Re: Mangosteen

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to share that my father, who is a family practice

physician is having tremendous results with arthritis patients using

mangosteen juice. Many have been able to reduce or eliminate their

current medications. Why? One recent study has confirmed that

gamma mangostin, a xanthone contained in this rind of this fruit is

a potent COX inhibitor. (As you probably already know this is an

important factor in reducing inflammation and pain.)

Most people are not familiar with the Mangosteen fruit or

xanthones. So here's a run down on what they are and why you

haven't heard of them before.

The mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana) is a tropical fruit considered

to be one of the finest tasting fruits in the world and has earned

the popular title " the Queen of Fruit. " The mangosteen tree is found

predominantly in Southeast Asia in countries like Cambodia, China,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. However, the

fruit is rather delicate and does not travel well, which is why is

not commonly known in the U.S.

The people of Southeast Asia are very familiar with the prized

mangosteen fruit and Asian Health Practitioners have long made use

of pericarp for a myriad of nutritional and medicinal uses. The

mangosteen fruit, however, has never been introduced to the Western

world and much of the science behind xanthones was predominantly

available only to those in the medical community until recently.

Many of the clinical studies on xanthones have been done in

universities and testing facilities throughout Asia and have only

recently started to catch the attention of Western researchers.

Xanthones are a class of plant derived nutrients

or " phytonutrients. " They have been demonstrated in numerous

scientific studies to hold tremendous nutritional value. Found to

exhibit strong antioxidant activity xanthones disarm free radicals

in the body and enhance and support your body's immune system.

Although xanthones exist in small amounts throughout nature, it is

found in concentrated amounts in the pericarp of the mangosteen

fruit.There are over 40 known forms of xanthones naturally occurring

in the pericarp, the two most widely studied are Alpha Mangostin and

Gamma Mangostin.

Interested in looking at the research, visit www.pubmed.com and

enter " mangosteen " , " xanthones " and " garcina mangostana " under

separate searches. You will see hundreds of studies come up. I can

point out the ones regarding the COX inhibitors and inflammation if

you're interested and can't find them.

Up until November 2002, there were no commercially available

products containing the mangosteen fruit. Now there are several

juices available -- but only one with the whole fruit (rind and

all). Those that are just juice from the pulp of the fruit don't

have much benefit because they don't contain the xanthones.

If you are interested in finding out what product my father is

recommending to his patients, I'd be happy to put you in touch with

him.

Respectfully,

Alyson

alysavant@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Will the Sleuth:

Looks like a case for you....since you like herbal things that actually seem

to work on DISSOLVING GB sludge.

Could you donate your body to science for a few weeks to go on the Mangosteen

cure, or at least look into it and see if it seems reasonable?

I know its not red wine and raw butter......BUT...........

Best, (Flip Flops on and heading to the Beach)

[Guest guest]

In my opinion, what we have here is simply an overpriced fruit drink.

YUP! I agree.

Gayla Always Enough RanchAcampo, Californiahttp://bouncinghoofs.com/alwaysenough.htmlaeranch@...

[Guest guest]

I agree too! The study that shows Mangosteen is so great, was done on

the fruit, not the processed fruit drink. Plus it has preservatives

in it. YUK to that too! Benzoates contribute to ADHD (which is in

the mangosteen drink) - so don't ever give that drink to kids!!

Carol

>

> In my opinion, what we have here is simply an overpriced fruit drink.

>

> YUP! I agree.

> Gayla

[Guest guest]

I have a friend who assured me that this juice cured most of her problems: allergy, asthma, arthritis and I don't remember what else. She has been drinking it for about a year or so and plans to continue because she says that she never felt so good in her entire life.

I'm not impressed by these juices that cure everything, but as I have some health problems, I decided to give it a try, but after a month I didn't feel any difference at all.

Rena

Mangosteen

A Friendly Skeptic Looks at Mangosteen

By Dr. Ralph Mossfrom CancerDecisions.com Newsletter

When I wrote Cancer Therapy in the early 1990s, I had the bright idea of putting my mailing address in the book in the hope that some readers would send me information on new treatments. Little did I imagine that such communication would become a torrent of proposals. Today, hardly a day goes by without my being made aware of some new "cure." Would that a fraction of these panned out as well as proponents claimed!

One of the latest in this long line is an exotic fruit drink called mangosteen, or XanGo™. Mangosteen should not be confused with mango, an entirely different plant. It is part of a group known as the Guttiferae, a family of mainly tropical trees and shrubs that secrete an acrid yellow resinous juice. Mangosteen's scientific designation is Garcinia mangostana (Campin 2004). It is reputedly named after a French explorer, Jacques Garcin (1673-1751). In Europe and North America, the most recognizable member of this family is the popular herb, St. 's wort.

