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Q: My doctor has never heard of the
mangosteen, and he doesn’t think it will help. Why hasn’t
he heard of it, and is he right?
A: Having
practiced conventional medicine for over twenty years I
know that most allopathic physicians do not attempt to
keep abreast of the advances in alternative medicine,
This neglect is not purposeful but
rather occurs because they have been trained to view drugs
as he primary treatment for illnesses. As I have explained
elsewhere (Mangosteen: The X-Factor), drugs have one
specific purpose. They are not intended to perform several
functions in the body as “botanicals” (plant derived
therapeutic agents) generally do. In fact, allopathic
medicine teaches that there is a single drug for a single
problem. Therefore, physicians do not expect any single
agents to have multiple therapeutic effects. For this
reason, their professional bias leads them to skeptical of
botanicals.
The mangosteen will become a household
word, more common than aloevera. Until it does, and this
is happening rapidly, the number of physicians familiar
with the name of the plant will be small. Physicians will
likely be the last group of individuals in American
society to inform them about the mangosteen. In this
instance, patients will have to do the educating of
physicians as they continue to have results that will
baffle their doctors.
Q: I’m allergic to many types of food.
Will mangosteen fruit be safe for me?
A: The
mangosteen is a fruit and such some people will have
allergic reactions to it. I’ve received reports from some
users who have complained about allergic reactions to the
fruit, but none of the reactions have been life
threatening. The most common form of allergic reaction to
the mangosteen is a skin rash involving redness and
swelling. Occasionally, mild headache and joint pain can
also be experienced. Loose stools or constipation may also
be the result of an allergic response.
However, as my chiropractic and
naturopathic colleagues are quick to point out, many of
the manifestations (which could be allergic) may be due to
a “healing crisis” or “detoxification” reaction. Both of
these phenomena involve a temporary increase in the
severity of symptoms for which the patient is taking
mangosteen or the manifestation of the allergy symptoms
noted above. Initially, reducing the dosage (sometimes to
as little as 5ml or one teaspoon) and gradually increasing
it over a period of weeks will result in the disappearance
of the healing crises and detoxification reactions.
Allergic reactions will persist, however, and if severe,
may mean that the individual cannot use the fruit.
Alternatively, in order to know if the
reaction is actually from the fruit, simply stop using it
for a week, then begin again to see if the reaction
returns. I have also found it helpful for individuals with
a history of allergies to do a scratch test. This is done
by soaking the gauze portion of an adhesive bandage with
mangosteen juice and, after thoroughly washing the area,
scratching the underside bicep with a clean pin or needle.
Place the soaked bandage over the scratch and leave it for
36-48 hours. Any redness, itching or swelling can be
assumed to be signs of allergy to mangosteen.
Q: I’m healthy- do I need to be taking
the mangosteen fruit?
A: In my
opinion the mangosteen fruit’s greatest asset is not its
therapeutic properties, but rather its preventive
properties. With a daily serving of mangosteen, consumers
are actively building up their defense against sickness.
It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure. This adage certainly holds true for the mangosteen.
Twenty –three percent of the North
American population will die of cancer. Fifty-two percent
will die of consequences of arteriosclerosis (heart attack
and stroke). Both of these terrible killers are
essentially lifestyle diseases, which mean that proper
diet, adequate exercise and judicious supplementation can
largely prevent to reduce the oxidation of low-density
lipoprotein, the first step in the development in
atherosclerosis. Its powerful antioxidants also protect
against genetic mutations of DNA, which can lead to
cancer.
Q: How much mangosteen juice should I
be taking?
A: For
prevention, a minimal dosage of 1 oz daily is suggested.
Because certain xanthones can only be absorbed with some
fat present in the digestive tract, mangosteen should be
taken with food.
In disease, when multiple mangosteen
servings would desirable these should be taken at
intervals of four to six hours (the estimated half-life of
xanthones). Therefore, taking the mangosteen juice every
meal would be ideal. For greater detail regarding regimens
in various disease states, see the booklet The Medical
Applications Of Mangosteen.
