The Mighty Goji Berry Benefits Worth Knowing

We’re glad to be growing goji berries, and plan to add more for the many goji berry health benefits.

If you’re looking up goji berries, then chances are you already know the goji plant, Lycium barbarum, is an amazing superfood. The small red berries are nutrient dense and antioxidant rich, and surprisingly high in protein for fruit.

Unlike the red pill/blue pill in the classic film, The Matrix, the blueberry also has loads of benefits! But today we’re focusing on how to grow the goji plant, and the potent health benefits of this unpretentious red berry.

Matrix Trivia: In case you’re wondering, it’s the little red pill that allows Neo to see the truth, aka: The Matrix of Life.

What a wonderful concept: berries instead of pills! Oh, but wait… that’s been around vastly longer than pills. Health through healthy foods! #naturesway

Our favorite little red pill is the goji berry!

Goji Berry Origin

Goji berries are a Tibetan berry that have been used medicinally by Tibetans for at least 1,700 years.

The Chinese view use the berries, leaves, bark, and roots of the goji plant in traditional medicine, and the wolfberry leaves and buds have been used in medicinal teas in China for over 2,000 years and are said to have the same antioxidant benefits as the berry.^[1]https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Wolfberry_Leaves_16586.php

Pure Healing Foods states that:
“The Tibetans used Goji berries for a whole slew of problems ranging from kidney failure, cleansing the blood, eye problems, skin rashes, psoriasis, and depression.” 

That list is only a few of the many wonderful goji berry health benefits packed into these tiny little red berries.

We’ve been buying dried goji berries to add to our homemade nut mix, for the many health benefits, but they’re quite expensive. So when we looked into growing goji berries at our Pilot Mountain, NC, rental cabin property in USDA grow zone 7a, we were delighted to discover that they can grow outdoors in zones 5-9

Ours have done very well, excepting for one deer attack that took them down to the ground. So if you have deer issues in on your land, you’ll want some protection for your plants.

Goji Berries are a power packed superfood that’s easy to grow.

What Do Goji Berries Taste Like?

The taste of goji berries is hard to describe because it doesn’t really resemble any one fruit.

Eaten raw from the plant, goji berries have a tart tangy flavor with a hint of sweet. If you could imagine a cherry tomato blended with a slightly tart raspberry, that might come close to describing the fresh goji berry taste.

If you’re familiar with the kousa berry from the Easter dogwood tree, gojis resemble that berry flavor a little as well.

You can use goji berries in any way you’d use other small tart berries with a hint of sweet. Here are some examples of how to enjoy this little red berry full of powerful nutrients and antioxidants.

How to Use Goji Berries

• Raw Goji Berries –
  • eat a small handful
  • blended in smoothies
  • in yogurt with a little maple syrup
  • in muesli
  • Salads
• Dried Goji Berries
  • Nut mixes
  • Baking, especially breakfast breads and muffins
  • Granola / muesli
  • Salads
    • tossed salads
    • carrot salads

Here’s an example of a yummy energy bar, which you can buy or make your own. Here’s a yummy looking recipe for goji pistachio bars.

If you eat them dried they are a bit hard and very chewy and more tart than sweet.

For just munching and also for baking, if you don’t like the hard dried berries, you can soften them by soaking in water, or apple juice to add sweetness. Don’t toss the water… you can use it! We drink it like vitamin water, or add it to the batter as part of the liquid if we’re baking something, or to salad dressing to simulate something like a raspberry vinaigrette.

How to Use Goji Berries – Some of Our Favorite Ways

Our most common way to use dried goji berries is added to a homemade nut mix or this roasted rosemary pecans recipe. Gojis added to nut mixes add a tartly sweet contrast to the healthy fat and protein of the nuts, especially tasty with raisins and other dried fruits.

We also add goji berries to breakfast breads, pies, and cakes such as a yummy healthy buckwheat coffee cake. We’ve also added them along with blueberries in this lemon blueberry breakfast cake. However, our bushes are not yet producing large harvests, so we’re more likely to eat a few fresh each day in season, and dehydrate any extras to preserve for the winter.

