Goji LBP-40
Whole goji extract naturally standardized to 40% lyceum barbarum polysaccharides (LBP)
Goji (Lycium Fruit or Wolfberries)
Goji fruit, from the plant Lycium barbarum, is revered in Asia for its youth preserving, health protective, strengthening, and mood-elevating properties. It is one of the main herbs used in China’s amazing herbal system and is regarded as one of the elite tonic herbs in the world. The incredible efficiency of the antioxidants in Goji LBP-40 makes it a perfect tonic herbal supplement. Goji LBP-40 is naturally standardized to contain 40% Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides, or LBP. LBP is a constituent unique to Goji berries. LBP has been demonstrated to have profound anti-fatigue, immune potentiating and immune regulating, skin beautifying, DNA protecting, blood sugar regulating and blood lipid regulating effects.*
LBP supports our innate antioxidant system by powerfully stimulating SOD (superoxide dismutase) production and activity. SOD has been dubbed the “youth enzyme.” SOD protects our cells (including the cells of the brain, heart, kidneys, liver and other organs) from the ravages of internally-generated toxins, as well as from toxins and other stressors introduced from the outside environment. Goji LBP-40 is a full spectrum Goji berry extract, with every component of the world’s greatest superfood present. Consuming this herbal extract is equivalent to eating the fresh berries every day. The convenience of taking this herb in capsule form makes it an important addition to the tonic herb shelf in you home. In addition, the high concentration of LBP assures unsurpassed, powerful immunological and antioxidant protection.
Dragon Herbs Goji LBP-40 Capsules
Goji LBP-40 is a 100% natural powdered extract of the highest grade Lycium barbarum fruit containing a minimum of 40% LBP (Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides), the optimum extraction ratio for this herb (a higher extraction ratio has been shown to reduce the efficacy of the product). This pure extract maintains all the constituents and activity of fresh goji berries with the added power of full LBP extraction. Goji LBP-40 contains all five known LBPs, carotenoids (zeaxanthin and beta-carotene), flavonoids, a vitamin C precursor that converts to vitamin C once it is absorbed into the blood stream, and is rich in zinc.
Asia’s Magical Anti-aging Fruit
By Ron Teeguarden
It was 1994, and my wife Yanlin had a meeting with the president of a Chinese company that specialized in bee products, including honey and royal jelly. We were in Beijing for an international antiaging conference, and the business woman Yanlin was meeting collected honey from bees that make their honey from the “sap” that flows from goji berries on hot autumn days in the “goji belt” of northwestern China. I was at the meeting but did not directly participate because of the language situation (the woman had a strong accent that was way beyond my weak Chinese language skills). But I could not help staring at the woman’s complexion. Hers was like no skin I had ever seen before. Although I knew the woman was at least in her fifties, her skin was absolutely flawless – I would say “pure.” There wasn’t one wrinkle, speckle or blemish – it was truly like white jade. At the end of the meeting, I asked my wife to tell the woman that I could not help but notice her incredible skin and to ask her how she maintained it. The lady laughed (I would assume she was pleased with the compliment) and told us that since she was a young woman she had been in the habit of eating a handful of dried goji berries every day. She said that many of the women in the region where she lives are in the same habit and that the region is very famous for the beauty of its women. She said “even the old women have beautiful skin.” I asked if there was anything else that she did, but she said that nothing else she did was out of the ordinary. “No, it’s the goji. So long as you eat them consistently, you will have beautiful skin.”
As it turned out, she was from the Heaven Mountain region of Xinjiang Province (northwest China). She was the first person to guide us in the direction of Heaven Mountain as a source of superior goji berries. She explained how the berries in that region are large and plump - and much sweeter than those from other regions. And she explained to us that Heaven Mountain goji are the kind people can snack on every day, unlike the dry and lackluster tasting goji that may be available in many markets. She was extremely proud of the fact that certain very high government officials, whom she was visiting in Beijing, would only eat goji from Heaven Mountain. We took her tip and followed our instincts – straight to Heaven Mountain.
