Goji

Goji Berry

The goji berry contains an amazing amount of nutrients which promise a plethora of health benefits. These nutrients include 18 different kinds of amino acids. Amino acids are basically the building blocks used in your body’s proteins. These building blocks have many functions and are actually critical for survival and good health.

Your body itself makes certain amino acids, but some must be obtained through food sources.  Goji also contains some 11 essential dietary minerals and 22 different trace minerals. The berries also include five different types of unsaturated fatty acids, as well as five carotenoids, and a variety of phytosterols. Goji contains six vitamins, which include vitamin C, selenium, zinc, iron, potassium and calcium.

Goji Benefits

With all those vitamins, minerals and amino acids, you know these berries have to pack a punch in health benefits! Let’s start with some of the vitamin content.

• The iron in goji is needed for all kinds of processes in the body including oxygen transportation, boosting the immune system, and making people feel less fatigued.

• Vitamin C plays a role in keeping your skeleton healthy by building denser bones and helping you maintain strong teeth. It also lowers your cancer risk and helps you to absorb more iron.

• Potassium is another thing found in goji berries that has many benefits. This vitamin helps your muscles and nerves to function properly, lowers your risk of high blood pressure, and helps to maintain a good electrolyte balance in your body.

• Selenium found in goji berries helps protect the body from free-radical damage, insure healthy function of the thyroid (which plays a key role in keeping your weight healthy), as well as lowering joint inflammation.

Other health benefits believed to be connected with the consumption of goji berries include improvement in vision, boosted metabolism for faster fat burning, a higher quality of sleep, more youthful looking skin, improved circulation as well as better memory. The goji fruit certainly is frequently talked about, and has tons of claims following it, regarding alleged health benefits. 

Goji Dosage

Chinese medicine usually recommends 150 grams of the fresh fruit daily, or 60 ml of juice. However, the indigenous people who grow the berries actually eat them by the handfuls, and usually report no ill effects. There have been few conclusive studies conducted on the proper amount of goji dosage through ingesting.

Goji Side Effects and Cautions

The goji fruit has had some side effects reported. Some claim that they experience dizziness, nausea, and blurry vision due to the toxic alkaloid called atropine that is in the berries. However, normal berries are usually well below the toxic level of this alkaloid. Herbalists claim sticking to the recommended 60 ml will eliminate this problem.

Other concerns include pregnancy problems due to the high selenium content of the berries, and more worries about allergies. Some people have also complained about trouble sleeping due to an increase in alertness. This can typically be fixed by consuming the berries or juice earlier in the day.  

If you are concerned about the side effects of goji then talk to your health care provider for more information. If you are interested in trying goji and experiencing the benefits for yourself it can be easily obtained online or through a health food store near you. If you are experiencing problems with fatigue, high blood pressure or other ill-health problems, consider taking goji supplements. Use the supplement finder to find goji and other nutritional supplements now!