10 Health Benefits of Mangos, The King of Fruits

Mangos taste so good that people forget they are full of health benefits! Discover how the “king of fruits” can help you, plus fascinating trivia and a few mango cautions and concerns.

health benefits mango

10 Health Benefits of Mangos

1.  Prevents Cancer

Research has shown antioxidant compounds in mango fruit have been found to protect against colon, breast, leukemia and prostate cancers. These compounds include quercetin, isoquercitrin, astragalin, fisetin, gallic acid, and methyl gallate, as well as the abundant enzymes.

2.  Lowers Cholesterol

The high levels of fiber, pectin and vitamin C help to lower serum cholesterol levels, specifically Low-Density Lipoprotein (the bad stuff)

3.  Clears the Skin

They can be used both internally and externally for the skin. Mangos clear clogged pores and eliminate pimples.

4.  Eye Health

One cup of sliced mangoes supplies 25 percent of the needed daily value of vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight and prevents night blindness and dry eyes.

5.  Alkalizes the Whole Body

The tartaric acid, malic acid, and a trace of citric acid found in the fruit help to maintain the alkali reserve of the body.

eating mango

6. 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.

7. Improved Sex

Mangos are a great source of vitamin E. Even though the popular connection between sex drive and vitamin E was originally created by a mistaken generalization on rat studies, further research has shown balanced proper amounts (as from whole food) does help in this area.

8. Improves Digestion

Papayas are not the only fruit that contains enzymes for breaking down protein. There are several fruits, including mangoes, which have this healthful quality. The fiber in mangos also helps digestion and elimination.

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 that the strong “sun energy” is burning up your body, particularly the muscles.  The kidneys then become overloaded with the toxins from this process.

10. Boosts Immune System

The generous amounts of vitamin C and vitamin A in mangoes, plus 25 different kinds of carotenoids keep your immune system healthy and strong.

Please Note:

  1. If you have a latex allergy, a reaction is possible with mangos and particularly green mangos. This reaction develops because of anacardic acid.
  2. Mango peel and sap contain urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy and poison sumac that can cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals.
  3. Mangos are ripened by some dealers using calcium carbide which can cause serious health problems (one more reason to buy organic).  If you do have inorganic mangos, do wash them properly before consuming or soak overnight in water.

mango health benefits

Nutrition by the Numbers

One cup (225 gms contain) contains the following. Percentages apply to daily value.

105 calories
76 percent vitamin C (antioxidant and immune booster)
25 percent vitamin A  (antioxidant and vision)
11 percent vitamin B6 plus other B vitamins (hormone production in brain and heart disease prevention)
9 percent healthy probiotic fiber
9 percent copper (copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes plus the production of red blood cells)
7 percent potassium (to balance out our high sodium intake)
4 percent magnesium

Mango Facts and Trivia

  • According to some, more mangos are eaten fresh than any other fruit in the world.
  • Originated 4,000 plus years ago.
  • Biologically a close relative with other flowering plants like cashew and pistachio.
  • Originated in sub-Himalayan plains.
  • In India where they are most heavily grown and eaten, mangos are known as “safeda.”
  • There are over 1,000 different varieties of mangos.

mango man diet

The Mango Man  Diet:

This diet is NOT just mangos.

Dr. Wayne Pickering, The Mango Man, Has Been Helping People All Over The World To Lose Weight And Attain The Best Health Of Their Lives For More Than 30 Years.

He looks a little zany but we like his approach to health a lot!  Also, he happens to be half American and half Canadian.  The picture is him at 57 years young. Click Here!

mango health benefits

How to Prepare a Raw Mango Fancy Style

1. Hold the mango on its side and cut down on either side of the central seed. You will end with two big “halves” plus the central seed.
2. Place each half on the cutting board with peel facing down and cut the exposed flesh in a horizontal and vertical pattern, taking care not to cut deep through skin.
3. Then invert the whole half to push out the cubes as shown in the photo above.

I love Mango Chips
Paradise Green Mango Chips with No Added Sugar, Sweet and Tangy, Unsweetened, and Non-GMO are so good.

Health Benefits of Mangos for the Skin

Externally:
Just blending up the mango and applying to the face is fast and easy. Mangos contain beta-carotene, which is converted by your body to vitamin A. That and vitamin C are crucial to skin self-repair.

Follow this link to see a more complete recipe: Mango Mud Mask. This has all the benefits of mango plus the exfoliating benefits of oatmeal and almonds.

mango health benefits

For a less serious treatment of this mud mask, you can watch me making my own at…Randy’s Homemade Mango Mud Mast

Internally:
When eaten, mangos help resolve all skin problems including pimples. Extract the large pit or seed from green mangoes. You can eat this seed raw or cooked, or try a recipe like this Cucumber-Mint-Mango Lightness.

