Superfruit juices - goji, noni, mangosteen, acai - not all that’s claimed?

Posted by Bradley C Hughes
December 29, 2007

Choice magazine recently did a feature on ‘Superfruit juices’ - the various exotic juice blends that claim miraculous anti-oxidant levels and beneficial properties.

Quoted from the feature:

Superfruit juices

In brief
  • So-called “superfruits” — goji, noni, mangosteen and açai — are rich
    sources of antioxidants, but some of the marketing hype exaggerates the
    benefits of their juices. There’s no good evidence that drinking them
    will cure diseases such as cancer or diabetes.
  • You can pay as much as $85 for a 1L bottle of one of these juices.
    On a serve-by-serve basis, many common fruits such as strawberries and
    apples, contain more antioxidants, and are cheaper.
  • CHOICE sets out the facts about our testing and responds to the industry’s claims about our approach.”

I am glad to see that Himalayan Goji from FreeLife returned a TAC test result of the equivalent of 10% of a red delicious apple rating for 25mL. If ever there was an over-hyped juice product, that has to be the one. Brilliant marketing, shame about the reality and I’m glad that it is exposed for what it is in this Choice feature.

No real surprises for me in seeing the low TAC scores of 9% of a red delicious appled for the two Noni juice products reviewed either.

The only question in my mind is, are we comparing apples with apples here. That is, what sort of apple equivalent are we talking about… an organic apple? A standard orchid apple grown using herbicides and pesticides? An average of one hundred random apples? That is not specified in the feature.

My knowledge of these ’superfruit juice’ products is based on over three years that I have been using a ’superfruit juice’ product. The juice I use is called “NingXia Red” from Young Living Essential Oils.

Its predecessor product was “Berry Young Juice” which was the first juice containing Ningxia Wolfberries (Goji berries) to be widely marketed in the USA and Australia.  It was “Berry Young Juice” that Himalayan Goji Juice copied to great success in the market.

In that time I have developed belief and satisfaction that I am getting value for money from my use of the “NingXia Red” juice product.

“NingXia Red” (previously “Berry Young Juice”) that I have used for over three years now is not one of the brands reviewed in the Choice feature.

I wonder why Choice did not test this product, which is widely understood by people who are knowledeable in this area to be a clear stand-out best compared to all others.

Independent laboratory tests have shown the ORAC and S-ORAC scores for “NingXia Red” to be way beyond any of those tested in the Choice feature.

According to the scores from the Brunswick Laboratories tests of various anti-oxidant juice products, you would have to drink more than a thousand times as much of the Himalayn Goji product to get the same S-ORAC score benefit as one litre of “NingXia Red”.

There’s cost, and then there is value and they are two entirely different things.

I am personally completely satisfied with the value I am getting from “NingXia Red”, my product of choice.

How about you?

I’d be interested to know who’s using what and what your experience has been.

I’m consciuous that this is a controversial topic, so if you are going to criticise, please stick to the facts, keep it clean and don’t get personal.  In other words, in Football parlance, play the ball, not the man.

Cheerio,

Bradley

Not the Daily Telegraph

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