Goji: Health Elixir or Pricey Juice?

And even though the company makes no medical claims about it's goji juice, chief operating officer Peter Reilly said tens of thousands of people purchase the company's juice on a monthly basis.

"These are repeat customers," Reilly said. "And they take it because they like it, they like the benefits they get from it."

Freelife's juice is so popular that it is has become their lead product -- even at $50 per bottle. According to the company's April 2006 CEO Update, sales quadrupled between the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.

In an effort to bring the goji berry to mainstream America, Celestial Seasonings, the tea company, has added the fruit to their Pomegranate Green Tea, which sells in most major grocery stores, said Joe Beauprez, senior director of marketing.

"I can tell you the stores are really excited about getting ahead of a trend like this," Beauprez said. "And this is definitely a trend, not a fad. It's a trend that's on its way up."

Doctor: It's No Health Elixir

But until there is more scientific research on goji, Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine and an ABC News Medical Contributor, said he wouldn't spend his money on the supplement.

"If you're drinking this as a health elixir I would say it's a huge leap of faith," Katz said.

Several Chinese studies indicate the goji berry is a rich source of antioxidants and that components of the berry have the ability to stop the growth of cancer cells, reduce blood glucose and cholesterol levels and enhance the effects of radiation on lab animals. But only one of the published studies tested the effects of goji on human beings, and that's a concern for Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University.

"In a test tube you don't have to go through the gut," he said.

A 1994 study in the Chinese Journal of Oncology found that 79 cancer patients responded better to their cancer treatments when goji was added to their regimen.