Q: what gives the mangosteen its health
–promoting properties?
A: The
mangosteen receives most of its health promoting
properties from compounds called xanthones, which cannot
be found in any other supplements. Xanthones are bioactive
molecules with a polyphenol structure possessing multiple
double-carbon bonds. These bonds confer great stability
chemically (for instance, xanthones are not destroyed by
heat). For a more in-depth discussion regarding xanthones
and their remarkable properties, please refer to the
booklet Mangosteen: The X-Factor
Q: Can
mangosteen help with my arthritis?
A: In
most types of arthritis the majority of mangosteen’s
benefit will come from its anti-inflammatory effects
because it blocks the COX enzymes that are
pro-inflammatory. In addition, mangosteen doesn’t cause
dangerous gastrointestinal side effects of prescribed or
over the-counter-anti-inflammatory drugs. The mangosteen
also exhibits a neurological pain-reducing effect, which I
believe exists because of its ability to inhibit COX-2 in
the central nervous system, where the enzymes is
responsible for the pain relief reported by patients with
vertebral disc compression syndromes (such as sciatica)
where nerve damage caused by “ degenerative joint disease”
is the underlying problem.
Q: Will the mangosteen fruit help with
diabetes?
A: in
type I diabetes all insulin-producing cells (called beta
cells) in the pancreas have been destroyed, which forces
patients to use an outside source of insulin to survive.
In these patients, blood sugar levels are often very
problematic, with levels fluctuating widely. With the use
of mangosteen as a supplement, we have noted the following
beneficial affects in type I patients:
·
Improved
glycemic (blood sugar) control s the amplitude of the
blood sugar fluctuations is significantly reduced.
·
Perceptible
decrease in the frequency of the infection
While protection from diabetic
complications cannot be easily seen in short-term, there
is a good reason to believe, based on laboratory
observations and accepted disease theory, that end-organ
(heart, eye, nerve and kidney) damage can be substantially
mitigated in all types of diabetes.
Type II diabetes is primarily linked to
obesity. It also has a strong genetic component that
increases the risk of contracting the disease. Type II
diabetes (previously called “adult-onset”) is now commonly
seen in obese children and teenagers. In fact, North
American epidemic of obesity has also caused type II
diabetes to reach epidemic proportions.
In newly diagnosed (early stages)
diabetics, particularly the obese, the mangosteen appears
to have beneficial effect in reducing the carbohydrate
cravings. This facilitates weight loss, which is critical
in controlling the severity of the disease. Additionally,
type II diabetes experience significant decrease in blood
sugar levels by using the fruit.
A word of caution- diabetic patients
too often take mangosteen’s favorable effects on the
blood sugar to mean that they can relax their vigilance
regarding dietary restrictions or just outright “cheat”
with forbidden effects on this marvelous food supplement.
For dosing information, see The Medical Applications of
Mangosteen. Patients must test their blood sugar daily
to know when to contact their physician for a reduction in
medication levels.
Q: Will
mangosteen help me with weight loss?
A: I use
mangosteen daily and I am overweight. However, when I
first started to use it was a supplement; I did lose about
seventeen pounds without dieting. Since losing the weight,
I have regained tens of pounds. From reports receive; my
experience mirrors that many consumers who experience
initial weight loss that doesn’t really persist unless
behavior is changed to prevent regaining the weight. That
being said, I have also received far more reports of very
significant weight loss (up to between 40 and 100 pounds)
that has been maintained without special precautions
besides using the supplement.
Some animal experimental data indicates
that mangosteen may stimulate weight loss but it is
insufficiently strong to allow us to predict results. I
have not received any reports of weight gain by users.
Q: Will the
mangosteen help with neurological diseases such
Alzheimer’s, MS and Parkinson’s?
A:
Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable degenerative disease
of the brain. Some four million American’s have
Alzheimer’s and that number may increase to twenty million
by 2020. While the patients with advance disease are
mercifully spared the awareness of their problems, family
members suffer extraordinarily. Physical care, safety
issues that can drain loved ones as the disease
progresses. Institutionalization, particularly if other
significant physical problems exist, is often unavoidable.
