Super foods are foods that pack a greater nutritional punch than others. When researchers come across compounds that appear to provide special health benefits, such as the antioxidants found in mangosteen, it is often dubbed a "super food." The concentrated levels of antioxidants found in spinach and berries gives them an impressive oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) profile and has scientists interested in their therapeutic abilities.
Mangosteen
Mangosteen is a tropical fruit commonly found in Thailand, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. It is not a mango but a tangerine-sized fruit with a thick rind, called the pericarp, and a segmented, white fleshy center that is edible. The bioactive compounds of the fruit are primarily found in the non-edible pericarp; the compounds are extracted through a complicated solvent/water and freeze-drying process.
Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC)
ORAC is an analysis used to determine antioxidant potency that offers protection against cellular oxidative damage. The ORAC analysis was developed to measure the total antioxidant value of commonly eaten foods, such as fruits and vegetables and their juices. It makes it possible for scientists to assess therapeutic value because individual antioxidants can be difficult to measure, especially when many foods contain more than 4,000 antioxidants.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are the protective compounds in fruits and vegetables that have been linked to protection against oxidative damage that causes cancer and aging-related diseases. According to a study run by Tuft's University researcher and ORAC analysis developer Dr. Guohua Cao and his colleague Dr. Ronald L. Prior, just 10 ounces of spinach added to women's diets increased the antioxidant capacity in their blood by up to 20 percent. They followed that study in 1999 with animal studies that showed a high-ORAC diet protected against aging-related capillary damage, cognitive decline and loss of balance and other motor skills.
Therapeutic Effects of Mangosteen
A 2007 study published in the "Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry" showed that mangosteen pericarps yield a higher level of anthocyanins, xanthone and likely proanthocyanins than was found in pine bark and grape seed extract. Proanthocyanins are free-radical scavengers that have been linked to protection against sun-related skin cancer, colon cancer and reducing further cell damage and spread of the diseases. A study published in BioMed Central in 2011 showed promising results in a breast-cancer study, in which compounds isolated from the fruit's pericarp significantly suppressed tumor growth and metastasis and led researchers to speculate about its chemo-preventive benefits.
Adding Mangosteen and High-ORAC Foods to Your Diet
Mangosteen's antioxidant benefits are primarily found in the pericarp, and most studies as of 2011 have been completed on animal or cell models, not on humans. The Mayo Clinic explains that, while there is no harm in drinking mangosteen juice, specific therapeutic claims are undocumented and many juice blends do not disclose the mangosteen content. High ORAC foods include spinach, blueberries and strawberries. Prior states that increasing fruits and vegetables in your diet can significantly increase ORAC benefits.
References
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins from Mangosteen Pericarps; Caili Fu, et al; 2007
- United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service; Can Foods Forestall Aging?; Judy McBride; 1999
- BMC Medicine; A-Mangostin Extracted from the Pericarp of the Mangosteen Reduces Tumor Growth ...; Masa-Aki Shibata, et al., 2011
- Mayo Clinic; Can Drinking Mangosteen Juice Reduce Arthritis Inflammation and Pain? ; Brent A. Bauer; 2009
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