Mangoes Can Improve Your Gut Heath

Eating mangoes (mangos) can improve gut health. Mangoes are loaded with a combination of polyphenols and fiber can relieve constipation and reduce intestinal inflammation.

Mangoes are loaded with a combination of polyphenols and fiber can promote gut health, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

Next time you suffer from //constipation, you may want to consider grabbing a mango instead of reaching for a fiber supplement, suggests a new Texas A & M University pilot study.

Mango Health Benefits
Mango is a nutrient packed fruit, extremely rich in minerals, antioxidant vitamins, fiber and digestive enzymes.

‘Mangoes are found to be more effective in improving gut health than fiber supplements. Mangoes are loaded with a combination of polyphenols and fiber can relieve constipation and reduce intestinal inflammation.’

The researchers found that mango, which contains a combination of polyphenols and fiber, was more effective than an equivalent amount of fiber powder in relieving constipation - a chronic digestive condition that affects an estimated 20 percent of Americans.

"Our findings suggest that mango offers an advantage over fiber supplements because of the bioactive polyphenols contained in mangos that helped reduce markers of inflammation and change the make-up of the microbiome, which includes trillions of bacteria and other microbes living in our digestive tract," said corresponding author Susanne U. Mertens-Talcott, an associate professor in the department of nutrition and food science at Texas A & M University.

"Fiber supplements and laxatives may aid in the treatment of constipation, but they may not fully address all symptoms, such as intestinal inflammation."

Antioxidant-rich Mangoes Have Beneficial Properties to Human Health
Mangoes contain gallic acid and gallotannins, that have been linked to anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities.

For the four-week study, 36 adult men and women with chronic constipation were randomly divided into two groups: the mango group ate about 300 grams of mango a day (equivalent to about 2 cups or 1 mango), while the fiber group consumed the equivalent amount of fiber powder into their daily diet (1 teaspoon or 5 grams of dietary psyllium fiber supplement).

Throughout the study, the participants' food intake was assessed by a food questionnaire to ensure that their eating habits did not change. The food intake analysis revealed that the mango and fiber groups consumed equivalent amounts of calories, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and fat.

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Do Mangoes Make You Fat?
Summers are the bearer of the sweet aroma of mangoes. The fruit is loved by all, but has become the cause for weight gain. Eating too many mangoes can be harmful to health and portion size needs to be controlled.

Measures of constipation severity were taken at the beginning and end of four weeks, and both the mango and fiber groups improved over the course of the study. However, mangos were found to be more effective in reducing the symptoms of constipation in the participants than fiber alone.

Mango supplementation significantly improved constipation status (stool frequency, consistency, and shape) and increased short-chain fatty acids levels, which indicate the improvement of the intestinal microbial composition. Mango consumption also helped to reduce certain biomarkers of inflammation.