Study of Smokers Indicates Health Benefits; Experts Call for More Research

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Thursday, March 02, 2006

March 2, 2006 - Early research suggests that a commercially available juice made from a plant used for centuries in Polynesian folk medicine may have heart-healthy benefits, but all agree that larger studies are needed to confirm the finding.

Researchers report that significant reductions in total cholesterol and triglycerides were seen in smokers who drank a product containing juice from the fruit of the noni tree every day for a month. The study was funded by the manufacturer of the product, sold as Tahitian Noni Juice.

The study was presented Thursday at the 46th Annual Epidemiology Conference of the American Heart Association.

American Heart Association spokeswoman Barbara Howard, PhD, called the findings intriguing and said the study is a rare example of good research on a dietary supplement or food that makes health claims.

"Supplement stores are full of products that make health claims that aren't backed up by science," she tells WebMD. "This study was only a first step, but it is a step in the right direction."

Reductions Substantial

Researcher Mian-Ying Wang, MD, says she first became interested in studying noni juice in 1999 after becoming convinced that it helped reduce her pain from a wrist fracture.

She has received more than $800,000 in grants from Utah-based Morinda Corp., which sells the juice via the Internet and through independent distributors. The cholesterol/triglyceride research came from a larger cancer prevention study involving adult smokers.

A total of 106 smokers drank 1 to 4 ounces of the product, made from the juices of the noni plant, blueberries, and grapes, every day for a month. Twenty-six additional smokers drank a similar-tasting juice drink that did not contain noni juice. None of the participants were on cholesterol-lowering medications.

Total cholesterol levels in the noni juice drinkers dropped from 235.2 mg/dL to 190.2 mg/dL after a month; average triglyceride (blood fat) levels dropped from 242.5 mg/dL to 193.5 mg/dL. Cholesterol and triglycerides did not have any significant change during the period in the group that got the drink without noni juice.

Wang tells WebMD that she hopes to do larger studies in both smokers and nonsmokers.