Inside Noni: The Top 4 Most Beneficial Compounds

In today’s world of highly-processed, nutritionless foods, it’s hard to be sure you’re getting access to the countless micronutrients available from the wide variety foods available to us. Americans in particular are eating more and more calories, while obtaining fewer and fewer nutrients.

Eating a diet of mainly whole, raw foods helps, but even our fruits and vegetables have depleted nutrients due to lost soil fertility, poor agricultural practices, and selective breeding for shelf life rather than nutrition. Organic is better, but even industrially-produced organic foods may be nutritionally lacking.

Luckily, nature provides foods like noni, which act as a broad-based supplement and preventative against the symptoms of our western diets: inflammation, diabetes, excessive free radicals, exhaustion, depression, upset stomach...the list goes on.

The whole noni fruit is so potent because it’s packed with over 165 beneficial compounds, including vitamins, minerals, 17 out of 20 essential amino acids, countless beneficial enzymes, and many others. Here are four of the compounds in noni that have the biggest impact on health, including a few you may not have heard of!

1. Scopoletin

This compound is a phytochemical, which means it’s a biologically active compound in a plant. Scopoletin is found in the roots of plants of the genus Scopolia, including chicory and stinging nettle. But it’s also found in the pulp of raw noni fruit!

Powerful Painkiller

In many studies, scopoletin has made a name for itself as a potent painkiller. One study published in Phytotherapy Research (24[1]:38-42) by researchers from the University Clinic in Hamburg, Germany, reported that noni fruit’s analgesic activity “reduced the pain sensitivity comparably to the central analgesic drug tramadol.” When extracts of noni fruit puree were applied, the “effect was comparable to hydrocortisone.” The best part — noni fruit has no side effects or known toxic level.

The compound responsible was believed to be scopoletin. Scopoletin is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which may contribute to this ability. To top it off, scopoletin is antibacterial and antifungal. Basically, it’s a healing injury’s best friend.

Mood Enhancer

Scopoletin’s painkiller power may be related to another known effect of the phytochemical: mood elevation. This compound binds with serotonin to keep levels elevated. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, hunger, temperature, and more.

For this reason, scopoletin is being tested as a possible depression treatment. It’s mood-enhancing properties combined with its analgesic (painkilling) powers make Noni a possible quality of life enhancement for people undergoing chemotherapy & radiation treatment.

2. Anthraquinones

Noni also contains a wide variety of anthraquinones. Anthraquinones are a type of phenol produced by some plants. Many phenols, including a number of anthraquinones, have shown evidence of being beneficial for human health.

Some of the anthraquinones in noni are antibacterial agents, able to help protect injuries from infection. Others fight enzymes that break down collagen in the body, which may slow down the aging process. Many anthraquinones also help regulate smooth digestion.

Damnacanthal

The anthraquinone most of interest to noni researchers is called damnacanthal, which likely helps protect plants from UV damage and parasites.

Damnacanthal has been shown to stimulate T cells, which may help fight cancerous and precancerous cells. In particular, it seems to be effective against Lewis lung carcinoma. Go to pubmed.gov and look up “damnacanthal noni” if you want to learn the specifics.

There is also evidence that damnacanthal prevents and kills parasites!

Dietary Fiber: Soluble & Insoluble

Fiber, of both the soluble and insoluble varieties, is critical for good health. Noni has both in abundance, but only if you preserve the raw pulp. Noni juice contains very little fiber, whereas Noni Fruit Leather is a very rich source.

Soluble fiber turns into a gel during digestion by absorbing water. This process slows digestion, ensuring maximal nutritional absorption and good elimination. But soluble fiber is also crucial for regulating weight and blood sugar levels.

Insoluble fiber doesn’t absorb water or break down much during digestion. It remains more or less intact, and this is what makes it so valuable for colon health. It’s especially good at reducing risk of hemmorhoids.

But the fact is, you need both soluble and insoluble fiber for optimum health. Luckily, noni fruit, including Noni Fruit Leather is a great source of both kinds of dietary fiber. But don’t go for the noni juice — that’s missing the pulp with all the good stuff!

Learn about the last beneficial compound in our original article!

Has Noni Fruit Leather improved your health? Tell us your story in the comments! We love hearing how noni changes lives.