I had already been a user and purveyor of goji for many years. They were an ingredient in Japanese herbal formulas I had been taking (and selling) since 1971. But until I met my great teacher, Taoist Master Sung Jin Park in 1974, I didn’t know any of the specifics of goji. The very first day we ever met, Master Park had recommended that I consume goji. They were included in a simple tonic tea he made for me featuring Goji, He Shou Wu, Ginseng and Schizandra. When herbs became available in this country around 1976, I immediately started buying and selling goji berries. I always enjoyed eating them, but never as an overwhelming treat.
Shortly after our meeting with the honey-selling Xinjiang lady, we received our first sample of Heaven Mountain goji. I was astounded. They were so much sweeter, plumper and juicier than the goji berries I had grown used to. Their flavor just popped in your mouth and you didn’t grow tired of eating them. For the first time in my life I was eating the true connoisseurs’ select goji berries. Within a matter of months, we were importing goji berries grown on pure glacial water from Heaven Mountain into the United States.
Asia’s Original Superfood
Goji berries, from the plant Lycium barbarum, have been considered to be a “magical” longevity herb-superfood since the dawn of Asian civilization. Today, as much as ever, goji is revered in Asia for its youth preserving, health protective, strengthening, and mood-elevating properties. And though it is a fruit, it is considered to be more than a common fruit – it is regarded as one of the elite tonic herbs in the world. It is one of the main herbs used in the amazing Chinese herbal system, often used in combination with other precious tonic herbs like Cordyceps, Ginseng and Schizandra.
One of the great things about authentic, high grade goji is that it can be consumed as a dried fruit – as easily as raisons – providing an incredible range of nutrients, nutraceutically important phytochemicals and health benefits. In China it is called a “delicious herb,” suitable for use in cuisine (raw or cooked) and for straight snacking. Most herbs of the potency of goji cannot be consumed so easily simply because they are impossible to eat. Most herbs are dried roots or bark, and most are not exactly “delicious.” Low quality goji may not be delicious either and may be tough to eat, but high quality “snack grade” goji is an absolute pleasure to consume any time.
Finally, Americans and Europeans are discovering what has been known for 5,000 years in Asia – eating Goji fruit regularly helps you to feel, look and perform better on every level of life. And Goji is not a placebo or fad herb. It has been used by billions of people over the period of thousands and years. Hundreds of scientific studies are confirming all its traditional uses and more. Goji is an antiaging, health protective, life-giving miracle if every Nature created one!
From the Official Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China
Botanical Name: Lycium Barbarum
Pharmaceutical Name: Fructus Lycii
Action: To benefit the liver and the kidney, to replenish vital essence and to improve eyesight.
Dosage: 18 ~ 36 grams per day
What Makes Goji Berries So Special
The goji berry, also known as Lycium berry, wolfberry and Gouqizi (in Mandarin Chinese) is unquestionably a superfood. People are not exaggerating when they say that the Goji berry is among the premier superfoods known to mankind. Goji may well be one of the healthiest single foods you could ever consume. And you only need to consume an ounce a day to get all the amazing benefits that people have been experiencing from goji for thousands of years.
Fructus Lycii (the official pharmaceutical name for goji) is the dried fruit of Lycium barbarum, the species of Lycium fruit that is the only official goji berry, according to the official Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China. According to the Pharmacopoeia, consuming around an ounce of goji per day, or the equivalent as a tea or extract, has the broad effects of benefiting the liver and kidney functions, as classically defined in the Chinese health care system, to specifically improve eyesight, and to help restore vital essence, and energy commonly referred to as Jing.
Fructus Lycii is one of the most commonly prescribed Yin-modulators used in Chinese herbalism. In Asia and wherever Chinese herbalism is practiced, this herb/superfood is used as a tonic, and is widely used specifically to replenishes the Yin component and blood elements, improves eyesight, strengthen the back, tonify the sexual and reproductive functions, and to help restore yin energy to the Kidney and Liver energy channels. In traditional Chinese herbalism, it has been documented extensively as a favorite ingredient in recipes for elderly people.
