Seeing the Red

Every morning, as part of my healthy living, I take 1 oz of a product called NingXia Red.  It is a drink produced by Young Living and it's base is wolfberry puree.  I knew woflberry (Lycium barbarum) is very high on the antioxidant scale and therefore would be helpful with free radicals and oxidative stress within my body as a result of years of wear & tear and unhealthy habits.

But today, I was in the office and reviewing some of the latest articles on health and I came across a very interesting article, published September 2012 in a Chinese ophthalmology journal, about the use of Lycium barbarum (wolfberry) and the retinal cells.  Retinal cells make up tissue of the eye and work with affecting the light source into the eye.  Some of you may have heard of retinal diseases such as: Macular degeneration, Cone-Rod dystrophy (CORD), retinoblastoma (cancer of the retina), hypertensive retinopathy (problems from high blood pressure) or diabetic retinopathy (problems from diabetes).  Many of us know someone who has one of these diseases or at least has factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes that can lead to a retinal disease.  The article I found today came out of Medical University in Beijing, China specifically their ocular (eye) program.  The study used human retinal tissue and exposed it to Lycium barbarum, then measure the response at 24 and 72 hours.  Compared to a control group which was not exposed to any further substance, the Lycium barbarum group saw a very positive difference in proper re-growth and cell stability.  Which means by exposing our cells to wolfberry, we are allowing our eyes grow better nerve cells allowing use to see clearer.

While I knew NingXia Red had healing qualities already with the high antioxidants and natural vitamin content, this study gives me even more of a reason to recommend it to my patients suffering from eye diseases as well as my hypertensive and diabetic patients.

I guess I just wanted to share my excitement about finding an article to back-up an action I was already taking.  If you have any questions or would like to know more about the other ingredients in NingXia Red, contact me.