Wolfberry Nourishes the Kidneys and Eyes, Eminent TCM Physician Explains 5 Best Ways to Eat It

Wolfberry Nourishes the Kidneys and Eyes, Eminent TCM Physician Explains 5 Best Ways to Eat It
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Naiwen Hu
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According to ancient medical literature, taking wolfberry (Lycium chinense) for an extended period results in longevity and an agile body. This may be why wolfberry is also nicknamed “fairy fruit.” A handful of wolfberries can help alleviate symptoms such as poor complexion, poor sleep, backache, hair loss, myopia (near-sightedness), and presbyopia (age-related far-sightedness).

So how do you choose wolfberry, and what are the best ways to eat it to optimize health results?

3 Tips for Choosing Wolfberries

How do you choose high-quality and healthy wolfberries? First, make sure you stay away from the following three types:
1. Wolfberries that are all one color: Avoid these. Only dyed wolfberry, including the pedicle, will be a uniform color. The pedicle of natural wolfberry should appear lighter in color.
2. Sour-smelling wolfberries: Dyed wolfberries are smoked with sulfur and appear shiny and have a sour taste.
3. Wolfberries that change water color: If you soak the wolfberries in water and the water changes color, it indicates the berries were dyed.

5 Ways to Eat Wolfberry, 5 Main Effects

1. Wolfberry and jujube tea: Rejuvenate and tonify the skin.

Staying up late often results in dark eye circles and cold hands and feet. After a long night, brew a cup of wolfberry and jujube tea. During the Song dynasty, there was a book called “Book of Serving Parents and the Elderly,” which said that long-term consumption of wolfberry could improve eyesight and make people look younger.

Jujube and wolfberry are both good liver-protecting medicinals. They can not only eliminate fatigue, warm the body, improve cold hands and feet, and make the face look rosy, but also calm the nerves, improve sleep quality, and reduce dark eye circles.

Jujube and wolfberry are good liver-protecting medicinals. (Leestudio/Shutterstock)
Jujube and wolfberry are good liver-protecting medicinals. Leestudio/Shutterstock

Preparation: Put a handful of wolfberries and five jujubes into a thermos cup, brew with boiling water, cover, and let soak for five minutes. During winter, you can add ginger to help drive out the cold.

2. Wolfberry honey water: Improve myopia and presbyopia.

Wolfberry protects the eyes and improves eyesight, which can help improve presbyopia and myopia.

Preparation: Take a tablespoonful of wolfberry, put it in a cup, and brew it with boiling water. Wait two or three minutes so the water temperature cools slightly, then put in a spoonful of honey, and stir thoroughly. A cup each morning and before going to bed will strengthen eyesight.

3. Wolfberry porridge: Consume natural eye medicine. Lu You, an eminent poet of the Song dynasty, wrote a poem containing these two verses: “The bell is clear from the thatched cottage after the snow, a bowl of wolfberry porridge for breakfast.” He said that taking a bowl of wolfberry porridge every morning and listening to the sound of the bell can clear the mind.

Lu was already very old when he wrote this and had blurry eyes and poor eyesight. The doctor advised him to eat more wolfberries. It allegedly worked, and his vision improved even during his twilight years.

Wolfberry porridge is a natural eye medicine. (jreika/Shutterstock)
Wolfberry porridge is a natural eye medicine. jreika/Shutterstock

If you often stare at the computer screen and feel the effect of dry, tired, or sore eyes or have watery eyes, you can imitate what Lu did and eat wolfberry porridge as breakfast every morning. If you like it sweet, add some brown sugar. Or if you want to eat meat, you can also add pork ribs.

4. Wolfberry as medicinal food: Nourishes kidneys and promotes hair growth.

Is your hair thinning or your hairline receding? Don’t worry; Chinese medicine has a therapeutic diet for that. This recipe can help prevent hair loss and also help your hair grow, keeping you looking sharp.

Ingredients: 30 grams (1.1 ounces) of Rehmannia glutinosa, 25 grams (0.9 ounces) of black beans, 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of wolfberry, 10.6 ounces of lean meat

Preparation: Black beans are hard, so they must be softened first. Add eight bowls of water to the black beans and cook for about 30 minutes. Next, add Rehmannia glutinosa, wolfberry, and lean meat, and cook for about an hour. When about two bowls of water remain, it is done and ready to serve. You can either choose to drink just the soup, or you can eat the whole thing.

Black beans, wolfberry, and Rehmannia glutinosa are all kidney-tonifying, and Rehmannia glutinosa also nourishes the blood. Eating it about two to three times a week for a noticeable effect.

Foods that nourish the kidneys and blood and help with hair growth. (The Epoch Times)
Foods that nourish the kidneys and blood and help with hair growth. The Epoch Times
5. Chicken soup with wolfberry and jujubes: Protect the lower back and strengthen tendons and bones.

Have you ever counted how many hours a day you sit at a desk or in a chair?

Many people arrive at work at 8 a.m. and never leave the keyboard and mouse, staring at the computer screen until 8 or 9 p.m. As a result, they often have lower back pain. Sometimes their back is too stiff to straighten when they finally want to get up.

“Shen Nong’s Classic of Materia Medica” mentions the wolfberry’s benefit: “Long-term use will strengthen the tendons and bones, lighten the body and remain young, and withstand cold and heat.” Eating wolfberries habitually can strengthen the kidneys and lower back and relieve and prevent back pain.

Ingredients: half a chicken, 6–8 shiitake mushrooms, 8–10 jujubes, a few wolfberries, a little ginger. This is sufficient for about three servings, and the ingredients can be adjusted according to the number of people getting served.

Eating chicken soup with wolfberry and jujubes can nourish the kidneys and the lower back, strengthen the tendons and bones, and prevent back pain. (Shutterstock)
Eating chicken soup with wolfberry and jujubes can nourish the kidneys and the lower back, strengthen the tendons and bones, and prevent back pain. Shutterstock

Preparation: Soak jujubes, shiitake mushrooms, and wolfberries separately in water and keep for later use. Cut half a chicken into pieces, boil it in hot water, and put it in a pot. Slice the ginger and shiitake mushrooms, put them in the pot, and add the chicken. Next, add the soaked wolfberries and jujubes, then add the water previously used for soaking the wolfberries, jujubes, and shiitake mushrooms, and finally, add some salt. Then put all the contents into an electric pot, add more cold water, set the clock, and wait for the electric pot to stop until the end of the preset time interval. Then, your delicious chicken soup with wolfberries and jujubes is ready to serve.

Naiwen Hu
Naiwen Hu
Naiwen Hu is a traditional Chinese medicine physician at the Shanghai Tong Te Tang in Taipei, Taiwan, and a professor at the Nine Star University of Health Sciences in Sunnyvale, California. He also worked as a researcher of life science at the Standford Research Institute. In his over 20 years of practice, he has treated more than 140,000 patients. He was known for successfully curing the fifth melanoma patient in the world by using traditional Chinese medicine. Hu currently hosts a YouTube health program that has over 700,000 subscribers. He is also known for his popular road show on health and wellness held in various cities in Australia and North America.
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