PhytoScience - Staff Report
The Miracle of Mangosteen
Why do we need to suppliment our diets
Our environment, from the air we breathe to the food we eat, is out to get us.
We are bombarded with free radicals that originate from airborne particulates, junk food, prescription drugs, heavy metals, pesticides, household chemicals, cosmetics and other harmful toxins. Even stress from job and family plays a major role in our well being.
Most of us need a miracle to reach anything close to good health. Supplementing our diets with quality nutrients has become necessary if we desire to increase our odds at sustaining good health well into our golden years. No matter how hard we try, it's increasingly difficult to avoid the pollutants and toxins that have become a part of our daily lives.
The Mangosteen may be as close to a natural miracle immune system modulator as we will ever see. Backed by over thirty years of independent scientific studies (and hundreds of years of traditional folklore usage), the mangosteen fruit is now known to be one of the most powerful botanicals ever discovered. It's a natural treasure trove of health giving nutrients! One of the most significant aspects to this fruit is the potent anti-inflammatory properties that it processes. The most challenging health conditions we face today appear to have chronic inflammation playing an underlying role in the onset and advancement of disease.
All five parts the fruit from the stem to the inner flesh of the fruit posses natural healing and health-promoting properties that are so broad in scope it makes it hard for the average person to believe. if decades of scientific research weren't already on hand at the National Library of Medicine, it would be easy to write this little dynamo off as another snake oil tonic. Nothing could be further from the truth!
A Landmark Discovery 
No single health product in modern history has come close to providing the broad range of benefits that can be offered to us by consuming the mangosteen fruit.
Xango LCC introduced the first whole food mangosteen puree beverage in November of 2002. This marked the latest revolution in supplemental nutrition. Not since Aloe Vera was introduced to the marketplace close to forty years ago, has a product been so well received.
Xango has been clinically tested for toxicity and found to be safe for use for all ages with no recorded drug interactions. This cannot be said for all mangosteen products currently on the market. The juice contains the full range of xanthones found in the whole fruit. Other beneficial phytonutrients found in the whole fruit juice formula are anthocyanins, polysaccharides, stilbenes and catechins.
Like all natural products, it's been a bumpy ride to gain a foothold of acceptance within the medical community. Xango's billion dollar sales records for it's first five years of operation indicate that this is no fad "one year wonder" product. We're now seeing an unprecedented positive shift in acceptance of this product with health professionals worldwide. The popularity and success of this beverage has spawned many knock off competitor's products, most of which are inferior. There are enormous costs associated with producing a quality functional beverage. Xango's worldwide patents make it difficult for competitors to duplicate their proprietary blend.
With scientific partners that include Northridge, Calif.-based Medicus Research, Weber State University and leading independent laboratories, XanGo continues to spearhead scientific exploration of the whole mangosteen fruit through a tiered approach on safety, standardization and efficacy.
In XanGo's most recent independent research of the mangosteen completed in January 2009, promising peer-reviewed clinical trials by the UCLA School of Medicine's Dr. Jay K. Udani have shown that XanGo® Juice reduces inflammation in obese subjects, which may be valuable in preventing the progression to diabetes and heart disease. This eight-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included a pre-study two-week washout period. It evaluated the effect of multiple dosages of a proprietary mangostoeen juice on indicators of inflammation and antioxidant levels in obese patients with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.
My condition worsened when I started using it
In some cases, in the earliest stages of use, some people experience a healing crisis or detoxifying effect {an increase or outbreak of symptoms that may last from 4 to 10 days}. This may include a minor skin irritation or rash, increased body odor due to toxins removed through perspiration, occasional bouts of coughing; typically in the morning when you first get up, flu like symptoms or increased gas.
Do not discontinue use, once the body is cleared of the toxins that exacerbate the condition, the healing process can get underway. This is normal and should be expected when using a quality natural product. Often, after the detoxifying period, people will notice improved lung capacity and ease of breathing, better sleep patterns, and increased energy. These small improvements can play a major role with improved health.
It is important to consume mangosteen juice with meals; and for best results it's important to consume six to eight {8 ounce} glasses of water each day. Water flushes the toxins from the body.
Results will vary with individuals but the long term benefits are well worth the short term discomfort as mangosteen juice has been very effective with a variety of health challenges.
I tried it for a week and it didn't work
We have become an impatient society and we often expect instant results. Natural products typically do not work that way. Unlike medications, {which are potent and target specific symptoms} natural products work gradually and increase in performance over time with consistent daily use.
It takes years, sometimes decades to develop significant or life threatening health challenges. With food supplements it can take months or years before best results are fully realized. The advantage to using natural supplements is that they typically do not have the adverse effects that have plagued people using drugs long term. Another advantage is that the body uses the nutrients in foods to repair and heal itself; improving overall quality of life. Drugs often mask the symptoms and rarely cure a chronic condition.
Xanthones, which are unique to the mangosteen, as a class of phytonutrients are polyphenolic bioflavonoids. Over 60 research papers show antitumor, antiproliferative, antimicrobial, antihistamine, antiflammatory, antioxidant and gastrointestinal protective effects. Mangosteen has been used successfully for these conditions for centuries throughout Southeast Asia. It also possesses many additional benefits over other natural products. Mangosteen Science
To see results when using natural supplements like mangosteen juice, It is reasonable to expect to consume the product for at least three to four months. Keep a daily or weekly log. Write down the conditions you have and what level of pain or discomfort you are experiencing using a scale of 1 to 10. (10 indicating the worst pain) You can look back at the log and determine if your condition has gradually improved over the time you've consumed the juice.