Various human studies have shown the oral administration of goji (lycium fruit either as an extract or as dried fruit) to in have improved their immune functions, raised the serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and hemoglobin but lowered the level of lipid peroxides as well as reduced senility symptoms. Traditional medicinal preparations for sick persons and the elderly usually contain it as one of the ingredients.
This herb contains simple sugars, polysaccharides, betaine, zeaxanthin and physalein.[1] Goji berries contain an abundance of health-promoting constituents including: Lycium polysaccharides, 18 amino acids, 6 essential fatty acids, vitamins B1, B2, B6, E (not commonly found in fruit), more beta carotene than carrots, as much vitamin C as contained in lemons or oranges, and more than twenty trace minerals including calcium, organic germanium, selenium, zinc, phosphorus, and iron.
High-grade, fresh Chinese goji is extremely rich in beta-carotene (some researchers estimate that it has the highest content of beta-carotene among all foods on earth). Beta-carotene can be transformed into vitamin A under the influence of human liver enzymes. Therefore, vitamin A ultimately plays a major influence in Lycium’s actions. Lycium’s function on the eyes is related to this factor. Lycium’s vitamin B1 and B2 contents are significant and the vitamin C content of freeze-dried Lycium has been measured to be 73 mg / 100 grams. Goji berries appear to help support our health in many ways. They possess powerful immune-supporting phytochemicals. Goji berry and its extracts have been shown to neutralize free radicals and to protect DNA. Evidence indicates that goji berries are likely to protect our nervous system (including our brain) and our sexual organs from damage due to stress, temperature variations and free radicals.
Convincing evidence supports the traditional notion that consuming goji berries regularly can help support cardiovascular health, protect the pancreas and liver, enhance immunity, support eye health, increase libido and fertility and improve mood.
The fruit also contains beta-sitosterol (an anti-inflammatory agent), linoleic acid (a fatty acid), sesquiterpenoids (cyperone, solavetivone), tetraterpenoids (zeaxanthin, physalin), and betaine.
Goji Is Safe to Consume
Goji berries are very safe to consume. Though no food or herb agrees with everybody on Earth, goji is one of the best tolerated foods, so long as you don’t eat so much in a single sitting that the body cannot digest it. Goji berries are ubiquitous in China where they are consumed by almost every household as a longevity food and for health protection. Billions of people have consumed these incredible berries regularly for thousands of years and the evidence is clear that goji berries are a quintessential superfood.
Goji – A Super-Antioxidant
Goji is a super-antioxidant food, abundant in different antioxidant phytochemicals. Goji is rich in other carotenoids that scavenge free radicals keeping our liver, blood and cardiovascular system clean and free from inflammatory toxins. Goji has been thoroughly analyzed and has been found to be rich in a variety of antioxidants, including carotenoids (such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin), riboflavin, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), thiamine (vitamin B1), and nicotinic acid. Total carotenoid concentrations of different goji berries are within the range of 0.03–0.5%. Zeaxanthin dipalmitate, a potent antioxidant essential for vision and probably for other human functions, is a predominant carotenoid, comprising as much as 56% of the total carotenoids in Lycium barbarum fruit (goji).
All forms of goji possess potent antioxidant activity. The raw fruit, either fresh or dried has been demonstrated to be a super antioxidant food. Water and alcohol extracts too are extraordinary antioxidants (proving that cooking does not destroy the antioxidant activity of goji). Extracts of goji may be refined to contain higher amounts of a constituent known as LBP (to be discussed in a moment). These high density, standardized extracts are extreme antioxidants, although the antioxidant effects taper off if the extract contains more than 40 or 50% LBP.
This explains why in Asia goji is consumed as the raw-dried fruit as a snack – but also in all sorts of cooked dishes, in wine and in tinctures, as well as in thousands of herbal formulations.
