Health Benefits Of Mangosteen

Boosts The Immune System

Current data suggests mangosteen boosts the immune system as a result of its fiber, vitamin, and antioxidant content. The fruit contains nine percent of an adult's recommended daily intake of vitamin C, one of the key vitamins associated with improved immune function. Vitamin C provides support to the immune system by protecting the integrity of the body's cells and by stimulating the production of white blood cells to combat infections. In fact, the cells within the body's immune system have specialized receptors that accept and store vitamin C, releasing it into cells as needed. Vitamin C helps T cells (natural killer cells) find and destroy foreign bodies and infections more easily, and the vitamin also helps neutrophils (bacteria-fighting cells) to eliminate bacterial infections from the body.

Numerous studies have shown vitamin C is effective in the prevention of respiratory infections such as the common cold. A small study of twenty-six patients compared the effects of one thousand milligrams of daily vitamin C supplements with a placebo. The results indicated eighty-five percent of those in the placebo group contracted the common cold, but those who had taken the vitamin C contracted the common cold at a rate of only forty-seven percent. Among patients in the vitamin C group who did get a cold, the length of their illness was fifty-nine percent shorter than that of the placebo group. In conjunction with other foods and supplements, mangosteen can be an important dietary source of vitamin C, especially for patients who do not enjoy other fruits.

Read more about the various health benefits linked to mangosteen now.