•Himalayan Goji Berry Juice: A 'Superfood' in Juice Form
Most people have heard of so-called "superfoods" in recent years. Fruits such as the blueberry and the acai berry, broccoli, pumpkin, soy, green and black tea, walnuts, and yogurt have all been touted as excellent parts of a nutritious diet and healthy lifestyle. Another addition to that list is Himalayan goji berries.
The Himalayan goji berry is grown on evergreen shrubs in the Himalayan mountains, and is one of the most nutritionally dense foods on earth. While they are too delicate to be eaten straight from the bush, dried goji berries have been a part of eastern diets for thousands of years. Not only that, they have been a staple of eastern medicine for thousands of years, too! A simple serving of 100 grams of Himalayan goji berries provide about 370 calories, and helpful levels of carbohydrates, fiber, fat, and protein. And that doesn't even mention the amazing vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant properties of the Himalayan goji berry.
With 11 essential and 22 total dietary minerals in himalayan goji juice, Himalayan goji berries provide healthy amounts of potassium, iron, zinc, selenium, and calcium. They are also high in B vitamins and have much more vitamin C than even an orange! The berries are high in beta-carotene and lycopene, and essential fatty acids, which are basic building blocks that the human body depends on for health. Himalayan goji berries are also known to have four polysaccharides, which are complex carbohydrate forms, that are not found together in any other food. The benefit of polysaccharides is that they break down more slowly in the human body than do simple sugars. This means that Himalayan goji berries or the juice made from them will not give you a "sugar rush" followed by a "sugar crash" that is common with sodas, and even some natural juices.
There are numerous ways to enjoy dried goji berries other than eating them out of hand (which is delicious, by the way), or drinking the juice "straight." You can make tea from the berries with 8 ounces of hot water. After letting the tea steep for five minutes, it's ready to drink, and when you finish, you have several plump berries waiting for you to munch on at the bottom of your teacup. Goji berries or juice can be added to soups or stews. The berries can be added to water bottles throughout the day to give the water a slight goji berry "kick" and provide you with plump juicy berries at the bottom of every bottle. Dried goji berries make a great tasting and nutritious addition to trail mix, and the berries or goji juice can be incorporated into your favorite smoothie recipe.
Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, and Elizabeth Hurley have all sung the praises of the benefits of Himalayan goji berries in a balanced diet. Professional athletes love them too, for their great nutritional profile and lack of drawbacks of this wonderful superfood. Having only recently been "discovered" in the western world, Himalayan goji berry and its juice have developed a cult following among nutrition experts. There is good reason for this, too. The goji berry is a great addition to that nutritional "hall of fame" inhabited by the so-called "superfoods."
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