It’s mango season again and before you cry about the increase in houseflies here are ten things I bet you didn’t know about mangoes!
When you savor delicious and succulent mangoes every season, you probably don’t think about the immense health benefits coming with every bite.
A common nickname for mangoes is actually ‘the king of fruits’. Beyond the sweet, luscious taste of mangoes, they also contain an abundance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that assure your optimum health.
Here we give you 10 top healthy reasons for why you should eat mangoes during this season.
1. Boosts Immunity
You would be surprised to know that an average sized mango contains upto two-third of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C. The powerful antioxidant helps boost immunity system and prevents cold/flu.
2. Helps in digestion
Mangoes could help facilitate healthy digestion. According to the book, ‘Healing Foods’ by DK Publishing, mangoes contain enzymes that aid the breakdown and digestion of protein, and also fibre, which keeps the digestive tract working efficiently. Dietary fibre helps lowering risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes. Green mangoes have more pectin fibre than ripe mangoes.
3. Helps in maintaining cholesterol level
Mangoes contain high level of vitamin C, fibre and pectin making it a perfect fruit that helps in controlling high cholesterol level.
4. Improves concentration and memory
If you find it difficult to concentrate and have low memory, then gorge on mangoes. They not only help in improving your concentration but also boost your memory.
5. It helps in cleansing skin
Another benefit of eating mangoes is that it cleanses your skin from deep inside your body. It treats pores and gives a glow to your skin. Hence, eat mangoes to get a flawless skin.
6. Prevent Cancer
The pulp of the mango fruit contains carotenoids, ascorbic acid, terpenoids, and polyphenols – all of which are responsible for the fruit’s cancer-preventing properties (4). Mangoes are also found to contain unique antioxidants that are absent in other fruits and vegetables (5). A Texas study conducted in 2010 also supported the anti-carcinogenic effects of mangoes (6).
7. Improvement of Eye Health
When a body has an extreme deficiency of vitamin A, the condition can lead to blindness. Vitamin A plays an important role in keeping your eyes healthy and your eyesight safe. Since mangos have a lot of vitamin A, they should help you have healthy eyes.
8. Helps in Diabetes
Mango leaves help normalize insulin levels in the blood. The traditional home remedy involves boiling leaves in water, soaking through the night and then consuming the filtered decoction in the morning. Mango fruit also have a relatively low glycemic index (41-60) so moderate quantities will not spike your sugar levels.
9. Remedy for Heat Stroke
Juicing the fruit from green mango and mixing with water and a sweetener helps to cool down the body and prevent harm to the body. From an ayurvedic viewpoint, the reason people often get diuretic and exhausted when visiting equatorial climates is because the strong “sun energy” is burning up your body, particularly the muscles. The kidneys then become overloaded with the toxins from this process.
10. Alkalization of Body
Mangos can be a great help in increasing the alkalinity of your body. Of course, you don’t want to increase the alkaline levels in the body too much, and so only eat mangos moderately but regularly. Potassium found in mangos can be a great way to alkalize your body. Keep in mind that your body’s ideal pH should be above seven, i.e., more alkaline. An alkalized body has reduced the risk of suffering from chronic pains and diseases.
Now you know mangos are not just delicious but amazingly healthy for your body too. Get your hands on a few different varieties, taste them and pick the one that tantalizes your taste buds the most.