Exotic slimming solution- Exotic slimming solution by African mango.

           The world is awash with diet fads and slimming mantras.  A new entrant in this already overcrowded field is the exotic African Mango. It is apparently capable of cutting down calories and keeping one healthy.

            A herbal doctor in the west has gone as far as claiming that one can lose up to four Kgs within a month by eating this mango.  And as a result a successful marketing campaign in the west, an increasing number of health-conscious people, even here, are switching over to this variety of mango from other artificial weight-loss foods. 

           

            However, Indian nutritionists argue that natural foods with slimming properties work well only in conjunction with regular physical exercise.  While raw or dried African Mango will help in killing extra calories, commercial supplements prepared from this fruit may not deliver what the manufacturers claim on the label.  “It is important that people understand the difference between fad diets and well researched  foods.  Fad diets help temporarily , but people gain weight soon afterwards.” Says nutrition consultant Suneetha Sapur who heads the Akkshaya Foundation. 

            African Mango is not a real mango, but looks like the Indian Mango.True mango is technically called Mangifera Indica while the African mango is known as Irvingia gabonesis.  However, like the true mango, the African Mango or wild mango is loaded with rich nutrients.  According to Charita  Adikane, Clinical nutritionist at Appolo Hospital, Madras, the seed of the African Mango actually aids in weight reduction.  “It increases the basic metabolic rate as well as oxidation of fat,” she says, cautioning that the African Mango supplement alone would not help .

            What matters the most is a complete diet modification and lifestyle management.  These food supplements only increase physical inactiveness, as people believe that eating them would reduce their weight.  

            There is not a single well researched study to support the claim of the African Mango’s effect on weight reduction.  The lack of controlled studies and a long track record of success for these fad diets are usually not questioned by the consumers- cautions Suneetha.

But some of the reports seen from net is also attached in the case studies of African mango. See below the study of African Mango on weight loss

              In a 2005 study, the team studied 28 volunteers, comparing weight loss over four weeks between a group who were given a placebo and a group who were given African mango supplements. Taken before meals, three times a day, the study reported that those who took the African mango supplement lost 5.3% of their body weight, while the control group only lost 1.3%.

According to Dr IV van Heerden at Health24.com: 'Considerable reductions in total blood cholesterol (39.2 per cent), triglycerides (44.9 per cent) and "bad" LDL cholesterol (45.6 per cent), were obtained in the treatment group. At the same time, "good" HDL cholesterol levels in the group receiving African mango, increased by 46.9 per cent.'

A repeated experiment in 2009 used a more highly developed extract from the African mango seed, IGOB131, and studied its effects on 102 individuals over 10 weeks.

Dr can Heerden said: 'The treatment group lost more weight, had improved blood fat and glucose values, lower blood pressure, and other markers of the metabolic syndrome (e.g. lower leptin levels).'