What to Do if You Just Don’t Like How Noni Tastes

We’ll be the first to admit it: noni has an unusual flavor and smell. It’s most similar to bleu cheese, enough so that many people call it “Cheesy Fruit” or just “Stinky Fruit.” Some people call it “Vomit Fruit,” but we promise that one in particular isn’t accurate.

But it is a fact that many people are shocked by their first taste of noni fruit.

Many people try noni for the first time either when they try our Noni Fruit Leather, or when they sample noni fruit fresh from the tree when they visit our organic family farm on a tour. The fruit tastes better than it smells, but it’s always funny to watch people’s initial reaction on the farm tour.

Usually, you can acquire a taste for it over time, especially once you start to associate it with the mood and energy lift that comes with it. But if you really struggle with the taste of Noni Fruit Leather, here are some suggestions to help you get your daily dose of noni anyway.

Roll it Up Like a Pill

This is the easiest way to get your noni without having to taste much of it. It’s also a great way to get stubborn pets to take noni (although most pets seem to love how it tastes — they can tell it’s good for them).

First, portion out a 2x2 inch square of Noni Fruit Leather (our recommended dose) into a fewsmaller pieces. Then simply roll each of those pieces into a ball using your fingers and swallow them like pills. You still get all the health benefits of noni, but it doesn’t have to be in your mouth for very long!

Dissolve it in Liquid

Our Noni Fruit Leather has the unique property of being able to dissolve in liquids. This helps you swallow the noni more quickly, since you don’t have to chew it up. It also gives you the opportunity toadd a flavor that’s more palatable to you.

Try adding your 2x2 inch piece of noni to warm (not hot!) water while you’re steeping tea. Noni’s flavor goes well with many herbal teas. You can also add noni to your favorite juice — preferably homemade or organic.

Make Noni Tea

If mixing noni with your juice or tea still isn’t quite doing it for you, try the special Noni Iced Tea recipe we’ve developed here at Hawaiian Organic Noni! The recipe is naturally-sweetened, allergy-friendly, and totally organic.

You start by pureeing Noni Fruit Leather with water, and then add apple juice, more water, and cinnamon for a complex, fresh, naturally sweet flavor. We serve this tea at the start of every farm tour, and it’s always a hit!

Get the recipe by clicking here!

Create a Signature Smoothie Blend

You can also add Noni Fruit Leather to a smoothie blend, where the flavor will almost totally camouflage behind the other fruits you added. It’s particularly good in green smoothies and smoothies with lots of other tropical fruits.

Tip: Start your smoothie blend with just your liquid (water, juice, coconut water, or nut milk), your piece of noni fruit leather, and any vegetables you want to add. Blending these first helps make sure there aren’t any chunks of noni or vegetables in the final smoothie.

Once you have a smoothly blended liquid, add your fruit, thickeners, and other flavorings.

Try Noni Banana Fruit Leather

We also make a different version of our Noni Fruit Leather, which is the same as our regular recipe, but with the addition of real banana. The banana adds extra potassium, so you get all the beneficial compounds of noni, plus all the goodness of ripe banana.

Most importantly, the banana gives the fruit leather a more balanced, sweeter flavor. You can still get your daily dose of noni without having to work too hard to disguise the flavor — we do the work for you! You can also use Noni Banana Fruit Leather in any of the above ways!

Use Noni as a Bleu Cheese Substitute

Some people have difficulty mixing noni fruit’s unusual flavor profile with sweeter flavors, and do better getting their noni from a savory source. Noni actually makes a great bleu cheese substitutein dressings, salads, and dips!

We’ve developed a few recipes that use noni as a bleu cheese substitute. These recipes give you theflavor of bleu cheese, totally vegan and without the fat. Click here to take a look!

 Visit the original article to see why NOT to switch to Noni Juice.

Did you acquire a taste for noni? Or do you have to get creative to disguise the taste? Let us know in the comments!

5 Ways to Apply Noni Lotions

Got a new bottle of noni lotion and aren’t sure how best to use it? Or are you a longtime fan, looking for tips to make noni even more effective? There are so many ways to apply noni lotions for different kinds of aches, pains, and skin conditions, and we want to share some of our favorites with you.

We’ll share some of the best ways to apply our Noni Lavender Lotion, our IcyHeat formulas, Bio Bandage, and even our formula for pets!

