Long a staple of Asian and holistic medicine, the most renowned properties of the Goji Berries is its antioxidant properties and it provide several benefits including increased energy and heightened immune function.
The weight loss properties of this natural ingredient have recently seen the fruit becoming popular stateside as well, especially among celebrities in Hollywood with the Goji Berry being featured on many television programs and in magazines.
Goji Berry Active have improved the many benefits of the Goji Berry by adding other natural ingredients to the Goji Berry Active Supplement designed to provide many other health benefits and increase its weight loss capabilities as well.
A complete all-natural supplement is the result and it is designed in pill form that can be easily taken with no powders or cumbersome ingredients to mix or measure. Just take as directed to help with immune function, weight loss and increasing energy levels.
What are they?
Other Names: Lycium barbarum, wolfberry, gou qi zi, Fructus lycii
Goji berries grow on an evergreen shrub found in subtropical and temperate regions in the Himalayas in Tibet, China and Mongolia. They are in the nightshade (Solonaceae) family.
Usually Goji berries are placed out to be dried They are shriveled red berries that look like red raisins.
Gojo berries are used by people for what purpose?
For 6,000 years, herbalists in China, India and Tibet have been using Goji berries to:
• protect the liver
• help eyesight
• improve sexual function and fertility
• strengthen the legs
• boost immune function
• improve circulation
• promote longevity
Goji berries are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. One of the key roles of zeaxanthin is to protect the retina of the eye by absorbing blue light and acting as an antioxidant. In fact, increased intake of foods containing zeathanthin may decrease the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). For people over the age of 65, AMD is the number 1 cause of blindness and vision loss.
Goji juice has become popular as a health drink in recent years. Companies marketing goji juice often mention the unsupported claim that a man named Li Qing Yuen lived to be 252 years old after drinking goji berries everyday . Marketers also list extensive health benefits of goji juice, even though there are few published clinical trials in humans.
What research are being done on goji berries?
Goji has only been tested on humans in two published studies. A Chinese study published in 1994 in the Chinese Journal of Oncology found that 79 people with cancer responded better to treatment when goji was added to their regimen.
There have been several clinical studies that show that goji berry contains antioxidants and that goji extracts may lower cholesterol levels, reduce blood glucose and prevent the growth of cancer cells. However, even when taken as a juice or tea, it doesn’t necessary mean that goji will have the same benefits.
Although like the ones used in traditional Chinese medicine, goji berries are rather cheap, goji juice is not cheap. Considering that be as high as 50 US dollars~for a price running as high as 50 US dollars for a 32-ounce bottle of goji juice (about an 18-day supply)}, the evidence isn’t compelling enough at this time to justify the cost of goji juice.
Also, we don’t know the regular consumption of goji will cause any side effects, or whether treatments or medications will be interfered with.
What do goji berries taste like?
A mild tangy taste that is slightly sweet and sour, that is how we describe the taste of goji berries. They have a similar chewy texture and shape as raisins.
Common forms
In traditional Chinese medicine, goji berries can be made into liquid extracts, brewed into a tea, added to Chinese soup or eaten raw
Goji juice is also available, usually in 32-ounce bottles.
Goji berries have appeared in snack foods in North America. For example, Trader Joe’s, the health food store sells a goji berry trail mix.
Possible drug interactions
Anticoagulant drugs (commonly called “blood-thinners”), such as warfarin (Coumadin®) may interact with goji berries. There was one case report published in the journal Annals of Pharmacotherapy of a 61-year old woman who had an increased risk of bleeding, indicated by an elevated international normalized ratio (INR). She had been consuming 3-4 cups daily of goji berry tea. Her blood work returned to normal after she stopped drinking the goji berry tea.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Can Heart Disease Treatments Combat Age-Related Macular Degeneration?
Can treatments that reduce risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) also help combat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that affects millions of Americans? CVD and AMD share some risk factors–such as smoking, high blood pressure, and inflammation–and a recent study found that people who have early-stage AMD are more likely to develop heart disease. This month's Ophthalmology
, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, reports on how two heart disease treatments, low-dose aspirin and statin medications, may impact AMD risk and disease progression.
Low-dose Aspirin May Offer Mild Protection from AMD
Records for 39,421women enrolled in the 10-year Women's Health Study (WHS) were used to evaluate the impact of low-dose aspirin on AMD risk. None of the women had AMD at the study outset; they were randomly assigned to take low-dose aspirin (100 mg on alternate days) or a placebo. It is known that low-dose aspirin substantially reduces the risk of serious blood vessel blockage, so researchers reasoned it might affect blood vessels that may play a role in AMD. Aspirin's anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects were also considered potentially relevant. The research was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"Although our study found no large benefit from low-dose aspirin, the possible modest protective effect we did find warrants further study," said lead researcher William G. Christen, ScD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. "If future studies confirm our findings, it could be important to make the public aware of this benefit," he added.
