Mango – is the exotic fruit good for you?

The mango is more than a beautiful exterior. Beneath the exotic and colorful shell, we find both vitamins, dietary fiber and a tasty side dish in salads and smoothies. Here you can read facts and recipes, and you can see how to cut a mango.

The mango brings to mind warmer climes and the exotic cuisine of the south: Mango lassi, smoothies and lovely salads. That’s how your mouth waters just from the tank.

But is the mango fruit actually healthy? How to cut a mango? And how climate-friendly is eating mango? We give you the answers.

US – everything you should know about mangoes

Table of contents

1. What does mango contain?
2. Is it healthy to eat mango?
3. What is mango good for?
4. Can mango help with constipation?
5. When is a mango ripe?
6. Is it climate friendly to eat mango?
7. How do you cut a mango?
8. How do you eat a mango?
9. How do you peel a mango?
10. Recipes with mango

1What does mango contain?

 

The mango fruit contains both dietary fibre, folate, vitamins A and E. It also has so much C vitamins that the next one can compete with the orange.

In addition, the fruit has quite a lot of fructose. That in itself is not necessarily a good thing, but the mango is a vitamin-rich alternative to unhealthy sweets when you have a sweet tooth.

Nutritional content of mango compared to apple

(Nutritional content per 100 g)

	Mango	Apple
Folate	71 µg	9 µg
Dietary fiber	1.9 g	2.2g
Vitamin A	46.1 RE	2.08 RE
Vitamin E	1.1 α-TE	0.254 α-TE
Vitamin C	40.1 mg	8.26 mg
Sugar	6.36 g	3.09 g

Source: The food table

2Is it healthy to eat mango?

 

One cannot give an unequivocal answer as to whether it is healthy or unhealthy to eat mangoes. Everything must be enjoyed in moderation, a balanced diet is important, and you don’t become healthy just by eating a lot of mangoes.

However, the mango has many good nutrients, such as folate, vitamin C and dietary fiber – and it does not contain particularly many calories. Mangoes provide 49 kcal per 100 grams – by comparison, the same figure for avocados is 199 kcal per 100 grams .

Read also: Pomegranates – a smart shortcut to more of the healthy

3What is mango good for?

 

THE MANGO FRUIT The mango also contains dietary fibre, and this provides several benefits

Folate is good for blood percentage

Mangoes have a high content of folate , which is probably best known in connection with pregnancy. Folate deficiency can affect the child’s brain and spinal cord, but in that context it is not enough to eat a few mangoes every now and then. It is recommended that lactating, pregnant or women who are trying to conceive take vitamin supplements.

Thus, it is not said that the folate content in mango is unimportant. Everyone needs folate, which plays an important role in cell growth, especially the formation of red blood cells and thus the blood percentage and energy level.

Vitamins with importance for bone building and vision

Vitamins A, E and C help build and maintain the skeleton, immune system, muscles, mucous membranes, skin and vision. In this way, mango contributes to health in general, thanks to its many vitamins, in the same way as other fruits. Feel free to vary the usual fruit bowl with a mango every now and then, or use it in soups, salads, on porridge and wherever else you need a little extra sunshine.

Dietary fiber for digestion

Mango contains dietary fiber which is satiating and good for digestion.
When you eat dietary fibre, some of this is fermented by the bacteria in the colon. It is good . It causes the bacteria to produce short-chain fatty acids, and they are effective against many diseases, including diabetes and a number of lifestyle diseases. The best sources of dietary fiber are coarse vegetables and whole grain products, but feel free to eat a mango as well.

4Can mango help with constipation?

 

© iStock

Mangoes may be effective against chronic constipation, according to the results of a 2018 pilot project at Texas A&M University .

Chronic constipation is painful and can significantly reduce the quality of life of people suffering from the condition. Fiber supplements and laxatives can relieve the symptoms, but unfortunately have no effect on intestinal inflammation, which is closely related to the chronic constipation.

In the study, one group of subjects ate 300 grams of mango, while another group consumed a similar amount of fiber to investigate whether the mango had a positive effect beyond the high fiber content of the fruit. It turned out that it had.

