The Health Benefits of Mangoes

By Payal Banka 

Mangoes are abundant during the summer season. Mango is widely known as the "king of fruit", and that is not without a purpose. It is regarded as a valuable item of diet and a household remedy. It is rich in amino acids, vitamin C and E, flavonoids, beta carotene, niacin, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium.

About 4000 BC ago, the wild mango originated in the foothills of the Himalayas of India and Burma, and about 40 to 60% of these trees still grow in India and Southeast Asia. Also known as Mangifera Indica, this exotic fruit belongs to the family of Anacardiaceae. Though native to Southern and Southeast Asia, the fruit is now also grown in Central and South America, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula also. Today there are over 1,000 different varieties of mangos throughout the world.

Below are the numerous health and nutrition benefits of eating mangoes:

• Anti cancer: The phenols in mangoes, such as quercetin, isoquercitrin, astragalin, fisetin, gallic acid and methylgallat, as well as the abundant enzymes, have cancer-preventing capacities. Mango is also high in a soluble dietary fiber known as pectin. Scientist have identified a strong link between eating lots of fiber and a lower risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. A cup of sliced mangoes (around 165 gram) contain 76 percent of the needed daily value of vitamin C, a potent antioxidant which helps protect cells from free radical damage and reduces risk of cancer.

• Eye health: One cup of sliced mangoes supplies 25 percent of the needed daily value of vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight. Eating mangoes regularly prevents night blindness, refractive errors, dryness of the eyes, softening of the cornea, itching and burning in the eyes.

• Helps in digestion: Mangoes contain digestive enzymes that help break down proteins and aid digestion. It is also valuable to combat acidity and poor digestion because of an enzyme found in the fruit which soothes the stomach. Due to the high amounts of fiber found in mango, it can be a helpful in keeping you regular, thereby helping or preventing constipation.
  
  In India, a decoction of the mango peel is given to people with inflammation of the stomach mucus membranes. Eating one or two small tender mangoes in which the seed is not fully formed with salt and honey is found to be very effective medicine for summer diarrhoea, dysentery, piles, morning sickness, chronic dyspepsia, indigestion and constipation.

• Benefits to skin: Mango is effective in relieving clogged pores of the skin. What this means is that people who suffer from acne, which is caused by clogged pores, will benefit from mango. Just remove the mango pulp and apply it on your skin for about 10 minutes before washing it. Eating mango regularly makes the complexion fair and the skin soft and shining.

• Helps in diabetes: Mango leaves help normalize insulin levels in the blood. Boil a few mango leaves in water and allow it to saturate through the night. Consume the filtered decoction in the morning for diabetic home remedy. The glycemic index of mango is low, ranging between 41-60. So, mango does not have any significant effect in increasing blood sugar levels.

• For better sex: The Vitamin E that is abundantly present in mangoes helps to regulate sex hormones and boosts sex drive.

• Beneficial for anemia: Mangoes are beneficial for pregnant women and individuals suffering from anemia because of their iron content. Also, vitamin C in the mango enhances the absorption of iron from vegetable food like rice. Generally women after menopause become weak and they should take mangoes and other fruits rich in iron.

• Boost memory: Mangoes are useful to children who lack concentration in studies as it contains Glutamine acid which is good to boost memory and keep cells active. 

• Avoid heat stroke: Unripe mangoes, a rich source of pectin, when steamed and juiced with cumin (jeera), rock salt and sugar, provide an excellent remedy for heat stroke and heat exhaustion in summer.

• Weight gain: Mangoes can be beneficial for people wanting to gain weight. A 100 gram of mango contains about 75 calories. Also, raw mangoes contain starch which get converted into sugar as the fruit ripens. So ripe and sweet mangoes when consumed with milk (rich in protein) can be very helpful in weight gain.

Mangoes can be eaten both raw and ripe. Mangoes are a good source of vitamins and minerals essential for the human body. Always have mangoes in your daily diet as this can benefit your health more than you usual non fiber diet.

