This post will provide information on "What are the health benefits of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)?" as well as provide answers to questions like: What are the illnesses that mangosteen can cure? What does mangosteen do for your body? What is the side effect of mangosteen? Why is mangosteen banned? Where does mangosteen come from? Why was mangosteen banned in the US? Why is mangosteen the queen of fruits? Is mangosteen a real fruit?
Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia, Puerto Rico and Florida, where the tree has been introduced. The tree grows from 6 to 25 metres (20 to 82 feet) tall. The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles (like the flesh of citrus fruits), with an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind (exocarp) when ripe. In each fruit, the fragrant edible flesh that surrounds each seed is botanically endocarp, i.e., the inner layer of the ovary. Seeds are both almond-shaped and -sized. The place of origin of the mangosteen is unknown but is believed to be the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas; still, there are wild trees in the forests of Kemaman, Malaya. Corner suggests that the tree may have been first domesticated in Thailand, or Burma. It is much cultivated in Thailand–where there were 9,700 acres (4,000 ha) in 1965–also in Kampuchea, southern Vietnam and Burma, throughout Malaya and Singapore. The tree was planted in Ceylon about 1800 and in India in 1881. There it succeeds in 4 limited areas–the Nilgiri Hills, the Tinnevelly district of southern Madras, the Kanya-kumani district at the southernmost tip of the Madras peninsula, and in Kerala State in southwestern India. The tree is fairly common only in the provinces of Mindanao and Sulu (or Jolo) in the Philippines. It is rare in Queensland, where it has been tried many times since 1854, and poorly represented in tropical Africa (Zanzibar, Ghana, Gabon and Liberia). There were fruiting trees in greenhouses in England in 1855. The mangosteen was introduced into Trinidad from the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, England, between 1850 and 1860 and the first fruit was borne in 1875. It reached the Panama Canal Zone and Puerto Rico in 1903 but there are only a few trees in these areas, in Jamaica, Dominica and Cuba, and some scattered around other parts of the West Indies. The United States Department of Agriculture received seeds from Java in 1906 (S.P.I. #17146). A large test block of productive trees has been maintained at the Lancetilla Experimental Station at Tela, Honduras, for many years. Quite a few trees distributed by the United Fruit Company long ago have done well on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala. In 1924, Dr. Wilson Popenoe saw the mangosteen growing at one site in Ecuador. In 1939, 15,000 seeds were distributed by the Canal Zone Experiment Gardens to many areas of tropical America. It is probable that only a relatively few seedlings survived. It is known that many die during the first year. Dr. Victor Patiño has observed flourishing mangosteen trees at the site of an old mining settlement in Mariquita, Colombia, in the Magdalena Valley and the fruits are sold on local markets. Dierberger Agricola Ltda., of Sao Paulo, included the mangosteen in their nursery catalog in 1949.
A 1-cup (196-gram) serving of canned, drained mangosteen offers:
- Calories: 143
- Carbs: 35 grams
- Fiber: 3.5 grams
- Fat: 1 gram
- Protein: 1 gram
- Vitamin C: 9% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
- Vitamin B9 (folate): 15% of the RDI
- Vitamin B1 (thiamine): 7% of the RDI
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 6% of the RDI
- Manganese: 10% of the RDI
- Copper: 7% of the RDI
- Magnesium: 6% of the RDI
- Mangosteen contains vitamins with antioxidant capacity, as well as a unique class of antioxidant compounds known as xanthones
- Plant compounds and fiber in mangosteen may have anti-inflammatory effects according to animal research
- Mangosteen may protect against cancer
- Mangosteen may play a role in weight loss and obesity prevention
- Plant compounds and fiber in mangosteen may contribute to reduced blood suga
- mangosteen may increase your number of immune cells and reduce inflammation and potentially boosting immune health
- Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds in mangosteen may protect skin cells from damage associated with sun exposure and aging
- Mangosteen extract effectively reduced heart disease risk factors like LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol
- Mangosteen has been found to slow down blood clotting
- May cause lactic acidosis (Lactic acidosis is a medical condition characterized by the build-up of lactate within the body)
- May interfere with chemotherapy
- May cause gastrointestinal issues (symptoms included bloating, diarrhea, gastric reflux, and constipation )
- May cause sedation and depression