Tahitian Noni

O.K. Dopers I need your brains!

I work closely with a few people who promote Tahitian Noni Juice. I’ve been very sceptical of Noni and it’s claims. However I hear the info often and my scepticism is waning. These are all people who I respect very much and I value their opinion. They have never tried to sell me the product or sign me up or acted smarmy in anyway. I also sell a product that is all natural, however my company has been in business for 40 years, there have been many independent studies and my product, or similar is used by most of the top companies in the world.

So what I am asking, aside from your opinions on MLM setups, what do you know about Noni Juice? It’s a difficult thing to Google because there are so many sites that are related to the Noni companies and it’s hard to sort the propaganda from the unbiased info. I’ve checked out quackwatch however all the articles refer to other knockoff Noni juice companies.

Thanks for your time,
Barrels

I can’t give any firsthand information, but I have a cousin with lupus who swears by the stuff. She’s never tried to sell me anything - I don’t even know if she sells it - but she swears it has given her relief from some of the symptoms of the disease.

Go to the scholarly articles section and do a search. There do seem to be a couple of studies, including one where it supposedly protects the liver.

This is hardly the answer you’re looking for - I don’t have any experience with the actual product, but I am extremely skeptical.

Once while I was living in the Provo, UT area, I applied for a job in the newspaper, only to be sucked into their MLM recruiting spiel when I showed up for the “interview”. The location was in a newly-leased office space; it looked like they’d been there less than a week, but there were hundreds of people crammed into this tiny area. They were very aggressive about talking me into becoming a drone, and kept pushing me and shuffling me from “interview” to “interview” around the office area, asking me repeatedly if I thought TN was the greatest thing ever, offering to sell me the introductory video and sales package, and generally refusing to answer my questions. (One question, “what is Tahitian Noni?” went unanswered until the 3rd or 4th handler.) I eventually realized that I could not leave the building without getting rude. On my way out, as I was shoving my way past my handler to get to the outside door, the receptionist asked me if I wanted some flyers to spread around.

When I got outside, shaking and sweating profusely, I realized that, for the first time in my life, I was literally sick with rage.

This particular operation was gone, lock stock and barrel, within a month. Whether they were shut down, or ran out of drones or money, or moved to another location, I have no idea.

One rather telling factoid about TN: it’s based in Provo, Utah. Lots of shady MLM companies thrive there, feeding on the enthusiasm and cold-calling expertise of freshly returned Mormon missionaries. It’s been my experience that the greatest customer base for these companies are their own salespeople.

Another data point which only serves to fuel my skepticism: it’s a one-size-fits-all-ailments commodity. In other words, snake oil. If you really want to get into this business, I’m sure you could come up with cheaper (and probably more effective) on your own.

I, like Subway Prophet, have made my escape from behind the Zion Curtain - I lived in Utah from 1991-2005. My SIL worked for Tahitian Noni for a couple of years. She wasn’t part of the MLM; she worked in the corporate offices doing some sort of data entry or admin work, I believe. Here are some choice soundbites for SIL Cathy about Noni:

“It invigorates the liver!”
“It cleanses the kidneys!”
“It purifies the body of toxins!”
“<Woman’s name> wrote a great article in our newsletter about how it shrank her husband’s tumor!”
“Me? No, I don’t drink it. Hell no. And we can have it for free at the office.”

So, while Cathy did drink the Flavor-Aid, she did not drink the Noni juice.

:dubious: :smiley:

Thanks for the input everyone!

Anyone else?

Read the label, is it a nutrition label or a supplement facts label? I am dealing right now with friends who acting cult like about Xango.

I know one of the CEO’s of Xango used to be or is still involved with Noni juice. And all the exec’s of Xango look very healthy, tan, rich. They sell the business first the product second, in fact the MLM scheme is all about getting excited over the business opportunity. Just find distributors and you dont even have to drink the stuff.

So I read the Xango label, and its a mangosteen blend then pear, apple, etc fruit juices. I just dont buy that it is the elixir of health and youth. Especially when the label doesnt tell me about the nutrition or even how much vitamin c is in the bottle. I am very skeptical and I’ve decided to tell my friends that I am just not crazy abvout red fruit juice and I’ll keep drinking my Green Goodness from boltthouse farms TYVM!

I am also going to stop giving them my counter arguments against Xango because I know they will just say whatever pops into their head! :dubious:

GOod God and this is the land of Amway havent they learned anything? only those at the top of the scheme get rich!

I think a lot of the testimonial is really a placebo effect taking place.

My BIL bought a bottle of this crap (noni juice). Aside from expensive, it tastes like very seet grape juice. As for its (alleged) health effects-let me say, it works as well as grape juice. Isn’t there SOME way that the FDA can shut these rackets down? Or can you sue these people (when you find out the supplement isn’t good for anything)?
Its the same snake oil racket that’s been going on for years.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, prevent, sure or treat any disease.

Tahitian Treat, on the other hand, is delicious.

Let’s see here:

Total Google Scholar hits on noni:
~1500
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Morinda+citrifolia&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search

Oldest Google Scholar pharmaceutical related search result for noni juice:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=13525210&dopt=Citation

Number of randomized clinical trials regarding the effectiveness of noni to actually prevent, treat, or cure any disease? One.
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089%2Facm.2004.10.737

Total number of patients completing that study? Eight.

Let’s just say that clinical evidence for noni to do diddly-squat for anyone in spite of 45+ years of intensive study is rather unimpressive.

You need to bookmark Quackwatch. Here is a link to a search from the main page. Link. There’s more. Let your fingers do do the walking. And repeat after me : “If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.”

TN is a scam, pure and simple.

Please, do me a favor go back to my OP and reread it.

OK. Done.

There’s no reason to suppose that any particular company’s noni juice is superior to another’s.

I’d go with cranberry juice or pomegranate juice. They’re not wonder juices either, but their possibly beneficial aspects are a little more solidly studied.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I just wanted to point out that this made me laugh all day long. It’s funny because it’s true.

Thanks all for your opinions. I’ve decided to wait until I see some better research to jump on the band wagon.

Barrels