While there are several drugs on the market capable of
reducing the rate of decline and preserving function, they
are expensive and have nasty gastrointestinal side
effects. In addition, none of these drugs address the
issue of the low-grade inflammation of the brain that
exists in the disease, and which is responsible for the
characteristic deposition of amyloid plaques.
Additionally, the prevention of disease
is particularly important for the people with stricken
family members, because there is a familiar pattern to its
occurrence. Thus, far with the cause of the disease still
unelucidated, little consensus exists about what can be
done to prevent it. There is however, general agreement
among experts that antioxidant therapy is a worthwhile
prevention.
Dr. K. Nakatani of Japan, who studied
gamma mangostin, suggested that the anti-inflammatory
effects of the xanthones on the structural cells of the
brain (white matter) deserved attention for its
therapeutic potential in inflammatory conditions of the
brain. Clinical experience indicates an improvement in
Alzheimer’s patients from using the mangosteen whether or
not they are suing drugs.
Patients of multiple sclerosis (MS) and
Parkinson’s disease have also benefited substantially from
using the mangosteen. Greater benefits are seen in the
early stages of these diseases.
Q: Is the
mangosteen safe to use with medications?
A: To
date we have not observed or had reported any drug-food
interactions with mangosteen. We do not know, however,
precisely how consuming the fruit may affect the P450
enzymes system of the liver, although we are currently
conduction animal studies to determine this. The results
will be available shortly. When we know it, it will be
possible to predict any interaction; however, I think it
improbable that anything significant will be found. I base
my conclusions on the lack of any report and documented
food-drug interactions despite hundreds of thousands of
serving have been consumed. While this is not definitive
proof that no food-drug interactions exist, I believe it
provides a sufficient level of confidence to offer initial
reassurance.
Q: Will the
mangosteen help with pain
A: The
mangosteen possesses the potent anti-inflammatory
qualities. Inflammation, whether acute or chronic,
produces tissue swelling that can compress pain fibers in
the areas where the swelling exist. Inflammation also
causes the release of chemicals, which interact with free
nerve endings the produce pain discharges that travel to
spinal cord and from there to the brain.
Reducing or eliminating inflammation
through the anti-inflammatory effect of the juice prevents
or removes both the pressure from swelling and the
stimulus to produce pain medicators which stimulates
nociceptors (pain nerves).
Additionally, the COX-2 enzyme is
constitutive (meaning present at all times) in the central
nervous system (CNS=brain, spinal cord and cerebrospinal
fluid). This enzyme is linked to the transmission of pain
signals up to the spinal cord to the brain. Presumptively
the mangosteen inhibits the pain-related action of the
COX-2 enzyme in the CNS and blocks pain impulse
generation.
So yes, the mangosteen may
significantly reduce any pain you might be experiencing.
Q: Will the
mangosteen help certain GI tract problems such as
diarrhea, IBS and diverticulitis?
A:
Absolutely! Perhaps the most widespread use of the
mangosteen in folk medicine has to do with the
gastrointestinal system. The xanthones, alpha and gamma
mangostin, have been found to have both histamine and
serotonin receptor blocking capacity. When serotonin is
blocked in the gut, conditions of disordered motility like
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) should be affected
favorably. The blocking of serotonin is also the reason
mangosteen helps diarrhea sufferers.
There is one study that claims,
“Animals treated with xanthones exhibited marked
protection against ulcers.”
In Europe, patients with diverticulitis
(small pouches in the wall of the large bowel) take
low-dose antibiotics several times a week to remain free
of infection. Such frequent dosing, however, leaves them
susceptible to bacterial resistance. It would seem
reasonable to use mangosteen to provide the same
protection without the problem of bacterial resistance
that exists with the frequent use of antibiotics. This has
been tested, and the results are positive.
Q: Is the
mangosteen safe for pregnant or breast-feeding mothers
A: We
have many users who have taken the juice while pregnant or
while breast-feeding with nothing but beneficial effects.
