AboutKaren Robinson Expertise I can answer questions about all aspects of natural healing - there are a multitude of therapies and products, and I can help people sort out what they need. Often people need more in-depth guidance, and I do individualized consulting by email at www.guideforselfhealing.com.
Experience I have over 25 years of experience and training across the whole spectrum of natural healing systems. My particular focus is Homeopathy and Heilkunst - the complete system of medicine developed by Dr. Hahnemann and furthered in recent years at the international Hahnemann Center for Heilkunst. I was a contributing health editor for an independent Internet news agency, and manager of the Natural Medicine Forum on CompuServe.
Education/Credentials Homeopathy with the Hahnemann College for Heilkunst; herbalism with master herbalist Michael Tierra; Ayurveda at the Ayurvedic Institute; Bioresonance Technique with Savely Yurkovsky, M.D.
Expert: Karen Robinson Date: 3/29/2008 Subject: Goji berry juice
Question QUESTION: Karen
What do you think of this?
I bought some at Walmart and after only a few days I DO feel better.
Not that I am sick,just an average 50 year old guy with all the old guy problems-poor digestion,metabolic syndrome,lack of energy,poor sleep.
Problem is there are so many different types out there,and some are rip offs.
Any thoughts?
The problem is that there is so much marketing hype, and even when a product seems to make you feel better, it's hard to know exactly why, and will the improvement last, and is it really an improvement in health? Even a toxin can make you feel better temporarily because the nervous system is stimulated to get rid of it and that gives you more energy!
Goji juice is one of those things that are "in" right now, just like Noni juice was, just like Pau D'arco tea was, and we don't hear about those anymore. Not that there's no use for them, but they're not the panaceas they were cracked up to be.
Goji juice could be a good supplement for many people, but frankly I find it too expensive to be worth it, and there are many other great superfoods. There's no reason why you need that many antioxidants from one source, and the "more is better" approach to antioxidants isn't really prudent anyway.
I'd go with less expensive superfoods like green food powders (a good one is at www.amazinggrass.com), and cod liver oil. Those are well tolerated and needed by most people. Then it's a matter of individualizing your diet and the rest of your supplements (and there shouldn't be that many!) to your own particular needs.
No harm in experimenting with the goji juice to see the effects over time, but I wouldn't get too attached to the idea that it's a panacea ;-)
Hope that helps!
Best,
Karen
Guide for Self-Healing
www.guideforselfhealing.com
Customized Eating Guidelines
www.guideforselfhealing.com/ceg1
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Good answer,thanks Karen.
I was taking fish oil but I recently switched to 'high lignan flax oil'.
As for the green foods I have heard that Chlorella is good?
Answer Hi Carl,
I'm so sorry that this reply to your follow-up is so late - for some reason your followup didn't get emailed to me, and I just now happened to see it on the website!
About chlorella - it's fine, but generally I like to use a formula that contains synergistic nutrients, which will be more a one-size-fits-all and you're less likely to have any negative effects.
There are many good "green food" formulas like the Amazing Grass, ones from Living Fuel, and Berry Green.
Flax oil is not very bioavailable, so you're paying a lot for very little actual essentail fatty acids. Most people have difficulty converting the ALA in flax oil to the usable forms of DHA and EPA. The fish oil contains DHA and EPA so the body doesn't have to do the conversion.
Hope that helps! Again my apologies for not seeing your question.
-Karen
Guide for Self-Healing
www.guideforselfhealing.com
