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The Wolfberry of China
We venture to the far east and introduce you to the exotic Wolfberry. The far east has, for centuries, studied the powerful healing and wellness bounty that nature provides us every day. Their use of nutritional natural fruits and vegetables continues to provide medical science with more and more compelling reasons to shift away from the lab pills we are so acustomed to and refcous on natural healthy alternatives. It appears as if the health of America is failing. One million Americans will die of circulatory disease this year. Six hundred thousand lives will be cut short by cancer as well. How did we get in such a mess? I'm not sure. But there is a way out that is starting to generate a real buzz! Since CNN and the gang won't talk about it I decided to write is article. Dear readers, I want to introduce you to the most nutrient dense food on the earth; the wolfberry, or more specifically it's scientific name of Lycium Barbarum. The western scientific community have verified what Chinese and Tibetan health practitioners have known for thousands of years. The wolfberry are the healthiest known food on our planet. In this report I will be talking specifically about wolfberries. In my research on the subject I found that not all wolfberries are created equal. The three most potent berries in the wolfberry family are Tibetan Goji berries, the Chinese Xinjiang wolfberry and Chinese Ningxia wolfberries which all belong to the Lycium genus. The wolfberry, is a national treasure within China, they have been used in as a folk medicine for thousands of years. Books found within China celebrate the wolfberry for their incredible versatility of health benefits including strengthening the 'chi" or life force of the body. Stories of people who consumed this fruit apparently lived free of common diseases like arthritis, cancer and diabetes. Moreover, their life expectancy has reached over 100 years! There are many such stories about this wonderful berry not unlike the many treasures we are discovering in the Western cultures day after day ala the Acai Berry of the Amazon. Studies Back in 1988, the Beijing Nutrition Research Institute performed several chemical analysis and nutritional composition studies of a dried sample of the wolfberry fruit. The results to these efforts follow: Not only are the berries packed with vitamins B1 and B6 (which the body needs to convert food into energy), and vitamin E, wolfberries actually contain more protein overall then whole wheat, 18 amino acids, 21 trace minerals, more beta carotene than carrots, 500 times more vitamin C by weight than oranges, essential fatty acids and is the richest source of carotenoids of any food on the planet. In addition, here are the health promoting compounds found in Lycium Barbarum:
Lately we hear a lot of talk about fruits and vegetables and their ORAC value. What does this mean? Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities of different foods. It was originally developed by the scientists at the National Institute of Aging in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) located in Baltimore, Maryland, but it does not mean that this method is approved by NIH. Recently, US Department of Agriculture USDA listed a database of the ORAC value in its home page (www.usda.gov) without evaluation. A wide variety of foods have been tested and continue to be reviewed using this methodology, with certain spices, berries and legumes rated very highl. The correlation between the high antioxidant capacity of the fruits and vegetables, and the positive impact of diets high in fruits and vegetables, is believed to play an important role in the Free-radical theory of aging. This will continue to develop as more and more research and understanding takes shape. A laboratory procedure was recently developed to measure the amount of antioxidants the foods we eat contain. The procedure known as ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) was developed by Dr. Guohua Cao at USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, USA. ORAC is one of the most sensitive and reliable methods for measuring the ability of antioxidants to absorb free radicals. It is the only test to combine both time and degree of inhibition of free radicals. According to reports from Tufts University, the average person needs approximately 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity. Three servings of fruits and vegetables per day provide approximately 1200 ORAC units. This means the average person is short by up to 3800 ORAC units each day, depending on the fruits and vegetables they are choosing and their body's requirements. So, start to prioritize the diet plans you are managing and begin to develop around high ORAC value foods. To make up the difference, experts recommend supplementing our diet with high ORAC foods to become and stay healthy and slow down the aging process caused by free radical damage. Lycium Barbarum was rated the food with the highest antioxidant ability coming in at an amazing 3,472 ORAC units per fluid oz. Some of the other notable mentions are vitamin E oil at 3,309, pomegranates at 3,037, blueberries 2,400, raspberries 1,220. Wolfberries have been found to have extremely high levels of immune-stimulating polysaccharides. What are polysaccharides? Polysaccharides are very large, long-chain sugar molecules that are nourishment for macrophages (large white blood cells) in the gut wall. The macrophages are then transported to other immune cells, setting off a chain of defensive events in our bodies. There have been studies focusing on chronic pain and illnees. Several years ago German researchers actually isolated polysaccharides from Echinacea purpurea and mixed them with macrophages in test tubes. What they found was that the polysaccharides profoundly activated the macrophages, stimulating them to effectively kill tumour cells! Also it was found macrophages increased their production of interleukin, a chemical which spurs the immune system to greater activity, and the polysaccharides also enhanced the activity of B lymphocytes, immune-system cells which fight bacterial infections. This is vital information that the west has for years not developed enough in the studies to date. Below are the results of a 2002 study on the effects of a Ningxia wolfberry product on phagocytes. So, what are phagocytes? Phagocytes are a crucial component of the immune system and are found in the spleen. They digest foreign substances that invade the body including bacteria and other disease causing organisms. Having large numbers of phagocytes in the spleen will enable the body to more quickly eliminate foreign substances and thus prevent the development of potential illness. We know this is a lot of information and perhaps very technical. But this page of information is so vital to pass down to our children and get them on the right dietary thinking that we are going to let this role! The effects were astounding. Spleenic phagocyte cell counts (immune cells) increased by 81% and the ORAC (antioxidant capacity) the subjects' whole blood increased as well. Essentially, you could say the subjects' blood became younger. You can find the wolfberry online or in your Organic Stores and grocery chains. Always consult your doctor and read the labels to make sure you are getting the right ratios of the what the product claims!
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