If mango is not on your shopping list, your wellbeing may be suffering as a result. This is according to a number of new and previous studies which suggest that including mango in your diet or in supplement form can have a significant beneficial impact on your wellness, including fighting the good fight against type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Some of the latest information on the health benefits of mangos was presented at the recent Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) gathering, with researchers noting one study in which obese animals consumed 10 grams of freeze-dried mango every day for 12 weeks. The results of this experiment revealed that the blood sugar levels in the animals declined, which could make mango a helpful tool in your management of type 2 diabetes.
Edralin Lucas, PhD, who led the study, commented, ‘Although the mechanism by which mango exerts its effects warrants further investigation, we do know that mangos contain a complex mixture of polyphenolic compounds.’ Polyphenolic compounds, or polyphenols, are a natural chemical found in plants. There are over 4,000 different polyphenols, which work towards your wellness because they are antioxidants, meaning they fight the disease-causing, cell-damaging free radicals in your body.
However, this study is not the first to find that mango can help to fight diabetes. In 2011, researchers conducted a study in which the explored how freeze-dried mango might lower lipids and tackle diabetes in mice that had been fed a high-fat (HF) diet. Compared to drugs, the researchers found that mango ‘improved glucose tolerance and lipid profile and reduced adiposity [fat] associated with a HF diet.’
If you have, or are at risk of, type 2 diabetes, one thing your doctor might advise you to do is to lose weight – but can mango help with this? Based on studies that indicate African mango extract (Irvingia gabonensis) is effective in reducing body weight and improving metabolic factors in people who are overweight, some experts believe it can. A recent study in the Journal of Dietary Supplements reported on the results of three randomized controlled trials, noting that the studies suggested significant reductions in weight and waist circumference when compared with placebo.
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