For everybody's knowledge, mangosteen is a tropical fruit that is commonly grown in hot and humid climates of Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia,
and Singapore. The color of the fruit is usually dark purple which grows to a diameter of about 2 to 3 inches. Its
size is most likely that of a small peach or apple. However, mangosteens are not related to mangos.
Most fruits are typically opened by peeling but not mangosteen. The
fruit is opened by simply pressing it firmly at the center or twisting the outside until it breaks apart. When opened, you
will see a one inch thick hard rind with a center of a soft opaque white fruit. The center often resembles a head of garlic
but tastes sweet and tart. With its delicious taste, mangosteen is popular to a lot of fruit lovers. Moreover, the fruit is
more than just its delicious taste and mouth watering flavor. It has been known to contain various vitamins and minerals and
is known to deliver a lot of health benefits. Its benefits have been known for as early as 18th century and since then, the
name of the fruit has popularly spread all throughout, the world making it world famous and one of the most widely known fruits
in the world.
Here are great mangosteen benefits that would make you take advantage of the fruit, not for anything
else, but to ensure optimum health:
Primarily, mangosteen fruit is made up of active components known
as xanthones. Xanthones are known to be a class of polyphenolic compounds that biologically active and with a similar structure
with bioflavanoids. With a number of researches and studies, such compounds have been revealed with several health benefits
like its anti-inflammatory properties, anti-convulsant, and anti-allergic abilities.
Other major significant components of mangosteen are the sterols,
polysaccharides, catechins, proanthocyanidins. Compared to xanthones, these elements are less biologically active and nutritionally
important. But then, most of them act as anti-oxidants and still play a vital role in the long array of medicinal mangosteen
benefits.
Moreover, there are a number of stronger antioxidants that are found
in the fruit. These compounds greatly help in preventing or at least reducing the reactions and oxidations that are basically
promoted by oxygen and peroxides. With less antioxidants present in our body, the oxidation process succeeds which produces
free radicals leading to a chain reaction that causes cell damage. Such reaction often leads to a number of diseases and the
most feared premature aging. By effectively removing the free radicals found in our body, antioxidants present in mangosteen
help prevent these said reactions. With low levels of antioxidants, the body experiences oxidative stress that is usually
associated with a lot of diseases. In recent studies, it has been revealed that antioxidants have even further use in the
form of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and strokes.
