Health and Fitness Tips

For hundreds upon thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has incorporated the goji berry as part of its medicinal must haves. It is also a product that is currently carried in most health food stores.

Grown in both China and in certain areas of the Himalayas, the goji plant produces berries that are relatively small, are a vibrant red in color, and are extremely delicate to the touch. As a matter of fact, they are so extremely delicate that the berries are not plucked from the plant, but rather must be shaken off of the plant very gently. After they are taken from the plant, they are allowed to dry in the plentiful sunshine.

Goji Berries have recently been linked to weight loss, and its all due to their low Glycemic index.

The Glycemic index describes that speed at which the foods that we eat are converted into blood sugar or glucose. The lower the Glycemic Index (GI) of a food, the slower the rate at which it converts into blood sugar. One of the big problems that most people encounter in relation to diet and weight control is the craving and urges to eat sugary, starchy foods that have a high GI index. What happens then, when we give in to the craving and indulge our desire, is that blood sugar levels soar or spike.

In order to combat high blood sugar levels, the body generates insulin with the help of the pancreas. The ultimate result is that the blood sugar level goes down very quickly. The bad news of course is that this causes the body to feel hungry again and make you crave more sugary and starchy foods, and the cycle begins again!

The other side effect of this unstable blood sugar level is that you don’t feel energetic and so you will not feel up to performing regular exercise. As a result, you have the perfect storm for staying overweight: a high desire for fatty foods, and a low desire to exercise. This is a recipe for disaster.

Examining now the goji berry, which has a glycemic index of 29, we can see that its glycemic index is very low, especially when compared to apples, 38, and oranges, 42. Moreover, goji berries are rich in fiber, which is known to help in moderating blood sugar levels, and chromium, which can enhance blood sugar control and is known to help retain muscle mass. Due to the fact that muscles use up more calories than fat, this can help to stimulate a better metabolic rate.

Goji Berries also contain a number of nutrients that aid in turning food into energy, and not allowing it to become stored body fat. These nutrients include: thiamin, calcium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and zinc.

When we are younger, our bodies are naturally producing growth hormones which help to keep us slim. As we age, our bodys become less efficient at generating growth hormone which leads to less muscle tissue being formed and the greater formation of body fat. Goji Berries contain amino acids and potassium, both of which help us to produce higher levels of growth hormone.

As wonderful as the goji berry is, it is not by itself the only solution to losing weight and looking great and it doesn’t claim to be. Moreover, it is good to use in combination with other diet and weight loss plans including the Medifast meal replacement program.

Medifast is one of the worlds leading weight loss products and the use of Goji Berries as a supplement may enhance Medifasts already proven track record, and stimulate further weight loss.

On their own, Goji Berries will not cause any significant weight loss, but to use their potential benefits to the max, you could use them in this supplemental capacity.

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