Antioxidants, Straight Up Or On the Rocks

Mangosteens, pictured left, are simply delicious, but do they prevent cancer?

These days, it seems that everyone is concerned about getting enough antioxidants. Lest you be one of the few uninformed left in the world, antioxidants are substances present in certain foods that are claimed to help prevent cancer. The list of foods containing antioxidants is long and varied, from humble kidney beans and green tea to exotics such as goji berries. At the moment, many juices are touted as a great source of antioxidants. These range from cranberry juice, easy to obtain and relatively inexpensive, to pomegranate juice, which has become quite common in recent years, to the rarer, and consequently more expensive, goji and acai. Many of these antioxidant juices are available in blends, such as raspberry and acai, which is marketed by Tropicana. It will come as no surprise to learn that many vendors have made extraordinary claims for the efficacy of these juices, and others have decried these claims as lies.

One of the most exotic, and hence hardest to come by and most expensive, sources of antioxidants is the mangosteen. Mangosteens are native to Asia, and the U.S. climate has not proven suitable for growing them, although experiments are being made in Hawaii. The mangosteen fruit may not be imported into the U.S. because of an insect often present in its rind. Recently, a few mangosteens have been permitted into the country after irradiation, but in general, the only way Americans can get mangosteen is in juice form. Not only is the mangosteen juice touted for its cancer-prevention properties, but it is also claimed that it can relieve the pain of arthritis. For those who might want to spend less, tart cherry juice is also touted as an anti-inflammatory and arthritis pain-reliver. Not surprisingly, others have disputed this claim, including the FDA.

To get back to the mangosteen, forget about juice. If you are ever anywhere that permits the import of the fruit itself, try it. I had some in Germany this past summer, and it was exquisite. The edible part of the fruit, inside a thick, tough rind, consists of four or five plump segments that look rather like orange sections, but they have an almost indescribable flavor and texture, an incredible blend of tropical banana, strawberry, and lychee, just to give an approximation. Until you can eat the fruit for its wonderful flavor, forget about the claims for the healing power of its juice and drink cranberry juice instead. It will help you or not, but it tastes good and is pretty cheap. Bottoms up!