NingXia Red is a wolfberry-based antioxidant drink sold by Young Living Essential Oils. It combines whole wolfberry puree with a blend of fruit juices and citrus essential oils, marketed as a daily supplement to support energy, immune function, and overall wellness. A standard serving is just 2 fluid ounces and contains 25 calories.
What’s Actually in It
The core ingredient is whole Ningxia wolfberry puree, sometimes called goji berry, which makes up 16% of the blend. Unlike many goji products that use only the juice, NingXia Red purees the entire berry, including the pulp and skin, where many of the plant’s beneficial compounds are concentrated.
The wolfberry puree is combined with a juice blend from concentrate that accounts for 44% of the formula. That blend breaks down to blueberry (30%), plum (22%), aronia berry (17%), cherry (16%), and pomegranate (15%). Aronia, also called chokeberry, is one of the most antioxidant-dense fruits available and isn’t commonly found in mainstream juice drinks. The formula also includes grape seed extract, vanilla extract, and a proprietary essential oil blend of orange, yuzu, lemon, and tangerine rind oils. It’s sweetened with stevia rather than added sugar.
Nutrition Per Serving
According to the NIH’s Dietary Supplement Label Database, a 2-ounce (59 mL) serving of NingXia Red contains 25 calories and 5 grams of total sugar. That sugar content comes from the fruit itself, not from added sweeteners. For context, the same amount of orange juice would contain roughly 13 grams of sugar. Each serving also provides small amounts of calcium (40 mg, about 4% of daily value) and iron (0.4 mg, about 2% of daily value).
The drink is not designed to be a significant source of macronutrients or vitamins in the traditional sense. Its value proposition centers on the antioxidant compounds found in wolfberries and the supporting fruit blend.
What the Research Shows
One randomized controlled trial, published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, tested the NingXia Red formula specifically. The study followed 155 healthy adults aged 18 to 60 who consumed 60 mL (about 2 ounces) daily for 60 days. Participants who drank NingXia Red reported significant improvements in overall physical health compared to the control group, with notable gains in sleep quality and duration.
The immune health findings were particularly interesting. When participants in the supplement group got sick, their illnesses lasted only 1 to 2 days. Those in the control group experienced illnesses lasting anywhere from 1 to 9 days. The study used self-reported questionnaires rather than blood markers, which is worth keeping in mind, but the gap between groups was substantial enough to reach statistical significance.
Beyond this specific trial, wolfberries themselves have a long track record in traditional Chinese medicine and a growing body of research supporting their antioxidant properties. The combination of wolfberry with other high-antioxidant fruits like aronia and pomegranate creates a formula that’s more concentrated than any single-fruit juice.
How to Take It
Young Living recommends drinking 1 to 2 ounces twice per day. Most people take it as a quick shot, similar to a wellness shot you’d find at a juice bar. It’s best served chilled, and many users mix it with sparkling water or add it to smoothies. The taste is tart and fruity, leaning heavily on the berry and citrus flavors.
At the recommended serving size, a single 750 mL bottle lasts roughly 6 to 12 days depending on whether you take it once or twice daily. It’s sold individually, in two-packs, and in single-serving sachets designed for travel.
Sourcing and Quality Standards
The wolfberries in NingXia Red come from the Ningxia province in north-central China, a region known for producing some of the highest-quality goji berries in the world due to its alkaline soil and high-altitude growing conditions. Young Living operates a partner farm and distillery in the region that was selected after an extended vetting process.
The farmland must pass testing for pesticides, heavy metals, and other potential contaminants before planting begins. After harvest, berries are cleaned and pureed to preserve the nutrients from both juice and pulp. All individual ingredients are tested before being combined, and the finished bottles go through two additional rounds of quality checks before shipping.
Safety Considerations
NingXia Red is generally well tolerated by healthy adults. However, because it contains wolfberry (goji berry), there are a few groups who should be cautious. Goji berries have been reported to interact with warfarin, a common blood-thinning medication, potentially increasing its effects. If you take blood thinners, talk to your pharmacist or doctor before adding this to your routine.
Safety data on goji berry consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding is limited, so most health references recommend avoiding it during those periods as a precaution. The drink does contain small amounts of citrus essential oils, which are safe at the concentrations used in the formula but could be a consideration for people with citrus sensitivities.