No one knows exactly where and when the mangosteen was first cultivated. One botanist, F. Morton, believes it originated in the Moluccas and the Sunda Islands. Yet there are also wild mangosteen trees in the forests of Malaya. Some experts say the trees were first domesticated in Thailand or Burma. But in the 19th century, botanists brought seeds to Europe and America. Valiant attempts were made to cultivate the 18-foot high trees in Africa, the Caribbean and central America. But the plant is considered "ultra-tropical" and sensitive: nursery seedlings die at 45º F. In fact, there are few if any mangosteens growing in the continental US. A lone American tree in Florida was said to have yielded a single fruit...and then died. That was the beginning and end of the American mangosteen "industry."

But attempts continued to bring mangosteen to Europe and America as a food. "Despite the oft-repeated Old World enthusiasm for this fruit," says Morton, "it is not always viewed as worth the trouble to produce. In Jamaica, it is regarded as nice but overrated; not comparable to a good field-ripe pineapple or a choice mango."

The mangosteen fruit is the size of a small apple, purple colored, with a hard rind. Inside there are typically five to seven seeds surrounded by a sweet, juicy cover (or aril). The pulp, which is said to resemble a pineapple or peach in taste, is reputed to be a very delicious food - in Asia it is sometimes called the queen of fruits in honor both of its flavor and its economic importance.

Uses in Traditional Medicine

For many years dried mangosteen fruits have been shipped from Singapore to Calcutta and then on to China for medicinal use. As to its many uses in folk medicine, here is what botanist Morton has written:

"The sliced and dried rind is powdered and administered to overcome dysentery. Made into an ointment, it is applied on eczema and other skin disorders. The rind decoction is taken to relieve diarrhea and cystitis, gonorrhea and gleet [a watery discharge, ed.] and is applied externally as an astringent lotion. A portion of the rind is steeped in water overnight and the infusion given as a remedy for chronic diarrhea in adults and children.

"Filipinos employ a decoction of the leaves and bark as a febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhea, dysentery and urinary disorders. In Malaya, an infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe banana and a little benzoin is applied to the wound of circumcision. A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation. A bark extract called 'amibiasine', has been marketed for the treatment of amoebic dysentery."

Morton also writes that "[t]he rind of partially ripe fruits yields a polyhydroxy-xanthone derivative termed mangostin, also beta-mangostin. That of fully ripe fruits contains the xanthones, gartanin, 8-desoxygartanin, and normangostin. A derivative of mangostin, mangostin-e, 6-di-O-glucoside, is a central nervous system depressant and causes a rise in blood pressure." A more complete listing of constituents is given at ethnobotanist Dr. Duke's informative and useful Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases (Duke 2004).

We can conclude then that mangosteen has many uses in folk medicine, and as such, it can join a fairly long list of plants that can be considered as promising sources of new medicines.

XanGo™ on the Go

In this age of frenzied commercialism, entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for ways to make it big in the natural medicines market. Under such conditions, however, new medicines of botanical origin cannot be developed or tested in an orderly way.

A common feature of the way in which natural medicines such as mangosteen are promoted is the use of network marketing. This involves the retailing of products through the use of independent distributors. These distributors are then encouraged to build and manage their own sales force by recruiting, motivating, supplying, and training others to sell products. Compensation in such arrangements includes the distributor's own sales as well as a percentage of the sales of his or her entire "downline" (i.e., all those people signed up by an individual, who in turn go on to become salespeople). The term network marketing is virtually synonymous with the older but now somewhat disreputable term 'multi-level marketing' (MLM).

Network marketing turns mere consumers into determined marketers who aggressively sell their product, often to their own friends, relatives and neighbors. The more people they can recruit into the growing network the more money they themselves make. A sophisticated marketing blitz, including books and pamphlets, seemingly objective newsletters, press releases and chattering websites, inflate the importance of a product, creating a buzz that only dies away when the huge supply of potential customers and salespeople is finally exhausted. Or when, as it has on occasion, the government finally steps in. But the essential requirement for a successful MLM operation of this sort is a kernel of promising-sounding scientific evidence, coupled with a credible and compelling story, a compliant doctor willing to underwrite the concept, and finally some patients (who may themselves be distributors) willing to testify that the product led to astounding cures.

Aloe vera, colloidal minerals, gingko biloba and ginseng were all popularized in this way. But perhaps the most memorable example of a network marketing stampede is noni juice, a once totally obscure Polynesian fruit that became the basis of a huge industry. Tahitian Noni International, formerly called Morinda, last year claimed to have passed the two billion dollar sales mark! This is the sort of performance that makes get-rich-quick artists drool.

