What is a Mangosteen Good for?

By William Knowles

In the Sundra Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia, an 80-foot tropical evergreen tree has grown for thousands of years... At least that is where researchers say the Mangosteen tree most likely originated. This tree produces a an edible fruit that is sometimes very sweet and other times a bit tangy, but it's always full of healthy nutrients. It has an outer skin that is usually pretty tough, but softens up as the fruit ripens. It is purple in color and about the size of a tangerine, and more recently, the mangosteen has been categorized as an official 'super Fruit.'

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.

So if nothing else, it is very low in calories and would be perfect for those on a diet or trying to just control their weight. However research does show that it might have some of the world's best antioxidant properties for any fruit. It is supposed to contain at least 40 different Xanthones, which are a powerful form of antioxidants. There are currently 200 Xanthones identified, all beneficial to humans.

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.

However, take care when drinking the Mangosteen juice. There have been a few cases of acidosis reported by individuals who consumed too much of it. Drinking smaller quantities should solve this issue entirely though, since the acidosis only appeared when people drank rather large quantities of its juice.

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. - 17268

About the Author:

Curious enough to learn more about the super healthy mangosteen fruit? Visit us today at the Mangosteen Juice website today for an in-depth tour of the mangosteen's enticing world, including lists on how to eat mangosteen, health benefits, photographs, and even where to find some mangosteen.