Goji, Noni, Mangosteen and Acai: Don't Believe the Hype
A few weeks ago my significant other came home clutching a bottle of Açai (ah-sigh-ee) Juice.
An involuntary groan escaped my lips. A well-meaning marketer had foisted the 'superjuice' bottle upon her - claiming it would help with a multitude of health ailments.
I was deeply suspicious (as most people are when someone who recommends a product also happens to sell it).
However - I now have some facts to go with my suspicions - thanks to Australia's largest consumer organization Choice.
Choice compared a number of these so-called super-juices and found that:
- their health claims are exaggerated.
- the products are overpriced.
- most of the drinks are sold via a Network Marketing (or MLM) process.
Certainly the drinks contain a range of nutrients, but you may be surprised at the (often touted) antioxidant content.
For example (Note: TAC means Total Antioxidant Capacity)
- You'd need to drink almost five 30mL serves of Tahitian Noni Juice to match the TAC of a navel orange (2540).
- Three 30mL serves of Xanberry Mangosteen Juice Plus would still fall short of matching the TAC of a cup of strawberries (5938), raspberries (6058) or cultivated blueberries (9019).
- The TAC of the humble Red Delicious apple (5900) is roughly equivalent to ten 30mL serves of Himalayan Goji Juice.
What about the scientific evidence? Choice provides some examples of potential health benefits. However real clinical trials on humans are scarce.
The Bottom Line
Fruit contains a vast array of nutrients - and most of us are not consuming enough fruits or vegetables. However, no single fruit or food will ever be the solution for all of our ailments, and - if anything - a diverse diet is best.
These super-juices are pricey and come with a number of spurious and anecdotal health claims.
Be sensible and wise. It's both sad and astonishing to see people with a diet consisting of pie and chips believing that a bottle of super-juice will make them well (via)
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67 Comments
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Created / Updated: October 30, 2011
You so right. I talked about this a lot recently on my site - people love the quick fix. Fruit and vegetables really needs to become the core of our diet, not breads, pastas, etc. I wrote about it in a post about getting real health and I hope more and more people decide to make fruit a bigger part of their diet.
ReplyTo the naysayers out there...I am a bright 50 year old woman able to make my own decisions as to what works for me. If you have not tried the mangosteen juice you really can't talk about it. I'm off my allergy medicine, which I've used for several years and my energy level is sky rocketing from since drinking Xango. Oh ya...and before I drank this juice I was eating healthy and exercising regularly! Thank goodness for healthy supplements!
ReplyI agree with what you're saying but in my opinion, it's kind of difficult to maintain a truly healthy/balanced diet and am always concerned about getting proper nutrition from my diet. Unless you sit there and calculate exactly what you're getting from every meal; try and create every meal from a nutritional perspective or go into the doctor for blood work, most people would never know if they're getting proper nutrition or not. I do try to cook with a nice variety of vegetables in every meal where my wok is literally filled to the brim with different vegetables and the veggie to protein/ carb ratio is like 4:1. So I'm thinking that maybe some so-called "super" fruits such as goji, acai etc. in the dried powder encapsulated form taken more as a nutritional supplement might be a good idea. It's WAY less expensive in that form and then you can cover a lot of bases that way. Am I wrong in thinking this way? If you pull up nutritional info on goji, it is pretty impressive. Must say though that, I'm with you on the using food as your medicine mentality. You have any good recommendations?
ReplySome folks do get amazing benefits from 'superjuice' but I suspect it's the pie and chips people you mentioned. Our diets are so out of whack as a whole that suddenly the body has some decent nutrition.
But it's not the answer.
The answer is to correct the diet, not supplement a bad diet with 'superjuice'.
I did a big investigation into the goji hype. You'll find in on my homepage under 'popular posts'.
It's been the most read article.
Cheers
Reply~Mike
I haven't read the study and I usually don't comment until I do, but I just wanted to point out that 1 serving (8 fluid ounces) is 240 mL; so by those numbers, when you buy a bottle of Acai or Pomegranate Juice for example, it works out to more than what's actually in 1 fruit. I do agree with the overpriced bit though!
ReplyI have been on Xango for a year and it isn't a dietary supplement or a major antioxidant. It does have a good source of antioxidants but not a windfall. I am not overweight but I have had health problems that Xango has helped and gotten me off some medications. Let me just say that I don't sell the juice I just drink it. Xango isn't about antioxidants and losing weight it is about the properties it gets from the mangosteen fruit called Xanthones and clinical trials are under way. I also believe there is never a substitute for diet and excercise.