We also add gojis to salads. The tart with a hint of sweet red berry adds a festive touch for holidays or any time along with a health boost of vitamin C.

You can get dried Goji Berries on Amazon, as well as Goji plants, or check with your local nursery.

Growing Goji Berries for Health Benefits

From Pure Healing Foods^[2]https://www.purehealingfoods.com/gojiInfo.php

Goji Berries are a rich source of both selenium and germanium and have been used in a number of clinical trials involving cancer patients. When given to patients undergoing chemotherapy, the berries conferred significant protection for the liver.

In Oriental medicine, goji berries are said to correct chi deficiency. To fix chi deficiency means that for people with low energy, insomnia, heart palpitations, and even anxiety are more comfortable after consuming goji berries.

Omegas

Goji berries are high in essential fatty acids, the healthy omegas, which are required for the body’s production of hormones and the smooth functioning of the brain and nervous systems. In particular, goji berries are high in linoleic acid.

In Summary:

Goji Berries Are Rich In:

• Selenium
• Germanium
• Essential fatty acids
• Linoleic acid
• Antioxidants – carotenoid zeaxanthin
• Unique molecules – polysaccharides

Goji Berries are Beneficial for:

• Liver protection
• Balancing hormones
• Brain function
• Nervous system
• Eye retina
• Immune system
• Stimulating the pituitary gland
• Producing more Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
• Muscle development
• Skin elasticity

These little berries sound pretty amazing, don’t they?!

Vision Benefits

Goji berries are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids like zeaxanthin. One of zeaxanthin’s key roles is to protect the retina of the eye by absorbing blue light and acting as an antioxidant.

Increased intake of foods containing zeaxanthin may decrease the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people over the age of 65.

Immune System & Anti-Aging

Goji berries are known to have unique polysaccharides known as “Master Molecules” which work together to fortify the immune system, and are not found in any other known plant.

Polysaccharides also stimulate the pituitary gland in the anterior of the brain to produce more Human Growth Hormone (HGH), the master hormone in our bodies responsible for muscle development and skin elasticity, amongst other benefits. Exercise and sleep also stimulate HGH.

You can find Goji Berries on Amazon. They’re pricey, so all the more reason to grow your own!

Goji Berries Boost HGH – Human Growth Hormone

HGH is known to slow down, and even reverse some of the effects of aging. For centuries, people in Asia that have customarily eaten Goji berries have been documented to live longer and healthier lives with little or no incidence of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, anti-aging skin care, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, or a host of other “dread” diseases that are afflicting many of the Industrialized Nations of the world.

If you’re enjoying learning about goji berries, you may also enjoy Anthony Spates’ book on Amazon: The Healing Kitchen, by Holly Belle Buono 

Do you know the folkloric name for Goji Berries?

Goji berries, or wolfberries as they are sometimes called, are easy to grow. They are hardy to USDA zone 3 which means you can grow them in most of the US. They are drought tolerant, container adaptable, and tolerant of partial shade.

Edible Goji Berry Leaves Health Benefits

As if all those many goji berry health benefits weren’t enough, there are also wonderful benefits to goji berry leaves!^[3]https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Wolfberry_Leaves_16586.php

Goji berry leaves contain vitamins A, B, C, and E, protein, beta-carotene, calcium, and flavonoids that have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

These wonderful wolfberry leaves can be dried for tea, or fresh cooked however you enjoy your favorite cooked greens. Here’s a goji leaf stir fry recipe to get you started.

Next up: some more Goji Berry recipes!

Goji Berry Recipes

So now that we know how to grow the nutrient-packed Goji’s, how do you use them?

You can eat them raw, fresh-picked from the plant. We enjoy them in serving of organic yogurt. Our favorite organic yogurts are: Maple Farms Organic Plain and Chobani Greek  it’s like a bowl of probiotics (from the yogurt) with amino acids and everything else the berries provide!

