Saturday Quack – Noni is Phony!

The huxters in the Cook Island paradise of Rarotonga extol the virtues of noni: a cure for cancer (no less), stress, low immunity, sexual problems, urinary disorders, bowel difficulties, and so on. I'm glad that Rarotonga (as well as Hawaii, the Marquesas and Society Islands) have found a new source of income, now that copra isn't selling like it used to. However, I’m upset that gullible westerners are being taken for a ride by claims of miraculous cures by an untested product. Often it's those who can least afford it who are encouraged to buy these spurious cures.

The noni huxterism isn’t confined to the Pacific islands. You can read some of the claims made for noni juice at the "Noni-is-good-for-you" website, and the arguments against using it at Quackwatch. Caveat emptor!

Comments

[Kim Polvi]

PHOENIX, Ariz., March 2 – Noni, an indigenous plant of the South Pacific used in Polynesian folk medicine for over 2,000 years, may lower total cholesterol and triglycerides, according to a study reported today at the American Heart Association’s 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. After one month’s use, noni juice significantly reduced cholesterol and triglycerides in current smokers with elevated cholesterol levels.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038030

[Robert Griffith]

Kim:
Thanks for this comment. I'm delighted that noni juice has shown useful activity in an apparently well-designed and well-controlled study. I look forward to its publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
I'd feel better still if similar studies were done to support noni's claims of effectiveness in cancer, low immunity, sexual problems, etc.

Bob G.