The techniques of network marketing, honed through decades of trial and error, are now being used by a Utah-based company to position mangosteen as the latest "miracle cure" craze. The price of their XanGo mangosteen juice is currently $37 per bottle (or four for $100). You have to ask yourself: who on earth would pay that much for a bottle of fruit juice, no matter how delicious it might be? The reason the marketers can succeed in selling juice at this price is obvious: when people are suffering from medical conditions for which there does not appear to be much hope, or for which the orthodox medical recommendations are too toxic or expensive, they will actively seek alternatives. And then someone, oftentimes someone they trust, such as a friend or neighbor, convinces them to give some new product a try. Products such as mangosteen exploit humanity's understandable desire to discover simple and painless solutions to intractable problems.

Now that the commercial ball is rolling an increasing number of mangosteen brands are reaching the market. But for the time being the market leader is XanGo™ (www.myxango.com). A visit to their website triggers an audio webcast from a very pleasant sounding young lady, who assures us that "by integrating the Internet, teamwork, and personal mentoring, MyXanGo.com provides you a vehicle to improve the areas of your life that are most important to you, and we do it for FREE."

I listened in amazement to her polished spiel and the brazen intrusiveness of this message. I was particularly amused when she said, "You should know that this message is not about selling." Right. "It's not about false claims and outlandish statements." Sure. "It's about sharing facts to help you decide if now is the right time in your life to consider XanGo™." Really.

The rhetoric gets even more effusive. A March 2004 press release from one seller proclaims: "Mangosteen is now on an unstoppable march to conquer the world" (Goss 2004). Put this way it sounds rather ominous…almost like a cross between Osama bin Laden and the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Xanthones

As stated, one requirement for a successful network promotion is that there be at least a kernel of scientific truth around which exaggerated claims can be assembled. As with noni juice, mangosteen is not entirely without scientific documentation. The problem, as usual, is that the claims for mangosteen are inflated till they far outpace what has been established through careful experimentation.

Some mangosteen promoters have mined Duke's famous ethnobotanical database for confirmation of their product's value. And, indeed, Dr. Duke confirms that the plant contains several interesting components. But so do thousands of other plants in his voluminous database. For most of the chemicals contained in this fruit (such as beta-mangostin, catechins, cis-hex-3-enyl-acetate, gamma-mangostin, gartanin, garcinones) the database lists NO particular biochemical activities. Only the compound called "mangostin" seems to have some scientific backing for its antibacterial, antiseptic and fungicidal properties (Recio 1989). Yet scores of mangosteen websites now cite Duke's database as scientific justification for this product. In reality, Dr. Duke has absolutely nothing to do with any mangosteen distributor and is not particularly enthusiastic about the product.

Much is made of the xanthone connection. According to the MyXanGo.com website: "There are over 200 xanthones in nature. Each xanthone can have specific effects on the body. What's remarkable about the mangosteen is that there are over 40 xanthones identified in the pericarp, or rind, making it the single most xanthone-rich source in the world….Only six of the xanthones have been studied in depth. While we don't know fully why the mangosteen works on such a wide variety of physical conditions, we know it has to do with being the world's most potent source of xanthones. Each xanthone has its own effect, and when combined, they take on a synergistic quality that supports the health of the entire body."

But all of this is speculative. It is undoubtedly true that there are many xanthones (a kind of antioxidant) in mangosteen. In fact, according to the Merck Index (11th Ed., p. 5613) the first scientifically defined substance to be derived from mangosteen was the xanthone mangostin. This was isolated by a German scientist named Schmid in 1855. In 1979, mangostin was found to have significant anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer effects in rats (Shankaranarayan 1979). Yet although mangosteen's xanthones have been known for almost 150 years, there are still only 19 PubMed articles on these xanthones and none of these articles concerns the use of xanthones in the actual clinical treatment of human disease. So I would say the jury is still out on their effectiveness in treating anything.

The main XanGo website also claims that the antioxidant ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value of mangosteen is the highest of all edible plants. "It is so potent that literally I know of nothing else in the supplement market that can possibly come even close to it," says J. Frederic Templeman, MD, a Georgia family practitioner who is interviewed at the MyXanGo website. Many other XanGo-promoting websites repeat the claim that while the previous champion, prunes, have an ORAC value of 7,000 per ounce, mangosteen has an ORAC value of 17,000 to 24,000.

Yet XanGo sites claim that "a new champion" has been born in the worldwide contest for ORAC supremacy. But where in the scientific literature is the ORAC value of XanGo published? The source of these numbers is hard to track down. For instance, the Sunsweet prune website states that 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of prunes have an ORAC value of 5,770. While the ORAC values for most fruits and vegetables have been determined by standard laboratories and published in scientific journals, this is not so for mangosteen. I have not seen independent confirmation of these confidently promulgated claims. However, even if we assume for the sake of argument that the figures cited are indeed accurate, it must be pointed out that merely having an astronomically high ORAC value does not in and of itself confer any particular advantage. Not all antioxidants that are confirmed as present in the laboratory can be absorbed by human beings. And there is a limit to how much we can benefit from an increased intake of antioxidants.

