Science Talk for Sep/Oct 06 Sunshine Today

Spence Masson, B.Sc., Director of Science and Technology

Perhaps I’m an eternal optimist, or just naïve, but I continue to be amazed when NSP Independent Distributors (I’ll use this term to include all Managers and Associates), who really should know better, swallow the hype surrounding the next "Flavour of the Month" product hook, line and sinker.

The questions I get asked about these kinds of products indicate that NSP Independent Distributors have not applied any critical thinking, or even mild skepticism, to the literature or claims surrounding the product. Nor do they seem to ask about the quality control in place at the competition, and it certainly doesn’t look like NSP’s quality control is being talked up as a major advantage of our products, or a point of challenge against the competition.

Instead, it just looks like some Distributors simply believe all the hype and ask Nature’s Sunshine to disprove it. Case in point: Himalayan Goji Juice (or whatever other brand name goji is sold under).

We’ve been hearing a lot of comments about goji juice lately, and I’d like to take the time to set the record straight on a few things.

First off, what is goji? Goji is the Asian name for Lycium barbarum, which is commonly called wolfberry. Guess what, folks? Wolfberry is just one of the many health-promoting ingredients in Zambroza. So goji juice, like so many other "health juices" on the market these days, is a one-trick pony. It has only one fruit juice in it, and therefore can offer at best only a limited array of health-promoting compounds. At the other end of the spectrum lies Zambroza, with its 11 different ingredients that offer a vastly superior array of beneficial compounds from various fruits and plants.

What are some of the claims being made for goji? An internet search reveals a great many different web sites devoted to goji, the vast majority of them being almost exclusively for the purchase of goji juice. Sifting through them all, it looks like a company called FreeLife is responsible for the marketing of Himalayan Goji Juice in particular. To the casual surfer, it’s very difficult to determine exactly what website is the actual home site of FreeLife. Typing "freelife + goji" into the Google search engine returns a hit that says "Feelife.com – Welcome", and following that link leads you to http://gojiexpress.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=canada.CID_01_001, which is presumably the official site.

On this page, the only claim made for the product is that it’s a "Powerful anti-aging food". There are no theories offered as to why this would be. One could suppose that some of these benefits would be derived from the antioxidant potential of the compounds in the berries. After all, the process of oxidation in our cells that leads to free radical damage results in visible effects that we commonly associate with aging. Well, guess what? Nature’s Sunshine has commissioned tests by an independent third party laboratory to compare the antioxidant potential

of Goji Juice vs. that of Zambroza, just as we had done earlier with XanGo. The results showed that Zambroza has 5 times the antioxidant power of Goji, and a much higher level of the key phytochemicals trans-resveratrol and total phenolics. This is shown in the following graphs:

ORAC comparison by a reputable independent lab0.02.04.06.08.010.0Goji lot ASB6129Zambroza lot 00759166

Phenolics comparison by a reputable independent lab0246810Goji lot ASB6129Zambroza lot 00759166Normalized Phenolics (mg/L)

Trans resveratrol comparison by a reputable independent lab0246810Goji lot ASB6129Zambroza lot 00759166Normalized Trans resveratrol (ug/ml)

It’s little wonder that Zambroza fares so much better, considering that goji relies strictly on one fruit, while Zambroza has 11 different healthy ingredients, as already mentioned. It’s also very interesting to note that the gojiexpress website mentioned above dismisses ORAC as a meaningless test on its "Goji FAQ". I wonder why?

Another website that looks like it could be the company’s home one is http://www.yourfreelife.com. On this page, the claims made are for Enhanced Immune Response, Anti-Fatigue Effects, Weight Loss, and Free-Radical Prevention. Links are provided to take you to the "evidence" for all of these claims. Said evidence in each case is a single abstract taken from a research article in Chinese. While there is nothing wrong with research done in Chinese universities, by providing only the abstract, one cannot critically evaluate the study’s design to determine its true effectiveness. For example, the weight loss evidence refers to a single 21-day study done with laboratory mice.

There are many other less official-looking sites that make a lot more outrageous claims, including treatment for cancer. Speaking strictly on the purported benefits of goji to cancer patients, noted alternative cancer researcher Dr. Ralph Moss says "The hype for goji is way over the top". Click on http://www.cancerdecisions.com/112104_page.html for Dr. Moss’s review of goji.

And finally, for some true facts about goji without all the hype, I suggest a visit to the online encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org. Type wolfberry in the search box.

I hope this article has answered some of the hype surrounding goji juice. I also hope that if you are considering trying goji, you’ll Wake Up Before You Go-Go (pardon the pun on the 80’s pop hit), and remember that all the claims made for goji could also be applied to Zambroza, since goji is just one component in Zambroza. Furthermore, Zambroza contains many other health-promoting ingredients in its formulation, and a much more extensive list of health benefits and claims could be made for Zambroza in comparison to goji.