 

All of our lotions have powerful health benefits to heal from the outside in:

• Help repair skin, muscle, and connective tissue
• Relieve pain and inflammation
• Packed with antioxidants
• Builds youthful, healthy skin when used over time

Here are our 5 favorite ways to use noni lotions for health, beauty, and pain relief.

Massage

An amazing way to use Noni Lavender Lotion or either of our IcyHeat formulas is to incorporate them into massage. All three formulas penetrate deep into the skin and muscles to heal on a cellular level. Whether for sports massage, self-massage, or couples massage, noni can help relieve pain and reduce tension.

Tips:

• Use Noni Lavender Lotion on more sensitive skin, or on skin with any kind of open wound, and only use the IcyHeat formulas on closed skin
• IcyHeat and IcyHeat Sports Formula are more effective if you apply them to the bottoms of the feet before massaging the sore area, because the feet are full of nerve endings!
• The IcyHeat Sports Formula has a helpful applicator tip to apply it where there’s the most pain

To use any of our noni lotions for massage, apply generously to the skin and massage with long strokes along sore muscles. Don’t rub the lotion in until dry, unless you want to exfoliate. Add more lotion to keep the skin lubricated as you massage, and then let the lotion air dry. All of our lotions are in a water-base, so please remember to apply to your skin before you apply any massage oil that would block our lotion from penetrating.

Daily Skin Treatment

Noni Lavender Lotion makes an amazing daily skin treatment for any kind of problem skin, including stretch marks, age spots, rosacea, and acne. The beneficial compounds in the noni pulp give your skin cells the crucial building blocks they need to create healthy, beautiful skin.

Tips:

• Our formula contains only noni pulp, water, lavender, and grapefruit seed extract, and is 2 % organic noni, toxin-free, and produced completely on our family-owned farm
• Noni contains selenium, which preserves skin elasticity, soothes irritation, and reduces redness
• Rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, acne, age spots, and more can all be reduced with Noni
• Noni contains collagen which acts as an anti-wrinkling agent on your skin

Apply a generous coat of Noni Lavender Lotion to the problem area and let dry. Use Noni Lavender lotion at least once a day for maintenance, and 3 or more times per day for more severe problem skin. Noni works over time, so keep applying each day and soon you will begin to see results.

Read the Full Version Here to Learn How to Use the Noni Bio Bandage as a Healing Facial Mask

Exfoliation

For clear, bright skin, it’s important to exfoliate frequently. But did you know that most exfoliants you buy in the store are actually too harsh for your skin? Noni is a gentle, effective exfoliant that removes dead skin without doing any damage to the living, growing skin cells.

Tips:

• Use our gentle, soothing Noni Lavender Lotion to exfoliate your face, neck, arms, chest, hands, feet, or any other part of the body
• If you want to exfoliate and relieve pain at the same time (on your knees, elbows, or feet, for example) you can use Icy Heat Noni Lotion
• Apply a second coat of noni lotion after you exfoliate to help revitalize newly exposed skin

Apply a generous coat of noni lotion to the area to be exfoliated and rub the lotion into your skin. Keep rubbing until little balls appear on your skin. Those balls are made up of dead skin that was ready to be sloughed off. Rub them off with a washcloth, apply a second coat of noni lotion, and let it air dry.

Pets

Your furry friends can get amazing benefits from noni lotion too, which is why we created our line of products for pets. Address skin conditions, joint pain, infections, and sores easily and naturally with Noni Pet Lotion.  Our Noni Pet lotion is a wonderful, organic flea repellant with no chemicals!!

Tips

• Noni Pet Lotion is the same formula as our Noni Lavender Lotion, but it comes in a bottle with an easy applicator tip so it’s easier to get under the fur to apply to your pet’s skin
• Use to put the spring back in your older pet’s step or to heal injuries
• Great to use as part of pet massage—you can bond while promoting your pet’s good health

Apply a generous amount of Noni Pet Lotion under your pets fur on its skin, wherever the problem area is. For sore joints and muscles, rub the lotion in with a gentle massage, then let dry. For hot spots, sores, and other localized injuries, apply directly to the open area and let it dry. Do your best to stop your pet from licking off the noni, although it’s safe for them to eat.

Furry friends and humans alike deserve healthy, pain-free skin, which is why we’re committed to providing the highest quality topical noni products on the market.

