Mangosteen Fruit (Garcinia Mangostana) Health Benefits

The accumulated knowledge of centuries of ancient Asian medicine has been passed down from
generation to generation and also passed on to early European explorers and settlers. Consequently it
is no wonder that so much recent modern scientific research has been conducted on the Mangosteen
and the beneficial properties of the pericarp (rind).

An enormous amount of modern study and research has been channelled toward unlocking the secrets
of this remarkable fruit. Scientists have actually identified the major compounds found in the
Mangosteen that are responsible for its healthful characteristics.

These days, just about everybody knows about free radicals and the damage they wreak on the body
and most would know, to counteract the effects of free radicals, we need a diet high in antioxidants.
Free radicals attack the cells in our bodies every second of every day, whilst antioxidants work actively
with the immune system to repair the damage before cellular degeneration occurs. If the balance
between free radical attack and the body's ability to overcome free radical activity is weighted on the
side of the free radicals... well... you are destined for early onset of metabolic disease and a
premature death!

Much has been made of the extensive antioxidant properties of vitamins, especially Vitamin C and
Vitamin E. But did you know the beneficial effects of synthetic vitamins are extremely questionable?
Recent scientific research clearly indicates that anyone relying on synthetic vitamins to maintain their
health, experience little or no benefit. Conversely, synthetic vitamins taken in larger doses in the
mistaken belief that more is better, may in fact make you feel much worse and result in a
deterioration of health and even premature death.

But did you know there exists many whole food antioxidants that are much more powerful than any
combination of synthetic vitamins? The key to good health is not to take synthetic vitamin supplements
but to supplement with proven whole food antioxidants.

One of these life-enhancing antioxidants is found in Mangosteen pericarp and is called Xanthone.
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In fact, there's a whole family of Xanthones, with some of the most dynamic found in the whole fruit
Mangosteen which includes the pericarp. While most people know about the antioxidant benefits of
Vitamins C and E from whole foods, far fewer are aware of the incredibly potent antioxidant power of
Xanthones and many other phyto-chemicals. Xanthones are natural plant chemical substances that have
recently won high praise from numerous scientists and researchers. Xanthones have been studied for
their medicinal potential, since they demonstrate a number of health giving properties and are proving
to be significant substances for good health.

The Research on Xanthones:

Xanthones have been the subject of quite a degree of research for several
decades. They're found in a select number of rain forest plants and dark red fruits
and even things like the purple kumara, (sweet potato) a staple of the Maori in
New Zealand for centuries. Xanthones are found in abundance in the pericarp or
rind, of the Mangosteen fruit. The smooth, purple/dark red covering that was
traditionally ground with ancient mortars and used to heal infection, turns out to
be very high in beneficial Xanthones and potent antioxidants.

The two most beneficial Xanthones found in the Mangosteen have been named Alpha Mangostin and
Gamma Mangostin. When isolated and thoroughly tested by researchers, these two Xanthones have
been found to carry a host of benefits. According to professional journals such as Free Radical
Research, Journal of Pharmacology, and the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, these Xanthones
have a significant effect on cardiovascular health; are naturally antibiotic, antiviral, and anti-
inflammatory; and are amongst the most powerful antioxidants found in nature.

Research laboratories around the world have now been helping us understand how the Mangosteen fruit
imparts such wonderful benefits. Modern science is just catching up with what herbal doctors have
already known for centuries about Mangosteen.

For more information go to www.pubmed.com and search for “Xanthones" or "Garcinia Mangostana" in
the database and read the scientific research.

