Goji berries

garrycrone

Active Member
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Type of diabetes
Type 2
Read lots of posts and articles on the web re Goji berries. Am looking for snacks to eat during the day. The little and often approach to eating seems to work best for me and wondered if anyone had tried these. If you accept the blurb on the web, apparently it is good for regulating bsl. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. :mrgreen:
 

Dennis

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Hi Garry,

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum, also known as wolfberries) are predominantly grown in China (around 90%), with the rest coming from Tibet and Mongolia. All the berries we get in the UK come from China. Many health claim have been made about them over the years, but scientific testing has found that all the claims are completely false. They don't appear to have any medicinal value whatsoever. Incidentally the ability to lower blood sugar is not a claim that is listed in any official sources.

If you are health food conscious then one thing to beware of is that the berries are all treated with organophosphates, which are banned throughout the western world. Under pressure from the US, who import huge quantities because they are currently a fashion fad, China is apparently considering whether to encourage organic growing, but has not yet made any decision on this. Also when you see them on sale they are usually a vivid red and quite dry to the touch. This is because after drying they have been treated with sulphites - in their normal dried state they are dark red and sticky, rather like raisins. You often see them on sale in health food shops and labelled as organic - they are not - no Chinese gojis are grown organically and we don't import them from Mongolia or Tibet where some are organic.
 

chocoholic

Well-Known Member
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831
Wow. I am impressed with your knowledge, Dennis. I have often looked at these Goji berries and wondered about the health claims. They always seem quite pricey to me, so I have never bought any and now I definitely won't. Thanks again,Dennis for the info. Another to cross off my list of foods to try.
 

ally5555

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850
you would get the same antioxidant properties fronm a rainbow of veg and fruit!

Besides which they are very expensive and have u tasted them - yuk!
 

Dennis

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Just one further but very important note to anyone who is trying to grow Goji Berries.

Some of you may have seen the warning on Garderner's World last Friday that all Goji berry plants currently on sale in the UK have been illegally imported from China via Holland and have not been certified as safe to grow. The plants carry diseases that are deadly to the solanaceae family (potatoes, tomatos, aubergines, peppers) and instructions to anyone who has bought them is to dig them up and burn them immediately. Here is a link to the DEFRA announcement
http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/lycium.pdf