According to Dr. Prior of the US Department of Agriculture Research Service at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, "a significant increase in antioxidants of 15 to 20 percent is possible by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly those high in ORAC value." However, in order to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity one can only meaningfully increase one's daily intake by 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units. Any greater amount is probably redundant. That is because the antioxidant capacity of the blood is tightly regulated, says Dr. Prior. Thus there is an upper limit to the benefit that can be derived from antioxidants. Taking in 25,000 ORAC units at one time (as reputedly occurs with mangosteen) would be no more beneficial than taking in a fifth of that amount: the excess is simply excreted by the kidneys.

Marketers of the drink have widely claimed that XanGo has exceptional health-giving properties based on its very high ORAC score. (ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity - a measure of the antioxidant value of a substance.) But having a high ORAC value does not necessarily confer any health advantage.

According to Dr. J. Frederic Templeman, a Georgia family practitioner who has written a small book on mangosteen, and who is widely quoted by XanGo marketers, if you take these antioxidants "you aren't going to probably have a heart attack as fast as someone who doesn't take them" and consuming them could therefore constitute "literally the difference between life and death." Although I myself have written a book on the subject of the benefit of antioxidants (Antioxidants Against Cancer), I would say it is a tremendous stretch to claim that antioxidants are predictably going to save anyone's life. Good health is achieved through a combination of many factors, hereditary as well as environmental.

Effects on Cancer

At the XanGo website, a company spokesperson interviews Dr Templeman on the subject of mangosteen's beneficial effect on cancer. They both agree that a single test tube experiment is proof of the anticancer value of the juice:

Dr. Templeman: "That's striking."

XanGo spokesperson: "It's incredible."

At various other websites devoted to XanGo (and there are now over 21,000 of them!) we read in glowing terms about both the supposed quantity and quality of scientific research on this previously obscure fruit.

Reality Check

So it is high time for a reality check. Has mangosteen really been thoroughly studied in terms of its effect on cancer and a host of other diseases? Or is this simply a wild extrapolation driven by strong commercial motives?

Dr. Templeman refers to 44 scientific publications on this topic but there are just 29 articles on the topic of Garcinia mangostana in PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine database of 14+ million citations. A total of four of these studies relate to cancer. In one test tube experiment it was shown that a xanthone found in mangosteen kills cancer cells as effectively as many chemotherapeutic drugs. It also appears (on the basis of limited data) that compounds found abundantly in mangosteen can inhibit the harmful 1 and 2 enzymes, and can also induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) in aberrant cells (Ho 2002). Mangosteen thus joins a fairly long list of naturally derived compounds that might potentially have some anticancer activity.

These 29 articles do not constitute a wealth of data. For example, by contrast, PubMed lists over 2,300 articles on the topic of vitamin C and cancer, 125 of which refer to clinical trials. There are a similar number of studies on vitamin E and cancer. There are 835 studies of melatonin and cancer, and a truly impressive 16,000 on polysaccharides and cancer, including 536 clinical trials and 277 randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Yet, we're to believe that four test-tube experiments constitute - to quote the aforementioned Dr. Templeman - "mountains of evidence" on the benefits of XanGo.

According to the promotional website of one of XanGo's many "independent distributors" at http://bjsbytes.com/Xango/Questions.htm:

"...much of the science behind xanthones is predominantly available to those in the medical community until recently. Many of the clinical studies on xanthones have been done in universities and testing facilities throughout Asia and have recently started to catch the attention of Western researchers."

But is this true? Reputable researchers the world over, including those in Asia, publish in PubMed-listed journals. For example there are over 63,000 articles on cancer in PubMed in the Japanese language. Yet despite the website's misleading talk about "clinical studies," PubMed does not contain a single clinical trial of mangosteen in the treatment of cancer, or any other disease. Perhaps these promoters don't realize that a clinical study is not something done in a laboratory, but a study that by definition is carried out on living patients. Laboratory studies on cell lines or even animals do not qualify for the title 'clinical study'.

Thus, despite what you may read at any one of those 21,000 promotional websites, very little scientific evidence exists concerning mangosteen's anticancer activity in humans.

In my opinion, what we have here is simply an overpriced fruit drink. Fruit drinks are often healthful beverages. But the only reason I can see that the promoters of mangosteen can get away with charging $37 for this product is that they are playing on patients' hopes and fears in a cynical way. Without the health claims, open or implied, the product could only be sold for at most $5 or $6 (which, for example, is the cost of antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice).

The mangosteen phenomenon is a reprise of the aloe vera, gingko biloba, and especially the noni juice story, complete with exaggerated claims for the health benefits of an exotic fruit. It should come as no surprise that both the President and the Chief Financial Officer of Xango once worked for Morinda (now called Tahitian Noni International).

