Noni side effects: reported allergy

What reports of noni side effects have been published?

Since 2004, when Dr. Solomon wrote “Noni is Safe … When it comes to noni, specifically [TNJ®], put your mind at rest,” there has been one report of liver toxicity. I want to explore these reports in the context of the overall safety record of this supplement.

Noni juice is relatively high in potassium. While this is not a problem for the majority, anyone who has been put on a low potassium diet should discuss this with their practitioner.

Dr Solomon recommends the product prepared by Tahitian Noni International® (previously Morinda Inc). He states that he has encountered noni side effects, but these were reported by people who consumed preparations from different sources. See interview with James Jamison (Solomon, 2005).

He reports mild symptoms, probably arising from allergy to the juice: belching, gas, diarrhoea, slight rash, itching. He recommends reducing the amount until the undesirable symptoms disappear.

If these occur to you, you will also want to decide whether these are noni side effects ... or positive signs of detox (see the relevant section of this site) as part of your body's response to taking the juice.

Noni side effects: Cautions for those with severe allergies or intolerances

"In the case of a major allergic reaction (persistent diarrhoea, hives [nettle rash], swelling, or difficulty in swallowing or breathing) stop drinking ... immediately. When all the symptoms disappear you may try drinking ... again at half the amount. If possible, slowly build back up to a more helpful amount." (Solomon 2004, p. 6)

I'm uncomfortable with this advice. Mine would be: if you experience major allergic symptoms, stop. Do not continue. Seek advice about these particular symptoms, urgently if need be.

If you are taking the product for its antioxidant benefit, you could achieve the same by finding another natural source of antioxidants. You would then be spared the side effects of noni juice. My advice would be to proceed cautiously with the new product, too.

This advice applies to people who experience any increasingly severe allergic reactions, or who may suffer from a range of food or other intolerances. I've found that people with this kind of problem can also be exceptionally sensitive to homeopathic remedies. Great care is needed in introducing any new substance to the diet.

The symptoms we're concerned with here may be familiar from stories about major allergies to nuts. You might also be aware that repeated exposure seems to cause a gradually increasing sensitivity in some people.

An example: insect stings that are experienced normally at first, but that create stronger and stronger reactions with repeated stings. So, the bee keeper who has been repeatedly stung (with little ill-effect, only local pain, swelling and redness) is stung once too often and reacts very strongly to that last sting.

The condition that this can lead to is called anaphylactic shock (anaphylaxis), and is treated with immediate intra muscular adrenaline. It is a serious emergency, requiring immediate help in severe cases.

Don't be lulled into thinking that this is a trivial noni side effect.

Beware in case repeated exposure to juice or any other supplement causes you to become increasingly sensitive.

While this is one of the potential side effects of noni juice, but I judge this to be a rare event, most likely in those who are experiencing frequent and severe allergic reactions to other substances

Noni side effects: TAHITIAN NONI Juice® is exceptionally safe

During the second world war, it was passed safe by the US military. Troops were advised to use it as a safe source of food in the event that regular provisions ran low.

TAHITIAN NONI Juice® is regularly quality controlled. It is screened for the presence of 300 toxins and consistently shows negative results. It is pateurised (like milk) before bottling.

The European Novel Food Act Comittee passed this particular product for sale as a novel food in Europe in 2002. About the side effects of noni juice, the committee concluded: "There were no indications of adverse effects from laboratory animal studies, on subacute and subchronic toxicity, genotoxicity and allergenicity." (Quoted in Solomon, 2004, p. 5)

Some individuals have consumed as much as 7 litres a day, with no ill effects.

The worldwide use of noni is truly huge. I'm fairly certain that this would have resulted in many more reports of problems had there been intrinsic safety issues. See more in the "Why Natural?" section of this site.

Noni side effects: noni and liver problems

In case it is not clear from the text below, my interpretation of this report is that the liver toxicity may have been caused by other factors rather than this be a clear side effect of noni juice in this patient.

Most common noni side effects:

If you search the web, the most common side effects people talk about are: better sleep, better energy, more vitality and clarity of thinking!

Noni side effects: annotated bibliography and references:

Neil Solomon MD PhD (2005) Noni Juice – how much, how often, for what. Interviewed by James Jamison [DVD] Orem, Utah: Direct Source Publishing

Report of liver problems as one of the possible noni side effects:

Vanessa Stadlbauer, Peter Fickert, Carolin Lackner, Jutta Schmerlaib, Peter Krisper, Michael Trauner, Rudolf E Stauber (2005) Hepatotoxicity of NONI juice: Report of two cases World J Gastroenterol ;11(30): 4758-4760

From the abstract:“A 29-year-old man with previous toxic hepatitis associated with small doses of paracetamol developed sub-acute hepatic failure following consumption of 1.5 L NONI juice over 3 wk necessitating urgent liver transplantation. A 62-year-old woman without evidence of previous liver disease developed an episode of self-limited acute hepatitis following consumption of 2 L NONI juice for over 3 mo. The most likely hepatotoxic components of Morinda citrifolia were anthraquinones. Physicians should be aware of potential hepatotoxicity of NONI juice.”

Note that the TNJ® was consumed for three weeks before admission. A group of Chinese herbs were consumed for nine days before admission and the patient had previously been admitted with liver toxicity from a relatively low dose of paracetamol. He had also taken homeopathic preparations. One possible interpretation is that this patient had pre-existing liver sensitivity that predisposed him to this problem. It is curious that the researchers point to noni juice and seem to exclude the mixture of Chinese herbs as a possible cause.

Dr. Solomon agrees that he has seen adverse reactions (nothing as alarming as this). These were never associated with Tahitian NONI Juice® (TNJ®), but with juice of uncertain origin. He commends the quality control and safety practices of the TNJ® manufacturing process.

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