Goji Berry Juice

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A lot of interest in the western world is growing over a certain special red berry. The goji berry, known also as the gogi berry, has been seen in Hollywood numerous times and recommended by several celebrities. Dr. Mehmet Oz recommended it on The Oprah Show while Time magazine labeled it the “Superfruit of the year.” This unprecedented exposure all has to do with the latest wonder food coming out of the eastern Asia region.

The goji berry is actually native to many parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, but grows mostly around Mongolia and China. Goji is nothing new to the people of this region – they’ve been using it in medicinal practices as far back as 4000 years. It is one of the most revered foods in traditional Chinese medicine, and is even mentioned in one of the world’s oldest written medicinal texts. The Chinese believe it to be instrumental in keeping the body happy, healthy, and all of the body parts in harmony with each other. This area is well-known for its alternative medicines and herbal remedies, but the goji berry is quickly gaining a place of trust in the western world because of its numerous health benefits.

Indeed, goji is by far the most scientifically researched alternative and nutritional health food. PubMed, an online scientific journal publishing site, contains no less than 83 separate studies performed with the goji berry. Such interest from the scientific community is unusual, as nutritional products with roots in alternative medicines usually have few tests performed on them.

Furthering the berry’s scientific credit, Freelife International, producer of GoChi juice, a product made from the goji berry, released earlier this year several compelling studies on their product. These scientific tests were conducted using a Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled format because it is the most valid, accurate, and widely-accepted format in the scientific community. In one test, researchers studied people’s experiences of being on the product and how it influenced their lives and feelings. After 14 days the subjects showed statistically significant gains in energy, decreased fatigue, better quality sleep, increased athletic performance, increased feelings of happiness and calmness, reduced stress, sharper mental acuity and focus, improved regularity and found it easier to wake up refreshed in the morning. The placebo control group, on the other hand, showed only statistically significant improvements in happiness levels. Since then more studies have been conducted on antioxidant levels and immune system influence, all of which will be up for peer review in scientific publications later in 2008.

The credit for goji’s nutritional and health benefits goes to many completely unique complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides found only in the goji berry. When working together these molecules work to improve cellular communication, helping the body better communicate and handle problems to run more efficiently. This open-ended benefit of increased cell communication means that the benefits experienced by consumption of the goji berry is not limited to one part, area, or organ of the body, but can potentially improve any number of areas of health.

The sale of goji products has quickly sprung up into a multi-billion dollar industry, primarily those featuring it in a juice format. This is because the polysaccharides which are credited with goji’s benefits are better kept intact in goji juice form, whereas the molecules become damaged or removed in dried berried and the like.
This blog post has been contributed by Spiffy Sapp.
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