The Right Seasons to Eat Goji Berries for Nourishing the Liver and Brightening the Eyes, the Daily Amount, and Drink Pairings

When it comes to health-promoting foods, goji berries are absolutely one of the most popular top choices, boosting human immunity, nourishing the liver and brightening the eyes, beautifying and nourishing the skin, and more. Not only do middle-aged and older people like them, but more and more young people are now paying attention to health preservation too. So what season is best for eating goji berries? How many berries a day is appropriate? As the saying goes: “Eat goji berries all year round, and one may live as long as heaven and earth.” This saying shows that goji berries are an excellent food to eat in all four seasons, and it also highlights their life-extending effects. Although goji berries can be eaten in all four seasons, different seasons call for different ways of eating them, and different pairings suit different conditions. Eat them the right way, and the effects are better; eat them the wrong way, and they can really harm the body!

I. Taboos of Eating Goji Berries

Although goji berries are good, they are still a traditional Chinese medicine, so they naturally have certain taboos. Be sure to pay attention to the following precautions when eating goji berries, or you may eat them the wrong way without realizing it!

①  Do not drink them together with green tea

Green tea and goji berries can each be brewed with boiling water and drunk separately, and both are very beneficial to the human body. Quite a few people simply brew them together. However, the large amount of tannic acid contained in green tea has an astringent and adsorbing effect, and it will adsorb the trace elements in goji berries, forming substances that are difficult for the human body to absorb.

②  Do not eat too many

Goji berries are suitable for people with weak constitutions and poor resistance. But during use, you must persist over the long term, eating a little every day, for them to take effect. Although goji berries are good, they should not be eaten in excess. Otherwise, they can cause internal heat, nosebleeds, and even red, swollen, uncomfortable eyes. People with a yang-deficiency constitution should especially pay attention to the amount of goji berries, because goji berries are sweet in flavor and mild in nature, and excessive amounts can cause internal heat, especially when eaten raw, when the amount should be reduced even more.

③  Best not to eat them when you have a cold or fever

Goji berries have a strong effect of warming the body, so people who are currently suffering from a cold or fever, who have inflammation in the body, or who have diarrhea had best not eat them. In addition, people with high blood pressure, people with too irritable a temperament, or friends whose faces tend to flush red because they usually eat a large amount of meat had best not eat them either.

II. Pairing Methods for Goji Berries in the Four Seasons

①  Spring - goji berries + astragalus

In spring, all things revive, and the yang qi of the human body gradually rises. At this time the temperature has not yet warmed up, the weather changes frequently, and it is also a season when colds are prone to occur, so body care is very important.

Goji berries are sweet in flavor and gently tonifying, and in spring they can be taken alone or together with sweet, slightly warm items to help the body's yang qi rise. Goji berries and astragalus are the best pairing for spring. Especially for friends with weak constitutions, who are prone to symptoms such as fatigue and lack of strength in spring, drinking a little goji berry and astragalus water at this time can have the effect of tonifying qi and securing the exterior.

②  Summer - goji berries + chrysanthemum

In the hot summer, a pot of sweet, cool tea can dispel the summer heat without harming the body the way ordinary cold drinks do, making it a good choice.

Goji berries are sweet in flavor. In summer, if they are paired with chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, and the like, drinking them makes one feel relaxed and joyful. Especially when paired with chrysanthemum, they can have the effect of nourishing yin and brightening the eyes and clearing liver fire.

③  Autumn - goji berries + hawthorn

In autumn, the air is dry, and people always feel dry mouth and cracked lips, with flaking skin, and even using a lot of moisturizer makes it hard to withstand the bleak autumn wind. In this season, eating goji berries requires pairing them with moistening foods, such as snow pear, Fritillaria cirrhosa, lily bulb, fragrant solomonseal rhizome, and so on, for better effects. In autumn, pairing goji berries with some sour foods, such as hawthorn, can even achieve the effect of “sour and sweet transforming into yin,” having the effect of nourishing yin and blood and promoting fluid production and replenishing fluids.

④  Winter - goji berries + Chinese yam

In winter, the cold is piercing, and people are used to wrapping themselves in thick cotton clothes to help their own yang qi resist the cold. Goji berries can gently tonify yang qi, and taking them every day, especially paired with various congee dishes, such as jujube, longan, Chinese yam, and so on, helps the human body's yang qi grow and resist the severe cold of nature.

Goji berry and Chinese yam congee is a good winter tonic. Goji berries can tonify the liver and kidneys and also have the effect of brightening the eyes, while Chinese yam has the effect of securing the kidneys and tonifying qi. If a little japonica rice is added, it has the effect of tonifying and benefiting the spleen and stomach even more. Drinking it often can improve the body's immunity, protect the liver, and lower the three highs.

III. How Many Goji Berries a Day Is Appropriate

No tonic should be eaten in excess, and goji berries are no exception. Generally speaking, it is more appropriate for a healthy adult to eat about 20 grams of goji berries a day; if you want to achieve a therapeutic effect, it is best to eat about 30 grams a day.