We also make our own yogurt using this yogurt maker, but we’ve got this Greek Yogurt Maker on our wish list. Please let us know if you’ve tried it. We really like that it makes a larger batch in one container versus the numerous single serving containers. But for packing homemade lunches for school and work, the single serving work great as the containers come with plastic lids, ready to go. So, top them with gojis and you’ve got a great and healthy snack that’s super economical.

Here are a few other ways to incorporate goji berries into your diet!

Super Berry Nut Mix

Goji Nut Mix Recipe

• 1 cup Almonds raw, unsalted
• 1 cup Cashews, roasted, unsalted
• 1 cup Hazelnuts aka Filberts, roasted, (we get these blanched & roasted hazelnuts)
• 1 cup Macadamia Nuts raw, unsalted, (or salted to add a hint of salt contrast in the mix)
• 1 cup Peanuts roasted, unsalted
• 2 cups Pecans raw, unsalted
• 2 cups Walnuts raw, unsalted
• 1 cup Raisins organic
• 1 cup Goji berries dried, unsweetened
• 1 cup Blueberries, dried, unsweetened,
• 1 cup Golden Berries dried, unsweetened, (we’re buying the Food to Live organic golden berries on Amazon
• 1 cup Mulberries dried, unsweetened (we use Anthony’s organic mulberries)

We like to make and store this healthy mixed nut recipe in these in these sturdy Cambro polycarbonate 4 quart restaurant grade containers:

Find full directions for this healthy mixed nut recipe here.

Banana, Date and Goji Berry Bliss Balls

Goji Berry Bliss Balls Recipe

2 large bananas
1 cup almond meal
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup pitted, chopped dates
1/3 cup Goji berries
1/3 sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons white chia seeds

For Directions Go to source of this Recipe : Lisa Lane Wellness ^[4]https://www.lisalanewellness.com/nutrition/banana-date-and-goji-berry-bliss-balls/

Power Breakfast Granola Recipe

Goji Granola Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 cup roasted cashews, roughly chopped (substitute peanuts, pecans or sunflower seeds)
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey (or substitute: 1 Tbsp Stevia, 1 Tbsp Flax Meal or Seeds, + 1 Tbsp Coconut milk or Nut milk)
• (Stir Stevia, Flax & Milk together)
• 1/2 cup goji berries (optional)
• 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the granola, toss the hazelnuts, cashews, oatmeal, almonds, coconut, oil, and honey together in a large bowl until they are completely combined. Pour onto a sheet pan and bake, stirring occasionally with a metal spatula, until the mixture turns an even golden brown, about 20 minutes.,

Remove the granola from the oven, scrape the pan with the spatula to loosen the granola, and allow to cool, stirring once.

Next we’re going to try it using buckwheat instead of oats to also make it candida diet friendly.

This recipe is exceedingly adaptable to all kinds of substitutions, so try it with your favorites, and enjoy eating as a snack by itself, or with yogurt or nut milk for a nutritious and energizing breakfast.

Let us know if your favorite variations if you try it.

Lemon Poppyseed Bread with Goji Berries:

Goji Berry Lemon Poppy Bread Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups Almond flour sifted
• 1/2 cup coconut flour sifted
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 c Raw honey
• 1/2 cup Coconut oil or butter
• 2 peels Lemon zest
• 3 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Goji berries soaked in warm water, 5 mins
• 1 tbsp Poppy seeds

And of course… let us know your thoughts, questions, and tips on Goji Berries.

Also, please share your thoughts, tips, questions, and/or your goji berry photos and recipes. You can email us.

We all hear about superfoods these days. It seems they’re everywhere in herbs, fruits and vegetables from as near as our backyard as nutrient dense edible weeds you can eat, to from the far East, as in the case of gojies. So many blessings from nature, available to anyone with land or a pot, soil and sunny window, to grow in.

Are you growing goji berries? Let us know how it’s going for you and feel free to share your photos, tips or questions.

Wishing you great gojis and gardens!