PROVEN BENEFITS OF XANTHONES - YOU CAN FEEL THE DIFFERENCE Back to Top

1.) Anti-fatigue
2.) Anti-obesity
3.) Anti-depression
4.) Anti-anxiety
5.) Anti-Alzheimer’s
6.) Anti-arthritis
7.) Anti--periodontic (gum disease)
8.) Anti-allergenic
9.) Anti-seborrheic (skin disease)
10.) Anti-pyretic (anti-fever)
11.) Anti-Parkinsonism
12.) Anti-diarrhea
13.) Anti-neuralgia (nerve pain)
14.) Anti-vertigo (dizziness)
15.) Anti-glaucoma
16.) Anti-pain (for example, dental pain)
17.) Anti-inflammatory (cox-2 inhibitor; like Vioxx & Celebrex but without side effects)
18.) Anti-ulcer (for example, ulcers of stomach, mouth, small bowel, large bowel)

MORE BENEFITS … WHETHER YOU “FEEL” THEM, OR NOT

1.) Anti-oxidant (can be measured)

2.) Anti-cancer (can be measured)
3.) Anti-aging (can be measured)
4.) Anti-hypertension (can be measured)
5.) Anti-hypoglycemia (can be measured)
6.) Anti-immune-system-depression (can be measured)
7.) Anti-blood fat (can be measured)
8.) Anti-atherosclerosis (blood vessel, heart disease) (can be measured)
9.) Anti-osteoporosis (can be measured)
10.) Anti-viral (can be measured)
11.) Anti-bacterial (can be measured)
12.) Anti-fungal (can be measured)
13.) Anti-kidney stones (can be measured)
14.) Anti-cataracts (can be measured)

Mangosteen Facts: Back to Top

Mangosteen is a small and very slow-growing tropical evergreen tree. The height of the tree attains 20
to 82 feet. The length of its leaves is up to 10 inches. The width of its flowers is 1 ½ to 2 inches. And
maybe male or hermaphrodite is on the same tree.

Mangosteen is native to South East Asia and requires a year round, warm, very humid, equatorial
climate. In spite of that, many people have tried to plant Mangosteen in other places, such as
California, Florida, or special greenhouses somewhere outside South East Asia. The outcome is seldom
successful due to the different living conditions. The tree only can grow well in tropical areas and
requires abundant moisture. Thailand or Burma are the original countries people found Mangosteen in.
Recently tropical Australia has been found to be an excellent area for Mangosteen production.

Mangosteen Health Benefits Back to Top

Mangosteen is a fruit found in tropical countries throughout Asia, for example Thailand, India,
Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. It also grows reasonably well in areas such as Hawaii and
tropical Northern Australia from Innisfail north to Cooktown.

The Mangosteen fruit consist of 3 major parts.

The Mangosteen Pericarp - which is the rind or peel and contains the highest
level of xanthones.

The pulp - which is the fruit and is known for being one of the tastiest fruits
in the world.

The seeds - Found within the white pulp.

Properties:

Mangosteen fruit contains compounds that have antioxidant - anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Scientific research indicates activity against several cancer cell lines, including breast cancer, liver
cancer and leukemia. In addition, Mangosteen also exhibits anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory
properties. Traditionally, Mangosteen has been used for many years as a medicinal treatment for
diarrhea, skin infection and wounds in throughout South Asia.

The latest in scientific research shows Mangosteen contains a class of naturally occurring polyphenolic
compounds known as xanthones. Xanthones may provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases,
including ischemic heart disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and thrombosis. Mangosteen also shows
vasorelaxant properties.

Mangosteen has demonstrated an inhibitory action against the bacterial organisms Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus. Mangosteen is also proving to be highly effective in supporting and
strengthening a weak immune system. There are several important compounds found in the
Mangosteen that would appear to make this fruit an active and important nutritional supplement for
the human body. Back to Top

Mangosteen Xanthones are broken down even further into mangostin, mangostenol, mangostenone A,
Mangostenone B, trapezifolixanthone, tovophyllin B, alpha- and beta-mangostins, garcinone B,
mangostinone, mangostanol and the flavonoid epicatechin. A study of the antiproliferation,
antioxidation and induction of apoptosis by Garcinia mangostana on SKBR3 human breast cancer cell
line, showed SKBR3 cells were cultured in the presence of mangosteen extract at various
concentrations. Mangosteen showed a dose dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. "We found that
an antiproliferative effect of mangosteen was associated with apoptosis on breast cancer cell line by
determinations of morphological changes and oligonucleosomal DNA fragments."
Mangosteen also was found to inhibit ROS production. These investigations suggest that Mangosteen has
strong anti-proliferation, potent anti-oxidation and induction of apoptosis properties. Mangosteen has
potential for cancer chemoprevention, which is dose dependent as well as exposure time dependent.
The ethanol extract of Mangosteen showed potent inhibitory activity against HIV-1 protease. The
activity-guided purification of the extract resulted in the isolation of two active known compounds.
The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were established by spectroscopic analysis as
mangostin and gamma-mangostin.

