Truth be told, when I first started on this journey the only "berries" I knew about were blueberries, raspberries, and the like. When I came across Goji berries it was not because I had heard of it in my research, it was literally a fluke, very much like the way I came across Manuka honey - which we will discuss tomorrow. But WHOLLY GUACAMOLE did you know all the benefits to our health this little fruit has? Let's go into them...
Benefits to Eating Goji Berries Regularly:
- Can help protect against cancer and actually slow tumor growth, they are high in antioxidants, vitamin C, Zeacanthin and carotenoids which help to fight the cancer, and there have actually been studies on Mice that show this.
- Helps the eyes and protects against age related eye diseases
- Boosts your immune system
- Improves depression, anxiety and sleep
- Prevents and has been used to treat liver disease in Chinese medicine
- Helps to stabilize your blood sugar and balance insulin and glucose levels in the blood.
- May help improve your cholesterol levels
So can they help your skin? YES!
Goji Berries help our skin keep it's moisture in, and it helps us regenerate new cells. It is amazing for our skin because it contains beta-carotene which improves overall skin health, helps with effects of aging, and fights free-radicals - in fact, the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) count is around 3200 for the raw berry and 4300 when dried which is pretty high. the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity is basically the measurement of antioxidants that help protect our cells from free radicals (the things that cause cancer and yuck in our bodies), so the higher the count the better! You can actually check ORAC counts on the things you eat/use here:
https://www.superfoodly.com/orac-values/
it has been an amazing resource for me.
Goji Berries are also great at helping you fight stubborn acne and it will help with evening out your skin tone (like dark spots, or scars)
So, if this isn't enough to get you to start eating, blending or whatever with these little berries, I don't know what is. They come raw, dried, in powder form, in extract form, in herbal oil form, etc. So many ways you can incorporate them into your daily routine, how can you possibly say no?