You'd be better served to consume mangosteen juice for upwards of a year before giving up on it. Subtle changes may occur over time. You may not notice a specific health benefit, but your doctor may report back to you that your test results from your anual physical have improved over the past year. That is not the news we typically hear from our health providers as we age.
The most important criteria, is to take the mangosteen juice consistently. Intermittent use of food supplements will lead to diminished results and may prove to be a complete waste of your money. If you aren't serious about improving your condition, spend your money on a nice vacation and don't complain to your friends about your pain, believe me, if they sent you to this site to learn about mangosteen juice and you don't try it, they'll quickly tire of hearing your complaints.
All natural products are good for you
Just like all medications, all natural products are good for you. Are you detecting a little cynicism here?
There are lots of medications when used correctly that have little or no adverse effects. Some drugs on the other hand may have side effects that are fatal. (You only need to read the news to see which of the latest miracle drugs was pulled by the FDA recently for its deadly adverse effects)
Because a product is natural does not mean that it doesn't have adverse effects or possible drug interactions which could prove to be harmful. It is important not to paint all natural products with a single brush. Read the labels carefully and look for product warnings.
Like drugs, one supplement may prove beneficial for some people but not necessarily helpful for everyone. A medication can be changed several times before the health professional finds the right drug for their patient’s condition.
Supplements are no different. What works for your neighbor may not work as well for you... If you've tried Aloe, Noni or some other suppliment in the past and it didn't work for you, don't give up, there's something out there that will work wonders for you. Give mangosteen juice an honest trail. You might have to try a few different products until you find the one (or combination of products) that provides you with the results you're looking for.
Buyer Beware
Natural supplements are not all created equally. Disreputable companies can produce products that are not scientifically formulated. In fact, they often don't consult with nor have scientists on staff. Companies frequently use ingredients in their product which react with each other to produce toxic or harmful effects. Do not blindly trust the ad material that promotes natural products. There have been many cases where advertised ingredients are not included in the final product. Monavie is the latest in the long line of natural products to be facing legal woes for misrepresenting their product. Food supplements for the most part are not strictly regulated and false advertising is commonplace. 
Extracts - Use caution when selecting a mangosteen product. Some companies use xanthone extracts. Extracts can be harmful if there are residual solvents or impurities in the finished product. It costs pharmaceutical companies upwards of $100 million dollars to extract a single molecule in enough quantity to bring a product to market. Many of the mangosteen products out there do not have the financial capital to extract all 43 of the xanthones found in the mangosteen fruit. Be wary of product labels that make exorbitant claims. Natural products are not regulated as strictly as medications. This opens the door for unscrupulous claims and falsely advertised ingredients.
Capsules - Capsules break down once they reach the stomach. The contents of mangosteen capsules have not been found to contain the full range of xanthones found in the whole fruit, nor do they contain the many other phytonutrients found in the whole fruit such as anthocyanins, polysaccharides, stilbenes and catechins . The contents found in capsules has limited bio-availability. Capsules lack the vital benifits that can only be found in a liquid form. A liquid makes contact with the entire digestive tract, this contact can increase the performance of a product dramatically. There have been no consumer reports to PhytoScience to date of health benefits arising with the use of mangosteen capsules. This may explain why capsules were initially retailed at $30 to $40 for a months supply and can now be found for $3 to $6 respectively. Products need to be functional to have value.
Juice - Watch for labels and inserts with fine print which contain warnings. This is a good indication that the product has been made using extracts or other additives which are not found naturally occuring in the fruit. One such mangosteen juice found in many health food stores touted its superiority with its quantity of xanthones. Yet the juice contained only two of the over 40 xanthones found in the whole mangosteen fruit and came with the following warnings: Do not give to pregnant or lactating women. Do not give to children under 12. Do not use with the following medications.
If you see these types of warnings on any orally ingested products, mangosteen or otherwise, you may want to reconsider your purchase before consuming the product with your family.
Another mangosteen juice product purchased at a health food store (and is available online} contained no xanthones from the mangosteen fruit at all. The one xanthone identified in the juice came from the bark of St. Johns Wort.
Added Vitamins - There are ingredients found in some fruits which may react with certain vitamins. Sodium benzoate occurs naturally in many fruits and berries. In the presence of trace amounts of certain metals, which act as catalysts, vitamin C can produce free radicals that convert benzoate into benzene. Benzene is harmful to your health. Be wary of fruit products that contain Cherry or Wolfberry and add vitamin C to their formulas. Cherry has a relatively high content of naturally occuring sodium benzoate. Wolfberry can be problematic for some of its other components as well. Chinese Wolfberry (incorrectly named Goji) contains .44ppm Arsenic, 8ppm Mercury. (as indicated in Dr. James Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases)
Soduim Benzoate - Is a highly misunderstood naturally occuring chemical found in many fruits and berries. You could easily consume more sodium benzoate in a handfull of cherries than you would in most packaged products that contain the chemical additive. Sodium benzoate is not harmful as a preservative. There is a far greater health risk consuming spoiled foods. The furor that surrounds this chemical is about the careless combination of ingredients that are blended together to make soft drinks and other beverages and food products that contain trace metals or vitamin C which react with sodium benzoate to form benzene. Benzene is a know carcinogen. (Cancer causing agent)
Conclusion
Consumer feedback to PhytoScience staff includes numerous positive testimonials for a broad range of health challenges which have been addressed by consistent daily consumption of whole fruit puree mangosteen juice. Testimonies appear to support the independent scientific lab studies found in the archives of the National Library of Medicine, which makes this a compelling discovery in the quest for better health.
Is mangosteen the next big discovery in the health and wellness arena? Only time will tell.
Staff Reporter (copyright January 2008) Updated 12Mar2009
PhytoScience.ca
Disclaimer:
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Any product mentioned is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.