Do Monkeys Know Something We Don’t?

Monkeys choose to eat the seed from the green mango. Ayurvedic healers suggest that it is the seed that gives the monkey its energy and powerful strength to jump in the tress.

Now that you know the many health benefits of mangos, time to eat them.

Delicious Mango Recipes

 Deluxe Mango Crumble – Mangoes are a luxurious fruit making a mango crumble is a deluxe dessert. Mangos the King of Fruits taste so good that people forget they are also healthy!

 Sweet Mango Banana Smoothie for Breakfast or a Snack – A sweet mango banana smoothie for breakfast or a snack is simply delicious.  It is a naturally sweet smoothie that is quick and easy to make. Also, it is full of superfood fruits which means you will be getting lots of nutrients from a dessert-like smoothie.

 Cucumber-Mint-Mango Lightness – This cucumber mango drink is so hydrating for hot summer days. Of course, it is super tasty and healthy too. It uses an unripe mango.

 Mango Squares: wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free.

The mango is so delicious and healthy we consider it a Superfood.

100+ Superfoods

Learn more about some of the healthiest vegetarian foods you will always want to have in your pantry or growing on your deck.

READ: Superfoods – Over 100 of the Healthiest Foods You Should Have in Your Diet and learn more about the variety of Superfoods we think you should have in your diet.

vital healt assessment

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40 thoughts on “10 Health Benefits of Mangos, The King of Fruits”

  1. I’m among those who naturally hate mango and after reading this article, I will be taking it almost every day

    1. Hi Mary. I’m happy that you are happy. I hope though, that by ‘too many’ you are meaning just one or two mangos per day and not five or ten a day. IF you are balancing out your body, you should be in tune with how much it actually needs.

    1. Thanks for your comment. Just to be clear, it is the LEAVES and NOT the fruit the help control diabetes. Eating TOO MUCH mango fruit could raise your blood sugar just like any fruit -even though it has a relatively low glycemic index.

  2. I get some funny pains in my scrotum when chew the peels of mango fruits.What’s is the effect?

    1. Honestly Sam, I am only guessing on this but there is a thing called ‘mango itch’ – caused when handling freshly picked mangos that have juice dripping from the stem ends. The sappy juice gets on hands and, if not washed off quickly and adequately, can be spread to other body parts for up to three days.
      The other possibility is that it is some internal reaction. Even though mangoes have a host of health benefits, there always remains of possibility that your unique body is reacting in some way. This is the old ‘one man’s poison is another man’s medicine’ idea.
      Just so you know, a lot of people don’t like the skins and don’t bother with them.

  3. Fyi, Florida Mangos are the best. They are fresh, juicy, sweet and produce in the great USA.
    Enjoy.

  4. Marhis Raymond

    I grew up in the Carribean on a large property with lots of mangoes, avocadoes, orange, grapefruits, and many others. We ate lots of mangoes of course just because we loved them. Good to know they have so many health benefits. Wish I could have them here in NYC and don’t have to pay for them. Thanks for the info.

  5. Denis Ofoyuru

    I have to go back my mango eating habits of those good old days. Mangoes are quite affordable in Gulu.

  6. Honestly speaking I just ate four mangoes. I like consuming plenty of them on a daily basis whenever the season for them reaches in Liberia. Really I love making research on any fruit I eat much. I’m happy that I got every necessary information tonight about mango. Moreover: I now know how many I should eat in a day.

  7. I didn’t know Mango has so much health benefits. Now you’ve given me more reasons to keep loving and eating Mango. Thanks for sharing.

  8. In Nigeria especially South East, you find mangoes lf various types in abundance, and fruits between February and May, in abundance from April. We eat a lot of it without knowing it is, so beneficial to health. It’s cooling effect helps with the very hot temperature at this period. Thanks for sharing.

  9. Thank God For The Information I Got Today, My Husband Always Compells Me To Take Mango Fruit, But Now I’ll Be Taking It Willingly. Thanks To My Husband.

  10. I ate like 3 to 5 mangoes a day while it is still very cheap. Upon knowing this info, I’d like to eat more.

  11. john wallace

    am soo happy for this insight and its content is awsome, but how mangoes will be good dor the body, am gateful and waiting for the anwser?

  12. Good article. I would recommend a minor correction – In India mangoes are not known as “Safeda”. Mangoe is called “Aam”, while “Safeda” is one of the hundreds of other varieties of Mango found in India.

  13. I just brought mangoes and I am going to eat these mango for full season thank you for telling us the benefits of mangoes

  14. Vineet Sharma

    Mangoes in India are called AAM.. Not Safeda… Safeda is Sapodilla or Sapota. Thank you for sharing so much about Mangoes.

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