GoChi or No-Chi?
You decide.
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GoChi & Himalayan Goji Juice: Our Report Continues
Can you store Chi in a bottle?
FreeLife has finally removed the preservatives and now rebranded its goji juice as "GoChi" - the next generation of Himalayan Goji Juice.
We had previously reported that the goji berries for Himalayan Goji Juice are not actually grown in the Himalayas, but in China (see ).
FreeLife has now apparently dropped the Himalayan idea and adopted GoChi - a name that blends the ideas of goji and chi, the life force energy of Chinese philosophy.
We find this new name a misnomer because, in our opinion, GoChi does not actually contain any chi.
As we reported months ago, Himalayan Goji Juice (and now GoChi) is heat sterilized and therefore contains no life or life force (read our original shocking story from the beginning).
Simply stated, we do not believe there is "chi" in any heat-processed, bottled juice, either goji juice or otherwise.
We'll explain why...
What is "Chi"?
Chi is the life energy possessed by all living things. It is a term used by
Chinese philosophers and healers. Chi is called prana by the yogis of India. (Again, see . See also this chi note.)
Chinese medicine extols chi as the essence of life. Chi gives life and breath to all living beings. When chi is abundant, you are healthy, happy, and alive. When chi leaves the body, the body dies.
 Chi -
the Breath of Life
Chi is linked to the breath. To breathe is to flow with chi, to flow with life. The secret of life is in the breath, in the chi.
Chi (or qi) is sometimes actually translated as "breath."
In martial arts, practitioners often build up their chi with special breathing and meditation practices, similar to yoga and Buddhist techniques.
Naturally, we at breathe.org appreciate the breath and the concept of chi very much.
GoChi or No-Chi?
Chi dissipates quickly after picking a fruit or cooking. Compare the fresh energy you get from a tree-ripened peach with the dull qualities of canned peaches and you will feel the value of chi in fresh foods.
FreeLife's goji juice is highly processed. FreeLife actually admits that their goji juice is "pharmaceutical grade." Processing and bottling of fresh fruit juices changes their chi value.
Says Paul Pitchford in his book Healing with Whole Foods:
"The modern denaturing of foods through massive refining ... deranges their pranic-qi [chi] life force..." p. 641
Compare corn fresh off the cob with canned corn. Even if the can label reads the same nutritional value as fresh corn, anyone who has a vegetable garden will tell you there is something missing in the canned corn. Science has yet to discover this missing factor. That factor is the life force, the chi.
This has been the entire message of the raw foods community for decades. The living life force - chi - is maximum only in fresh foods. According to Ayurveda, the life force dissipates soon after processing or cooking, which is why raw and freshly cooked foods are advised.
Chi is not the calories in a food. Chi is a much more subtle energy than can be measured by laboratory tests. There is no chi in a box of Cheerios, which was processed and cooked weeks ago. There may be calories you can burn for energy, but there is no life force.
Similarly, there is no life force in heat processed, bottled juices. Raw food enthusiasts proclaim that you need to consume fresh juices immediately after juicing to receive the juice's maximum prana, life energy, or chi.
Try it out for yourself: Juice some grapes and drink the juice immediately. Can you feel the freshness in this juice, which is high in chi?
Now juice some grapes and let the juice sit for an hour before drinking. Do you notice a difference in your personal experience?
According to Eastern philosophy, chi nourishes the subtle levels of the nervous system called "nadis" - subtle energy channels that, according to Eastern mystics, science has yet to discover.
Chi is Not Polysaccharides
FreeLife distributors have told us that their GoChi and Himalayan Goji Juice is alive with chi because it has "bioactive polysaccharides."
But "bio active polysaccharides" have absolutely nothing to do with chi. This "chi-polysaccharide" talk is all a brand of Eastern mysticism that FreeLife's marketing department has cooked up to sell its heat processed juice.
(Note: Speaking of polysaccharides, FreeLife has not met our public challenge to prove that nondegraded LBP-1, LBP-2, LBP-3, and LBP-4 polysaccharides exist in their juice. See NEWLY UPDATED MAY 22, 2008: FreeLife Fails to Show Proof of Polysaccharides.)
According to Chinese philosophy, chi is a much subtler force than any physical structures like proteins, carbohydrates, or polysaccharides.
Chi is the very breath of life that cannot be scrutinized under a microscope or analyzed in any chemistry lab.
Do you believe in "bottled chi"?
Our understanding of chi is from decades of personal study in Eastern philosophy.
FreeLife's mileage may vary. FreeLife is free to concoct its own personal views about chi in order to sell you its expensive goji juice. We are all fortunate to enjoy religious and philosophical freedoms.
Of course, there's no such thing as a "chi meter" that can measure the chi (or lack thereof) in FreeLife's GoChi goji juice. So we suppose we could debate the subject endlessly.
But to debate with us, FreeLife will have to leave its claims of science further in the dust to ponder with us the finer points of Eastern philosophy. We would welcome an open dialogue.
Meanwhile, we're not big believers in chi-in-a-bottle.
Next:
How our story began ...
...
April 14, 2008 - New pages now posted:
NEWLY UPDATED MAY 22, 2008: FreeLife Fails to Show Proof of Polysaccharides
Fake Spectral Signature
GoChi: We Research Their "Research"
GoChi or No-Chi?
FreeLife used their own employees as test subjects for their new GoChi research (we're not kidding). View all new pages
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©2008 breathe.org, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. We serve the public interest to promote natural, holistic, and health-conscious education for the welfare of all people.
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