases, and prevent mutations that can affect the immune system.

goji berries prevent night blindness, as they help reduce the time necessary for vision to adapt to darkness. Due to its high content of antioxidants, especially lutein and zeaxanthin, they protect us from exposure to ultraviolet rays and prevent damage caused by oxidative stress, such as cataracts and macular degeneration.

Together with vitamin A, they contribute to the improvement of visual acuity.

The combination of their therapeutic actions in the human body makes these berries a adaptogenic food. They invigorate and strengthen the body while helping to better manage stress by strengthening the adrenal glands.

They cannot be missing from your plates

To experience the medicinal benefits of goji berries, it is recommended to take doses of about 20-35 grams per day. This was demonstrated by studies carried out at the University of Ningxia, China, where overweight patients with cardiovascular disorders who consumed these berries were observed for 28 days.

In herbalists and food stores you can find mostly dried berries, although we can also find them in powder form. The best option is organic berries and a little humid, because they have been harvested for less time.

We can use them for to enrich our shakes, salads, main courses and desserts. Another very original option is to infuse them and take a powerful and sweet herbal tea with them.

Goji berries: from Tibet to the Iberian Peninsula

by Jordi Cebrian

to goji berries they are known as “long life berries” and it is said that some peoples of the Himalayas can boast of iron health and amazing longevity; They are a traditional remedy from Tibet.

The fact that they are sold as berries from Tibet and the Himalayas feeds the aura that surrounds them and that has undoubtedly contributed to their fame. They are also known as Chinese fox berries or liana del matrimonio and have been found in herbalists and health food stores in our country.

The goji (Lycium barbarum) comes from central and southern Chinabut it is not a strange plant in our country. It is often used in gardening and to form hedges and windbreaks in orchards and fields. Sometimes it even grows subspontaneously.

This plant of the nightshade family It is a thorny shrub, up to two meters high, highly branched, with lanceolate leaves and purple flowers. for therapeutic purposes the berries are usedfleshy, elongated and bright red in color, and to a lesser extent the root.

Most of its therapeutic excellences are based on the data provided by traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine. In Tibet it is considered a adaptogenic and exhausting plant, very useful to face sudden changes in the weather or the harsh living conditions of the impressive heights of the Himalayas. It is also used as an aid to delay cell aging and extend life.

How to take goji berries?

goji berries, sweet and sour taste and gummy textureThey can be eaten raw, dried or cooked. With them are elaborated exquisite fruit juices and smoothiesand are incorporated into mueslis and energy bars for athletes for its toning effect.

In China they use them in soups, creams and saladsand make with them a sweet wine much appreciated. A juice made from aloe, mango, lime, orange, lemon and goji leaves is recommended, which promises to be an ideal vitamin cocktail for breakfast.

Goji berries are considered up to four times more effective as an antioxidant than green tea.

Outside of China it is difficult to find fresh berries.. The most usual thing is to buy them dry in 250-gram packages or in bottles of juice. For each presentation it is advised to take them as follows:

dried berries: about 15-20 units, alone or in yogurt or muesli.In powders: sometimes mixed with other ingredients, such as flaxseeds.Decoction of dried berries: about 20 units per half liter of water.Root bark decoction: 100 grams per liter of water are boiled, sweetened with honey or anise.In juice or liquid concentrate: between about 20 and 40 ml a day, preferably in the morning.

Do they have any contraindications?

have been detected isolated cases -like that of an elderly woman in China, a regular consumer of goji juice- from negative interaction with anticoagulant treatments with wafarin.

And the root consumption has provoked cases of rejection in the form of vomiting and nausea.

Properties of goji berries: a great antioxidant

As in the case of blueberries or rose hips, we are faced with a food that grows wildcan dry easily and provides a high dose of vitamin Ctogether with other valuable nutrients… but which also presents numerous medicinal virtues. To what extent they are true, time will tell little by little.

goji berries are rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, minerals and polysaccharides. In addition, they contain the sterols betaine and betasitosteroluseful active principles to reduce cholesterol and avoid fatty liver, but highlights the presence of antioxidant substances such as carotenoids, zeaxanthins and xanthophylls.

Numerous medicinal properties are attributed to them; between his main indications worth noting:

For fatigue, weakness and demotivation. Or after a sports overexertion, as a restorative. To increase the organic resistance to disease.In situations of nervous tension and stress.For prevent infections respiratory, fight flu, allergies and bronchitis, and as support in mild asthmatic processes. vasodilatorto prevent coronary accidents and help control blood pressure. neurodegenerative conditions related to aging. As a tonic for promote digestion and avoid gastric infections. It is attributed a protective action on the liver.As anti-inflammatoryto reduce pain in arthritis and osteoarthritis. As a support for strengthen muscles and bones.The decoction of its root, to reduce LDL cholesterol levels.

However, most of the data is based on TCM references or extrapolated from laboratory studies with mice, but still there are no conclusive studies on humans.

Studies conducted to date with human patients have only provided significant improvements in the case of fatigue, insomnia and general well-being, as a digestive and liver tonic, and as an antioxidant due to its ability to destroy free radicals. Further studies are awaited.

Traditional Chinese medicine has recommended them for more than two thousand years to recover chi or vital energy, and in Central Asia it is the center of traditions such as the annual Ningxia harvest festival.

The properties of goji berries according to Chinese medicine

by Wen-Hsiu Hu Wen

the berry goji (gou ji) is a red fruit. It is found very widely throughout the Chinese territory. goji berries in chinese herbal medicine They are combined with other medicinal plants to enhance their therapeutic action.

Its nature is neutral, it has a sweet taste and it is used in many magisterial formulas. Chinese, especially to tone the yin of the Liver and Kidney since its therapeutic action is directed to the meridians of these two organs.

By toning the yin of the liver, it exerts a special action on eyesight.. Chinese medicine considers the eyes to be the external opening of the liver. Thus, all visual function is related to the energetic state of the liver: by improving liver yin and blood, vision becomes clearer and sharper.

As for the emotional the liver is very sensitive to negative stimuli, which block its chi (energy) causing dysfunction such as abdominal distension, sighs, slow digestion, bitter mouth, headache, constipation, insomnia, irritability, moodiness and painful periods.

Both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine act on a therapeutic principle, they focus on the deficient or imbalanced organ or system, regulating the rest of the organs and systems to correct the imbalance.

Now, how does the body work? by a set of systems and interactionswhen liver chi is blocked, goji berries do their job when combined with other plants.

This berry is in fashion. In part I’m glad because it can be an effective introduction to Chinese medicine products, but we must not fall into the wheel of fashion products that disappear in a short time. the berries They are good, medicinal, with a lot of healing capacity but as long as they are properly combined with other plants and the diagnosis is adequate.

A single plant does not have the same therapeutic power as a well-coordinated “army”.