Goji on Oprah

In 2005, the Los Angeles Times raved about the health benefits of the goji berry.

In 2006, TIME magazine called the “Himalayan Goji Berry the Superfruit of the Year!”

In 2007, it got even better. The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in television history, recommended goji to Chicago Bulls leading scorer Ben Gordon to maintain high energy levels and prevent post-workout crashes.

Calling the goji berry “. . . the most potent antioxidant fruit that we know,” America’s Doctor, Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of the bestselling YOU: The Owners Manual, and Vice Chairman of Surgery at Columbia University, gave the recommendation on the October 1 episode, seen by approximately nine million viewers around the world.

Ben Gordon, leading scorer for the Chicago Bulls, needed some nutrition information. “I’m a professional athlete. I train anywhere between two and three times a day. … What kind of foods can I add to my diet to help me maintain high energy levels throughout my diet and not crash after I’m finished working out?” he asked.

Dr. Oz recommended that Ben eat more foods with antioxidants. “What happens to a lot of great athletes is they are creating so much oxidation in their body from working out all the time, especially if you’re working out for more than two hours a day—you’re doing this for sure—that you don’t have the oxidant stores to keep up with that. So you’ve got to build up those antioxidant stores by taking leafy green vegetables.”

Bright colored fruits, like goji berries, are also great, Dr. Oz said. “They grow in the Himalayas. They’re the most potent antioxidant fruit that we know. Remember, foods are drugs. They work just like that. But especially for an athlete that’s moving fast all over the place, you’ve got to keep the antioxidant stores in your body high and the best way to do it is through the foods you eat.”