This world is crammed with so many embarrassing, distressing, and life-threatening diseases. A human being is exposed to them day and night no matter what he does or where he goes. Diseases make our living worse, more troublesome, less pleasurable. No wonder that some people devote their whole lives to searching for reliable, effective, and safe remedies against health disorders.

Phytotherapists are positive that the means against all the known to the human kind conditions can be found in the herbs, bushes, and trees around us – in the treasury of nature. That is why they keep on investigating the plants to define their constituents, learn their properties and discover the possibilities to use them in the treatment of health disorders.

Mangosteen belongs to the group of plants a lot of scientists have high hopes for. Maybe because fruit constituents – xanthones – are too poorly studied, herbalists and researchers believe they can be of great help in curing some diseases, which, for the time being, are considered to be incurable or life-threatening. Cancer is, of course, among them. Therefore, the possibility of using mangosteen fruit for cancer treatment is perceived by many scientists as a great chance for lots of patients.

So, can mangosteen cure cancer? Some confirm that the conducted studies (about 30 or so) give the answer; and the latter is, by no means, positive. It has been stated that mangosteen is capable of killing cancer or cancer-programmed cells; that is why it is called an apoptic agent. Its constituents are also supposed to inhibit the growth of cancer cells; thus, the fruit is an antiproliferant. The last and the most awesome way mangosteen fights cancer is by protecting the organism from the formation of cancer cells, therefore, from the very development of cancer. The latter action is carried out due to the powerful antioxidant capacity of the mangosteen fruit.

There are more than 40 types of xanthones in mangosteen; actually, they are found in the pericarp of the fruit. The researchers suggest that the most valuable xanthones for cancer overwhelming are alpha-mangostin, garcinone E, 8-hydroxycudraxanthone G, gartanin, gamma-mangostin, and smeathxanthone A. They turned out to be the compounds with the strongest antioxidant action.

“Isn’t that too good to be true?” some may ask. Indeed, the questions do arise. The main one is whether we can really rely on the information we see. Judge for yourself.

Here are the most disputable and controversial aspects of mangosteen action.

1. Data says that there are more than 40 xanthones in the mangosteen. Out of these only six are somehow studied for the time being. On the other hand, six types are said to be “the most powerful.” Nobody knows in comparison to what they are so mighty, if nothing else was studied.
2. All the so-called “studies” were, actually nothing more than either investigating the elements in the laboratory or trials on mice. Isn’t that necessary to conduct clinical trials on humans if they are the ones to be treated with the remedy?
3. Searching the internet we can read almost the same stories about any herb or fruit: each one is said to be the best antioxidant, containing polysaccharides, flavonoids, phenols, etc. It is, therefore, naturally to suppose that all of them can help a great deal in curing all the diseases – they all can fight free radicals, boost the immune system, rejuvenate, and give energy.  

It will surely take some time to get the answers. Some of the statements will be proved, others will be denied. Perhaps, the best thing what we can do today is hope for better and believe in ourselves. Maybe a firm belief is, actually, what cures most often.