Potential Benefits of Mangosteen Back to Top

Anti-viral
Anti-bacterial
Free radical fighter
Cardio support
Immune system Enhancer
Powerful antioxidant
Skin rashes, infections and wounds
Diarrhea
Anti-inflammatory
Vasorelaxant

WARNING
Dubious Marketing Practices: Back to Top

Over the last few years a massive new Mangosteen health drink demand in the USA and in several other
countries such as Canada the UK and Australia, has resulted from extremely well oiled marketing
campaigns surrounding a number of new Mangosteen product launches. It seems the U.S. is in the grip
of a "Mangosteen craze" due to a number of intensive and expensive marketing programs, touting
Mangosteen as the new cure all for every disease going.

Some of the claims being made for liquid Mangosteen health drinks are quite extraordinary ... including
the curing of cancer. Although scientific studies indicate Mangosteen does play a role in the reversal of
metabolic disease due to the very high concentrations of xanthones, phyto-chemicals and subsequently
high antioxidant properties, no real scientific evidence is available to back up some of the more spurious
claims regarding cancer that are being made by companies/individuals promoting a popular liquid
Mangosteen juice.

The level of active ingredients in many liquid Mangosteen juices simply is not great enough, (unless one
was to drink a pint per day) to supply sufficient xanthones and antioxidants to make any noticeable
difference to the health of someone suffering metabolic disease such as cancer.

What is the most powerful antioxidant?

WARNING - Benzene Danger Back to Top

Compounding the problem further, hot bottled liquid health drinks are pasteurized which destroys many of
the excellent natural properties of the Mangosteen pericarp, and almost invariably have sodium benzoate
or benzoic acid added, to prevent the liquid deteriorating and spoiling before the bottle of product is
consumed after being opened. Scientific research has shown the addition of sodium benzoate to any hot
bottled liquid which also contains vitamin C, may cause a chemical reaction to take place resulting in the
production of toxic levels of benzene within the product.

Benzene is a powerful carcinogen! There is NO safe level of benzene in food or

drinks!

The dubious claims surrounding Mangosteen juice, has resulted in Mangosteen joining those other
common plant products that have produced the most millionaires in the United States MLM fraternity,
Aloe Vera, and Noni. Thanks to Mangosteen and xanthones increasing name recognition and to the lack
of standardised testing methods to determine its quality and amount of active ingredient, many greedy
suppliers, brokers and manufacturers frequently stretch small amounts of genuine Mangosteen extract or
powder to literally make tens or even hundreds of liters of finished Mangosteen liquid drink, whilst reaping
substantial and often obscene profits. The taste of the Mangosteen juice or drink you experience could
well be mainly due to citric acid, sodium benzoate and artificial flavours added during the manufacturing
process of the Mangosteen drink.

This marketing strategy isn't new however. It's a direct result of other "exotic" fruit products such as Acai
Goji, and Noni netting billions in U.S. sales through direct marketing and retail sales, playing on the exotic
flair of some reasonably common tropical fruit that wasn't previously well known in the U.S. Since Noni's
profitable appearance in the U.S. market several years ago, many enterprising companies have been
searching for the next and newest (highly profitable) noni-replacement from an "exotic" tropical fruit such
as the Mangosteen.

Reconstituted Juice Back to Top

To further compound the situation, most of the drinks made from Mangosteen for commercial exploitation,
are reconstituted from Mangosteen concentrate back into a liquid, thereby destroying much of the
inherent beneficial nature of the Mangosteen due to pasteurization and the manufacturing processes the
ingredients go through. Often flavors and preservatives (as mentioned above) are added to allow the
product to keep for indefinite periods once opened. Actual mgs of active ingredient, the xanthones found
in the pericarp in a whole bottle of Mangosteen "health" juice may be far less than what the average
person would consume by eating 20 blueberries or blackberries per day over the period of a month.

