From: drbruce <drbruce@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Noni (Tahitian) juice: "Super-food"?
Dear Sal,
In your response to Mary, you commit the same pseudo-scientific fallacy of
attacking a micro-nutrient product that has no medical/clinical research
that supports its health claims and then cleverly promote another product
line (USANA) without indicating or showing that this company's product has
medical/clinical research to support your "ideas" about a synergetic
produced in such cases." (I believe you intended to say "synergistic effect")
You then try to say that your notion is somehow "documented by the
literature which demonstrates the synergetic effective produced in such
cases" but you fail to cite the literature that supports your statements
and/or USANA's specific products. Like so many others who have written on
this website about nutrition and products manufactured by specific
companies, you have failed to prove your case scientifically, albeit
objectively. It sounds like you have employed "pseudo-scientific hype."
And I believe we have already seen this tact on this website in the past
and found it to be misleading advertisements for some company's products.
We don't need another clever way to advertise a company's product. If the
product works, then put up the scientific evidence that it does so and let
all of us scrutinize that evidence ourselves and come to our own
conclusions. If the product has value, it will stand the test of
scientific rigor -- otherwise it won't.
Sincerely, Bruce Harshman, Ph.D.
>From: Sal De Lello <saldel@erols.com>
>Subject: Re: Noni, traditional plant juice in Tahiti: Any experience?
>
>> From: Mary Carol Williams <mcwms@lanl.gov>
>> Subject: Noni
>>
>> I read a newsletter about "Noni", a plant juice used for years in
>> Tahiti for its medicinal value. The testimonials from medical professionals
>> and users sounded too good to be true. It helped pain, cancer, MS,
>> arthritis,carpel tunnel syndrome..... Anyone on the list have experience
with
>> this magical liquid?
>>
>> Mary Carol Williams
>> ESH-3/CIC-18
>> MS B-252
>> Los Alamos National Laboratory
>> Los Alamos, NM 87545
>> 505-665-5880/ fax 505-665-3812
>> e-mail mcwms@lanl.gov
>
>Dear Mary:
>
>Tahitian Noni juice is produced by Morinda, a start up MLM. Other MLM
>companies have picked up on this product because of its hype value. The
>Morinda product is good tasting and supplies a high quantity of selected
>micro-nutrients. It is a "super-food" like blue-green algae, and as such
>is very effective when the subject has poor dietary nutrition and has
>major deficiencies among those provided by the super food. However, no
>"super food" provides optimal overall nutrition that can benefit the
>masses.
>
>There are supplement manufactures like USANA, which provide complete and
>systematic orthomolecular nutrition and broad based high potency
>anti-oxidants and free radical scavengers.
>
>The health claims by USANA and such companies are similar since the
>illnesses described in your e-mail are often caused or exacerbated by
>one or more micro-nutrient deficiencies or by excessive free radical
>damage. However, the scope of individuals benefited by Noni, or any
>single super food, are anecdotal and will be much smaller than those
>obtaining the same or greater benefit from broad based and balanced
>product lines like USANA or any other high quality balanced product
>line.
>
>To my knowledge there are no studies to prove any claims about Noni
>juice and I have not been able to obtain a nutrient analysis from any
>company promoting the product. The newsletter you read may simply be
>promotional material by an independent distributor. Any health claims
>should be verified through the manufacturer since they will most likely
>be more conservative due to FDA regulations about such health claims.
>
>The literature is filled with studies showing the tremendous affects
>that proper nutrition has on degenerative disease. Consequently, the
>complete and balanced approach taken by companies like USANA can be
>documented by the literature which demonstrates the synergetic effective
>produced in such cases. However, most medical doctors have no training
>in nutrition or knowledge of nutritional advancement of the past 5 years
>and dietary "authorities" refuse to acknowledge the deterioration in the
>nutritional quality of the food supply, or the fact that lifestyle and
>environmental factors have increased free radical exposure far beyond
>that which any food combination can protect against.
>
>Hence, while some people will attain a true beneficial effect from Noni
>or other "super foods", the highest correlation will most likely be
>between mirco-nutrients deficiencies and the super foods that meet same,
>rather than any specific disease and the super food. There is no
>panacea. Complete and balanced nutrition is the answer.
>
>Sal De Lello
>.
>
>
>
>
Dr Bruce Harshman
Sherman Oaks California USA