Have you heard of the Goji berry? The latest super food that is taking the market by storm, its nutrition profile is impressive, to say the least. The extensive use of Goji berry in the field of medicine is relatively unknown and something we will take a look at here.

Goji Berry and Medicine: Is It Useful?

Goji berries have been in use for their medicinal properties in China for ages. There is evidence of that in Chinese folklore where there is mention of men who ate Goji berries and lived an extremely long life.

Li Ching Yuen was one such figure who popularized the notion of Goji berries being the key to longevity. The story goes that when he was 50 years of age, a Taoist hermit advised him to have a medicinal soup regularly that would contain Goji berries. The hermit himself claimed to be 500 years old. Legend goes that Li, Ching Yuen lived to a ripe old age.

Chinese physicians have found that Goji berries:

• Strengthen kidneys
• Improves body balance and motor functions
• Have anti-aging properties

The Chinese have always trusted Goji berries. Let us learn why.

Goji Berry History

Ancient books like “Tractate for herbs and their properties” mentions the importance of Goji berry. According to the book, Goji berries restore body liquids, calms the soul, revitalizes the skin, and improves vision. Other Chinese medicine books also praise the berry for the following qualities:

• Muscle and tendon strengthening, aiding in muscle development during exercises
• Protection from illness from common cold to other types of flu
• Restoring health to what it was before
• Ability to restore youth and beauty
• Increasing men’s libido; great for the sex drive

Using Goji berries

Also known as Gou Qi Zi, Goji berries have been regarded as a celebrated anti-aging herb for a long time. It’s scientific name is Lycium barbarum L.- which is a plant that belongs to the family, Solanaceae.

Grown and harvested in autumn and summer, this herb has many different names throughout China – the common ones being Barbary Wolfberry Fruit, Chinese Boxthorn and the Chinese Wolfberry fruit. A study among the Chinese in Oakland and San Francisco revealed that Goji berry was used by 11% of them (1).

• • “The Book of Songs” first talked about the medicinal properties of the herb.
  • It was in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic that we first came across the name of Gou Qi Zi – where Nong described it as the best herb available.
  • Li Tin formulated the ‘Five Ancestors Teapills,’ in the times of the Tang Dynasty, and one of them is the Goji berry.

With medicine making tremendous progress, Goji berries are now under the scanner. They are being subjected to tests and studies so that they can replace synthetic supplements and be the super food they are meant to be.

There really aren’t any major side effects of Goji berries that you have to worry about. It’s one of the super foods that you would really want to try out.