What is noni? Does noni juice have a role in cancer treatment?

Other names for noni:

• Indian mulberry
• Hog apple
• Cheese fruit
• Morinda citrifolia (scientific name)

What is noni?

Noni, a tropical fruit, grows naturally in island soils rich in volcanic minerals in the Pacific Ocean. It has a tart, cheese-like odor. The people of Hawaii and other Polynesian islands where it grows know it as a protective and healing plant and use it as a traditional remedy. In particular, noni juice is being investigated for its health effects.

What are the health effects of noni?

Noni has shown tumor-shrinking ( anti-cancer ) effects in laboratory studies, but these results have not been confirmed in human clinical studies.

The juice of the noni fruit is used as a traditional cancer remedy in Polynesian cultures. Scientists isolated a particular fraction from noni juice, which is rich in complex sugars (noni juice extract). This noni juice extract, alone and in combination with chemotherapy drugs, lung cancer was able to increase survival in laboratory mice implanted with these cells. Scientists have not fully discovered how noni juice produces this effect, but they observe that it improves certain aspects of the immune system. Animal studies have also observed that noni juice slows the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells.

For which medical purposes is noni being tested?

Noni for cancer treatment

Laboratory studies in human cancer cell lines and animals show that noni extracts have anti-cancer effects both alone and together with chemotherapy drugs. However, clinical research has so far found no evidence that the same effect occurs in humans.

Noni for diabetes treatment

Although certain compounds in noni have anti-diabetic (diabetes-preventing / treating) properties in the laboratory, there is no clinical evidence supporting this use. In addition, noni fruits are rich in complex sugars and can therefore raise blood sugar rapidly.

-You may be interested in: Can people with diabetes eat fruit? Useful information about fruit and diabetes

Noni for lowering blood pressure

It does not have a blood-pressure-lowering effect.

Noni for activating the immune system

Laboratory studies show that noni juice improves certain aspects of the immune system, but there is no evidence that these results will always produce the same effect in the human body. There is also no clinical trial evidence that these effects occur in humans.

Noni as a painkiller

A study in laboratory mice supports this use, but clinical studies provide no evidence that the same effect occurs in humans.

Situations in which it should not be used

• Kidney failureif you have it: Noni is rich in potassium.
• Diabetesif you have it: Noni fruit juice has a high sugar content.
• If you use potassium-sparing diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers as blood pressure medications in your treatment.
• If you are receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy: Noni has antioxidant effects, and there are studies showing that antioxidants may trigger tumor growthas a possible effect. - If you take medicines such as Coumadin that are blood thinners : Noni juice may reduce the effectiveness of coumadin.
• If you use medicines such as phenytoin for epilepsy : Noni juice may reduce the effectiveness of anti-epilepsy medicines.
• If you take medicines to increase the movement (motility) of the stomach and intestines. Noni has a similar action and may affect the absorption of other drugs or increase their side effects.

Side effects of noni

Cases reported in the medical literature:

• Noni juice use has been observed to worsen underlying kidney failure.
• After 3 weeks of drinking 1.5 liters of noni juice daily, a 29-year-old man, and another man aged 56 who regularly drank noni juice, developed liver failure requiring liver transplantation.
• A 62-year-old woman, after more than 3 months consuming 2 liters of noni juice, developed acute hepatitis (liver inflammation). She recovered after stopping noni juice intake. 
• A 41-year-old woman developed coumadin resistance after taking noni fruit juice concurrently with the blood thinner coumadin. This resolved after she stopped drinking noni juice.