Goji Berries

By Alice R. Laule, M.D.

September’s newsletter dealt with the issue of ORAC of various foods, and contained a list of the ORAC of various common foods. I noticed a food named “wolfberry” on my list as one of the highest ORAC’s of all foods.  I had so much trouble getting that newsletter out (it was the one that was a month late), that I didn’t do further research. Then, for this newsletter, when I elected to write about the Goji berry, I followed up on a hunch. As I suspected, the wolfberry is another name for Goji berries. Its ORAC per calorie is 633. Only some oils (clove, thyme, oregano, mountain savory and cinnamon bark oil) are anywhere near that range of anti-oxidant capacity. Blueberries and cranberries, known for their high ORAC, come in at 43 and 42 per calories respectively.

            I had two reasons  to research the Goji berry. One is the fact that I have been buying the dried berries and eating them, discovering that I absolutely love the taste.  I practically crave them, and have been eating at least one large handful every day. The other reason is the loud multi-level marketing (MLM) hype that I have been hearing, and the fact that some of my patients tell me they have been all but strong-armed into buying various forms of Goji juice by their friends, neighbors and fellow church goers, who insist that Goji will cure anything and everything. In my time as a nutritionally oriented physician, I have seen multi-level marketing products come and go. Some have some value and become available in other forms aside from the MLM venue. Some of them just go away, and justifiably so.  Since Goji is such a current hot topic, I owe it to my patients to do some research.

            As it turns out, there is scant little research available outside of China. There are many misnomers, too. Himalayan Goji juice actually comes from Inner Mongolia, not from the Himalayas, for instance. There are also companies who claim their berries are “organic,” which is almost assuredly not true. Most Goji comes from China, which has a “Green Certificate” available. This is not to be construed as the equivalent of “certified organic.”  The Green Certificate is part of a training program for agriculture, primarily for the rural poor in China, and that certification does allow the use of some herbicides and pesticides. While we can’t trust that any Goji imported here is actually organic, on the up side, because some wolfberries imported into the USA have been seized due to the high levels of fungicide and pesticide found in them, China is making attempts to grow with increasingly organic methods. They have not achieved anything close to the equivalent of our American “certified organic” nomenclature, however.

            Those are some of the issues that proved to be falsified in some marketing.

There are many claims for it that hold up :  The high antioxidant capacity of goji is not a myth. Therefore, the possibility is very real, and is supported by Chinese science, that goji helps cardiovascular inflammatory disease, age related vision changes, nervous system disorders, and cancer prevention.

            Goji has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for years, usually as an ingredient in cooked soups along with astragalus and other herbs. Without doubt, they are very nutritious, containing high levels of trace minerals, 18 amino acids (protein), 6 vitamins, a unique blend of polysaccharides, some essential fatty acids, and 5 carotenoids including the one so important for vision, zeaxanthin. (see the June, 2007 newsletter) Its color is the product of the carotenoids plus some phenolic pigments — but be aware of very bright orange-red dried Goji berries. If they have retained their bright red color after drying, they were most likely treated with sulfites.

            Especially interesting studies (from China) show that in diabetic animals, 3 weeks of supplementing the diet with Goji berries was associated with decreased weight, improved cholesterol, triglyceride and insulin levels. In another study, humans this time, white blood cell count increased after eating goji berries. A Shanghai study is reported to show a DNA protective effect from the Goji polysaccharides, though it is easy to imagine this is just another manifestation of that incredibly high ORAC.  A study on 79 cancer patients, again in China, showed that regression of cancer occurred in a higher percentage of people when Goji was added to a specific cancer chemotherapy regimen. This was done with melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, lung cancer, and others. The remissions achieved lasted longer in the patients who had Goji plus chemo than it did in the patients on chemo alone.

            While it would be nice to see some peer reviewed studies on Goji in our literature, I don’t expect that very soon. Meanwhile, I like the taste of the dried berries out of the bag, like little raisins, and that’s good enough reason for me to keep eating them.

            Another herb that has garnered a great deal of interest lately is Hoodia Gordonii, which is being advertised as another short cut to weight loss. The San people of Southern Africa have used Hoodia to stave off hunger on long hunting journeys. It is also considered an indigenous treatment for abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, TB, high blood pressure, diabetes. It has gained popularity in the US as an appetite suppressant, and I have tried it in several patients who have marked cravings for food, and abnormal levels of hunger, and insatiability.

            Hoodia is related to the milkweed (it is actually NOT a cactus, as many sources indicate), and contains a group of appetite suppressants (I the steroidal glycoside class) collectively known as P57. Pfizer was researching P57, but stopped and we don’t know why. Very little is known about Hoodia’s mechanism of action, but it clearly works, with a 40-60% reduction in caloric intake reported in some animal studies. Preliminary human studies did not report any serious side effects.

             But here’s the problem — a lot of Hoodia products on the market do not contain the correct genus so have no active ingredients. Some that contain the correct genus of Hoodia, don’t have enough to be effective. Additionally, the San people who supposedly were going to benefit from the marketing of Hoodia gordonii and any drug derived from it have not as yet apparently received any benefits, despite written agreements to the contrary in 1997 when Hoodia was going through the patenting process.  There are also serious issues of the sustainability of harvesting this plant. Basically, it is a case of buyer beware. Only 60% of Hoodia supplements on the market have enough adequate ingredients. (Explore, July/August 2007, Vol 3, No 4, p 404-406). As always, I have a strong sense that there are no shortcuts to dieting anyway. If a person is not committed to making lifestyle changes and moving toward improved health, nothing seems to work. Hoodia did not work for the people to whom I recommended it. I am left not knowing if it did not work because there are no shortcuts, or because the patient happened to buy one of the products on the shelves that has insufficient active ingredients. I am currently not recommending the  herb, until I have more information and perhaps find a supplier who can attest to the quality of their product.

Stay healthy.

Alice R. Laule, M.D.

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