Archive for the ‘Goji Information’ Category

Goji Juice Review – Looking at Both Sides

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

Goji Juice Review – Looking at Both SidesGoji Juice Review – Scientific facts, nutritional information, testimonials and more.

The goji berry, or wolfberry as it is less commonly referred to in the West, is small red fruit that is sweet in taste and has been used in traditional Eastern medicine for a hundreds of years at least.

It has gained popularity in the early 2000’s largely due to the efforts of one MLM (multi-level marketing) company FreeLife under the leadership.

Claims over the healing effects of have come under scrutiny in recent times. Not that people do not have good things to say about the effects of this crop, but that almost none of these claims have been proven by a scientist who doesn’t work for FreeLife.

As far as the anecdotal evidence is concerned, the goji juice reviews are generally good. You can read some of these under Goji Juice Reviews & Testimonials on this site.

The Chinese, who have been the primary users of this medicinal herb, attribute a wide range areas to it where it might be able to help. They have been using it for anything ranging from liver problems, reproductive issues in males and improving health in general by giving the immune system a boost. As it was stated in this article, these along with other claims have not been conclusively proven. People who took goji juice have reported a general improvement in the quality of their health such as increased virility.

While most of the claims regarding it may be still in question, this goji juice review must state that the fruit itself contains a lot of compounds that have been proven to improve a persons health and increase the chances for prevention. The studies have identified over 50 essential nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins and trace minerals just to name a few. Read an extensive list of the ingredients found in goji juice here.

No goji juice review would be complete without this word of warning: make sure you pick a trusted place from where you get your supply. The reason is simple: in third-world countries, farmers use a lot of chemicals to keep insects and weeds away. If you are consuming large quantities of the juice on a regular basis, it is highly recommended that you only buy products that are reliably certified organic. Skip this step, and you may just trade one set of problems for another, or worse, compound them.

Goji Juice Information – Pros and Cons without Biased

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

Goji Juice Information – Pros and Cons without Biased Goji Juice Information - Benefits, Controversy and History

The goji berry is a red, sweet fruit that has been one of the main plants in Chinese folk medicine for about two thousand years. If you believe the legend, that figure may be over 4,000 years.

Some of the other names for this fruit are Himalayan goji berry and Tibetan goji berry that are both incorrect. The reason being that the berry that is in turn manufactured into juice comes from China. Some related spices do grow in the aforementioned regions and they may have very well been the plants that were bred into the commercially cultivated goji berry of today, but the climate is too unfavorable to growing just about anything in the Himalayas. Therefore, beware of manufactures and marketers of the substance who imply that their products originate from these areas of the world. The products are named in such a way to be marketed more effectively, if not to mislead people.

Before interest has developed in the West for goji juice, the countries that saw a use for this fruit include Japan and Korea.

The traditional used for goji in natural medicine include the strengthening of the immune system, improving eye sight, helping with circulation, protecting the liver and boosting sperm production in males. Read more on the health benefits of the goji juice here.

Goji berry contains dozens of essential nutrients, 53 to be exact. This has been determined by scientific means. Here is our post on the detailed information breakdown of the nutritional contents of the fruit: Goji Juice Ingredients – Detailed Nutrient Content Breakdown.

Testimonials of people who have taken this substance most often report an increased level of energy and vitality, better mood, better ability to sleep at night and sometimes weight loss. Read goji juice testimonials here.

Medical Goji Juice Information: Modern medical science has not so far proved or disproved almost any of these claims. The vast majority of the studies that have been done on the effects of this product by the companies that make a living by selling it.

The primary manufacturer of goji juice is FreeLife. You can find the Wikipedia page on FreeLife here. They use a multi-level-marketing approach to promoting their product.

The only side effect that we know of so far is that if ingested while on blood thinners, it may help increase that effect that may lead to excessive bleeding. We have an in-depth article on the subject: Goji Juice Side Effects – Separating Facts form Rumors.

If you have goji juice information that you want to share with our community of users, please use the comment section below.

Himilayan Goji Juice - Is It a Cure-for-All? Hardly

Saturday, March 1st, 2008

Himilayan Goji Juice - Is It a Cure-for-All? HardlyHimilayan goji juice facts and fiction separated.

The goji berry, which is the ingredient in the now-famous goji juice, has been a corner stone of Chinese folk medicine.

