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NO-NO TO NONI JUICE
Following my recent story on pomegranate
juice, readers wrote in
asking about noni juice. Is it as good as
pomegranate, they asked?
Given the quantity of mail, it seems that there
are some very
impassioned drinkers of noni out there. But, I am sorry to
report
that according to our experts, noni does not measure up to its
claims.
While there may be interesting compounds in noni juice and
some
benefit to drinking it, there is little information or evidence to
back up the extravagant health claims being made by marketers, says
David Winston, founding member of the American Herbalist Guild and
coauthor of Herbal Therapy and Supplements: A Scientific and
Traditional Approach (Lippincott). In fact, multiple noni juice
purveyors on the Web have been sent letters from the US Food and
Drug
Administration, warning them to tone down their reckless,
hyped-up claims.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0781726433/blpnet
NOTHING CAN DO EVERYTHING
Noni juice comes from the Morinda
citrifolia fruit, which is grown in
the South Pacific in exotic locales
such as Tahiti. Its boosters
assert that noni juice is a miracle tonic
that lowers cholesterol,
cures headaches, relieves arthritis pain, lessens
the symptoms of
cancer, boosts energy and improves allergy and asthma
symptoms.
Other ailments marketers claim are helped by noni: High blood
pressure,
artherosclerosis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, drug
addiction,
AIDS and pain. The list goes on and on.
But nothing can
do everything, observes Winston. And when sales
materials state or imply
that a product can do just that, you should
take pause. He adds that most
traditional uses of noni juice were
actually as an external, topical
treatment for cuts, wounds and
the like.
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO
BE TRUE...
To add insult to injury, noni juice is expensive and has an
unpleasant odor and flavor, which Winston compares with rancid
cheese.
As for safety concerns, two cases of liver toxicity were
attributed to
noni juice in a study reported in the August 2005
edition of the World
Journal of Gastroenterology. Because the juice
is high in potassium, it
should not be used by people with kidney
disease or those taking
potassium-sparing diuretic drugs. This
could result in a dangerous buildup
of potassium in the body.
The bottom line: If it sounds too good to be
true, it probably is.
In this case, the claims for noni juice are
definitely too good to
be true.
Be well,
Carole Jackson
Bottom Line's Daily Health News
