Acai berries and mangosteen fruit are thought to have considerable promise as "superfoods," foods that may help protect us from disease and illness. Acai berries are sold as a juice and a pulp. Mangosteen is sold as a juice.
Both acai berries and mangosteen have been used by people to treat a variety of illnesses and diseases. In America, research into the medicinal properties of acai berries and mangosteen is being conducted by such prestigious organizations as the Mayo Clinic and the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
What Is Acai Berry?
Acai berry is a South American fruit that grows on trees in the rain forest of the Amazon. It has been used as a food and as a medicine by people of the region for hundreds of years. Some people think it tastes like a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry.
The Health Sciences Institute calls acai "nature's perfect food," containing 30 times the antioxidants in red wine as well as the same beneficial fatty acids contained in olive oil. Acai berry may be helpful with in preventing heart disease, the absorption of essential vitamins and perhaps even helpful in preventing cancer.
What Is Mangosteen?
Mangosteen is a fruit that is primarily grown in Southeast Asia. Despite the name, it is not related to mango fruit.
It is highly praised in countries such as China for its balance of sweet and sour flavors, comparable to a yin and yang effect, according to the University of Purdue's horticulture and landscape architecture department.
Dried mangosteen has been used for a variety of conditions, ranging from dysentery to skin problems to chronic diarrhea, a leading killer of children in undeveloped countries.
Acai Berry and Clinical Research
Dr. Brent Bauer, director of complementary and integrative medicine at MayoClinic.com, cautions, "At this point, acai falls into the category of intriguing but unproven." He also states that acai berry probably is a superfood, but not a magic bullet. If you drink and smoke and are overweight, drinking acai berry juice is not going to help much.
Research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has found that acai berry has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and apoptotic effects. It adds, however, that acai has not been proven to be effective for cancer in humans."
Both the juice and the pulp of acai berry are readily absorbed by humans, according to scientists at the Texas AgriLife Research.
Mangosteen and Medical Research
A study of the anti-inflammatory properties of mangosteen in humans is underway at the Mayo Clinic. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011. "Laboratory and animal studies suggest that mangosteen has significant anti-inflammatory effects," according to MayoClinic.com.
Mangosteen, like acai berry, contains a large amount of antioxidants. Unlike acai berry, it also contains a large amount of xanthones, which may have a significant anti-inflammatory effect, and could make mangosteen useful in fighting conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer.
Considerations
Although the clinical trials are just beginning, acai berry and mangosteen offer great promise. Plus, most people like the taste, and fruit is good for you. There is no reason not to consume acai berry and mangosteen juice, if you so choose. And if the ongoing research finds that the fruits are helpful in preventing and/or treating certain diseases and illnesses, so much the better.
There are few reported side effects from either acai berry and mangosteen. There are some people, however, that should not consume them: people with fruit allergies and cancer patients undergoing certain forms of chemotherapy treatments. Mangosteen also should not be consumed by ruba vera patients and people taking coumadin.
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