Goji Berries Stay on Forefront of Nutritional Scene

In the recent trend for health and especially preventative nutrition, many "exotic" fruits and foods have been discovered, tested and implemented for their nutritional benefits. Because supplements that provide huge amounts of antioxidants have not been around long enough to be tested and proven for their effects, scientists and doctors recommend eating foods that naturally contain antioxidants even more than they recommend any particular health supplement.

One of these recently rediscovered and popularized food items is the goji (pronounced "go-gee") berry, a delicate red berry that has traditionally been grown in the Himalayan Valley of China, Mongolia and Tibet, and in the Chinese provinces of Xingjiang and Ningzia.

Goji berries, also known as wolfberries, have long been used in Eastern traditional medicine to cure a variety of illnesses. Also, with their sweet flavor that many say tastes like a cross between a cranberry and a rasberry, the goji berry has also been used in Asia for centuries as a garnish or main ingredient in a recipe. Another common traditional use of the goji berry is juice, which can also be combined with tea to make a type of tonic.

The goji berry bushes grow several meters tall, and the delicate berries grow all along the stems. To harvest the fruit, the vines are gently shaken and the berries fall off. Often the vines are set out to dry in the sun so that the fruit gets slightly dry and chewy.

In the West, use of the goji berry as a nutritional supplement has blossomed in recent months and years. Goji berries are sold in capsule, dried and juiced form, as well as in various extracts, berry crunch bars, and cereals.

So what are the particular health benefits of this tasty and healthful berry? Many claims are made of the effects--those who sell goji berry products say that they preserve youth, increase sex drive, prevent or cure cancer...But of course not all these claims can be easily backed up, much less proved. But there are definite antioxidant and other healthful properties of the goji berry.

For one thing, goji berries are extremely high in Vitamins. They have more beta carotene than carrots, more iron than a steak, more Vitamin C than oranges and grapefruit. They also are a great source of the B Vitamins, and are rich in potassium, 18 types of amino acids and polysaccharides, which help the immune system. The "cancer-fighting power" of goji berries is one of the greatest claims made of them by those that sell the berries. This is due to the berries' high antioxidant content. And indeed, the berries have very high levels of antioxidants: more than five times higher than other high-antioxidant foods likes prunes, raisins, blueberries and kale.

Goji berries shouldn't be seen as a cure-all, but along with other foods, especially fruits and vegetables, they can be a great part of a healthy diet and nutrition-conscious lifestyle.

Information for this article came from the following sources:
"How goji berries work" http://health.howstuffworks.com/

"Wolfberry" http://en.wikipedia.org/