Noni Fruit, Potassium, and You

Morinda citrifolia, also known as Noni fruit, is a powerful food for healing. But recently, Noni has come under fire for the high levels of potassium it contains, which can be dangerous to some people. I want to address what small risk there is, clear up some misconceptions, and assure you that for most people, Noni fruit is beneficial in part because of its potassium levels.

Here are some facts about potassium, Noni fruit, and how they interact in your body.

Noni Fruit is a Good Source of Potassium

One of the many beneficial compounds in raw Noni fruit is potassium. Potassium is very important for the body, and the Institute of Medicine recommends that adults get 4.7 grams of potassium a day. That’s quite a bit!

For comparison, apples contain .2 grams of potassium, bananas contain .5 grams, and one serving of Hawaiian Organic Noni fruit leather contains .06 grams. If your body processes potassium normally, you’d have to eat a LOT of Noni Fruit Leather to even reach the recommended daily value, much less exceed it!

Here are just a few of the benefits of potassium in the body:

• Reduced risk of stroke
• Lower blood pressure
• Protects against loss of muscle mass
• Preservation of bones
• Reduced risk of kidney stones

Symptoms of potassium deficiency include weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, bloating, constipation, cardiac arrhythmia, and more.

For most people, the challenge is getting enough potassium, not worrying about getting too much.

Click here to learn why too much potassium can be dangerous for some people

Not All Noni Products are Created Equal

All of the cases linking Noni with dangerous levels of blood potassium were cases of individuals taking Noni juice. None of these cases are related to raw Noni, or Noni Fruit Leather made from raw Noni pulp. There are a lot of reasons why this is the case.

Noni juice is usually mixed with other kinds of fruit juice, or artificially sweetened to mask the taste. The added sugars cause blood sugar spikes, which actually weaken the kidneys. Diabetes is a huge risk factor for kidney disease, and people who have diabetes or who are at risk shouldn’t drink fruit juices with added sugar.

But Noni fruit leather contains no added sugars at all, and actually improves body’s ability to process potassium.  Research has identified over 165 beneficial compounds in the raw pulp of Noni Fruit.  Noni Fruit Leather from Hawaiian Organic Noni is raw food to feed the cells of the body. It contains compounds that normalize blood pressure, strengthen the heart, and fight diabetes by stabilizing blood sugar levels.

These benefits can even help get you off some of those medications that artificially raise blood potassium levels!

Noni juice is also fermented in order to preserve it, a process which destroys many of these beneficial compounds. It’s easy to see how Noni juice could worsen the body’s ability to process potassium, by causing blood sugar spikes and not supporting the kidneys and heart.

But Noni Fruit Leather is a raw, whole food, containing beneficial levels of potassium. Potassium is necessary for a healthy body, and many people are deficient in it. For most people, Noni is a great supplement for many nutrients, including potassium.

Top 10 Beauty Tips Using Hawaiian Organic Noni Lavender Lotion

Since noni contains about 165 beneficial compounds in its raw, unfermented form and has 110x the antioxidants as apples, it’s amazingly good at healing the skin. Our noni lotions are made of organic noni pulp, dried at a low heat to preserve the beneficial enzymes and compounds of the raw fruit. They’re water-based, and, in the case of our Lavender Lotion, lightly scented with a soothing, natural scent.

Because of Noni Lavender Lotion’s ability to heal, and it’s soothing, luxurious quality, it’s a great beauty product. Many high-end spas here in Hawaii use our products, and you can too! Here are some of our top beauty tips and rituals using Hawaiian Organic Noni Lavender Lotion. Enjoy!

Want to learn about how to use our Lavender Noni Lotion for Acne Prevention and Treatment? Click here!

Skin Discoloration

Skin discoloration, such as age-spots, are often caused by sun damage. Used over time, noni can help to heal that damage, allowing new, clear skin to emerge.

How to use: Apply to discolored area once or twice per day. Most people respond in 2-6 weeks

Treatment of Chronic Skin Conditions: Rosacea, Keratosis Pilaris, Eczema, Psoriasis

Over time, noni lotion has the power to treat these chronic skin conditions from the outside in. If you’re looking for an all-natural treatment that will achieve serious results, give Lavender Noni Lotiona try. It can alleviate inflammation, relieve pain, and soothe irritated skin.