Compounds found in plants have long been of great interest to cancer researchers. We must never forget that about one-fifth of all chemotherapeutic agents (including Vincristine, Vinblastine, Etoposide, Teniposide, and Taxol) are ultimately derived from plant sources. Many of these took a long time to pass through the regulatory process, since serious research into botanical medicine often goes begging for financial and intellectual support. Starved of funds in this way, the riches of the natural world are often neglected by mainstream science, only to be plundered by less scrupulous organizations. The patient loses twice - by not having the fruits of serious research and by being deceived by slick operators posing as friends and benefactors. Some may even opt for unproven miracle juices in lieu of more certain therapies that might save their lives.

When it comes to cancer, we truly live in a topsy-turvy world.

Suzi

List Owner

health/

http://360./suziesgoats

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

[Guest guest]

These and other juices make some people feel better just because

their bodies are so nutrient deficient and the nutrients provide

nutrition which the body utilizes for self healing. This is why the

results are not predictable from one person to another. Also, when

just one fruit is used, the variety of nutrients are limited. I am

not saying that they are not good. They are, it is a

misrepresentation (well intended sometimes) when some people say that

they are 'cure alls.'

JMHO

, BS.HT

Board Certified Holistic Practitioner

www.SignificantHealing.com

www.ZeoliteExpert.com

859-801-1730

>

> I have a friend who assured me that this juice cured most of her

problems: allergy, asthma, arthritis and I don't remember what else.

She has been drinking it for about a year or so and plans to continue

because she says that she never felt so good in her entire life.

> I'm not impressed by these juices that cure everything, but as I

have some health problems, I decided to give it a try, but after a

month I didn't feel any difference at all.

>

> Rena

>

>

> Mangosteen

>

>

>

> A Friendly Skeptic Looks at Mangosteen

> By Dr. Ralph Moss

> from CancerDecisions.com Newsletter

> When I wrote Cancer Therapy in the early 1990s, I had the bright

idea of putting my mailing address in the book in the hope that some

readers would send me information on new treatments. Little did I

imagine that such communication would become a torrent of proposals.

Today, hardly a day goes by without my being made aware of some

new " cure. " Would that a fraction of these panned out as well as

proponents claimed!

> One of the latest in this long line is an exotic fruit drink

called mangosteen, or XanGoT. Mangosteen should not be confused with

mango, an entirely different plant. It is part of a group known as

the Guttiferae, a family of mainly tropical trees and shrubs that

secrete an acrid yellow resinous juice. Mangosteen's scientific

designation is Garcinia mangostana (Campin 2004). It is reputedly

named after a French explorer, Jacques Garcin (1673-1751). In Europe

and North America, the most recognizable member of this family is the

popular herb, St. 's wort.

> No one knows exactly where and when the mangosteen was first

cultivated. One botanist, F. Morton, believes it originated in

the Moluccas and the Sunda Islands. Yet there are also wild

mangosteen trees in the forests of Malaya. Some experts say the trees

were first domesticated in Thailand or Burma. But in the 19th

century, botanists brought seeds to Europe and America. Valiant

attempts were made to cultivate the 18-foot high trees in Africa, the

Caribbean and central America. But the plant is considered " ultra-

tropical " and sensitive: nursery seedlings die at 45º F. In fact,

there are few if any mangosteens growing in the continental US. A

lone American tree in Florida was said to have yielded a single

fruit...and then died. That was the beginning and end of the American

mangosteen " industry. "

> But attempts continued to bring mangosteen to Europe and America

as a food. " Despite the oft-repeated Old World enthusiasm for this

fruit, " says Morton, " it is not always viewed as worth the trouble to

produce. In Jamaica, it is regarded as nice but overrated; not

comparable to a good field-ripe pineapple or a choice mango. "

> The mangosteen fruit is the size of a small apple, purple

colored, with a hard rind. Inside there are typically five to seven

seeds surrounded by a sweet, juicy cover (or aril). The pulp, which

is said to resemble a pineapple or peach in taste, is reputed to be a

very delicious food - in Asia it is sometimes called the queen of

fruits in honor both of its flavor and its economic importance.

> Uses in Traditional Medicine

> For many years dried mangosteen fruits have been shipped from

Singapore to Calcutta and then on to China for medicinal use. As to

its many uses in folk medicine, here is what botanist Morton

has written:

> " The sliced and dried rind is powdered and administered to

overcome dysentery. Made into an ointment, it is applied on eczema

and other skin disorders. The rind decoction is taken to relieve

diarrhea and cystitis, gonorrhea and gleet [a watery discharge, ed.]

and is applied externally as an astringent lotion. A portion of the

rind is steeped in water overnight and the infusion given as a remedy

for chronic diarrhea in adults and children.

> " Filipinos employ a decoction of the leaves and bark as a

febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhea, dysentery and urinary

disorders. In Malaya, an infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe

banana and a little benzoin is applied to the wound of circumcision.

