The Little Goji Berry Is The New Star of the health-food World

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By LINDA SHRIEVES - The Orlando Sentinel

The dried goji berry, marketers say, is an anti-aging miracle food, regularly consumed by Chinese centenarians.The dried goji berry, marketers say, is an anti-aging miracle food, regularly consumed by Chinese centenarians.

The small red berry doesn’t look like a powerhouse.

Indeed, this dried Chinese berry resembles a weak cousin to the cranberry.

Yet in the health-food industry, many are trumpeting the Chinese wolfberry, more commonly known as the goji berry, as the next great “super food” — a fruit laden with so many antioxidants that it makes other fruits and vegetables seem puny by comparison. The berry, say marketers, is an anti-aging miracle food, regularly consumed by Chinese centenarians.

Already the goji is earning a prominent place at health-food stores. It’s showing up in juices, sodas and energy bars. At upscale California spa restaurants, the goji berry is being added to granola, trail mixes and salads.

The berries, grown in Tibet and China, have been available in U.S. markets for several years but now are receiving a Hollywood-like billing.

The goji berry seems to be picking up steam among mainstream food makers. Earlier this year, Anheuser-Busch launched 180 Red with Goji — a new energy drink. Expect to see the goji berry soon in granola bars and trail mixes.

Despite the marketing blitz, scientific research on the goji berry is in its infancy.

“There is limited data on the wolfberry,” said Mark Failla, chairman of the Human Nutrition Department at Ohio State University, who is studying the goji.

Based on early research, Failla says it’s clear that gojis contain extremely high levels of zeaxanthin, a carotenoid that is related to beta carotene.

That may elevate the goji berry’s importance in coming years, as aging baby boomers try to stave off macular degeneration. Studies of people with macular degeneration have shown they have lower levels of zeaxanthin and lutein in their eye tissue. Another study found that people who have low intake of fruits and vegetables may be more prone to macular degeneration. Still, Failla cautions that there has been no proof that a lack of zeaxanthin causes macular degeneration.

“In traditional Chinese medicine, zeaxanthin has been used to treat ocular disorders,” says Failla, who suspects the Chinese doctors were right. “Long before the Lord made biochemists, Chinese doctors have been using this.”

So while the berry may be great for people worried about their eyesight, there’s no proof — at least among the Western scientific community — that the goji berry can do all the things that marketers claim: help you live till age 100, relieve insomnia, cure liver damage, regulate blood sugar and prevent hypertension. In the past year, the FDA has cracked down on Internet goji sellers for making claims that can’t be supported by scientific evidence.

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