What do you say about GOJI?

GOJI is not a native Czech plant. It is grown in the Himalayan regions of Tibet and China. Nevertheless, GOJI has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, and the goji berry is called the fruit of longevity or red diamonds. Monks made the famous "elixirs of youth" from goji berry juice. Therefore, GOJI will definitely benefit our health.

Why is GOJI, or Lycium Chinese, called a superfood?

I don't like the superfood label. It's more of a popular trend that mainly identifies foreign foods, and then we forget about our own traditional foods, and that we have them…

This is not to say that GOJI is not rich in healthy, beneficial substances. It is said that the weight of goji fruits contains more Vitamin C than the same weight of oranges, more beta carotene than carrots and more iron, albeit non-heme, than beef steak. GOJI also has a relatively large amount of protein (about 14%), when consumed as dried fruit. There is only about 3% in the juice.

Goji contains high amounts of Vitamin C. Thanks to its content, GOJI products help to maintain the normal functioning of the immune and nervous systems, protect cells from oxidative stress (GOJI is a strong antioxidant), reduce fatigue and exhaustion…But Vitamin C also contributes to the formation of collagen, which affects skin quality, cartilage function and vascular flexibility.

Is Vitamin C damaged during processing?

In gently processed products, especially when heat is not used in processing, Vitamin C is preserved. Himalyo fully respects this fact in its production. The juice of the Chinese Lycium fruit (GOJI) is cold-pressed.

How to choose the right GOJI juice?

Of course, it is ideal when GOJI juice is made from BIO production, cold-pressed and certainly without any additives, such as stabilizers or thickeners. The taste of the juice is sour to bitter; you could say that it falls between cherries and cranberries. Therefore, some manufacturers add sugar or other sweeteners to it. Fortunately, this is not the case with Himalyo. The bonus of Himalyo is also their process of hand-picking, during which undamaged and properly ripe fruits can be better chosen.

Another criterion (of selecting the right GOJI juice) should really be to only consider pressed juice and not juice from concentrate. In products made from concentrate, first, water is evaporated from the product, and then it is added back – via several additional technological steps, during which there is a partial destruction of nutrients, especially vitamins. Himalyo juice fully meets the criterion of pressed juice as well.

What to choose?

The customer should select gently processed products of the highest quality, without any additives, and certainly not from concentrate. I definitely find these attributes in Himalyo products.