The stuff that you might be able to get your hands on is coming from China. This is important, because that makes the name ‘Himilayan goji juice’ a misnomer. The climate in that region of the world is less than ideal for cultivating this plant especially for commercial purposes. There are some related species that grow in the Himilayan mountain range, but they have nothing to do with the variety that is being produced into the goji juice that is available for purchase in the West. In all likelihood, it is but a clever – if you can call it that – marketing technique to catch the attention of a society that goes crazy over anything that comes from that part of the world.

Some of the other countries that are also a firm believer are Japan and Korea, but it is China that has the capacity to fuel the Western goji juice craze that seemed to have overcome us in the past few years.

The uses of the Himilayan goji juice in the West are primarily for anti aging, or at least that’s how they have positioned it as far as the marketing is concerned. There is scientific basis to that, since most berries contain antioxidants that have been proven to slow aging by lowering the levels of free radicals in one’s system. However the claim that this is the reason why some people in the East might live over one hundred years of age is simply hard to believe. It is more reasonable to believe that even if Himilayan goji juice is a major part of their anti ageing process, it is but one part of the equation.

The primary company that manufactures and distributes goji juice is called FreeLife whose front man is Earl Mindell. He has been around for a while and has built a name for himself as nutritionist and health guru.

If you go to their website and make the mistake of reading more and more of what they have up there, it may leave you with not wanting to buy any goji juice. It is not only the hype that seems a little too desperate at times, but also the fact that they call their product ‘Himilayan goji juice’ which is basically a lie. This is a real shame, though, because this plant may be something really special after all.

Goji Juice Side Effects – Separating Facts form Rumors

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Goji Juice Side Effects – Separating Facts form RumorsGoji juice side effects: one area of major concern.

Like many natural substances, there are not a lot of things we need to look out for when it comes to goji juice. This is at least as far as the fruit itself is concerned. (We will go into detail some other factors that have to do with the way it is cultivated.) This is because it has been used for at least several centuries - if not a few millennia - and if it had any major toxic properties, or if it could cause a variety of side effects, we would know about it by now. By the way, this is not something you can say about modern medications as they take about ten years to get approved by the FDA. When it comes to herbal remedies, nature’s approval process had about 2,000 years to work the kinks out.

The one major goji juice side effect that ought be mentioned for sure is that it has anti-coagulant properties. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be bound to bleed profusely, if you do decide to take the juice. However, if you are taking blood-thinner medication, you may have to be careful. It is always best to consult a doctor on the issue. Hopefully, you have a physician who maintains an open mind when it comes to alternative medicine.

Unfortunately, some problems may arise form the way the fruit is cultivated that is later turned into juice. You see, China where the majority of the goji berry comes from, is a third-world country. This is not to look down on them in any way, but to point out that their standards when it comes to chemicals is different from what we might be used to in the West. The stuff you may buy straight from China may be loaded with pesticides and herbicides that can cause a problem in the long run for sure and especially if you are taking the juice in a large quantities on a regular basis. Therefore, this can be considered a goji juice side effect.

Lastly, those of us who like natural ways of taking care of ourselves, tend to go overboard with consuming the latest and greatest in hopes that it will magically make all of our problems go away and/or make us impervious to disease. First of all this is NEVER true folks. So prudence is always in order.

Goji Juice Ingredients – Detailed Nutrient Content Breakdown

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Goji Juice Ingredients – Detailed Nutrient Content BreakdownGoji Juice Ingredients: contains 53 essential nutrients for the human well being.

Wolfberry, the sole ingredient in goji juice contains a large percentage of a person’s daily macronutrient needs. They include protein, carbohydrates, fat and dietary fiber. Sixty eight percent of the mass of dried goji berries is carbohydrates, hence its sweet taste. It contains about twelve percent of protein, about ten percent in fat and fiber.

Here is the run-down of some of the other compounds that have been found in the goji berry:

  • Eleven essential and twenty-two trace minerals (dietary)
  • Eighteenamino acids
  • Six essential vitamins
  • Eight polysaccharides and six monosaccharides
  • Five unsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid (essential)
  • Beta-sitosterol among other phytosterols
  • Zeaxanthin lutein , beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin, lycopene,
  • Phenolic pigments often associated with antioxidant properties

    The goji juice ingredients listed below are meant for 100 grams of the dried berry:

    • 112 mg per of Calcium
    • 1,132 mg of Potassium
    • 9 mg of Iron.
    • 0.2 mg of Zinc
    • 100 grams of Selenium.
    • Riboflavin (vitamin B2). At 1.3 mg
    • 29 mg to 148 mg of Vitamin C. The amount of Vitamin C will depend on the source you are getting your goji juice from.

