A handful of goji berries a day keeps the optometrist away: a new study finds the fruit, widely used in Chinese medicine, can improve eye health for the middle-aged

The study found that goji berries dramatically improve the health of optical pigments that prevent eye degeneration

Goji berries are experiencing a boost in popularity as they have been awarded the ‘superfood’ designation

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Goji berries are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine and a new study connected them with eye health. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 6:00pm, 2 Feb 2022Updated: 1:50pm, 3 Feb 2022

Dried goji berries, a fruit long used in traditional Chinese medicine, may help healthy middle-aged people fight off the causes of eye degeneration, according to a new study out of the University of California, Davis.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients in December 2021, found that various nutrients in goji berries can help slow age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss estimated to affect 170 million people globally.

Lead study author Li Xiang, a doctoral candidate in the Nutritional Biology programme at the University of California, Davis, said she wanted to pursue the study because she had grown up in northern China and had heard of the “eye brightening” qualities of goji berries.

Years later, Li appears to have given some scientific backing to the oral tradition.

An elderly man takes an eye test to get fitted for glasses. Photo: Getty Images

The study compared the results when healthy people ate 28g of dried goji berries for 90 days versus when people took synthetic products that tried to replicate the superfood.