One of my favourite things to do in life is to research plants and the medicinal properties each individual plant has.
When I read the question at the beginning of the week, "if you had to choose just one food to eat for the rest of your life, what food would that be and why", the Mango came to mind first.
In the back of my mind there was a lot of goodness in the Mango and through my research these are my reasons why I would pick this particular food item as the only food to eat for the rest of my life.
Alkalining Properties
For about 5 years now I have been delving into the difference between acidic vs alkaline human and animal bodies. Disease loves to live in an acidic system but battles to thrive in an alkaline system according to a lot of research from doctors and research papers I have read. I know when I used herbs and magnesiums to detox my liver of acid my eyesight was the most notable change that happened in my body. I needed glasses the day before and then didn't need them after the detox and still do not require them to function in day to day life.
Friends of mine who have had cancer (a delicate subject for me to talk about) have used alternative methods to treat cancer by alkalining their bodies which has killed off the bad cells. The more research I have done on this is our bodies really leads me to believe there is a lot of truth in this.
I know when my body was acidic I was often tired and sluggish, but once I got rid of the acid in my body my energy levels increased so much that it was impossible to sit down for more than five minutes.
So, through researching this fruit, is said to alkaline your system even though it is an acidic fruit.
Fighting Cancer
Through the high levels of antioxidants that a Mango is said to have, these antioxidants fight free radicals which are compounds in our bodies that cause a variety of diseases. It is important to ensure that we eat foods high in antioxidants to assist the body with its needs to put up a good fight if it needs to.
The Scrubbing Brush
The gut system is what I focus most on when I start to explain to people how the human body works. Food goes in our mouths, down to our stomachs, through the intestines and out the other side.
Now, that pipe just below the stomach has a lot of twists, turns and crevasses which we need to keep clean. Fibre when eaten is something I like to refer to as the scrubbing brush to help clean out the grooves. If we can 'clean' the crevasses this will allow for digested food to touch the entire intestinal wall which will increase nutrient absorption automatically and we will have a greater lease on life.
If the crevasses are fulled with sludge than we can eat as many healthy foods and vitamins as we want and a small percentage of that will be absorbed into our bodies and the rest flushed down the toilet.
So, yes for the fibre in this fruit! It will keep me going.
Our Immune Support
The beloved Mango is high in vitamin C. This is a well known vitamin by many to aid in fighting cold and flu symptoms. But many years ago on the ships people died of scurvy which is caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet.
On one of my trips into Africa in passing someone told me about how the Mango was used to feed the slaves that were being walked from point A to point B in Africa. Along this route the Mango pips were dropped and trees grew. My mind had visualised this on the east coast of Africa.
I had never researched this until now. Documented on the internet this route is actually situated on the west coast of Africa in the Congo and Angola. There appears to be a site near the coast which one can visit to learn more about the slave route from the 15th-16th century and how the initial trees come from India and South East Asia. The one page said that only three of the original trees are still alive.
With what I can only assume to be lack of money, this fruit was being used to feed people on long journeys which must have for the most part sustained them though I suspect a lot of slaves died. It is now on my bucket list to visit there one day to get more information.
I still suspect there is a lot of truth to the east coast of Africa and the Mango Tree story because when in season the fruit is readily available to buy on the side of the road. It would be wonderful to hear from anyone who has more information on this too!
Iron Fruit
Mangos are very high in Iron which is needed to fight Anaemia. With all the ladies here when we get that time of the month or after giving birth we can have a tendency to suffer from lack of Iron in our bodies which can make us feel faint etc.
Iron is responsible for producing red blood cells in our bodies so this could be another food source to try, especially if you lean towards not eating red meat.
High Cholesterol
With the vitamin C and fibre we add in pectin which is a naturally occurring starch. One of the pages I read discussed that this combination will help lower cholesterol levels. It would be interesting to speak to a Doctor on this and see if any of them know of studies that have been done.
Cleansing the Skin
Another page I read has said that from deep within the body this will help to cleanse our skin. Knowing a lot of how the body works I do believe this will be the case with all the good the Mango can do to our bodies, a healthy gut system as the start of everything to build healthy bodies and a less acidic body will help to transform the largest organ we have, which is our skin.
I read a while ago that acne on the skin is caused from a previous Strep infection. Streptococcal is a form of bacteria which is commonly found worldwide. Often staying with us until we die, if our bodies go out of balance, this bacteria multiplies within us and erupts on our skin because it has nowhere else to go. So my thought is with the Carotenoids that the Mango contains some of which would be good bacteria, this will cause the bad bacteria to be kept in balance.
Many times I explain in a simplified form is if we have a stomach bug our systems have more bad bacteria than good bacteria which causes us to be ill so we need to eat some good bacteria (yoghurt usually does the trick) to outweigh the bad bacteria again to feel better.
I have not found any science behind what I am saying with regards to the Carotenoid bacteria found in the Mango, but my mind is just thinking that it could be responsible for keeping the bad Strep bacteria at bay causing our skin to radiate.
Maintaining Weight
Eating a Mango can make you feel more full with all the essential nutrients and vitamins it has which would make you want to eat less. We are designed to be hunter gathers however with many of the worlds population being able to go to the shops we often tend to over indulge.
I am not of personal belief that women need to be skinny. I believe we are meant to have curves all over the place especially when we get older and it makes us more beautiful. I really do love mine.
The Mango could be a great addition to our daily routine to help us with the adequate nutrition and vitamins to help us ladies lead a really healthy lifestyle.
Healthy Eyes
Vitamin A is needed to help us see in the dark as well as stop us from getting dry eye. It is important for our eyes to be lubricated to keep the living cells in our eyes alive.
Memory and Concentration
My word, this is something I only learned now by doing this research. I struggle a lot with my short term memory especially in the mornings, brain fog, I call it.
Mangos are said to be high in Glutamic Acid, an Amino Acid which is needed in the body to transmit information from cells to receptors. It is Mango season here now and for the past week we have been sharing a Mango with the family every second day. I will see if my short term memory improves, there is no solid evidence on the internet regarding this, so let's see.
The Body Loofah
When you have finished eating the Mango, you can use the pip as a loofah to gently exfoliate your body, no need to go and buy an expensive one from the shop. I did try this once in my teenage years after removing all the hairs from the pip. It worked really well.
Closing the Circle
We could plant the pips to let them grow into enormous trees that will provide shade and food for you and/or others. These trees will also help slow down the rapid climate change we are experiencing.
Trees are life and these trees will also bare this Super Food known as, The Mango for so many more to enjoy and benefit from.
In Closing
I am quite sure there are some other benefits to the Mighty Mango I have not even touched on. If anyone has anything else can add to this please feel free to do so. Any questions are also welcomed.
This contests question really fed my love of learning what fruit and plants can do for us. Thank you for this, I learned a lot.
I would like to invite @roekeya to join in next weeks contest. We work closely together on the farm and have fun learning about how to improve our daily performance through natural eating. @roekeya, you will enjoy expressing yourself here, these ladies are awesome.
