Mango ....... health benefits

**~SmilingDoll~** · 09-07-2009 11:58 AM

Mango ....... health benefits

The mango enjoys a unique status among the fruits. It is the most popular fruit of the tropics and is called 'The King of Asiatic fruits'. It is regarded as a valuable item of diet and a household remedy. The mango is fleshy drupe, variable in size and shape. with varying mixtures of green, yellow and red color. Inside the fruit is stony endocarp, variable in size. Mango grows on a large, erect, branched, evergreen tree. The leaves, when fully grown, are stiff, pointed and deep glossy green. These are used in ceremonial decorations. The dry twigs are used to light sacred fires. The worst type of mangoes are very fibrous with turpentine flavor, but the best are juicy, sweet, with very little fibre and a deliciously piquant flavor.

Natural Benefits and Curative Properties
The mango is well-known for its medicinal properties both in unripe and ripe states. The unripe fruit is acidic, astringent and anti scorbutic. The skin of the unripe fruit is astringent and stimulant tonic. The bark is also astringent and has a marked action on mucous membranes. Mango pickles preserved in oil and salted solution is used throughout India . However, these pickles, if extremely sour, spicy and oily. are not good for health and should be specially avoided by those suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, .sinusitis, sore throat and hyperacidity. The ripe mango is anti scorbutic, diuretic, laxative, invigorating, fattening and astringent. It tones up the heart muscle, improves complexion and stimulates appetite. It increases the seven body nutrients, called 'dhatus' in Ayurveda. They are food juice, blood. flesh, fat, bone marrow and semen. The fruit is beneficial in liver disorders, loss of weight and other physical disturbances.

Natural benefits of Unripe Mango

* Heat Stroke :- The unripe mango protects men from the adverse effects of hot, scorching winds. A drink, prepared from the unripe mango by cooking it in hot ashes and mixing the pith with sugar and water, is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Eating raw mango with salt quenches thirst and prevents the excessive loss of sodium chloride and iron during summer due to excessive sweating.

* Gastro-Intestinal Disorders :- Unripe green mangoes are beneficial in the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders. Eating one or two small tender mangoes in which the seed is not fully formed with salt and honey is found to be very effective medicine for summer diarrhea, dysentery, piles, morning sickness, chronic dyspepsia, indigestion and constipation.

* Bilious Disorders:- Unripe mangoes are an excellent fruit remedy for bilious disorders. The acids contained in the green mango increase the secretion of bile and act as intestinal antiseptic. Therefore, eating green mango daily with honey and pepper cures biliousness, food putrefaction i.e. when proteins are decomposed by bacteria; urticaria and jaundice. It tones up the liver and keeps it healthy.
* Blood Disorders :- The green mango is valuable in blood disorders because of its high vitamin C content. It increases the elasticity of the blood vessels and helps the formation of new blood cells. It aids the absorption of food-iron and prevents bleeding tendencies. It increases body resistance against tuberculosis, anemia, cholera and dysentery.

* Scurvy :- The amchur, a popular article of diet in Indian houses, consists of green mangoes skinned, stoned, cut into pieces and dried in the sun. 15 gm. of it is believed to be equivalent to 30 gm. of good lime on account of its citric content. It is valuable in the treatment of scurvy.

Natural benefits of ripe Mango

* Eye Disorders :- Ripe mangoes are highly beneficial in the treatment of night blindness in which one cannot see properly in dim light. This disease is caused by vitamin A deficiency. It is very common among children who are victim of malnutrition due to poverty. Liberal use of mangoes during the season will be very effective in such conditions. It will also prevent many other eye diseases which may ultimately cause total blindness. Eating mangoes liberally will also prevent development of refractive errors, dryness of the eyes, softening of the cornea, itching and burning in the eyes.

* Infections :- All bacterial invasions are due to poor epithelium the tissue that covers the external surface of the body. Liberal use of mangoes during the season contributes towards formation of healthy epithelium, thereby preventing frequent attacks of common infections such as colds rhinitis and sinusitis. This is attributable to high concentration of vitamin A in mangoes.

* Loss of Weight :- The mango-milk cure is an ideal treatment for loss of weight. For this mode of treatment, ripe and sweet mangoes should always be selected. They should be taken thrice a day-morning, noon and evening. The mangoes should be taken first and then followed by milk. The mango is rich in sugar but deficient in protein. On the other hand, milk is rich in protein but deficient in sugar. The deficiency of the one is made up by the other. Mango thus combines very well with milk and exclusive mangomilk diet taken for at least one month, will lead to improvement in health,

* Diabetes :- The tender leaves of the mango tree are considered useful in diabetes. An infusion is prepared from fresh leaves by soaking them overnight in water and squeezing them well in water before filtering it in the morning. This infused water should be taken every morning to control early diabetes. As an alternative to infusion. leaves can be dried in the shade, powdered and preserved. Half a teaspoonful of this powder should be taken twice a day, in the morning and evening.

* Diarrhea :- The mango seeds are valuable in diarrhea. The seeds should be collected during the mango season, dried in the shade and powdered and stored for use as medicine. It should be given in doses of about one and a half gram to two grams with or without honey. Juice of fresh flowers when taken with one or two teaspoonful of curds, is also valuable in diarrhea.
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* Throat Disorders :- The mango bark is very efficacious in the treatment of diphtheria and other throat diseases. Its fluid is locally applied and also used as a gargle. The gargle is prepared by mixing 10 ml. of the fluid extract with 125 ml. of water

Precaution

Unripe mangoes should not be eaten in-excess. Their excessive intake may cause throat irritation, indigestion, dysentery and abdominal colic. One should, therefore, not consume more than one or two green mangoes daily. Water should not be drunk immediately after eating the green mango because it coagulates the sap and makes it more irritant. Sap or milky juice which comes out on breaking the stalk of the green mango is irritant and astringent. Eating green mangoes without draining the sap may cause mouth, throat and gastro intestinal irritations. The sap should, therefore be fully squeezed out or the skin should be peeled before using raw mango.

Excessive use of mangoes produce ailments like constipation, eye affections, blood impurities and seasonal fever. Children who use the fruit in excess generally suffer from skin disease in its season.