ReplyHey Pete you sound like a Xango fan. So in one year you have comsumed any where from 12 to 48 bottles or $480.00 to $1920.00 approx. Which means you will have to spend appox. another $10260.00 to get the same benifits as contained in a $25.00 bottle of Mangosteen containing 120 capsules,a 1.5 to 3 month supply. Xango a litte over priced, I don't know, you do the math. If Xango was serious about helping you they would concentrate the same formula in to a 12oz bottle and sell it at soft drink pricing. But then those MLM's wouldn't hsve to stuggle so hard at making Xango rich while giving you the minimum at a premium price.
ReplySpeaking of 'fortified' beverages, has there been any research on the pop with vitamin claims yet that anybody knows about? Just curious.
ReplyI agree strongly with the sentiment in this article. OTOH, I know a bit about noni. At least the stuff on Hawai'i, is truly awful smelling and tasting. Imagine a combination of strong cheese and musty shoes, and give it a slimy texture. That's ripe noni. The Hawaiians use noni for a host of medical purposes - disinfection, menstral cramps, for example - and it's not for the delightful floral aroma.
Noni juice is not a traditional way of using noni, and I wouldn't be surprised that anything good about noni is lost in the process.
It sure is nice to see places like Puna having a cash crop and industry competing with pakalolo.
ReplyObviously you're NOT Hawaiian. Noni prepared by "us Hawaiians" isn't as awful as you described it.
ReplyHey, I drink pomegranate, Acai and Mangosteen juices and I never felt better! I have great energy and my colds and flu have been nonexistant since I have been on pomegranate and Acai. Yes they are expensive but given the alternate of taking a drug for the ailments that I no longer have since taking them, I do not mind paying for the juices. Compared to one pill costing $3.50 and not doing any good at all, which would you choose, the cost of the juices or the cost of the drug? Simple answer isn't it.
ReplyOh, by the way, I don't sell any of these juices. I am just a happy, healthy consumer.
ReplyHow much do you spend a month on juice? Sounds expensive. And to your question, I'd take option c) neither - I'll continue to eat veggies and fruits and reap the same benefits as those drinking expensive juices.
ReplyHey Mike, ever tried it? Hypocrite
ReplyIf anyone has a half-hour to spare, do yourselves a favour and check out this expose on Goji juice. They really backed that sleazy "Dr>" Mindell into a corner with his lies and exaggerations.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/01/goji.html
ReplyI never bought into the hype of the benefits of acai/noni/mangosteen, etc., juices because I don't typically drink juice. I do eat a lot of fruits and veggies and I get my antioxidants in that way because I don't believe in paying extra for a juice that says it is super rich in antioxidants.
ReplyJuice, for example, concentrated apple juice, diluted to the manufactures suggestion was shown to be unhealthy.
My thought? Keep it sweet and simple. Everything in moderation. You don't need a medical expert to tell you that the answer to health and longevity is not going to be found in a bottle. :)
ReplyI've been reading some stuff recently about Barry Glassner, author of The Gospel of Food, plus I listened to this podcast. His central theme is that we worry about the wrong things, both socially, but also when it comes to food.
I think the super-food phenomenon is part of this. People worry about getting the best antioxidants, but they ignore the cheap, every day sources - ie fruit and vegies. Here in Australia more and more people are investing in Goji, etc, when only 5% of men and 10% of women eat the minimim daily total of five vegie serves.
It seems a hard message to get across, whether that's because people want an easy fix, or for other reasons, I'm not sure.
ReplyPeople just seem to want to buy into a miracle. They always want the Free Lunch, or the miracle pill. There are so many people out there that just don't want to work for what they want. Sure, we all want to just wake up in the morning and be our "perfect" weight, whatever that is for us. We all want to suddenly get rich. That's not life and I think the truth is that if you have to work for it, you appreciate it so much better. I watched the Marketplace segment Mike posted. It just made me really sad. Some people are buying into overnight health miracles, others into overnight riches and some into both. How terrible. Yes, there are laws, but these people touting these ridiculous products seem to just skirt right by them. In the meantime, you have McDonald's who NEVER made ANY health claims, getting sued! It's insanity. No one wants to take responsibility for their own actions and their own choices. I'll just eat terrible food, but drink this miracle juice and counter it. When will it all stop???
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