Benefits of the Mangosteen

By Otis Edwards

There is a tropical evergreen tree that grows throughout southeast Asia commonly now, but is believed to have originated in the Sundra Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia. This tree grows as tall as 80 feet and produces a purple fruit that is famously edible. Some compare the taste that of a sweet peach mixed with apricot. Depending on the crop and the area it is found in it can have a tangy or a very sweet taste. This purple fruit, called a mangosteen, is supposed to have some of the world's most impressive healing properties.

The 'superfruits' of today are all supposed to have healthy effects on the body. However, nutrition-wise this fruit is mostly water, 81 grams to be exact. Other than that it contains 1.8 grams of dietary fiber, 18 grams of carbohydrates, .6 grams of fat, and .4 grams of protein. All of which are below the standard daily allowance. The good news here though is that since it is made up mostly of water, it doesn't add a lot of calories to your daily diet.

Due to the mass being mainly water, this fruit would fit perfectly in the diet of anyone who is considering weight loss or just wants to maintain the weight they are at now. Recent research has disclosed that mangosteen is very high in Xanthones which are powerful antioxidants. There are only 200 Xanthones known to science and somehow mangosteen contains 40 of them. That is an extremely large amount for any known fruit or vegetable to contain.

Xanthones travel through our system and mop up free radicals that can cause disease and malfunctions in many of our organs. Mangosteen contains the Xanthones alpha-mangostin, gama-mangostin garcinone, beta-mangostin, garcinone-a, garcinone-d, garcinone-c, gartanin and mangostanol. All of these Xanthones and the all the other antioxidants contained in this fruit have anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsive, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, and platelet-aiding properties.

Oddly, some health officials are concerned about consuming too much of this fruit juice. There have been reported cases in Thailand of severe acidosis in relation to consuming large quantities of mangosteen juice. More studies are ongoing.

Mangosteen is available in western countries in juice, frozen, and sometimes canned varieties. There has been a long-standing ban on importation of this fruit in it's whole form to the United States, but Canada has been importing mangosteen since 2007. Although the fruit is not easy to find here, farmers in Puerto Rico have started to send us a few mangosteen, especially to the more wealthy hotels and restaurants on the east coast. - 17269

About the Author:

Interested in learning more about the super healthy mangosteen fruit? Swing by the Mangosteen Juice site for an eye-opening look through the incredible world of mangosteen, including pictures, instructions on how to eat them, a listing of it's healthful properties, and of course the benefits in a mangosteen.