Morinda citrofolia, also known as Indian mulberry or noni, is a tree in the coffee family that is found throughout the tropics. Although the roots, bark, stem, leaves and fruit from this tree have been used in Asian folk medicine for thousands of years, commercially-available noni juice is a fairly recent product, debuting in the 1990s. Noni juice has been touted as a cure-all for a host of health ailments, mostly unverified, but there are also potential side effects of which you should be aware before adding noni juice to your diet.
Gastrointestinal
Dr. Philip S. Chua of the Cebu Cardiovascular Center in the Philippines reported that stomach bleeding was seen as a side effect in two patients taking noni juice. Dr. Chua also points out that the manufacturer of one commercially-available noni juice product, Morinda, Inc., states that belching and diarrhea are possible in at least three percent of people who ingest the juice. If you suffer from any gastrointestinal conditions, you should probably use caution if you're considering taking noni juice.
Kidneys
Noni juice products aren't standardized, and some preparations are high in potassium. People with serious kidney disease can't excrete potassium normally, leading to a condition called hyperkalemia whereby higher-than-normal levels of potassium build up in the blood. In 2000, The Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences reported in the "American Journey of Kidney Disease" that a patient with chronic renal insufficiency who self-medicated with noni juice, developed hyperkalemia despite claiming to be on a low-potassium diet. When the noni juice was examined, it contained levels of potassium equal to tomato juice or orange juice. Therefore, if you have kidney disease, you should add noni juice to your list of foods to avoid.
Liver
The effects of noni juice on the liver are controversial. One study, published in the "World Journal of Gastroenterology" in August 2005, reported two cases of liver injury in patients who were taking noni juice, including a 29-year-old man with previous toxic hepatitis who needed an urgent liver transplant after consuming less than one-half gallon of noni juice over a three-week period. The researchers blamed the liver toxicity on anthraquinones present in the juice. A different study, reported in the same journal a year later, said that anthraquinones occur in the fruit in quantities too small to be of any toxicological significance and that the available data reveals no evidence of liver toxicity. If you do suffer from a liver condition, it may be prudent to avoid noni juice as a precaution.
Pregnancy
Researchers at the Federal University of Paraná Department of Pharmacology in Brazil published a study in the March 2010 issue of the "Journal of Ethnopharmacology" on the effects of noni juice in Wistar rats. They found that the juice appeared to delay ossification or the development of bones in the fetal rats, and concluded that the exposure of pregnant rats to aqueous extract or juice from the Morinda citrifolia plant may have adverse effects on the normal development of fetuses. Although this effect hasn't been studied in humans, it you're pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, you should avoid noni juice.
References
- Journal of Ethnopharmacology: Delayed ossification in Wistar rats Induced by Morinda Citrifolia L. Exposure During Pregnancy
- American Journal of Kidney Disease: Noni juice (Morinda citrifolia): Hidden Potential for Hyperkalemia?
- CEBU Cardiovascular Center: Is Noni Juice drying up?
- World Journal of Gastroenterology: Hepatotoxicity of NONI juice: Report of Two Cases
- World Journal of Gastroenterology: Noni juice is Not Hepatotoxic
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