Considering that what most of us eat is called the Standard American Diet, or SAD Diet, it’s easy to see why our health has gone into the toilet over the last decades.

Unfortunately, choosing the wrong foods comes with a laundry list of consequences, including disease-causing inflammation, heart disease and more than 30 other health conditions.

The potential consequences of eating poorly can be even more risky for certain people — especially pregnant moms and senior citizens. These two groups may seem worlds apart but they have one very important issue in common: special nutritional requirements.

Luckily, according to a recent study, published in Nutrients, there could be an easy and delicious way for these groups to transform their diets and get the nutrients needed to be their healthiest…

Mango power for pregnancy — and beyond

According to the researchers, “Pregnant women are at risk for several health conditions, like gestational diabetes and hypertension, putting their health and the health of the unborn baby at risk.”

So they decided to determine whether eating a tropical fruit — the heavenly-tasting mango —  could make a difference.

Why the mango?

It’s a practically perfect source of nutrients associated with reducing the risk of pregnancy-related disease — like fiber, folate, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E.

To determine whether mangos could help in pregnancy, the researchers gathered information from almost 17,000 assessing their diet quality rated on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI).

They found that compared to diets without mangos, HEI scores were 16 percent higher among pregnant women who included mangos in their diet.

This improvement in diet quality was due to the fact that women who ate mangos during pregnancy got:

• 70 percent more vitamin C
• 31 percent extra fiber in their diets
• 30 percent higher vitamin E than non-mango-eaters
• 26 percent more folate, which is vital for a baby’s development
• 16 percent more magnesium
• 11 percent extra potassium

Eating mangos also helped the women eat much less of those unhealthy foods common in the SAD Diet.

They benefitted from eating:

• 17 percent less added sugars
• 11 percent less saturated fats
• 9 percent less total fats in their diets

Talk about a lot of mango power!

Mango benefits after 60

The study also demonstrated that pregnancy wasn’t the only time eating mangos can make a big difference in the quality of your diet…

The researchers also looked at what eating mangos can do for you after 60.

They found that when adults age 60 and older simply including mango in their diets, their HEI (or diet quality) improved by 13 percent.

The dietary improvements included higher intakes of fiber (the number one anti-aging nutrient, in my book) and vitamin C, as well as lower intakes of cholesterol.

Clearly, eating mangos can be a healthy choice at every stage of life.

More mango benefits

And this isn’t the first time mangos have been in the spotlight for their health benefits.

Previous research has shown that eating mangos can help lower your blood pressure in just two hours.

So if you want to boost your diet quality, whether you’re a mom-to-be, a senior or you’re at any age and simply want to live healthier, mangoes just might be the way to go.

Sources:

Associations between mango eaters and moms-to-be: better diets and improved nutrient intakes – EurekAlert!