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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Believers say noni supplement
not too good to be trueNONI is miraculous, blah blah blah. There are believers, including Steve Frailey and Scott Jarvis, partners in Kauai-based Hawaiian Health Ohana LLC, which makes Noni Fruit Leather, Noni Banana Fruit Leather and now, Lavender Noni Lotion.
Frailey pitched your skeptical columnist information about the so-called dietary supplement that supposedly cures what ails you or your pet. Had it been a word-association game, your skeptical columnist's response would have been, "snake oil."
Your skeptical columnist was presented part of an 11-page bibliography of clinical studies on the miracle dietary supplement that can also be applied externally with equally amazing results.
Being included in a bibliography doesn't mean the research proved anything, positive or otherwise.
Scientists have found 165 compounds in noni.
Yeah, well, chocolate has good stuff in it too.
Books have been written on the many uses of noni.
Books have been written on a lot of things, your skeptical columnist observes.
A mainland trade show official was also skeptical, questioning the long list of ailments noni has traditionally been used to treat. Frailey and Jarvis sent documentation to trade show officials, and Hawaiian Health Ohana was allowed to include the information in its presentation materials at the show.
Nonifruitleather.net bears the same information and also sells the product, as do more than 10 stores on Kauai and about 20 on Oahu.
Packages of Noni Fruit Leather and Noni Banana Fruit Leather are pictured here.
The product is 100 percent certified organic noni, intended to stay true to centuries of use by indigenous people, including Hawaiians.
The company's noni is never fermented. It is made into pulp and dried in a first-of-its-kind, proprietary dryer certified by the state. The pulp is made into sheets resembling Fruit Roll-Ups, but without the gaudy, chemical coloring agents that turn tongues blue, green or whatever.
Your skeptical columnist's eyebrows were raised by Walter Omori, president of Walter's Sound & Karaoke Shop, which sells the fruit leather.
Like many kamaaina, Omori has long known about noni. A health nut, he takes vitamins and other supplements for his health. He used to drink noni juice.
Omori first encountered Noni Fruit Leather at a Blaisdell Center trade show. "This one was 100 percent, not that real foul taste that noni normally has ... It's better than the juice."
His arthritic hands felt good the next day so he went back to buy a bunch.
Hawaiian Noni Fruit Leather showed off its product in March at the Natural Products ExpoWest Show at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. Pictured from left were co-owners Steve Frailey and Scott "SH" Jarvis, and Oahu representative Bob Goodlow.
With two boxes of noni fruit leather in his shop, 65-year-old Omori and his wife began selling it to customers and taking it regularly.
"My joints are getting loose and here's the clincher," he said enticingly.
It cured his dog.
His pit bull-German shepherd mix was reluctant to go up a four-inch-high step because of pain, and open sores covered its back.
Omori had considered having the dog put to sleep to end its suffering, but seeing that the fruit leather could be made into a paste and applied externally, he put some on the dog.
"Two days later ... the sores and all that red, bloody-looking thing was gone," he said. The dog's coat started coming back.
"Today he's a perfect dog," Omori said.
He told his customers, who were by now were buying noni fruit leather for themselves. "I gotta keep my customers healthy," he laughed.
Customers also reported successes in treating themselves, their pets and two-legged loved ones with the fruit leather, and Omori now collects the healing stories. He plans to check out Lavender Noni Lotion at the 29th annual Spring New Product Show at Blaisdell that starts Friday afternoon.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.com
