Do Goji Berries Help You Lose Weight?
Do goji berries make you lose weight ? Before answering this question, let’s start our article trying to understand what we are talking about. Goji berries are very tasty red fruits that come from Tibet and have been used in traditional Asian medicine since ancient times.
For some time, among the various food fads, we have been hearing about goji berries . They are truly nutritious fruits with a low glycemic index, but there are conflicting opinions about them.
Some recommend them in diets to lose weight while others recommend them as a food that can be consumed by everyone on a daily basis. Today we will talk about Goji berries and their properties and we will clarify their use in a possible slimming diet .
Goji berries and calories
Goji berries can be eaten fresh or dried, but depending on how you consume them, the nutritional values will change. 100 grams of dried goji berries have about 320 calories and contain 50 mg of potassium, 14 grams of protein, 55 grams of sugars and about 5 grams of fiber.
They also contain almost 5% of the calcium and almost 20% of the iron recommended for daily intake. There is more good news! Dried goji berries contain no cholesterol and 100 grams of dried berries contain little fat and little sodium.
Fresh goji berries in a small 30 gram portion contain 110 calories , about 15 grams of sugars, 2 grams of fiber and about 20 grams of carbohydrates. Unlike dried goji berries , fresh ones contain 6% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A and 2% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, iron and calcium.
Vitamin A helps prevent aging while vitamin C is essential for strengthening the immune system. Fresh goji berries contain neither cholesterol nor fat.
Health and nutrition
Goji berries also contain anthocyanins, substances that help counteract the accumulation of fat. Anthocyanins are a particular type of flavonoid which, in addition to aiding weight loss (if associated with a healthy diet), also have antioxidant properties and counteract the action of free radicals (the main cause of ageing). The antioxidants contained in goji berries also help keep the heart and the entire cardiovascular system healthy.
Goji berries also help speed up the metabolism and thanks to their chromium and zinc content they are perfect for reducing the sense of hunger and helping to feel satiety sooner. Their glycemic index is 28, so it’s a really low value and consuming goji berries doesn’t stimulate excess insulin production. Goji berries, thanks to their satiating power, are the perfect snack between meals.
Thanks to their properties, goji berries help reactivate the metabolism and reduce the amount of food and sugar ingested during the day. Berries also help reduce the sense of tiredness and exhaustion caused by slimming diets. Regularly consuming goji berries also helps maintain concentration.
Obviously we must not exaggerate with the doses, because any food, if consumed in excessive quantities, can cause weight gain. Dried berries may contain added sugars, so it is advisable to check the labels carefully before proceeding with the purchase.
The recommended daily dose
Goji berries are perfect for keeping hunger at bay between main meals, but there’s always a recommended daily amount. 15 g a day with just 54 Kcal is enough to be good for your health. It is recommended never to exceed 45 grams of dried berries per day or 30 grams of fresh berries. You can divide the maximum recommended dose into several snacks to reduce hunger pangs.
Dried goji berries are also easy to find in handy pre-measured snack bags. Before consuming them try to rehydrate them in water to increase the sense of satiety. If you prefer goji berry-based juices, the recommended dose of juice is 120 mL per day.
Avoid eating snacks and prefer the consumption of goji berries is a useful trick for losing weight. Snacks and vending machine snacks are low in nutrients, don’t keep hunger at bay and are very fatty.
Preferring goji berries to classic snacks is certainly a smart move if you want to lose weight. The recommended doses are indicative and may vary from person to person and also according to the lifestyle and diet you decide to follow.
Dried berries or fresh berries?
Depending on your tastes, you can choose to consume fresh berries or dried berries. If you prefer dried berries, remember to check that there are no added sugars, otherwise you will completely nullify the efforts made to follow your diet.
Fresh berries are more dietary than dried and are preferable during a weight loss diet. Unfortunately it is not always easy to find fresh goji berries , but you can try asking in the best-stocked supermarkets or try to order them.
If you can’t find fresh berries, just pay a little attention to the doses and you can also consume dried berries without too much fear of gaining weight.
Do Goji Berries Help You Lose Weight?
Here is the question of the century. As with any food, the answer is no. Goji berries can help you lose weight , but taken alone they have no slimming “magic power”. Both fresh and dried berries should be associated with a healthy and active lifestyle . Despite their properties and despite the fact that they are also useful for reactivating the metabolism, they cannot perform any miracles on their own.
Only daily physical activity , associated with a healthy diet with few carbohydrates, fats, calories and sugars, allows you to lose weight and stay healthy.
Goji berries are only an aid for the weight loss process since they manage to decrease the sense of hunger and, consequently, an excessive intake of unhealthy foods. Remember that there are no foods in the world capable of making you lose weight effortlessly!
She defines herself as curious by nature. In 2006 she graduated with honors in Biotechnology at the Sapienza University of Rome. Between 2005 and 2009, she carried out a university internship and research activity in the field of tumor immunotherapy. She is a co-author of three scientific publications. Since 2007 you have associated your passion for science with that for the web, starting the management of the FitnessEquilibrium.com project.