The risk of developing vision-impacting AMD was reduced by18 percent in women who took low-dose aspirin. During the 10 year study, 245 AMD cases developed, 111 in the aspirin group and 134 in the placebo group. "Vision impact" was defined as a reduction in visual acuity to 20/30 or worse due to AMD. Though not statistically significant, the WHS risk reduction is similar to the result of the only other large randomized trial on this question: the Physicians' Health Study I, which followed 22,071 men who took low-dose aspirin or a placebo for five years.
The primary aim of the WHS was to learn whether Vitamin E and low-dose aspirin would help prevent heart disease and cancer. The AMD study also found that women who were not taking multivitamins appeared to benefit more from low-dose aspirin than vitamin users.
Statins Do Not Stop Advanced AMD
In the largest study of statin use by advanced AMD patients to date, researchers followed 744 patients enrolled in the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT) for five or six years. Statin drugs are primarily used to lower cholesterol in CVD patients, but they also affect mechanisms thought to impact AMD, including reduction of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Earlier studies on statins' effects had been inconclusive. All patients from the CAPT cohort study were at risk for advanced AMD, but none had developed advanced "wet" or "dry" AMD at baseline. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"The CAPT data did not support a large effect for statins in decreasing advanced AMD risk in patients who already had large drusen in both eyes," said lead researcher Maureen G. Maguire, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania. Drusen are whitish deposits, common in the eyes of people older than 60, which may signal AMD. Statin users were at slightly higher risk than non-users for developing advanced AMD, she said.
Dr. Maguire said several factors may be masking a protective effect for statins, the most important being that most patients who take statins for CVD are also at high risk for AMD. Only a randomized controlled trial could reveal statins' impact on AMD in the wider population, but since so many elderly people take statins it could be difficult to recruit a control group. It is also possible that statins may need to be taken for longer than the CAPT study's timeframe to show a protective effect, she added.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, reports on how two heart disease treatments, low-dose aspirin and statin medications, may impact AMD risk and disease progression.
Low-dose Aspirin May Offer Mild Protection from AMD
Records for 39,421women enrolled in the 10-year Women's Health Study (WHS) were used to evaluate the impact of low-dose aspirin on AMD risk. None of the women had AMD at the study outset; they were randomly assigned to take low-dose aspirin (100 mg on alternate days) or a placebo. It is known that low-dose aspirin substantially reduces the risk of serious blood vessel blockage, so researchers reasoned it might affect blood vessels that may play a role in AMD. Aspirin's anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects were also considered potentially relevant. The research was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"Although our study found no large benefit from low-dose aspirin, the possible modest protective effect we did find warrants further study," said lead researcher William G. Christen, ScD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. "If future studies confirm our findings, it could be important to make the public aware of this benefit," he added.
The risk of developing vision-impacting AMD was reduced by18 percent in women who took low-dose aspirin. During the 10 year study, 245 AMD cases developed, 111 in the aspirin group and 134 in the placebo group. "Vision impact" was defined as a reduction in visual acuity to 20/30 or worse due to AMD. Though not statistically significant, the WHS risk reduction is similar to the result of the only other large randomized trial on this question: the Physicians' Health Study I, which followed 22,071 men who took low-dose aspirin or a placebo for five years.
The primary aim of the WHS was to learn whether Vitamin E and low-dose aspirin would help prevent heart disease and cancer. The AMD study also found that women who were not taking multivitamins appeared to benefit more from low-dose aspirin than vitamin users.
Statins Do Not Stop Advanced AMD
In the largest study of statin use by advanced AMD patients to date, researchers followed 744 patients enrolled in the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT) for five or six years. Statin drugs are primarily used to lower cholesterol in CVD patients, but they also affect mechanisms thought to impact AMD, including reduction of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Earlier studies on statins' effects had been inconclusive. All patients from the CAPT cohort study were at risk for advanced AMD, but none had developed advanced "wet" or "dry" AMD at baseline. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"The CAPT data did not support a large effect for statins in decreasing advanced AMD risk in patients who already had large drusen in both eyes," said lead researcher Maureen G. Maguire, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania. Drusen are whitish deposits, common in the eyes of people older than 60, which may signal AMD. Statin users were at slightly higher risk than non-users for developing advanced AMD, she said.
Dr. Maguire said several factors may be masking a protective effect for statins, the most important being that most patients who take statins for CVD are also at high risk for AMD. Only a randomized controlled trial could reveal statins' impact on AMD in the wider population, but since so many elderly people take statins it could be difficult to recruit a control group. It is also possible that statins may need to be taken for longer than the CAPT study's timeframe to show a protective effect, she added.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
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