Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Lycium barbarum
Pronounced Goji (GOH-jee); Wolfberry (WOOLF-behr-ee); Gou Qi Zi (goh chee dzuh); Lycium barbarum (LISS-ee-um BAR-bar-um).
Neutral and moist, deeply nourishing: a sweet yin and blood tonic that replenishes Liver and Kidney, moistens dryness, and brightens the eyes.
On temperature, the old sources disagree: Bencao Gangmu (1596) reads it as neutral; Bencao Congxin (1757) reads it as warm. The app keeps neutral, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.
Avoid concentrated or therapeutic doses; ordinary culinary amounts are considered low-risk. Modern references note that safety and efficacy data in pregnancy are lacking, so supplemental or extract-strength use is not recommended; the fruit is rich in betaine, which has a traditional reputation for uterine activity, though robust human evidence is absent. Basis: drugs.com Natural Products (Goji berry) and AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed. (insufficient pregnancy data); precaution consistent with NCCIH guidance to avoid unstudied botanicals in pregnancy.
Insufficient data; use caution. There are no controlled human lactation studies and no data on transfer of goji constituents into breastmilk; independent lactation resources rate ordinary dietary amounts as low-risk while advising against concentrated supplement doses. Basis: e-lactation (Goji berries, low-risk for dietary use) and drugs.com Natural Products (limited lactation data); treat medicinal/extract doses as insufficiently studied.
Ordinary food amounts of the berry are generally well tolerated in children; concentrated extracts and therapeutic doses have not been studied in pediatric populations and are not recommended without guidance. Watch for nightshade/lipid-transfer-protein food allergy in atopic children. Basis: absence of controlled pediatric studies (NCCIH-style insufficient-data precaution); drugs.com Natural Products (Goji berry).
Generally very well tolerated as a food. As a nightshade-family fruit it carries rare allergy potential: reports of allergic reactions and isolated anaphylaxis have been linked to a lipid-transfer-protein allergen that cross-reacts with peach, tomato and other foods, and photosensitivity has been reported. The sweet, moist quality can loosen the stool and aggravate damp, phlegmatic digestion. The clinically important concern is potentiation of warfarin (see drug interactions) and additive blood-sugar lowering with antidiabetic therapy. Imported dried berries should be sourced from suppliers who test for pesticide and heavy-metal residues.
Concurrent warfarin or other coumarin anticoagulant therapy (documented potentiation of anticoagulant effect with bleeding). Use cautiously with antidiabetic (hypoglycemic) medication because of additive blood-sugar lowering, and with immunosuppressant therapy on theoretical grounds (immune-stimulating polysaccharides). Avoid concentrated or therapeutic (supplement/extract) doses in pregnancy pending better data; ordinary culinary amounts are considered low-risk. Solanaceae (nightshade) allergy or known lipid-transfer-protein food allergy.
Lycium barbarum is a widely cultivated agricultural crop (notably in Ningxia, China) and is not at risk in the wild; it carries no United Plant Savers listing. Favor cultivated, food-grade berries from suppliers who test for pesticide and heavy-metal residues, as contamination has been documented in some imported goji products.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts. Native to China and the Himalayan region and first documented in the Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Han dynasty). A Mediterranean relative, the boxthorn Lycium europaeum, does grow in the Holy Land and has been proposed by some scholars as a candidate for the thornbush (atad) of Jotham's parable (Judges 9:14-15) or for the crown of thorns, but that identification is speculative and concerns a different species, not the medicinal goji.
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