We all can spot the latest trends in the nutrition & wellness category pretty easily. They are given regal sounding names, like the queen of fruits and the king of berries, and although the names may make them sound like royalty it usually turns out that they are nothing but present day pretenders to the throne. Goji berries were named by Time Magazine as the 2006 super fruit of the year. Super fruit of the year! That's Fantastic! Goji may even turn out to be the super fruit of the 21st century, but did you know that it was also the super fruit of the 1st century?  I'm not kidding, there is written proof and it's even more authoritative than Time Magazine!

For any of you that are just discovering Goji you may think Goji berries are just another trendy fruit, or it's just the latest "super fruit if the year", you need to know that Goji is not a new comer, Asian people have been consuming it for a long time indeed. For thousands of years it has been the undisputed fruit of the Emperor of China, and the Emperor of fruits. Thousands of years of continuous use is a pretty long trend. Goji didn't orignate in China. Goji was used by the people of the Himalayan Mountain regions long before the 1st century.

It is said that the Himalayans were the first natural healers, and that they shared their wisdom with the ancient herbalists of China, Tibet, and India. One of their most prized secrets was the fruit of the native goji vine, which had been flourishing in the Himalayan valleys since the beginning of time. Those who came there to learn took the goji home with them and planted it in their own valleys, thus spreading the legend of this most marvelous and healthful fruit.

The proof of the Goji berries use can be found in one of history's earliest and most important medical text books that was written in China more than 2000 years ago. It's called the "The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing" which means "The Divine Farmer's Herbal Medicine Classic" The Divine Farmer was a title of respect that was given to Shen Nong. He was the legendary first emperor of China and his reputation as "Farmer in Chief" was well deserved because he's the one who taught the principles of agriculture to the Chinese people.

Shen Nong also could have been called the divine herbalist because he was the first to recognize the healing properties of herbs. He is credited with personally having tested hundreds of herbs in order to asses their therapeutic or preventative value, and many of the herbs he tested were unknown. Some of these herbs had been brought to China by the silk traders who were returning from the Himalayas. The emperor's careful observations were passed down in an oral tradition from generation to generation until finally they were assembled in writing in "The Divine Farmer's Herbal Medicine Classic". In this landmark text one can find descriptions of hundreds of Shen Nong's herbal discoveries. Each one is rated according to it's effectiveness on different organs and conditions. And of all the healing herbs that are mentioned in this monumental work, there's only one that is declared to be unsurpassed for maintaining the youth and health of the entire body, it's that tiny red fruit of Himalayan origin that we know today as the Goji berry.

During the Tang Dynasty (around 800 AD), a well had been dug beside a wall near a famous Buddhist temple that was covered with goji vines. Over the years, countless berries had fallen into the well. Those who prayed there had the ruddy complexion of good health, and even at the age of eighty they had no white hair and had not lost teeth, simply because they drank the water from the well. From this legend, a poem was crafted.

I can't imagine any reason why millions of people would continue to use Goji faithfully for thousands of years if it didn't work. The unmatched history of the recorded use of Goji as the premier anti-aging nutrient in Traditional Chinese Medicine speaks for itself. If it didn't get results the Asian people would have stopped using Goji a long time ago. No wonder Goji was such a favorite of Emperor Shen Nong. By the way when I say that millions of people have been using it for generations, for thousands of years, they used it everyday because Traditional Chinese Medicine goes by a wellness system. This means you take things everyday to keep you well, your doctor comes and visits you regularly, makes sure you're ok, gives you things to take that are going to keep you well, and Goji is one of the favorites. They want to keep you well because if you get sick the doctor has to give you your medicine for free, and treat you for free. So Goji is one of the favorite things for total body wellness. It's been that way for thousands of years and continues as a tradition today.