For those who wish to consume a natural form of vitamin C on a daily basis, nothing could be better than consuming an ounce or two of goji every day. Goji berry is estimated to be as rich in vitamin C as fresh lemons. Actually, goji contains a unique precursor of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), known as ascorbic acid 2-beta-G. This stable form of vitamin C is abundant in the dried fruit of Lycium barbarum (goji). When provided to test animals by oral administration, it increased the blood ascorbic acid and it was also detected in blood from the portal vein. Thus it appears to be easily assimilated by the body.
Our bodies produce extremely powerful antioxidants, one of which is superoxide dismutase (SOD). SOD is one of three primary antioxidants produced in the human body designed by evolution to protect the body against natural free radical damage. SOD is critical in protecting us against harmful oxidative stress. Without it, we cannot live. or “youth enzyme.” SOD is a key antioxidant enzyme which protects your brain cells from the ravages of internally-generated toxins and also from those introduced from the outside environment.
Free radicals are responsible for much of the inflammation experienced by humans. A free radical known as the superoxide anion is responsible for much of this inflammation. SOD will normally counteract this damaging free radical. According to a reported article published in China, Lycium barbarum fruit can increase SOD production by as much as an astounding 40%!
Substances that stimulate the body’s production of SOD are fabulous for our health. What could be better than stimulating OUR OWN native antioxidants? This appears to be exactly what happens when we consume goji berries. Goji has the power to support your body’s own production of superoxide dismutase (SOD) Oral Administration of goji (Lycium fruit) raises SOD in the blood stream and in various tissues. This unheralded effect of goji may well be of the utmost importance to our health and one of Goji’s most important attributes. It appears that this stimulatory ability of goji on SOD production is the result of the actions of unique constituents in goji called Lycium polysaccharides (LBPs), which we will discuss in more detail in a moment.
Antioxidant science is now central to a majority of disease and health related research taking place in laboratories around the world. No medical science has been left untouched by the fundamental principles of oxidation and protection against its excesses in the body. The science clearly suggests that antioxidants play an important role in preventing many degenerative diseases, and may slow down the aging process. Goji is emerging as one of the elite superstars in the antioxidant arsenal – not a surprise to the Chinese or to tonic herbalists.
Goji Flavonoids Protect Red Blood Cell Membranes and Mitochondria
Our red blood cells are subject to oxidation by free radicals like all tissues in the body. Excessive exposure to free radicals (prooxidants) can damage red blood cells so that they can no longer do their job, and worse, become harmful to the body. Goji contains flavonoids that appear to protect red blood cells and the mitochondria (energy producing organelles within cells) from oxidative stress.
In a study conducted at Ningxia Medical College, the protective effects of the total flavonoids from Lycium barbarum (TFL) on lipid peroxidation in mitochondria and red blood cells induced by oxygen radicals were investigated. The mitochondria lipid peroxidation was significantly inhibited by TFL, and the fluidity of mitochondria membrane was also protected effectively. It was observed by scan electron microscope, that the shape of red blood cells in the oxidized system was damaged significantly, while the shape of red blood cells remained normal with the addition of TFL. Huang Y, Lu J, Shen Y, Lu J. [Article in Chinese] Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 1999 Mar 30;28(2):115-6. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Faculty of Preventive Medicine, Ningxia Medical College, Yinchuan750004, China. The protective effects of total flavonoids from Lycium Barbarum L. on lipid peroxidation of liver mitochondria and red blood cell in rats
If this protection also takes place in human cells (which one would guess is highly likely), the repercussions are enormous, since our blood cells are essential to carrying oxygen and nutrients to all the cells and tissues of our body. Mitochondria are essential to our life and if they degenerate, so disease is inevitable.
Goji Is a High-ORAC Fruit
There are many methods of measuring the antioxidant power of a substance. Various laboratories and researchers use different methods, but if they are consistent in their technique, the relative antioxidant potential of various substances will be clear. One standard that has become very popular and is now being used regularly in the nutraceutical industry is the ORAC standard.
Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) is now the most recognized standard of measurement used to express the antioxidant potency of a substance. The term ORAC is virtually equated with the word "antioxidant power" at this time.