The Health-Report team have looked thoroughly into many of the so-called wonder Mangosteen products
out there and have come to the conclusion that most are not worth paying anything for. You may as well
eat a few red grapes, black currants, blackberries or blueberries each day as pay for an exorbitantly
priced bottle of Mangosteen "health" juice drink which will have little or no effect on your overall health. In
fact, if the product is hot bottled and contains sodium benzoate as the preservative, it may have a long
term detrimental effect on your health and may even cause leukemia.

Having said that, some manufacturers that supply freeze dried powder concentrate and also
manufacturers that have quality cold bottling processes, have been able to maintain the integrity of the
original Mangosteen fruit. Freeze drying ensures the manufacturing process does not interfere with the
good properties nor does it involve the destructive pasteurization needed for liquids to ensure they keep
for long periods. An added benefit, often not taken into consideration is the debt placed on the
environment when shipping glass bottles containing liquid around the world. It makes sense to use a
product which is freeze dried, light and easy to ship, yet retains the integrity of the fruit without destructive
pasteurization. In this day and age, reducing our carbon footprint by NOT shipping liquids around the
world makes good sustainable sense.

The Health-Report team can recommend only one antioxidant juice product, which although it doesn't
contain Mangosteen it does contain very high levels of xanthones and other unique properties of the
Mangosteen. The recommended freeze dried Certified Organic Formula is a blend of 10 recognised
SuperFoods. It's easily the most economical product on the market when you compare actual ORAC units
with other antioxidant health products. Each single serve delivers over 7000 ORAC units which is more
than treble what nutritional scientists say we need every day. This would be equivalent to a customer
buying up to 12 bottles (or even more) of common over the counter liquid Mangosteen/Noni/Acai/Goji
products to obtain the same amount of active ingredient. Compare the difference

Cancer, heart disease, diabetes are all known to be "aging" diseases. Supplying yourself with
quality "anti-aging" whole food antioxidants along with a healthy diet, is your first and best line of
prevention against metabolic diseases such as cancer and heart disease as well as preventing the
onset of premature aging and wrinkled skin.

Contact Us for advice

References and Studies:

Tapiero, H., et. al. “Polyphenols: do they play a role in the prevention of human pathologies?”
Biomedicine & Pharmacotheraphy; 2002, 56 (4):200-207

Huang, D., et. al. “High-throughout assay of oxygen radical absorbency capacity using
multichannel liquid handling system coupled with a microplate florescence reader in 96 we
format.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: 2002 50 (16): 4437-4444

Mangosteen in the Columbia Encyclopedia - 6th edition, Columbia University Press 2003

Parkinson. R. “Mangoes, Lychees and Mangosteen": Chinese Cuisine 2004

Nakatani, K. , et. al. “gamma-Mangostin inhibits IkappaB Kinase Activity with and decreases
Lipopolysaccaride-induced cyclooxgenanase-2 Gene Expression in C6 Rat glioma Cells.”
Molecular Pharmacology; June 24, 2004

Jiang, D.J. e. al. “ Pharmacological effects of xanthones as cardiovascular protective agents.”

Cardiovascular Drug Reviews , 2004, 22(2):91-102

Biochem Pharmacol - 2002 Jan 1;63(1):73-9

Evaluation of the antifungal activity of natural xanthones from Garcinia mangostana and their
synthetic derivatives – J. Nat Prod 1997 May; 60 (5):519-24

Active constituents against HIV-1 protease from Mangosteen- Planta Med 1996 Aug;62(4):381-2

Mangostin inhibits the oxidative modification of human low density lipoprotein- Free radical Res.
1995 Aug.:23(2):175-84

Antiproliferation, antioxidation and induction of apoptosis by Garcinia mangostana on SKBR3

human breast cancer cell line J.Ethnopharmacol, 2004 Jan:90(1):161-6
Induction of apoptosis by xanthones from mangosteen in human leukemia cell lines J.Nat Prod.
2003 Aug;55(8):1124-7

Mangosteen Properties

Source: http://www.health-report.co.uk/mangosteen.htm