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by:
Paul Brelin
It seems
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!
Dear
readers, I want to introduce you to the most
nutrient dense food on the earth; wolfberries,
or more specifically Lycium Barbarum.
The
western scientific community have verified what
Chinese and Tibetan health practitioners have
known for thousands of years. Wolfberries 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,
Chinese Xinjiang wolfberries and Chinese Ningxia
wolfberries which all belong to the Lycium
genus.
Wolfberries, a national treasure in China, have
been used in traditional Chinese folk medicine
for over 5,000 years. Ancient Chinese medical
texts celebrated wolfberries for their wide
range of health benefits including strengthening
the ‘chi” or life force of the body. The 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!
In 1988,
the Beijing Nutrition Research Institute
conducted detailed chemical analysis and
nutritional composition studies of the dried
wolfberry fruit. Hold on to your socks, this is
what they discovered. In addition to being
packed with vitamins B1 and B6 (which is needed
by the body to convert food into energy), and
vitamin E (which has never been found in fruit
before), wolfberries contain more protein then
whole wheat, 18 amino acids (8 of them essential
for life), 21 trace minerals (including
significant amounts of zinc, iron, copper,
calcium, selenium, phosphorus and germanium; a
very rare anti-cancer agent almost never found
in food), more beta carotene than carrots, 500
times more vitamin C by weight than oranges,
essential fatty acids (required for the
production of hormones and smooth functioning of
the brain and nervous system) and is the richest
source of carotenoids (natural fat-soluble
pigments that play a critical role in vitamin A
activity in humans) of any food on the planet.
That’s not all.
Here is a
short list of other health promoting compounds
found in Lycium Barbarum:
Beta
Sitosterol: An anti-inflammatory agent found to
lower cholesterol, and used to treat sexual
impotence and prostrate enlargement.
Zeaxanthin
and Lutine: Valued for their role in protecting
the eyes.
Betaine:
Used by the liver to produce Choline which
assists detoxification reactions in the liver.
Betaine is known to protect DNA, enhance memory,
promote muscle growth and protects us from fatty
liver disease.
Cyperone:
A sesquiterpene used in treatment of cervical
cancer. It is also known to benefit heart and
blood pressure problems as well as menstruation
problems.
Solavetivone: A powerful anti-fungal and
anti-bacterial agent.
Physalin:
A natural compound that boosts the immune
system. Found to be effective in treating
leukaemia, hepatitis B and cancer.
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 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.
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.
Furthermore, 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.
Several
years ago German researchers isolated
polysaccharides from Echinacea purpurea (often
used in medicinal formulations) and mixed them
with macrophages in test tubes. They found that
the polysaccharides profoundly activated the
macrophages, stimulating them to effectively
kill tumor 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.
Below are
the results of a 2002 study on the effects of a
Ningxia wolfberry product on phagocytes. First,
why should we care about 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.
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.
I believe
this little fruit can change the health of the
world. Tell your friends about it. If more
people knew about wolfberries maybe CNN would
stand up and take notice too! |
