The goji berry is a native fruit to Central Asia, usually found in the distant regions of the Himalayas. For centuries natives of these areas have known the secrets that these tiny berries hold. It wasn't until recently that the Western world has come to recognize goji berries, more so goji juice as a supreme source of healthy antioxidants necessary for the body to function to the best of its ability.
The goji berry was first discovered by Buddhist monks in the region of Tibet and have been used for centuries to uphold the bodies natural energy source. Buddhists as you may already know are vegetarians and therefore derive most of their daily energy needs from fruit and vegetables, goji being one of them. It is in fact a core belief of Buddhist monks that the food they eat must always be healthy and nutritious, therefore goji was and still is consumed quite regularly in Buddhist monasteries.
Therefore you have to ask yourself the question, if a culture has been consuming goji juice throughout many centuries and have relied so heavily on its energy production, mustn't it be alright for me?
What researchers are finding, in controlled clinical studies, is astonishing. If the healing power and life extending properties that goji hold up to scientific scrutiny and can be replicated and validated, diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis, immune deficiencies, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, insomnia and more will take a dramatic turn for the better.
What Does the Research on Goji Juice Tell Us?
In 1992, the Journal of the Beijing Medical University reported that in their studies, goji reduced antibodies associated with allergic reactions and other histamine-related syndromes like psoriasis. Anti-aging studies conducted by Dr. J. Zhang in 1993 were promising; goji juice contains a powerful secretagogue, a substance that acts on the pituitary gland to slow the aging process. In studies with elderly people, researchers found that subjects reported beneficial changes in strength, sexual libido, improved sleep and appetite, and were less susceptible to disease.
In several conditions such as lupus, arthritus and other diseases, research has concluded that goji fruit neutralizes certain enzymes that increase physical pain. Other areas where goji was said to make improvements in were cardiovascular functions, liver function, improvements in vision, and gastric disorders resulting from reduced stomach activity.
The most exciting part of these studies concerned the properties of goji fruit in cancer prevention and treatment. Administration of the berry to test subjects produced strong tumor growth inhibitors that reduced the malignant spread of cancer throughout the body. Goji juice appears to be a useful supplement to prevent liver cancer due to its preventative actions upon the liver and inhibiting damage and disease.
In 1994 a clinical trial at Second Military Medical University in Shanghai that provided subjects with goji juice and the anti-cancer drug LAK/IL-2 showed better treatment results than when the drug was used alone. Seventy-nine subjects showed amazing and unexpected regression of cancer. Further research in Asia demonstrated similar regression in patients with malignant melanoma, renal cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer. Researchers did the math and found that among patients using the drug augmented by the juice from goji fruit, had a positive response rate of 40.9% as opposed to 16.1% of patients who received only the drug.
For some time to come more analysis will be conducted on the overall benefits of goji juice due to the fact that there is no solid underlying evidence that these improvements in health are directly related to the consumption of goji juice, however there is one thing certain, it can't hurt to try the stuff out!