A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation. A bark extract

called 'amibiasine', has been marketed for the treatment of amoebic

dysentery. "

> Morton also writes that " [t]he rind of partially ripe fruits

yields a polyhydroxy-xanthone derivative termed mangostin, also beta-

mangostin. That of fully ripe fruits contains the xanthones,

gartanin, 8-desoxygartanin, and normangostin. A derivative of

mangostin, mangostin-e, 6-di-O-glucoside, is a central nervous system

depressant and causes a rise in blood pressure. " A more complete

listing of constituents is given at ethnobotanist Dr. Duke's

informative and useful Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

(Duke 2004).

> We can conclude then that mangosteen has many uses in folk

medicine, and as such, it can join a fairly long list of plants that

can be considered as promising sources of new medicines.

> XanGoT on the Go

> In this age of frenzied commercialism, entrepreneurs are always

on the lookout for ways to make it big in the natural medicines

market. Under such conditions, however, new medicines of botanical

origin cannot be developed or tested in an orderly way.

> A common feature of the way in which natural medicines such as

mangosteen are promoted is the use of network marketing. This

involves the retailing of products through the use of independent

distributors. These distributors are then encouraged to build and

manage their own sales force by recruiting, motivating, supplying,

and training others to sell products. Compensation in such

arrangements includes the distributor's own sales as well as a

percentage of the sales of his or her entire " downline " (i.e., all

those people signed up by an individual, who in turn go on to become

salespeople). The term network marketing is virtually synonymous with

the older but now somewhat disreputable term 'multi-level marketing'

(MLM).

> Network marketing turns mere consumers into determined marketers

who aggressively sell their product, often to their own friends,

relatives and neighbors. The more people they can recruit into the

growing network the more money they themselves make. A sophisticated

marketing blitz, including books and pamphlets, seemingly objective

newsletters, press releases and chattering websites, inflate the

importance of a product, creating a buzz that only dies away when the

huge supply of potential customers and salespeople is finally

exhausted. Or when, as it has on occasion, the government finally

steps in. But the essential requirement for a successful MLM

operation of this sort is a kernel of promising-sounding scientific

evidence, coupled with a credible and compelling story, a compliant

doctor willing to underwrite the concept, and finally some patients

(who may themselves be distributors) willing to testify that the

product led to astounding cures.

> Aloe vera, colloidal minerals, gingko biloba and ginseng were all

popularized in this way. But perhaps the most memorable example of a

network marketing stampede is noni juice, a once totally obscure

Polynesian fruit that became the basis of a huge industry. Tahitian

Noni International, formerly called Morinda, last year claimed to

have passed the two billion dollar sales mark! This is the sort of

performance that makes get-rich-quick artists drool.

> The techniques of network marketing, honed through decades of

trial and error, are now being used by a Utah-based company to

position mangosteen as the latest " miracle cure " craze. The price of

their XanGo mangosteen juice is currently $37 per bottle (or four for

$100). You have to ask yourself: who on earth would pay that much for

a bottle of fruit juice, no matter how delicious it might be? The

reason the marketers can succeed in selling juice at this price is

obvious: when people are suffering from medical conditions for which

there does not appear to be much hope, or for which the orthodox

medical recommendations are too toxic or expensive, they will

actively seek alternatives. And then someone, oftentimes someone they

trust, such as a friend or neighbor, convinces them to give some new

product a try. Products such as mangosteen exploit humanity's

understandable desire to discover simple and painless solutions to

intractable problems.

> Now that the commercial ball is rolling an increasing number of

mangosteen brands are reaching the market. But for the time being the

market leader is XanGoT (www.myxango.com). A visit to their website

triggers an audio webcast from a very pleasant sounding young lady,

who assures us that " by integrating the Internet, teamwork, and

personal mentoring, MyXanGo.com provides you a vehicle to improve the

areas of your life that are most important to you, and we do it for

FREE. "

> I listened in amazement to her polished spiel and the brazen

intrusiveness of this message. I was particularly amused when she

said, " You should know that this message is not about selling. "

Right. " It's not about false claims and outlandish statements. "

Sure. " It's about sharing facts to help you decide if now is the

right time in your life to consider XanGoT. " Really.

> The rhetoric gets even more effusive. A March 2004 press release

from one seller proclaims: " Mangosteen is now on an unstoppable march

to conquer the world " (Goss 2004). Put this way it sounds rather

ominous.almost like a cross between Osama bin Laden and the Attack of

the Killer Tomatoes.

> Xanthones

> As stated, one requirement for a successful network promotion is

that there be at least a kernel of scientific truth around which

exaggerated claims can be assembled. As with noni juice, mangosteen

is not entirely without scientific documentation. The problem, as

usual, is that the claims for mangosteen are inflated till they far

outpace what has been established through careful experimentation.

> Some mangosteen promoters have mined Duke's famous

ethnobotanical database for confirmation of their product's value.

