Mango Nutrition Facts

If temperate countries are famous for their apples and grapes, tropical countries are famous for their mangoes. Your trip to tropical lands would not be complete if you do not taste sweet ripe mangoes, delicious dried mangoes, and cool mango shakes. And if there is a top ten list of fruits you need to eat before you die, mango is surely found on that list. If you ever visit places like India and the Philippines, don’t forget to visit their local markets and buy some mangoes. You will forget your name if you taste their mouthwatering ripe mangoes.

Mango, Mangifera indica, is a member of Anacardiaceae family in which cashew, pistachio, gandaria, and mombin belong. It has a kidney-shaped seed and an edible flesh. Depending on variety, the fruit’s skin can be green, red, orange, or yellow. The flesh can be yellow or orange when ripe depending again on the variety. Unripe mangoes are usually sour while the ripe ones are sweet but can be slightly acidic in taste. Moreover, the ripe mangoes have unique and relaxing aroma or fragrance. Although native to South Asia, mango is now cultivated around the world including Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Today, over 1000 varieties are cultivated worldwide and all them are edible but with different taste, texture, and color.

In the “fruit kingdom”, mango is definitely a super star. It is not only delicious but also highly nutritious. Our body will benefit a lot from eating mango regularly. Don’t leave this page until you finished reading the nutrition facts of mango below.
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Mango Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Mango is rich in powerful antioxidants in the form of vitamins and polyphenols. One hundred sixty five grams of mango contains antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E that compose 25%, 76%, and 9% of the dietary reference intake respectively. On the other hand, mango contains various polyphenols such as quercetin, caffeic acid, gallic acid, kaempferol, catechins, tannins, and mangiferin (unique to mango). These vitamins and polyphenols counteract free radicals that can damage cells and cause cancer, premature aging, and degenerative diseases. They also boost our immune system to fight infection and inflammation.

Vitamin A specifically promotes good eyesight. Deficiency with this vitamin can result to night blindness, refractive errors, dryness of the eyes, softening of the cornea, and itching and burning in the eyes.

Mango has also trace amount of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9. Each of these B vitamins has significant roles in our body. Some of them act as co-factosr of various enzymes in our body. Deficiency with these vitamins is associated to a variety of diseases.

Essential minerals such as potassium, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and calcium are also found in mango fruit.  With these minerals, potassium has the highest concentration (156 mg per 100 g mango). It is important in blood pressure regulation, heart function, and muscle contraction. Iron is needed in red blood cell production and anemia prevention. Calcium is needed for bone development and regeneration.

One hundred grams of mango contains 1.8 grams of fiber including the soluble fiber pectin. Fibers help food move more easily through the digestive tract. They help prevent constipation by absorbing water that will keep the stool soft. They also help remove the toxins in the digestive tract contributing to the prevention of a variety of gastrointestinal diseases such as colon cancer. The soluble fiber pectin found in mango helps lower blood cholesterol according to studies. Moreover, this fiber has been discovered to release fragments that bind to the protein gallectin 3 which is found in all stages of cancer. Thus, supplying our body with adequate pectin may help prevent cancer.

If you are striving to gain extra weight, mango is healthier to eat than greasy burgers and carbonated drinks. There is 17 grams of carbohydrates (75 calories) in 100 grams or 3.5 oz of mango. If you are bored eating plain ripe mango, try mango shake, mango pie, mango cake, dried mango, mango ice cream, etc. There are lots of mango products out there that you can surely enjoy.

 

Knowing all these mango health benefits, visit the nearest supermarket and buy ripe mangoes now. Enjoy the fruit’s sweet juicy pulp and its wonderful nutritional benefits.[ad#afterpost]