I find it helpful to think about drinking mangosteen in
pregnancy and during lactation just as you would think
about any other fruit juice because, when all is said and
done, the preparation most of you will use contains
nothing but fruit juice.
While effects of the mangosteen in the
body qualify as a functional food, meaning that it is
consumed for more than simply its pleasant taste, it still
is only food without known toxic effects.
When complications exist in pregnancy
such as gestational diabetes or blood pressure problems,
please discuss the use of mangosteen with your physician,
just as you would discuss other dietary changes, pointing
out to him/her the reasons for which you wish to
supplement with the juice.
Finally, when a mother has an adverse
outcome to a pregnancy the first thing she is likely to do
is carefully examine everything different she did during
pregnancy. Any change, omission or lack of precaution she
can identify in this examination may lead to severe
feelings of guilt. These, feelings can trigger post-partum
depression. In all likelihood the adverse outcome will
have been unpreventable but this fact does not stop the
depressive pressure the mother feels. Therefore, even
though I am aware of no medical reason why mangosteen
could prove hazardous in pregnancy, I do not recommend
that it be started during pregnancy by anyone who is
previously experienced adverse outcome in pregnancy or who
is seriously concerned about such a problem. My advice is
based upon the desire to avoid severe feelings of guilt in
any mother who starts taking the mangosteen during
pregnancy with any reservation whatsoever.
Q: Will
mangosteen help breathing disorders such as COPD, asthma,
emphysema and chronic bronchitis?
A:
Mangosteen intervenes at several points in the disease
processes of breathing disorders. Its antiviral,
antibacterial and antifungal effects reduce the frequency
of lung infections, thereby reducing cumulative tissue
damage. As a result, fewer courses of antibiotic therapy
are required.
The anti-inflammatory effects of
xanthones (active biological ingredients in the mangosteen)
decreases both inflammation and cell damage and helping to
prevent the onset of deadly pulmonary hypertension.
Since mangosteen also has potent
antioxidant effects, it intervenes in every process where
free radicals cause cell damage. It doesn’t matter whether
this damage results from inflammation of chronic
bronchitis or the destruction of the elastic recoil of the
alveoli in emphysema, protection is provided by the fruit.
Q: Will
mangosteen help with fibromyalgia?
A: The
mangosteen contains a COX-2 inhibitor, the only botanical
reliably proven by research to possess such properties.
The COX-2 enzyme is always present in the cerebro-spinal
fluid and is directly involved in pain perception. The
suppression of COX-2 by mangosteen is the presumptive
means by which fibromyalgia pain it is modified. However,
the speed with which it acts varies widely from individual
to individual. Some experience improvements in a week or
two while other may need to wait up to three months for
its effect to be felt.
Other problems which arise from
fibromyalgia, such as fatigue, sleep abnormalities and
tender points, all improve due to the healing properties
of xanthones. In clinical experience, xanthones help
restore normal sleep patterns provide an excellent energy
boost as well.
Q: Will
mangosteen help with my seasonal allergies (hay fever,
etc.)?
A:
Mangosteen xanthones have proven antihistamine and
anti-inflammatory effects, both useful in controlling the
symptoms of allergies. In clinical experience adults and
children reported benefits from the mangosteen . Some were
able to stop using pharmaceutical drug Singulair (a
leukotriene inhibitor).
In addition, the prophylactic use of
the juice can prevent allergy and asthma symptoms
year-round in many sufferers.
Q: Will
mangosteen help with cancer prevention?
A: the
evidence that supplementation reduces the risk of cancer
is convincing. Multiple studies have shown that people who
supplement have lower rates of cancer. In a country where
21 percent of deaths are from cancer, this is a highly
significant fact that no intelligent person should ignore.
As we age, our immune system becomes less efficient, free
radicals damage to our cells increases and cancer rates go
up exponentially.
In addition to prevention, the
mangosteen has been proven to have potent antitumor
effects in the laboratory studies.
