What is Noni and Why to Include it in Your Diet
Blog Nutrition & Recipes What is Noni and Why to Include it in Your Diet
Noni is a truly wonderful fruit, one that has been front and center in the health world for the better part of two decades thanks to the many benefits it can provide. Noni juice is, indeed, among the most popular health beverages, one sold around the world for a vast number of remedies and holistic cures.
Derived from a plant called Morinda citrifolia, the noni fruit is common to Southeast Asia, India, Australia, and, most commonly, the Polynesian islands. Also known as the Indian mulberry or the Great morinda, it’s a fruit that has been utilized by Polynesian peoples in traditional folk medicine for more than 2,000 years.
The lumpy, mango-sized fruit has a smell that some say reminds them of “stinky cheese” (which is where it gets its nickname of “cheese fruit” from), but the juice, though not the tastiest, offers an incredible list of health benefits.
Benefits of Noni Juice
Packed with nutrients. Noni juice is rarely sold pure, due to the less-than-pleasant taste and high processing cost of the fruit. Typically, it’s mixed with other juices, including apple, cranberry, grape, blueberry, and other concentrates. This means that various Noni juice products offer varying nutritional profiles.
However, the one Noni juice that has typically been used for studies (the Morinda Inc. brand “Tahitian Noni Juice”) is made with 89% noni fruit. In a single 100 ml serving, the juice offers some pretty excellent nutritional value [1]:
- 33% of your daily Vitamin C dose
- 17% of your daily biotin dose
- 4% of your daily magnesium dose
- 6% of your daily folate dose
- 3% of your daily calcium, Vitamin E, and potassium doses
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Anti-Toxin. In one review of published human intervention studies [2], Noni juice was found to offer protection against a number of different sources of toxicity. First of all, it proved capable of protecting against tobacco smoke-induced DNA damage, as well as systemic inflammation triggered by smoking and other conditions. It also protected against homocysteine elevation, high blood lipids, and C-Reactive Proteins that are markers of inflammation.
Rich in antioxidants. The above-mentioned review found “notable antioxidant activity in Noni juice, more so than other fruit juices which served as trial placebos”. The antioxidants in Noni juice not only improved immune function, but also interacted with the inflammatory pathways to reduce systemic inflammation.
Chief among the antioxidants in Noni juice are Vitamins C and E, beta carotenoids (which your body turns into Vitamin A), and iridoids. It’s these iridoids that provide the DNA protection and reduce toxicity caused by heavy smoking [3].
Improved Joint Health – One of the oldest uses for Noni juice is to treat joint pain and improve mobility. The anti-inflammatory benefits of Noni juice can decrease the swelling caused by injuries, arthritis, and other joint conditions, allowing for greater freedom of movement and reducing pain. In fact, in the Caribbean, one of the names for Noni meant “pain killer” [4] for this very reason.
A study published in the Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences [5] compared the effectiveness of Noni juice to physiotherapy for treating neck pain. Out of 90 patients studied, those who received just Noni juice showed improvements on par with those who only underwent the physiotherapy. And, of course, those who received both the juice and physiotherapy saw the greatest improvement in their neck pain, as well as reduced neck stiffness.
A study from Functional Foods in Health and Disease [6] examined the effects of Noni juice on osteoarthritis patients. The research discovered that, “Patients reported being significantly more satisfied with their current health conditions including mobility, walking and bending, hand, finger, and arm functions, household tasks, social activity, arthritis pain, work ability, level of tension, and mood. The study participants were also more positive about their future health and reported taking less over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers.”
Enhanced Athletic Performance – Pacific Islanders ate Noni juice during their long ocean voyages and fishing trips, believing that it boosted their stamina and strengthened their bodies. Recent research has backed up that claim with scientific evidence.
In one 2008 study [7], 40 highly-trained endurance athletes drank 100 mL of Noni juice twice a day, then performed treadmill runs to test their endurance. The researchers discovered that not only did antioxidant activity in their body increase noticeably, but the athletes’ time-to-fatigue increased by 21%, and. That’s a pretty stellar improvement when you consider that some of those athletes ran up to 10 kilometers. Being able to run 21% longer (2.1 km) or fatiguing more slowly can make a massive difference for endurance athletes, as well as all athletes and weight trainees.
Boosted Immunity – Not only does Noni juice protect the body from smoking-induced DNA damage, but it can actually improve the immune function of both smokers and non-smokers alike. One study [8] found that feeding Noni juice to calves increased their resistance to E.coli bacteria, while another study [9] conducted on mice modulated their immune systems and improved their immune responses overall.
A Chinese study [10] tested directly on humans and found that Noni juice supported immune function and increased antioxidant activity, reducing the damage oxidative stress caused to the body.
As you can see, Noni juice offers a pretty amazing array of science-backed health benefits. If you are looking for an immune-boosting, antioxidant-rich, pain-killing, toxin-eliminating remedy that has the potential to drastically improve your health, give this one a try!
Resources:
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/sci-com_scf_out151_en.pdf
[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29641454/
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24804023/
[5] https://www.ajol.info//index.php/njhbs/article/view/11590
[6] https://www.ffhdj.com/index.php/ffhd/article/view/138
[7] https://academicjournals.org/journal/JMPR/article-full-text-pdf/736746415191
[8] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18346148/
[9] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18063495/
[10] https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10027420434/
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