Goji Vs. Noni

Every day it seems as if a new "superfood" is discovered. These superfoods promise cures for chronic diseases and secrets to living a long, healthy life. With so many roots, teas, berries and juices claiming to be the answer, it is hard to distinguish one from the other. Here's a quick guide to two of the most popular--and mysterious--superfoods.

Geography

• Morinda citrifolia, better known as Tahitian noni or Indian mulberry, is a fruit-producing tree that's native to Southeast Asia, but is commonly found throughout the Indian subcontinent, Costa Rica and the Pacific Islands. Found in a variety of habitats, the noni can thrive in volcanic areas as well as in dense rain forests.
  Goji berries, also called wolfberry, are found in the moderate to sub-tropic regions of Asia, including China, Mongolia and in the Himalayas of Tibet. It is speculated that origin of the word "goji" is from the simplified Mandarin word for the plant. Similar to other nightshade family plants, like tomatoes and chili peppers, wolfberry is a flowering plant that produces a berry. In southern regions of China, goji berry plants are generally more than three feet tall, whereas in northern China, the plants can grow to over nine feet.

Features

• Noni, a plant related to the coffee family, is found in both shaded forest areas and on sandy shores. With its high tolerance for drought, the noni flowers and produces fruit year-round. During ripening, the fruit, (oval-shaped and roughly three inches in size) produces a pungent odor. Although the fruit, which is almost white when ripe, is bitter, the noni (and its seeds) can be consumed raw or cooked.
  A perennial that produces flowers with five petals, the goji berry plant produces an oblong, redish- orange berry (containing 10 to 60 tiny seeds) that is normally one to two cm long. Ripening in the Northern hemisphere usually occurs from mid-summer to mid-fall

Benefits

• In traditional Hawaiian medicine, the green noni fruit is used to treat menstrual irregularities and assuage cramps, while the root is used to treat urinary disorders. In Indonesia, primarily Java, the dye, produced by the bark of the plant, is used to dye clothing. Although linoleic acid, found in noni seed oil, is also believed to reduce acne, retain moisture and act as an anti-inflammatory, these claims have not been verified.
  For more than 6,000 years, herbalists and alchemists have used goji berries to boost the immune system, protect the liver from disease, improve circulation (particularly in the legs), increase fertility and promote longevity. While many of these claims have yet to be scientifically confirmed, goji berries have been proven to be rich in antioxidants, specifically carotenoids, which are known to protect the retina of the eye and believed to decrease the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Traditionally, dried goji berries are cooked and added to soup as a tonic or boiled to make herbal teas.

Warning

• While the noni fruit, and the juice extracted from it, has been touted as one of the best-kept health secrets, no noni products (powders, capsules or juice) have been licensed for medicinal or therapeutic purposes. Research has shown that many commercial noni products contain high levels of potassium, which may cause hyperkalemia in people with advanced kidney disease (see Resources). A 2005 study also suggested that a toxin found in the roots and fruit of the plant may cause acute hepatitis. Athletes who use noni products should also be aware that some of the commercial juices have been banned by various sports programs.
  Some recent reports from elderly women have shown that drinking large quantities of wolfberry tea has increased the occurrence of bleeding. Studies also suggest that goji berries, consumed as tea, can hinder anticoagulant metabolism.

Potential

• Although medical researchers were unsuccessful in using noni to treat cancer, recent experiments have shown increased physical endurance after consumption of noni juice. While these findings have yet to be tested in humans, there are reports of noni juice lowering cholesterol and decreasing growth of cancerous tissues in mice.
  Goji berries have yet to undergo extensive study, but some reported potential medical benefits include treatment of cardiovascular diseases and decreasing the risk of developing glaucoma and cancer (see Resources).