Mangosteen contains powerful
phytoceuticals called xanthones. One xanthone, garcinone
E, was tested against six chemotherapy agents (5
flouraurcil, cisplatin, vinchristine, methotrexate, mito
xantron and taxol) to compare its ability to kill cancer
cells in laboratory preparations. The cell lines came from
a lung, stomach and primary liver cancer. Garcinone E was
found to be more effective than all the drugs tested
except taxol.
Additionally, it is an established fact
that antioxidants (like xanthones) act at the level of the
cell’s DNA to prevent both mutation and the activation of
oncogenes (cancer genes)
Q: Is the mangosteen fruit dangerous if used by a
person on Coumadin therapy due to its antioxidant
properties?
A: The
use of antioxidants with Coumadin is hotly debated and no
clear answer exists. For the moment, without proof to the
contrary, I believe that there need be no major concern
when using Coumadin and mangosteen. However, if anyone is
seriously worried about the potential food/drug
interactions, they should consume a fixed amount of
mangosteen juice daily for three or four days. On the
fourth or fifth day they should contact their physician
and have blood test (INR) done to see if there is a need
to change Coumadin dosage.
Coumadin is taken daily, but no single
day’s dose can alter the blood-thinning effect since it
takes several doses to bring about a change. Foods
containing vitamin K lower the drug’s effect. Mangosteen
does not have an unfounded fear that mangosteen will
amplify the drug’s blood-thinning effect. Coumadin users
worry, justifiably, about the drug’s fluctuating effects.
Therefore, I recommend the testing be done for purposes of
reassurance.
Q: Will mangosteen help with migraines and cluster
headaches?
A: It is
my belief that neither migraine victims nor their
headaches can be effectively categorized. No single
medicine or combination of therapies will be effective for
everyone, even the most recent drug class, the triptans (Imitrex-like
drugs)
The mangosteen has been successful
where other therapies have failed. There are numerous
personal experiences attesting to this fact posted on the
Phytoceutical Research website (www.mangosteenmd.com).
All sufferers, do not, however, find relief. In my
opinion, in the frustrating search for the effective
control of migraine headaches, no stone should be left
unturned. For many chronic migraine sufferers, however,
prevention with a prophylactic dose of one ounce daily
with a meal has provided positive results.
Q: Will the
mangosteen help with high cholesterol?
A: We now
live in a day and age when half of us will die from heart
attacks or strokes. That’s a staggering number. But what’s
even more surprising is the fact that most deaths are
preventable. Heart disease or arteriosclerosis is largely
a lifestyle disease, much like cancer (due to smoking or
other factors).
One of the major causes of heart
disease is high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fatty
substance in your body. You get cholesterol in two ways:
one, by eating foods with cholesterol I it; and two, you
body manufactures it. Unfortunately, while most of us get
high cholesterol from not exercising enough and not eating
properly, some of us are genetically predisposed to have
high cholesterol. Those with this genetic makeup produce
too much cholesterol, which may put them at an even
greater risk than those with poor exercise and diet.
There are two types of cholesterol-HDL
(high-density lipoprotein, also called “good”) and LDL
(low-density lipoprotein, also called “bad”). The trouble
comes when oxidization of the LDL occurs. And this is
where the mangosteen can help. In Thailand and Taiwan, two
groups of medical researchers discovered that gamma
mangostin (a mangosteen xanthone) “showed more potent
antioxidant activity than alpha tocopherol (vitamin-E).”
Australian scientist studied the same xanthones in
experiments using LDL and powerful free radicals. The
xanthones successfully protected the LDL from oxidization
by the free radicals. The xanthones successfully protected
the LDL from the oxidization by the free radicals.
On the subject of lowering high
cholesterol, I would suggest you do not stop taking your
prescribed drug treatment. If you are not taking a
prescription drug for you high cholesterol, then I would
suggest you do so. In conjunction with the medication you
can take your daily dose of mangosteen with little concern
about the drug/food interaction as none have been
reported. I have witnessed in my patients and in myself
that the mangosteen can help drop cholesterol ten to
thirty points and actually raise the good cholesterol (HDL),
something that is incredibly hard to d with drugs or
exercise.
