How YOU can make your own Goji Berry Juice!

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Goji is just one of the superfoods getting a lot of play these days, but there’s one way to eat this delicious berry that you may not have considered.  Have you ever had the experience of chewing a handful of dried goji and having them cling to your teeth so much so that you felt like brushing after your snack? Sure, they’re packed with antioxidants, minerals, polysaccharides, amino acids, beta carotene, and a host of other nutritional goodies, but there has to be a better way to consume them.  Well, there is.

 Reconstituted Goji

When we dehydrate fruits, the natural enzymes and bacteria are no longer active because they need water to function.  This puts the fruit into a kind of dormant state, similar to seeds and nuts.  When you reconstitute them, they spring back to life in many regards, and have much of the same properties as their fresh counterparts. Reconstituting goji berries can enhance their flavor, increase the ease of their digestion, and bring them one step closer to a “living food.”

Soaking goji berries is an easy way to make them plump, juicy, and more delicious than ever.  Some of you may be familiar with reconstituting dried fruit, and if so, reconstituted goji may soon become your favorite.  I lived in China for over 4 years and never saw one fresh goji berry due to my location and the difficulty in transportation and preservation of these delicious little fruits.  This makes fresh goji a real rarity, but I’ll show you how to make the next best thing to fresh goji juice.  Before you begin, make sure you have the cleanest, unsulfured (preferably organic) berries for the best results.

Instructions for making your very own homemade goji juice

  1. Put the desired amount of goji into a bowl.
  2. Cover with fresh spring or purified water.
  3. Let soak for 3-6 hours (warm water will speed up the process of soaking).
  4. Either eat the goji in the desired fashion or proceed to step 5.
  5. Place plump goji berries AND soak water into a blender and blend at high-speed until a uniform consistency is reached.
  6. Pour goji juice into a bottle or other receptacle and refrigerate.
  7. Enjoy one ounce servings one or more times per day.  It can be taken alone or mixed into smoothies.
  8. Finish the contents of the prepared goji juice within 3-5 days. (If left longer than this time period, even when refrigerated, this juice may become sour. I told you they were sensitive!)

There it is! You’ve just make your first homemade batch of fresh goji juice, a superfood drink to rival the store-bought brands. Compare this to expensive bottles of goji juice that can cost upwards of $30 dollars and see what you save!

 

Sources for this article:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409547-do-dehydrated-foods-lose-their-nutritional-value/

http://www.lifescript.com/diet-fitness/articles/i/is_dried_fruit_really_a_healthy_snack.aspx

 

About the author:

Isaac S Haynes,  PhD, MATCM, LAc. is a nationally certified acupuncturist and a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  He holds a Doctorate in acupuncture and Tui na from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and has a practice in Madison, Wisconsin.  For more information, please visit:  www.madisonacupuncture.net. You can also connect with Isaac on facebook and google+.

Dr. Isaac S. Haynes
Dr. Isaac S Haynes, PhD, MATCM, LAc. holds a Doctorate in Medical Sciences from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. He is a California State Licensed Acupuncturist and is Nationally certified in Acupuncture by the National Certification Commission on Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Aside from running a private Acupuncture practice in Silicon Valley (www.siliconvalleyacu.com), he also runs a website that offers high quality superfood products for sale to the public. For more information, please visit: www.superfood-nutrition.com. You can also connect with Isaac on facebook and google+.