And, indeed, Dr. Duke confirms that the plant contains several

interesting components. But so do thousands of other plants in his

voluminous database. For most of the chemicals contained in this

fruit (such as beta-mangostin, catechins, cis-hex-3-enyl-acetate,

gamma-mangostin, gartanin, garcinones) the database lists NO

particular biochemical activities. Only the compound

called " mangostin " seems to have some scientific backing for its

antibacterial, antiseptic and fungicidal properties (Recio 1989). Yet

scores of mangosteen websites now cite Duke's database as scientific

justification for this product. In reality, Dr. Duke has absolutely

nothing to do with any mangosteen distributor and is not particularly

enthusiastic about the product.

> Much is made of the xanthone connection. According to the

MyXanGo.com website: " There are over 200 xanthones in nature. Each

xanthone can have specific effects on the body. What's remarkable

about the mangosteen is that there are over 40 xanthones identified

in the pericarp, or rind, making it the single most xanthone-rich

source in the world..Only six of the xanthones have been studied in

depth. While we don't know fully why the mangosteen works on such a

wide variety of physical conditions, we know it has to do with being

the world's most potent source of xanthones. Each xanthone has its

own effect, and when combined, they take on a synergistic quality

that supports the health of the entire body. "

> But all of this is speculative. It is undoubtedly true that there

are many xanthones (a kind of antioxidant) in mangosteen. In fact,

according to the Merck Index (11th Ed., p. 5613) the first

scientifically defined substance to be derived from mangosteen was

the xanthone mangostin. This was isolated by a German scientist named

Schmid in 1855. In 1979, mangostin was found to have significant anti-

inflammatory and anti-ulcer effects in rats (Shankaranarayan 1979).

Yet although mangosteen's xanthones have been known for almost 150

years, there are still only 19 PubMed articles on these xanthones and

none of these articles concerns the use of xanthones in the actual

clinical treatment of human disease. So I would say the jury is still

out on their effectiveness in treating anything.

> The main XanGo website also claims that the antioxidant ORAC

(oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value of mangosteen is the

highest of all edible plants. " It is so potent that literally I know

of nothing else in the supplement market that can possibly come even

close to it, " says J. Frederic Templeman, MD, a Georgia family

practitioner who is interviewed at the MyXanGo website. Many other

XanGo-promoting websites repeat the claim that while the previous

champion, prunes, have an ORAC value of 7,000 per ounce, mangosteen

has an ORAC value of 17,000 to 24,000.

> Yet XanGo sites claim that " a new champion " has been born in the

worldwide contest for ORAC supremacy. But where in the scientific

literature is the ORAC value of XanGo published? The source of these

numbers is hard to track down. For instance, the Sunsweet prune

website states that 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of prunes have an ORAC

value of 5,770. While the ORAC values for most fruits and vegetables

have been determined by standard laboratories and published in

scientific journals, this is not so for mangosteen. I have not seen

independent confirmation of these confidently promulgated claims.

However, even if we assume for the sake of argument that the figures

cited are indeed accurate, it must be pointed out that merely having

an astronomically high ORAC value does not in and of itself confer

any particular advantage. Not all antioxidants that are confirmed as

present in the laboratory can be absorbed by human beings. And there

is a limit to how much we can benefit from an increased intake of

antioxidants.

> According to Dr. Prior of the US Department of Agriculture

Research Service at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, " a

significant increase in antioxidants of 15 to 20 percent is possible

by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly

those high in ORAC value. " However, in order to have a significant

impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity one can only

meaningfully increase one's daily intake by 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC

units. Any greater amount is probably redundant. That is because the

antioxidant capacity of the blood is tightly regulated, says Dr.

Prior. Thus there is an upper limit to the benefit that can be

derived from antioxidants. Taking in 25,000 ORAC units at one time

(as reputedly occurs with mangosteen) would be no more beneficial

than taking in a fifth of that amount: the excess is simply excreted

by the kidneys.

> Marketers of the drink have widely claimed that XanGo has

exceptional health-giving properties based on its very high ORAC

score. (ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity - a

measure of the antioxidant value of a substance.) But having a high

ORAC value does not necessarily confer any health advantage.

> According to Dr. J. Frederic Templeman, a Georgia family

practitioner who has written a small book on mangosteen, and who is

widely quoted by XanGo marketers, if you take these antioxidants " you

aren't going to probably have a heart attack as fast as someone who

doesn't take them " and consuming them could therefore

constitute " literally the difference between life and death. "

Although I myself have written a book on the subject of the benefit

of antioxidants (Antioxidants Against Cancer), I would say it is a

tremendous stretch to claim that antioxidants are predictably going

to save anyone's life. Good health is achieved through a combination

of many factors, hereditary as well as environmental.

> Effects on Cancer

> At the XanGo website, a company spokesperson interviews Dr

Templeman on the subject of mangosteen's beneficial effect on cancer.