Q: I have suffered with low-grade depression called
dysthymia for years. Can the mangosteen help me?
A: it is
unclear, as yet, why the mangosteen helps with mood
disorders 9anxiety, panic, depression). However, reports
of positive results are too numerous to discount. I
believe that the mangosteen, which affects serotonin
uptake, may also be involved in altering the levels of
other neurotransmitter as well. The neurotransmitters
which pass data from neuron in the brain are phenolic in
structure, as are the xanthones.
While severe depression and even
bipolar patients have reported favorable results using the
fruit, I do not recommend that patients refuse or
discontinue the medications in favor of using the
mangosteen. Where no medications have been prescribed, it
makes sense to use the fruit alone. But in all other
cases, it should be added to the medications until its
effects can be easily observed. At that time, drug
regimens can be modified under a physician’s guidance.
Three times a day usage is necessary
when treating mood disorders. For dosage information,
please refer to the booklet The Medical Application of
Mangosteen.
Q: I have ulcers and GERD because of bacteria I didn’t
know I caught. Can I get help from the mangosteen?
A: The
bacteria Helicobacter pylori have been shown to be
a major cause of gastritis, GERD and gastric and duodenal
ulcers. None of the purple pills used to treat these
disorders have any action against this bacteria, which can
be found in the majority of patients with ulcers.
Recently, H. pylori has also been implicated as a
possible cause for fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia.
The mangosteen, tested against H.
pylori in an in vitro experiment, destroyed the
bacteria, in a rat study the researchers stated “animal
treated with xanthones exhibited marked protection against
ulcers”
My own GERD is controlled with the
mangosteen, and I felt it was more effective in my
patients with GERD and ulcers than all the purple pills I
used to prescribe.
Q: I’ve used the mangosteen successfully to treat
arthritis in my dog. Is there any reason it should not be
used on animals?
A: I know
of no reason why the mangosteen’s benefit should be denied
to animals. I am not a veterinarian but I have spoken to
many vets who use the product with their animal patients.
Many drugs used in human fin useful applications in animal
as well.
I recently visited one of the most
famous thoroughbred racing farms in Kentucky to discuss
the beneficial results that trainers have seen from using
the mangosteen in their horses.
The fruit’s potent anti-inflammatory
and other qualities, in my non-expert opinion, justify its
use in animals where drugs would be the alternative.
Q:
I used mangosteen exactly as you suggested for two months,
but why my symptoms have not improved. Why didn’t I get
results when so many others do?
A: No
treatment works in everyone and no one, a doctor or
otherwise, knows enough to explain why. We are
biologically unique and unpredictable as far as specific
responses to biolocial interventions are concerned. We
resemble the other humans generally and other family
members more specifically, but unless we’re identical
twin, no one else is exactly like us. Hence, what happens
in our bodies may be different from everyone else.
Disease also represents another huge
variable. Signs and symptoms may be similar enough to
recognize commonalities in disease but how a disease
affects any given individual is very unpredictable.
Combine the individual variations
implicit biological diversity of both patient and disease
and it is surprising that there are any results of
therapeutic intervention common enough to be identified
across group of people and disease. It is not shocking
that 20-25 percent of people with the most common of
problems for which the fruit is used (inflammatory
disease, for example) do not respond to the mangosteen.
It’s simply a fact of life and must be accepted as such.
In my opinion, the response rate for most problems is as
good or better with the mangosteen as it is with drugs,
and there are so no dangerous side effects –one major
benefit of the mangosteen.
Finally, that someone doesn’t
experience symptomatic relief with the mangosteen is no
reason to believe that “it’s not doing anything good for
me”. Most beneficial changes in the body, like most
malevolent change, go largely unnoticed. I believe that
long-term mangosteen use will positively affect most
body’s major organs and systems.
Mangosteen relieves symptoms in most
sufferers, but not all sufferers. It is a remarkable
botanical remedy; however, it is not “magic”.
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