The Vomit Fruit / Noni Challenge, Disgusting or Delicious?!

The Vomit Fruit Challenge is it Disgusting or Delicious?!

Check out the video to learn more about my take on this misunderstood fruit and read on to learn a ton more on the nutritional benefits as well as a few of my favourite noni recipes!!

The Noni fruit is known by many names, morinda citrifola, great morinda, Indian mulberry, nunaakai (Tamil Nadu, India), dog dumpling (Barbados), mengkudu (Indonesia and Malaysia), apatot (Philippines), kumudu (Bali), pace (Java), beach mulberry, cheese fruit, or noni (Hawaii), is a fruit native to Southeast Asia and Australasia.

It has also been called starvation fruit due to its resilience agains fire, flood and draught. The tree can be burnt to the ground and grow back and so often it is the only fruiting tree that fruits year round, prolifically, and can withstand such disasters. Growing from the mountain top to the side of the sea this tree is hardy as well as nutritious. The fruit is green at first, then turns yellow as it ripens, giving off a pungent yet appealing odour. Weaver ants are attracted to the non tree, which protects the plant from plant-parasitic insects.

The entire plant (fruit, bark, leaf, root) has amazing medicinal properties meaning they contain nutrients and qualities that help the body in its natural healing and rejuvinatize processes. Some people juice the fruit or place the whole fruit in a jar and let it “sweat” or juice itself and ferment as a “health tonic”. I would vastly recommend the whole fresh fruit over any juice for flavour and digestion as the pulp contains most of the nutrients. Most commonly sold in juice form either unsweetened, sweetened, diluted with grape or other berry juices (preservatives and sweeteners will negate / lessen the benefits of noni). The best store bought juice would be unsweetened, with pulp.

Noni has a bad reputation of being a spam product, from ads saying that it is a cure-all. This is not true, and most of the products on the market are indeed likely hurting more than helping. Nevertheless, noni may be what you are looking for to help alleviate pain or boost your immune system.

Noni is for sure a acquired taste, many people, such as Brave Wilderness’s Coyote in his “Vomit Fruit Challenge – Gross” video were introduced to it in such a way that sets one up for disgust. Like many strong pungent and unique flavours it often takes 3+ tries for the body to be able to read the food and a true appreciation / understanding of the food to take hold.
Like many of the best things in life, it comes with a little stank and often takes 3+ tries to acquire the taste. Durian, Noni, Yoni, Blue Cheese all come to mind…
The first time I tried noni I was completely turned off and spit it out. I actually laughed out loud at how silly it would be to eat the fruit due to its antibacterial qualities, that is coming from a hygienic background. That said a few weeks later I was intrigued by the desire to try it again. Upon the second try I was surprised to find i enjoyed it, but just a bit. By the third time I knew I liked it and now honestly it is one of my favourite fruits out there. To anyone new I would recommend trying a little bit at first then slowly increase the amount. The secret is to eat all you enjoy and no more. I personally find it combines well with any food, I’ve had it in mono, before or after bananas, tomatoes, avocados etc!

A few of my favourite recipes with noni are.

1. Thinly sliced noni (close to the skin so you do not get any seeds) placed on top of raw pizza, raw pasta or lasagna.
2. Thinly sliced and chopped noni partly dehydrated goes well on pasta and pizza and tastes like feta cheese crumble.
3. 1 part noni (no seeds) blended with 3 parts zucchini, 1 part tahini and garlic to taste for a delicious blue cheese dressing.

Here are the 10 most important benefits this fruit has in detail.

1. Analgesic – Noni has the nicknames of “The Tree For Headaches” or “The Painkiller Tree”. Studies have shown that noni reduced pain comparable to the drugs tramadol and hydrocortisone, making it effective for arthritic and other joint pains.

2. Immune system booster – Noni activates macrophages and strengthens the immune system, which then produces more lymphocytes. It also contains antibacterial agents that fight infectious bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

3. Antidepressant/sedative – Noni stimulates serotonin and melatonin, two very important hormones. Serotonin affects mood, emotions, and sleep; imbalance in levels of serotonin may contribute to depression. Melatonin regulates the Circadian rhythm, which helps you sleep; keeping this regular will help you get a good night’s rest, also improving your mood.

4. Skincare/hair – Noni’s properties are useful on skin and scalp conditions, such as eczema and ringworm; also rubbed on scalp for lustrous hair; and will keep your skin young. Just rub some juice on affected skin/scalp, leave on for 15 minutes, rinse off. Ingestion of juice may help your nails to grow stronger.

5. Anti-tumor/anti-cancer – Noni stimulates the production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is an extremely useful substance, one that is at the base of many of noni’s benefits. In this case, it reduces tumor growth and helps your body fight against the cancerous replication of cells. It also contains an immunomodulatory polysaccharide rich substance known as noni-ppt that further fights cancer. The immune boosting properties I mentioned in an above section are also a great help. One more thing that’s important are the amount of phytochemicals in noni that fight cancer. Phytochemicals are found in vegetables and herbs, if eaten regularly will build up preventive amounts. In the case of cancer already being present, noni and other plants with high amounts will slow, stop, or totally reverse the cancer process.

6. Hypertension – Noni is high in phytonutrients, selenium, and vitamin C, which fights free radical damage on blood vessel walls; scopoletin, a compound that may lower blood pressure; it is alkaline, which keeps bodily fluids from becoming too acidic, therefore hurting free radicals. It also has proxeronine, which is needed for the body to produce xeronine. Xeronine helps coordinate the cells to work harmonious, lowering stress and in turn, blood pressure. Also has the amino acid, tryptophan. When tryptophan enters the blood stream and goes to cells, it helps produce other substances that are important, such as even more serotonin, which is great for lowering blood pressure by way of its relaxing effect.

7. Cholesterol – Noni prevents the absorption of LDL cholesterol, thus reducing plaque in arteries, keeping you healthy and alive longer.

8. Memory – Noni, as mentioned before, prevents absorption of cholesterol by way of its large amount of phytosterols. This directly helps your brain stay healthier, and plaque does not build up in arteries feeding the brain, keeping it properly oxygenated.

9. Irritable Bowel Syndrome/constipation – Noni is high in soluble fiber, which helps ease the strain on your intestines and softens stool. Also has necessary vitamins and minerals to keep your intestines healthy.

10. Antibacterial/anti fungal/antiviral – Noni has properties to fight infections comparable to that of prescription drugs. It contains anthraquinone, scopoletin, and terpenes, among others all work together to fight diseases.

* 10 Important Benefits Info and sources from HealthierSteps.com

I hope this post brings some intrigue and desire to try the delicious noni fruit more than once and with the right perspective to give it a fair shot. Hopefully Coyote from Brave Wilderness gives the vomit fruit challenge another shot and comes to love noni!