Unfortunately, there are marketers who are not as concerned with the facts than they are with sales, and they can twist the numbers to promote sales – for a while. Goji is one of the highest ORAC foods on earth. There are definitely higher ORAC substances, though not many. But ORAC is not the only factor involved in the oxidative process. The efficiency and other related factors of goji converge to make it arguably the most protective food on earth (it could certainly be argued that green tea, Reishi mushroom, muscadine grape, and other high ORAC foods are equally protective, but all of these are in an elite league that makes them ALL worth consuming daily).
Eye Health
Goji has been used in Asia for thousands of years. One of its most widely applied uses in Asia has been to benefit vision and to protect the eyes from degeneration. Goji actually possesses several phytochemicals that may benefit the eyes, and all of the antioxidants may play a role in protecting the eyes from damage and degeneration. Beta-carotene can be transformed into vitamin A under the influence of human liver enzymes. Lycium’s function on the eyes is related to this factor.
But one chemical in particular has attracted the attention of the scientific world and appears to directly confirm Goji’s benefit for the eyes and to vision.
The orange “pigment” in Goji is actually a very powerful antioxidant called zeaxanthin (zee-uh-ZAN-thin) that is easily absorbed in the digestive tract after consuming Goji berries and is preferentially absorbed by the retina of the eyes. This powerful antioxidant actually coats the lining of our eyes and keeps our eyes youthful. This ability of Goji has been known in Asia for over a thousand years, but has just recently been verified by a Harvard University study and other researchers. Lutein, a related compound is also utilized by the retina of the eye, but research now indicates that zeaxanthin is probably more important and more easily efficiently utilized by themacula, a tiny area of the retina that allows clear central vision such as that needed to read or drive. Zeaxanthin protects the macula, the visual center of the retina, from intense high-energy, blue-wave light in the same way that “blue blocker” sunglasses protect the eyes. Amazingly, zeaxanthin also helps the eye repair itself.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common eye diseases of elderly individuals. It is the leading cause of blindness in people over age 55 in Western industrialized nations. AMD occurs when the macula, about the size of a pencil eraser, is destroyed by the aging process. According to the American Macular Degeneration Society, eyes with the highest concentration of zeaxanthin in the macula are the last to degenerate.
There are two types of macular degeneration - of macular degeneration — "dry” and "wet.” Loss of Zeaxanthin is believed to be a factor in both types
“The macular pigment is highly organized within the retina of the human eye. Studies show that the retina contains two carotenoids, zeaxanthin and lutein, with the greatest concentration at the center. Within the central macula, zeaxanthin is the dominant component, up to 75% of the total, whereas in the peripheral retina, lutein predominates, usually being 67% or greater. Typical carotenoid concentrations within other human tissues are much lower. Data show that the macular pigment increases through dietary supplements. Evidence points to a correlation between macular pigment density and a reduction in the risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).” [“Analysis of Zeaxanthin Distribution within Individual Human Retinas” by John T. Landrum, Richard A. Bone, Linda L. Moore, and Christina M. Gomez, Methods In Enzymology (1999, 299: 457-467).]
In a study by The Schepens Eye Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, subjects over age 60 with high macular pigment density had the same visual sensitivity as the younger subjects. Older subjects with low macular pigment density had lower visual sensitivity than the younger subjects. [Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (Feb. 1998, Vol. 39, No. 2).]
Goji is particularly rich in the carotenoid zeaxanthin.
In a study conducted by researchers at the Schepens Eye Research Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School; the Toyoda Ophthalmologic Clinic, Japan; and Columbia University School of Medicine, the xanthophyll carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin), which have been hypothesized to delay progression of age-related macular degeneration, were fed to quail to characterize the carotenoid composition of retina, serum, liver, and fat in quail and to determine whether dietary enrichment with zeaxanthin alters zeaxanthin or lutein concentrations in these tissues. Xanthophyll profiles in quail mimic those in primates. Dietary supplements of zeaxanthin effectively increased zeaxanthin co