Source: www.lifemojo.com

NSCI RESEARCH FINDS HEALTH BENEFITS IN MANGOS

While it may not get the publicity of some of the superfruits like blueberry and acai, the addition of mango to the diet may be part of a future solution for obesity and diabetes.

According to a recent animal study conducted by a research group lead by Edralin Lucas, an associate professor in Nutritional Sciences in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at Oklahoma State University, incorporating mango in the diet could aid in reducing body fat and controlling blood sugar.

“Mango contains many nutrients and other bioactive compounds that can provide various health benefits aside from what we investigated,” Lucas said. “It is high in fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as other minerals and phytochemicals. In addition to the positive effects on body fat, blood lipids and glucose, it is not associated with serious side effects such as negative effects on bone that is linked with the use of rosiglitazone, a drug commonly used to lower blood sugar.”

Lucas, along with her co-investigators Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Brenda Smith, Stephen Clarke and Stanley Lightfoot conducted the project, which was funded by the National Mango Board, to determine the effectiveness of mango flesh in modulating blood glucose and lipid values in mice fed a high fat diet to induce obesity.

Obesity and consumption of high fat diet are associated with the development of many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Drugs such as rosiglitazone and fenofibrate are often prescribed to treat these diseases by lowering blood glucose and lipids. However, these drugs often have side effects ranging from liver enlargement and fluid retention to heart failure and increased risk for bone fractures.

“Our findings demonstrate that mango flesh is a promising alternative that can be useful in reducing body fat and blood glucose,” Lucas said.

For their study, Lucas and her colleagues chose the Tommy Atkins variety of mango and the mango flesh was freeze-dried, ground into a powder and added to a standard mouse diet. They formulated six diets with various additives including a regular mouse diet, which had 4% total calories from fat, and five high fat diets with 35% total calories from fat. One diet was only high fat, while the other four high fat diets also contained 1% mango powder, 10% mango powder, fenofibrate or rosiglitazone.

“We used the Tommy Atkins mango varie ty because it is one of the most commonly available to consumers in the U.S.,” Lucas said.

After adjusting the high fat diets to have similar carbohydrate, fiber, protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorous content, the team assigned eight mice to each of the six diets and allowed them to eat and drink at will for two months.

Following the two month period, Lucas and her team found no statistically significant differences in body weight among the mice, but the amount of body fat was varied according to the diets. Both diets containing mango had comparable effects with those of rosiglitazone and fenofibrate in reducing body fat. The mice consuming diets with mango or the two drugs had body fat levels similar to those mice eating the standard control diet.

In addition to the positive effects of mango on body fat, the mango-containing diets also exhibited glucose and cholesterol lowering properties. In fact, the 1% mango diets have a similar or even a more pronounced effect in reducing blood glucose than the diet containing rosiglitazone.

The team also observed that mango affected several factors involved in fat metabolism. Mango was shown to reduce the circulating level of the hormone leptin. This hormone is produced by fat cells and its concentration in the blood is directly proportional to the body fat content. As body fat stores increase, the levels of leptin in the body also increase. Leptin also plays a key role in regulation of appetite and energy intake and expenditure. In this study, mice receiving the high fat diets containing mango had significantly lower levels of leptin than mice eating the high fat diet alone.

Lucas said human studies should be done to confirm their findings and further investigation should focus on understanding how and what components of mango are responsible for its effects on body fat, blood glucose and lipids. However, she said the findings demonstrated that the addition of mango to the diet may help prevent metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of conditions like obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and high blood pressure that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

“We will soon be conducting a human study to investigate whether the addition of mango to the diets of pre-diabetics will help them control their blood sugar and whether incorporation of mango into the diet of overweight people will help them reduce body fat,” Lucas said. “We are also investigating how mango reduces body fat and blood glucose.”

This study is among the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of mango pulp in modulating hyperglycemia and reducing body fat in response to a high fat diet. Lucas said she hopes the findings will encourage people to make better food selections.

“We would like to see people try to make healthy food choices such as including many fruits and vegetables like mango in their diets,” she said. “It would help prevent many chronic diseases including obesity and diabetes.”


Source: www.humansciences.okstate.edu