Mangoes not only contain a lot of fiber. It also has a high content of something called gallotannins, which have a positive effect on certain types of intestinal bacteria. The test subjects who ate mangoes had better and more frequent stools and a higher level of the short-chain fatty acids that may be able to reduce the symptoms of intestinal inflammation. However, this is a pilot study, and further research is needed before a conclusion can be drawn.

You can find the study here

5When is a mango ripe?

 

As there are more than a thousand different mango varieties with some very different appearances, you cannot just go by the color of the fruit. Also use other senses, smell and find your way around!

The easiest method to determine whether a mango is ripe is by feeling it.

If the mango gives a little when you press it, it is ready to eat. It must not be so soft that you easily leave a mark on it – if you do, it is about to become overripe.

Another method is to smell it. Ripe mangoes smell sweeter and more, well, mango-like than unripe ones.

Read also: Strawberries – the summer berry of all

6Is it climate friendly to eat mango?

 

No, it is not directly climate-friendly to eat mangoes here in the cold north, but there are worse culprits.

If you take a look at the country of origin for the mangoes in the grocery stores, you will see that they come from countries such as Spain, Peru, Pakistan and Brazil. This means that the transport required to get the mangoes to our store shelves weighs heavily in the climate accounting.

This is clearly seen if we compare the climate footprint of mangoes versus apples:

Mango’s climate footprint compared to apple and cheese

	Mango	Apple	Cheese 45+
TOTAL CO2e PER. KG	0.93	0.66	7.72
Agriculture	0.18	0.18	4.46
ILUC (indirect land use)	0.06	0.02	0.46
Processing	0.0	0.00	2.33
Transportation	0.54	0.31	0.12
Packaging	0.14	0.14	0.35
Detail	0.01	0.01	0.00

Source: CONCITO: The large climate database

The figures are based on an average of food products found on the Danish market, but the Norwegian market does not deviate significantly in this context. A locally produced apple will therefore have a lower climate footprint than the 0.66 CO2e, as it is also possible to buy, for example, German or Italian apples in the shops.

It must still be said that although the mango may not be a climate saint, there are worse culprits. Cheese has a climate footprint of 7.72 CO2e per 100 g, so if the choice is between a slice of bread with cheese and a bowl of mango , the mango is probably more favorable for the climate.

In any case, it is clear that it is transport that makes up the largest share of the overall climate footprint. And it is difficult to avoid when buying exotic southern fruits in our latitudes.

Climate Council

Because there are so many factors to take into account, it can be difficult to make climate-smart choices in everyday life, but you will go a long way with these three rules to remember when buying fruit and vegetables:

1. Buy local goods
2. Buy items that are in season
3. Avoid throwing food away, and use up what you have in the fridge before buying new ones

As long transport of the goods results in greater CO2 emissions, it is basically better to choose local rather than foreign goods. Conversely, it can be worse for the climate if the local product is produced in greenhouses that use large amounts of fossil energy for heating. Therefore, you should choose seasonal fruit and vegetables.

7How do you cut a mango?

 

Are you going to use the mango for a salad or smoothie? Follow these steps and cut up the mango quickly and easily:

1. Place the mango on a cutting board
2. Take a sharp knife and cut off both “cheeks”
3. Cut the mango into wedges
4. Cut off the skin by letting the knife slide along the skin – like with a melon
5. Now, in the same way, cut the leather off the middle piece around the stone
6. Finally, you can cut around the stone and get the last pulp
7. Then you’re done. If necessary, cut the mango into cubes or slices depending on what you want to use it for

VIDEO: See how to cut open a mango

8How do you eat a mango?

 

The large mango stone means that it can be difficult to eat the fruit without throwing away large parts of it, and you shouldn’t throw away food, but don’t despair!

Follow these simple steps on how to dice the mango for an easy snack and get the most out of the golden fruit:

1. Cut off both “cheeks”
2. Dice each cheek
3. Turn inside out on each cheek
4. Cut the dice free – or eat straight from the mango skin
5. The meat still on the stone is cut off as long strips as close to the stone as possible.
6. Cut the rest of the leather from the oblong pieces