Mangosteen, botanically called Garcinia mangostina, is a tropical tree that produces dark purple fruit with a segmented white pulp. Indigenous to southeast Asia, mangosteen is cultivated in Brazil and other tropical areas. Compounds in mangosteen juice called xanthones have a variety of beneficial effects that can support health. Preliminary cell research and animal studies into mangosteen's health benefits have been promising, but the American Cancer Society notes that mangosteen juice has not been proven safe and effective for treating illnesses.
Check with your doctor before using mangosteen.
Antioxidant Benefits
Mangosteen juice can help protect your tissues, heart and nervous system. Drugs.com, which provides peer-reviewed information to consumers, states that mangostin alpha-- one of the xanthones found in mangosteen fruit-- has potent antioxidant effects, scavenging free radicals that can damage cell membranes and DNA, and preventing oxidative damage of LDL cholesterol, thereby offering heart-protective benefits. The website adds that xanthones in mangosteen juice can even benefit skin when used topically in a cream to help improve age-related changes. Mangosteen juice is also rich in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant in its own right.
Antihistamine Effects
Mangosteen fruit extract has a powerful inhibitory effect on the release of histamines, substances which cause inflammation and allergic reactions. According to Drugs.com, both the alpha-mangostin and gamma-mangostin xanthones block the release of histamine. In addition, animal cell studies suggested that these same two xanthones, along with beta-mangostin, suppress the release of allergic mediators, which play an important role in reactions.
Possible Chemoprotective Effects
There is some evidence that yet another xanthone in mangosteen juice may be able to stop or slow the spread of cancer. In a clinical study conducted by C.K. Ho and colleagues and published in the November, 2002 issue of "Planta Medica," researchers found that a xanthone derivative called garcinone E had potent cancer inhibiting effects on liver, gastric and lung cancer cells. The American Cancer Society concurs that mangosteen extract slowed the growth of some cancer cells in laboratory studies, but points out that mangosteen's ability to inhibit cancer hasn't been tested on humans.
Antimicrobial Benefits
Mangosteen, specifically the alpha-mangostin xanthone, has been shown in laboratory studies to have strong antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA. Drugs.com states that mangosteen's xanthones may be useful in inhibiting acne-causing bacteria, as well as in combatting H. pylori bacteria, the microbe that causes gastric ulcers.
Safety Consideratons
Consult your doctor before using mangosteen; it may interact with prescription or over-the-counter medications. Rxlist.com says that if you are pregnant or breast feeding, you should not use mangosteen.
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