Learn more here!

How to use:  Apply daily to the affected area, up to several times per day. You’ll feel some immediate relief, and over time, you can see long-term results.

Overnight Face Mask

You can get even more benefits by leaving noni lotion on your face overnight. This gives all those beneficial compounds time to really sink in and make an impact. You’ll wake up with fresher, revitalized skin.

How to use: Either the Noni Lavender Lotion or the Noni Bio Bandage can make a great mask. The Lavender Lotion will be a thinner mask, and the Bio Bandage will be thicker. Either way, spread a thin even coat on your clean face. Let it dry completely, and leave in place overnight, or for as long as you’d like. We recommend doing this about once per month, or more frequently if you desire.

Anti-Wrinkle Treatment

Noni helps add collagen back into your skin, giving you a more youthful appearance. It’s a great, all-natural treatment for wrinkles. Over time, the results can be amazing.

Our friend Noni Bob has been doing Demos for us applying our lotions to Tourist for over 15 years in Honolulu.  He became our first experiment on the anti-aging properties of noni applied topically. He notice that in 30 days of applying our Noni Lavender Lotion to his right arm, his age spots disappeared, his skin was soft and smooth plus the wrinkles began to fade away.  In doing the Demos, he applied noni to one arm and not the other. The difference is astonishing.

How to use: Apply to the whole face, neck, and other areas of concern 1-2 times per day. Around the eyes, mouth and other highly impacted areas, you may want to leave a thicker coat of lotion on your skin for several minutes before rubbing it in.

Hand Treatment

Your hands can be one of the first areas to show aging. There’s very little fat on the backs of your hands, so when collagen begins to break down, there’s very little buffer. Treatments that increase collagen, moisturize the skin, and improve skin tone can make a big difference. Lavender Noni Lotionis a great option.

How to use: Apply a thick coat of noni lotion to damp hands, giving them a good massage for about 30 seconds.  Relax your hands, and let the lotion sink in for up to several minutes. You can rinse off the excess, or rub it on another part of your body.

Exfoliation

When dead skin cells build up on the surface of your skin, several things happen. First, your skin’s appearance is visually impacted, appearing more dull and less vibrant. In addition, you form a layer that can trap oils under the surface of the skin, causing enlarged pores and acne.

It’s very important to frequently use a gentle, all-natural exfoliant like Lavender Noni Lotion to clear away dead skin.

How to use: Rub into your skin until the lotion goes dry. You’ll notice little balls forming on your skin. That’s the lotion getting to work exfoliating! We recommend exfoliating with noni once per week.

Foot Calluses

Foot calluses are very common, but fortunately, they can easily be treated. Calluses form when a part of your foot sustains a lot more pressure or friction on a regular basis. It’s your skin’s way of toughening up.

Having a little bit of callus isn’t a bad thing—it can prevent blistering. But they can easily become very unsightly, and even painful. It’s a good idea to treat them regularly to keep them from getting out of hand.

How to use: Soak your foot in warm water for about 20 minutes. Then scrub the callused area with a brush or pumice stone. Apply noni lotion liberally, then trap in the moisture by wearing cotton socks for a few hours.

Scalp Treatment

Don’t forget – your scalp is skin too! And just like the skin on your face or anywhere else, it needs some maintenance. Your scalp can get dry and flaky if it’s not properly moisturized. Just like with the skin on your face, getting dried out can actually cause oil to build up and clog your hair follicles.

Noni lotion is a great scalp treatment, which can rehydrate the scalp, clear away oil build-up, and even prevent hair loss.

How to use: Apply to your scalp with a cotton ball or your fingers. The best way to do this is to start in the middle and make little parts, one at a time, about one inch apart. Apply the lotion to the parts until your whole scalp has a light coat of lotion. Then spend several minutes massaging the lotion into your scalp. Let the lotion sit on your skin for about 20 minutes before washing it out. Do this about once per month.

Hair Mask

Noni is great for your hair as well! Many hair products and hair masks on the market today contain tiny amounts of noni extract, but you can get a much better effect from raw noni pulp, which is what our Lavender Noni Lotion is made of.

How to use: Apply to damp hair until all your hair is coated lightly. Wrap up your hair in an old towel or even in plastic wrap. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, and then rinse out thoroughly.