Never come across so many researches done on any other herbs except gojiberry! This little red berry is about to open your eyes. The people of Central Asia who love n cherish these berries so much that they devote 2 weeks every year to celebrate festivals in their honor (similar to a Bavarian Oktoberfest but a lot healthier n just as happy!).
There is good reason for the locals to honor the gojiberry. After thousands of years of use, those who use the berry are still awed by its unmatched healing n protective powers. They celebrate as a continuing acknowledgement of just how much their very lives depend upon it. No medicinal plant in all of Asian medicine can approach goji for its incredible diversity of legendary benefits!
Now science is finally confirming what the Ancients knew long before our modern drugs came onto the scene. Many of the traditional health-giving properties of the goji berry are being confirmed in modern scientific studies and this had led to the discovery of even more far-reaching benefits.
From a historical perspective, goji, based on descriptions of goji in ancient medical texts, was declared to be a superior herb as early as the first century A.D., when it was extolled in the Divine Farmer's Handbook of Natural Medicine (Shen Nong Ben Cao), perhaps the most important text in the history of Chinese medicine.
Interestingly, Tao Hong Jing (456-536 A.D.), a Taoist master, wrote a treatise called Commentary on the Divine Farmer's Handbook of Natural Medicine. Tao Hong Jing tells us that "Lycium tonifies jing (vital energy) and qi (breath) and strengthens the yin tao (capacity for physical exercise) within a human." Those early endorsements were so powerful that even to this day, people not only in China but all throughout Asia use the fruit of the Lycium goji plant as a potent anti-aging herb. Many who eat the berry or drink its juice every day will tell you of its history and legend. There is an incredible Chinese longevity story in which Lycium plays a starring role, and it's cited as one of the primary reasons for the pre-eminence of goji in Chinese medicine, which continues to the present day.
This remarkable berry that the Chinese call goji (spelled gouqi, or sometimes seen as gouqizi), and which is also known by its Latin name of Lycium. For the scientists trying to unlock the secrets of the goji berry, it quickly became apparent that there was probably no one "best" growing region. Therefore, they decided to do what scientists do. They determined that they would pull the goji berry apart in the laboratory. They dissected it to find out what makes it tick.
The goji researchers began with some simple vitamin, mineral and nutrient analysis, expecting to find results similar to other fruits. They were totally unprepared for what they found. This tiny fruit revealed itself to be quite possibly the most nutritionally dense food on earth!
GOJI Facts:
* Contains 19 amino acids - the building blocks of protein - including all 8 that are essential for life.
* Contains 21 trace minerals, including germanium, an anti-cancer trace mineral rarely found in foods.
* Contains more protein than whole wheat (13 percent)
* Contains a complete spectrum of antioxidant carotenoids, including beta-carotene ( a better source than even carrots) and zeaxanthin (protects the eyes). Goji berries are the richest source of carotenoids of all known foods.
* Contains Vitamin C at higher levels than even those found in oranges
* Contains B-complex vitamins, necessary for converting food into energy
* Contains Vitamin E (very rarely found in fruits, only in grains and seeds)
* Contains Beta-Sitosterol, an anti-inflammatory agent. Beta-Sitosterol also lowers cholesterol and has been used to treat sexual impotence and prostate enlargement
* Contains essential fatty acids, which are required for the body's production of hormones and for the smooth functioning of the brain and nervous system
* Contains Cyperone, a sesquiterpene that benefits the heart and blood pressure, alleviates menstrual discomfort, and has been used in the treatment of cervical cancer
* Contains Solavetivone, a powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial compound
* Contains Physalin, a natural compound that is active against all major types of leukemia. It has been shown to increase splenic natural killer cell activity in normal and tumor-bearing mice, with broad-spectrum anti-cancer effect. It has also been used as a treatment for hepatitis B
* Contains Betaine, which is used by the liver to produce choline, a compound that calms nervousness, enhances memory, promotes muscle growth, and protects against fatty liver disease. Betaine also provides methyl groups in the body's energy reactions and can help reduce levels of homocysteine, a prime risk factor in heart disease. It also protects DNA!
Even with its extensive and diverse nutrient profile revealed, the goji still seemed to be holding on to some secrets. There appeared to be many therapeutic effects that simply could not be explained.
This was not a big surprise. With medicinal herbs, activity is hardly ever due to just one single chemical constituent, as is often the case with "conventional" drugs. Rather, it is usually a mixture of constituents that are responsible for the therapeutic or protective effect of botanical medicines. Many of these herbal components are unique to a single plant species. They are not found anywhere else in nature, and have not yet been chemically identified. There are countless thousands of these herbal constituents called phytochemicals (from the Greek word for plant).
From information gleaned from the spectral signatures, scientists were able to determine the chemical nature of the unnamed active compounds in the goji berry. They did not know their exact structure, but they knew that they would be looking for bioactive polysaccharides, and that made them very excited. Until recent years, scientists had lumped all polysaccharides together with other carbohydrates such as starches and sugars. They had considered them to be of value only as a source of energy. But that had all changed when it was discovered that certain types of polysaccharides could cause profound and beneficial changes in the human body.
What Are Bioactive Polysaccharides?
Bioactive polysaccharides, also called proteoglycans, area family of complex carbohydrates that are bound to proteins. They are produced by some plants as an extremely effective defense mechanism against attack by viruses, bacteria, fungi, soil-borne parasites, cell mutations, toxic pollutants and environmental free radicals. Fortunately for humans, many of these protective effects are conferred upon us when we eat plants that are rich in polysaccharides. There are many types of bioactive polysaccharides, and they all seem to differ in their properties, health benefits and degrees of activity. Here are some of the areas currently under study:
Top 10 Benefits of Polysaccharides -
1) Inhibit tumor growth
2) Prevent cancer
3) Neutralize the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation
4) Help normalize blood pressure
5) Help balance blood sugar
6) Combat autoimmune disease
7) Act as an anti-inflammatory
8) Balance immune function
9) Lower cholesterol and blood lipids
10) Increase calcium absorption
Although many plants produce small amounts of bioactive polysaccharides, it seems that those with the highest levels of these protective compounds are those that are themselves most sorely in need of protection. These polysaccharide-producing species include those that must attempt to survive under great stresses such as extremes of temperature, high altitude or wildly unpredictable precipitation. No plant on earth grows under more stressful conditions than does the goji. It was not surprising, therefore, when scientists found the little red berry to be a treasure trove of highly bioactive polysaccharides. The polysaccharides they found were different and more active than anything they had ever seen before.
4 primary bioactive polysaccharides were discovered in Lycium Barbarum (gojiberry). The scientists simply named them LBP1, LBP2, LBP3 and LBP4. LBP polysaccharides proved to be glycoconjugates, meaning that they are exceptional sources of the essential cell sugars - rhamnose, xylose, glucose, mannose, arabinose and galactose - that are necessary for proper immune function and intercellular communication. In fact, goji may be the richest source of glyconutrients yet found! Research strongly suggests that goji's unique polysaccharides work in the body by serving as directors and carriers of the instructions that cells use to communicate with each other. In this way, it can be said that goji's LBP polysaccharides are "master molecules" by virtue of their ability to command and control many of the body's most important biochemical defense systems!
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