|
Noni, Fruit of the Pacific
by Jo Bascombe, March 2006 issue of Healthy Options
Legend has it that the noni tree was one of the plants that accompanied the early Polynesian explorers in their ocean-going canoes as they quested from Southeast Asia across the Pacific in search of new lands and homes.
This hardy tree that thrives on the rich, free-draining volcanic soil of the Polynesian islands is now being cultivated for harvesting. The noni tree grows to a height of fifteen to twenty feet and is covered in lush greenery. The flowers are clumps of small white blooms and the ripe fruit is yellow and white. At that time, it can smell atrocious, so is usually harvested and used while still green. It is about the size of a potatoe when ready for picking and covered with black dotted nodules; visually it is similar to a breadfruit when cut open with its creamy flesh and large seeds. It grows in its various forms in Indonesia, Australia, Southeast Asia and right across the Pacific.
Although the tree can fruit all year round, it is regularly harvested just into the wet season. The fruit juice is extracted and put through a fermentation process. The result is a dark brown liquid aout the colour of espresso. The taste is acrid, and although not pleasant, when mixed with blackcurrant or apple juice, it is tolerable. However, after taking it regularly for a month or so, the taste becomes less noticeable and the good it does overcomes most of the aversion to it.
Although eaten by some people either raw (with salt) or in a flavoursome dish such as curry, the taste is quite strong. The fruit was used to stave off famine and recommended to soldiers in the islands during World War II. The is one of those plants that all parts have a use for the fruit, leaves, bark and roots. The bark of the tree provies the brown dyes used in Indonesian batik, and the roots provide a yellow dye used by Hawaiians.
Various parts can be used in a tonic to reduce fever, as a solution for eye problems or as a poultice to treat breaks, cuts and infections. The fruit is used for anything from asthma to head lice, dysentery to regulating menstrual flow. In fact, the list reads like a bush man's medicine cabinet, and has been known about and used by local healers for thousands of years.
The science behind the noni juice is still being actively researched. What is known so far is that our cells have a tiny alkaloid in them that helps to regulate proteins, repair cells and enhance the immune system. In the process, it lets our body make better use of the nutrients it receives. In an age where the food we consume has a high amount of acidity, is processed or has added flavour, this little alkaloid is overworked. The alkaloid is named xeronine (zer-o-neen) and has been researched by Dr Heinicke for 40 years. Noni has a small amount of xeronine in it, but large amounts of both proxeronine, the precusor to xeronine, and the enzyme proxeronase that is the trigger to release the xeronine fom the proxeronine. This all takes place in the intestines and it is important when taking noni, to try to do this on an empty stomach so the maximum amount of enzymes can reach the digestive track before being dissolved by the stomach acids.
Noni also contains a phytonutrient that enhances activity in the pineal gland in the brain where hormones such as serotonin are produced. This phytonutrient is believed to dilate blood vessels, normalising blood pressure; it is also believed to help in regulating sleep and temperature as well as the imbalances in a woman's cycle.
Noni is not a drug; it can be taken by just about anyone at any age or stage of their life. Although it is important for those already taking medicine to check with their doctor before starting noni, the indication is that noni allows the body to use the prescribed medicine more effectively and can sometimes help reduce the side-effects of regular medicines especially stomach upsets. It is so versatile, it is also used to treat animals, especially cats and dogs.
Noni is a great preventative medicine with the body using the supplement to enhance its health. Even in a healthy person, it can reduce premenstrual tension in woman, stress headaches and regulate sleep. Noni works at a cellular level and so the effects are not always obvious. The most common feedback is better digestion, calmer nerves and increase in physical energy. Some of the side-effects are more psychological being a sense of wellness, increase of excitement and a more positive attitude. Although it claims to be effective in lessening or improving symptoms of depression, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many other ailments, it is a dietary supplement, not a miracle cure. The results are so far varied and still more research needs to be done before definitive statements can be made.
Reference: Neil Solomon, M.D., Ph.D;
Noni Juice, The Tropical Fruit with 101 medicinal uses.
www.naturia.per.sg
www.cancerchoices.com
|
|
|
