Antioxidant Foods

Archive for January, 2010

People who eat Goji Berries on a regular basis are known to rarely suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, or many other diseases that commonly afflict people who live in Western Civilizations. These berries have many names but the two most popular are Wolfberry and Goji. In China there are many stories of people who have lived to be near 200 and they even have a holiday celebrating this.

Goji berries are very hard to find in local US grocery stores. Dried Goji berries are available in small packages in local health food stores as well as from web merchants. If you chose to add goji to your diet your best bet is going to be juices and goji extract.

Antioxidant Health Benefits
The antioxidant properties of Goji are well known and they contain more than any comparable food source (fruit) tested by the Brunswick Laboratories using their ORAC tests. The high ORAC value indicates that the tested sample possesses a high potency of antioxidant activity chemically. Goji fruit  is one of the highest anti-oxidant fruits. The USDA has found that foods with a high ORAC Rating may slow aging and help fight disease. They recommend foods with at least 5000 ORAC points per day. Antioxidants are one of the main defense against disease. Science is strongly saying that free radicals are responsible in a major way for diseases such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. In your body it is antioxidants which are responsible for the control of free radical damage.

Nutrient Dense Benefit
Goji is a nutrient dense food. It contains 19 amino acids including all of the essential ones.  Large amounts of beta carotene, iron and 21 trace minerals. Goji berries have a high concentration of Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and Vitamin E. Goji has more Vitamin C than oranges and it has 13% protein very high for a fruit. There are many complex compounds and phytonutrients which explains, at least in part, the incredible health benefits being experience by those who take it as a regular part of their diet.

General Health Benefits

• In vitro studies show goji berries kill many kinds of cancer cells.
• A large study in Japan suggested that cancer tumor growth was inhibited by 58% among the patients eating the berries as compared to the control groups.
• A Mongolia study showed patients eating the goji berry had a significant increase in lymphocyte activity. Their blood began to resemble that of much younger persons.
• Enhances immune function due to high concentration of polysaccharides
• Protects against liver disease
• Goji is antibacterial, anti inflammatory and anti fungal
• Has been found to lower cholesterol
• Protects against Prostate BPH
• Has benefits for the heart and controls blood pressure.

Goji berry is a nutrient dense food and ounce for ounce has more phytonutrients that most foods. Phytonutrients  from food is what protects the body against disease. This has been known for thousands of years. Nutrients from food prevent and cure disease.