Goji berries have been one of the most commonly used foods in TCM and medicated diets.
In this blog post, I will share the benefits of goji berries, what it should be mainly used for, and what types of people should avoid eating them.
In TCM, the two organs that will benefit the most from eating goji berries are the liver and kidney.
Goji berries not only can strengthen the kidney, but they also have strong anti-aging properties. In TCM, the kidney affects how a person ages. A strong kidney will slow down the aging process in a person.
In addition to the kidney, goji berries also help to strengthen the liver. In TCM, the liver affects one’s eyesight, thus, goji berries have proven to help strengthen and protect eyes from weakening and diseases.
How To Choose Goji Berries
If possible, always choose goji berries from China, NingXia (宁夏) as that place is the original place to harvest goji berries and its medicinal effect is known to be more effective than in other parts of China.
Goji berries from NingXia are also bigger and rounder when compared to those from other areas.
The Difference Between Black and Red Goji
You may have noticed that in recent years, there are also black-colored goji berries available in the market or TCM shops.
The main difference between black and red goji berries is that the black goji berries contain Anthocyanidin (花青素). Anthocyanidin is a natural antioxidant and it helps to protect the eyes as well.
However, if you boil the black goji berries, then the Anthocyanidin will be dissipated. Make sure you don’t cook black goji berries beyond 60 degree celsius in order to retain the Anthocyanidin benefits.
On the other end, the red goji berries can be boiled to 100 degree celsius as it does not contain any Anthocyanidin.
You Should Avoid Eating Goji Berries If…
Goji berries generally have tonic effects, so it is best to avoid eating them if a person has flu symptoms or fever.
Goji berries also contain sugar so for people with diabetes, it should be consumed in a lesser or moderate amount.
This Simple Drink Will Help To Strengthen Your Eyes And Vision
There is a classic recipe that involves goji berries that help to prevent/treat many eye-related diseases.
Nowadays, many people are reading from computers or mobile devices’ screens in extended hours. This can result in dry eye symptoms and make one’s eyes very irritated and sensitive. Hence, this simple drink recipe can help to relief this symptom. (But I would like to say here is that the best way is to reduce screen time if you find your eyes are drying and irritated )
The ingredients (for one person serving) are:
- Water
- Red goji berries, 15g
- Dried chrysanthemum, 15g
- Rock sugar (if you can’t drink it plain), 10 to 30g
First, wash and rinse the goji berries got a few minutes. Briefly wash the dried chrysanthemum.
Second, put both goji berries and dried chrysanthemum (& sugar if you prefer) into the water and bring it to boil.
Once it started boiling, turn off the fire and let it cool down naturally (with the lid covered). Wait for 10 minutes before opening up the lid and serve.
Two things to note here.
- While bringing the water to boil, it is best to keep the lid on so that the effectiveness of dried chrysanthemum will not be dissipated to the air.
- Chrysanthemum can’t be boiled for too long as this will reduce its effectiveness. Thus, once the water starts to boil, you can turn the fire off and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Dried chrysanthemum is known to dispel heat in the body especially in the liver so it works very well with goji berries to cool the liver (a person will have heat in the liver if he/she always sleeps late) and strengthen it.
You can drink this water for 3 to 5 times per week depending on how serious is the eye dryness. It is best to drink consistently for three days a week to see the effect.
I hope you find this blog post useful!