They both agree that a single test tube experiment is proof of the

anticancer value of the juice:

> Dr. Templeman: " That's striking. "

> XanGo spokesperson: " It's incredible. "

> At various other websites devoted to XanGo (and there are now

over 21,000 of them!) we read in glowing terms about both the

supposed quantity and quality of scientific research on this

previously obscure fruit.

> Reality Check

> So it is high time for a reality check. Has mangosteen really

been thoroughly studied in terms of its effect on cancer and a host

of other diseases? Or is this simply a wild extrapolation driven by

strong commercial motives?

> Dr. Templeman refers to 44 scientific publications on this topic

but there are just 29 articles on the topic of Garcinia mangostana in

PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine database of 14+ million

citations. A total of four of these studies relate to cancer. In one

test tube experiment it was shown that a xanthone found in mangosteen

kills cancer cells as effectively as many chemotherapeutic drugs. It

also appears (on the basis of limited data) that compounds found

abundantly in mangosteen can inhibit the harmful 1 and 2

enzymes, and can also induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) in

aberrant cells (Ho 2002). Mangosteen thus joins a fairly long list of

naturally derived compounds that might potentially have some

anticancer activity.

> These 29 articles do not constitute a wealth of data. For

example, by contrast, PubMed lists over 2,300 articles on the topic

of vitamin C and cancer, 125 of which refer to clinical trials. There

are a similar number of studies on vitamin E and cancer. There are

835 studies of melatonin and cancer, and a truly impressive 16,000 on

polysaccharides and cancer, including 536 clinical trials and 277

randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

> Yet, we're to believe that four test-tube experiments constitute -

to quote the aforementioned Dr. Templeman - " mountains of evidence "

on the benefits of XanGo.

> According to the promotional website of one of XanGo's

many " independent distributors " at

http://bjsbytes.com/Xango/Questions.htm:

> " ...much of the science behind xanthones is predominantly

available to those in the medical community until recently. Many of

the clinical studies on xanthones have been done in universities and

testing facilities throughout Asia and have recently started to catch

the attention of Western researchers. "

> But is this true? Reputable researchers the world over, including

those in Asia, publish in PubMed-listed journals. For example there

are over 63,000 articles on cancer in PubMed in the Japanese

language. Yet despite the website's misleading talk about " clinical

studies, " PubMed does not contain a single clinical trial of

mangosteen in the treatment of cancer, or any other disease. Perhaps

these promoters don't realize that a clinical study is not something

done in a laboratory, but a study that by definition is carried out

on living patients. Laboratory studies on cell lines or even animals

do not qualify for the title 'clinical study'.

> Thus, despite what you may read at any one of those 21,000

promotional websites, very little scientific evidence exists

concerning mangosteen's anticancer activity in humans.

> In my opinion, what we have here is simply an overpriced fruit

drink. Fruit drinks are often healthful beverages. But the only

reason I can see that the promoters of mangosteen can get away with

charging $37 for this product is that they are playing on patients'

hopes and fears in a cynical way. Without the health claims, open or

implied, the product could only be sold for at most $5 or $6 (which,

for example, is the cost of antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice).

> The mangosteen phenomenon is a reprise of the aloe vera, gingko

biloba, and especially the noni juice story, complete with

exaggerated claims for the health benefits of an exotic fruit. It

should come as no surprise that both the President and the Chief

Financial Officer of Xango once worked for Morinda (now called

Tahitian Noni International).

> Compounds found in plants have long been of great interest to

cancer researchers. We must never forget that about one-fifth of all

chemotherapeutic agents (including Vincristine, Vinblastine,

Etoposide, Teniposide, and Taxol) are ultimately derived from plant

sources. Many of these took a long time to pass through the

regulatory process, since serious research into botanical medicine

often goes begging for financial and intellectual support. Starved of

funds in this way, the riches of the natural world are often

neglected by mainstream science, only to be plundered by less

scrupulous organizations. The patient loses twice - by not having the

fruits of serious research and by being deceived by slick operators

posing as friends and benefactors. Some may even opt for unproven

miracle juices in lieu of more certain therapies that might save

their lives.

> When it comes to cancer, we truly live in a topsy-turvy world.

>

>

>

> Suzi

> List Owner

> health/

> http://360./suziesgoats

> What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been

discovered.

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

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>

[Guest guest]

Mangosteen is a good product, and I am not saying that it isn't. I will say, though, that a lot of the fruit type supplement drinks are one trick ponies. (mangosteen, acai, goji, noni, etc) Even though they have a high ORAC value, they have only one type of food in them

There are so many supplements out there, now, that you really have to check them all out before you decide on one to take. I recommend that my clients take the ones that are a compound of many different foods, as long as there is enough nutritional content of each food in them.

Barb RN

Wholistic Healthcare ConsultantStart the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.