    Here is list of some of the other ingredients the goji juice may contain:

    Beta-carotene: 7 mg; The Zeaxanthin will vary greatly from source to source and crop to crop. The range can be expected between 25 mg per 100 grams to 200.

    It is important that we carefully choose the source of our natural remedies including goji. The natural food business is huge already and it is still growing. That attracts people who may not be one hundred percent honorable. First of all, your health is at stake. At last but not at least, goji juice is expensive so you better make sure that you get your money’s worth by being on the lookout for all the goji juice ingredients that make this substance worth paying for.

    Himalyan Goji Juice – A Shameless Marketing Ploy?

    Friday, February 29th, 2008

    Himalyan Goji Juice – A Shameless Marketing Ploy?Himalyan goji juice, is a misnomer and may be used by some marketers to sell their products to less knowledgeable consumers.

    First of all, goji juice is real. This article isn’t disputing that. This berry has been cultivated for human consumption for thousands of years. Its health benefits are believed to be extensive.

    The problem here is that some people refer to the plant as Himalyan goji juice which is a misnomer at best. The truth is that the goji fruit is grown in certain parts of China for the most part. (Traditional medicine in both Korea and Japan adopted this versatile fruit.)

    The fact is that climate is not favorable at all to growing pretty much anything, due to the low quality of the soil in the Himalyan mountain ranges. Matters are only made worse by the fact that the climate is too cold to grow fruits in that region.

    So, how come that some people refer to goji juice as Himalyan goji juice? The only thing that comes to mind is that we in the West usually fall head over heals anything form the East and marketers know that. Some one, somewhere, some time ago must have decided to pitch the herb as if it were from the Himalyan mountains to make it sound more appealing.

    The unfortunate thing here is that a lot of people swear by the beneficial effects of the so called Himalyan goji juice, and there is a good chance that there is a good reason for it. There has been a lot of allegations of fraud regarding this herb, and it is in large part of the practices of this types of marketing practices and the shady business people who are willing to do anything to make a buck.

    It is the opinion of the author of this article that it is absolutely paramount that we speak out about these practices. It is hard enough to go up against the well-established pharmaceutical industry with an all-natural solution, simply they have a motive to discredit and kill anything that they can’t own. This is even if the herb could provide a lot of people with an alternative way of getting better and staying healthy.

    On this blog, you can read about the real benefits of goji, and we are encouraging our reader to leave any and all recounts of their experiences with the herb, so others may benefit from it.

    Big Pharma’s Answer to Weight Loss Gone Bad

    Sunday, September 16th, 2007

    Phentermine vs. Hamalyan Goji JuiceLook, once a society starts doing well, it is always possible that to get more food cheaper and cheaper. That’s good considering that that there are billions of people in the world that don’t have enough to go around. The problem arises when people start to gain weight, and obesity becomes an epidemic like it has in the United States.

    On the business side, where there is a need, there will be some one trying to fulfill that need and thus make a living. You can’t really blame them. They did not create the problem, they are just trying to offer you a solution hoping to make some money. The problem is with modern medicine today that a pharmaceutical company will produce a drug that has a lot of side effects and not a lot to show for results.

    There is the weight loss drug called Phentermine that has been around the sixties. It is designed suppress the patients appetite. It works well, which is about ten to fifteen percent higher weight loss than not taking it. That sounds quite all right, if you don’t read the fine print. For instance, they don’t want you take the pill too late in the day, because it will keep you up at night. I believe it is because your body starts to produce adrenaline. It can also cause dry mouth, constipation, diarrhea (how can it cause either one or the other is a mystery to me) and restlessness. That is if you are otherwise healthy. If you are taking other medication, your doctor needs to be very careful to make sure that it does not produce other side effects.

    Now, it has been shown that there are herbs that can do just as good of a job in certain situations as synthetic drugs (and yes I am referring to the Himalayan goji juice here quite interestingly), but the problem is you can’t patent a living organism, therefore there is no money in it. Go figure.