Contagious Rashes

Mangosteen For Flawless Skin

To be considered beautiful, a clear skin is a pre-requisite. Sadly, not everyone is born with flawlessly radiant skin. Bumps, scales, rashes, and the like, can be an ugly sight to ruin your self-image. Battling with skin problems can get frustrating and be a source of insecurity for most people. Genetics, environment, habits and diet all play a role.


A flawless complexion is a reflection of a healthy body. The toxins circulating in your blood could leave you with a dull complexion and a range of diseases. So how do you start your journey to a clearer skin?

Let Mangosteen Put You a Step Closer to your Goal

Mangosteen is a tropical fruit found mostly in Southeast Asia. It is round in shape, with purple covering when ripe, sweet white pulp, and seeds within the pulp. The medicinal properties are found richly in the pericarp or rind, with lower concentrations in the pulp. The fruits are harvested only twice a year.

To benefit from the maximum health benefits of the fruit, the pericarp part is grounded and packaged into a pill form. There is also a juice form that utilizes both the pericarp and the rest of the fruit, but it is mixed with other fruits to improve the taste, and comes out more expensive than the solid form.

Since ages ago, the fruit"'""s pericarp has been used as a tincture for treating skin disorders. Rind decoctions have been applied externally as an astringent. Lately, its antimicrobial actions have been found to be effective against the progression of acne. Its activity against methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus is worth mentioning.

Mangosteen has anti-inflammatory effects derived from its xanthone extracts called garcinol and mangostin. Xanthones are phytonutrients know to exhibit strong anti-oxidant effects. They are highly concentrated on the pericarp. Garcinol and mangostin are found to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting cyclo-oxygenase enzymes and carcinogens (cancer- causing substances). Anti-viral and anti-fungal properties were also observed from the Xanthones.

The anti-oxidant effects from mangosteen prove to be beneficial in keeping the skin
Healthy.

Mangosteen Juice vs. Capsule

There are 2 preparations of mangosteen: the juice form and the solid or capsule form. The juice form uses the whole fruit and has pleasant taste. Other fruit juices are added, to improve the taste. The capsule form utilizes the pericarp of mangosteen, which contains the highest concentration of xanthones.

To extend its shelf life, the juice form uses preservatives including sodium benzoate, which is converted to benzene. Benzene has been linked to diseases such as leukemia. Futhermore, the juice form undergoes the process of pasteurization, destroying the inherent medicinal benefits that you are after.
The capsule form contains 100% mangosteen, has no preservatives, and cheaper than the juice form. It doesn"'""t go through processes that increases production cost and destroy the health benefits of mangosteen.

Some Skin Disorders Effectively Treated With Mangosteen

More and more skin disorders are being discovered to be responsive to mangosteen treatments. The list is endless, but here are some of the more popular uses of the fruit extract and how mangosteen addresses their respective problems:

Acne

Teen-agers are the most commonly affected population of this skin disorder. It is caused by the blockage of pores and overproduction of sebum. It manifests with bumpy skin lesions also known as zits. It becomes reddish, enlarged, and may contain pus when inflamed.

Several factors are linked to acne:

*Hormones
*Genetic History
*Stress
*Accumulation of Dead Skin Cells
*Hyperactive sebaceous (oil) glands
*Bacteria, particularly Propionebacterium acnes
*Use of steroids
*Exposure to certain chemical compounds

Diet has been implicated, yet no adequate studies prove its relationship with acne.

Treatments for acne are available, ranging from topical creams to oral antibiotics and retinoids, to intralesional steroid injection. The increasing resistance of microorganisms against antibiotics poses a challenge for effective management of acne. Retinoids, on the other hand, cause defects in the fetus when taken by a pregnant woman. These drawbacks make more people turn to natural ways of healing.

Mangosteen has been found to have anti-bacterial properties against acne-causing P. acnes and S. epidermides. Its anti-inflammatory action soothes the irritation and prevents further growth of the pimple.

The strong anti-oxidants in xanthones are your army against environmental stressors and toxic build-up in the body that can aggravate acne. Stress, whether physical or mental, invites free radicals in the body. By taking anti-oxidants, the free radicals are prevented from causing havoc to the skin.

Eczema

Eczema is a persistent skin condition characterized by dryness, rashes, redness, and itchiness, formation of blisters, oozing, cracking or bleeding, often found on the flexor aspect of joints.

The most common type of eczema is atopic or allergic in origin. Foods that were found to trigger it were eggs, peanuts, chocolate, wheat, cow"'""s milk, chicken and potato. Emotional stress, rough clothing, chemical irritants, bacterial infection and environmental changes all cause a flare-up. The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus complicates eczema by infecting the areas that resulted to abrasions after scratching.

Eczema is inherited but not contagious. It cannot be cured, only controlled. The symptoms are annoying and it can be a stubborn disorder to treat. You may have tried all the topical creams, steroids, and immunosuppressants available in the market, to no avail.

A number of patients attest to the efficacy of using mangosteen for eczema. Traditionally, the rind of the fruit has been used to treat skin disorders including eczema. The anti-inflammatory nature of mangosteen accounts for the improvement of symptoms. When taken constantly, your body starts to heal and rids off the toxins aggravating the condition.

The antibacterial power of mangosteen against Staphylococcus aureus is of value in preventing flare-ups and complications.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin condition affecting men and women equally. It occurs when the autoimmune system of your body gets messed up. The plaque type makes up for 80% of psoriasis cases. It is commonly symmetrical and found on the elbows, knees, buttocks, and scalp. The affected skin is red and scaly, which cracks and bleeds. The itchiness that comes along with it disrupts a good night sleep.

The exact cause why one suffers from it is still not well established. Genes and faulty signals in the immune system are believed to be among the culprits. It is an old skin problem that dates back to 35 AD. To this day, no cure has been found.

Not everyone with a family history of psoriasis develop it. There has to be provoking factors to precipitate the disease process, such as: Injury to the skin, pharyngitis caused by Streptococcus, emotional stress, and drugs including antimalarials, beta-blockers, lithium, and NSAIDs.

Despite that there is no cure to it, there are treatment options that can clear it for a period of time. Topical creams, light therapy and systemic medications are among the choices.

The topical creams may get messy and stain clothings. For light therapy, you need to keep coming back to the doctor"'""s office for several weeks. Most of the systemic medications have serious side effects, that they have to be combined or rotated with other treatments to lessen the side effects.

If you'd rather not deal with the drawbacks of the said treatment options, you can always try mangosteen supplements. Like eczema, the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of mangosteen take care of flushing out the harmful substances that contribute to the disease process, while keeping the body at its optimum health.