West African Mango extract, the new dietary supplement fad among weight watchers

"Ogbhonno" or "Dikka" nuts of the African Mango

Christians believe that their body is a 'temple' and to honor their temple, they need to get their weight under control. Well, perhaps God has created a solution with  the West African mango  or "bush mango" which grows exclusively in the rain forest belt of Western Cameroon and Eastern Nigeria.  It's become the new weight loss craze.

The West African mango, Irvingia gabonensis, whose nut is  called ""Dikka" in Western Cameroon and "Ogbonna" in Eastern Nigeria (where it is widely used in preparing a soup delicacy) has been used for centuries in this part of Africa for treatment of a variety of maladies, including as a weight loss agent. It appears that a new cult of the Dikka or Ogbonna nut, which West Africans take with their meals daily, is growing in the West, since after the last weight loss diet craze over the Acai berry which was also touted as a wonder fruit for weight watchers.

A recent study published in the journal of "Lipids in Health and Disease"  is widely reported to confirm the efficacy of the Ogbonna nuts in weight loss diet. The African mango extract is believed to reduce blood sugar levels and is reported to contain lycopen, an antioxidant  which helps to prevent cancer cells from growing in the body.

According to reports, while majority of weight loss supplements now available work to suppress appetite, West African mango extract, in addition to suppressing appetite,  increases the rate of metabolism of body fats. It also helps regulate leptin, a hormone the body naturally produces and which studies have shown help to suppress appetite. West African mangoes, according to  studies, help to keep down body levels of C-reactive proteins which bind to leptin and reduce its effectiveness. Studies also claim that African mango extract increases production of hormone adiponectin which increases sensitivity of body cells to insulin and thus prime the body's fat and glucose metabolism potentials.

According to results of the research conducted at Cameroon's University of Yaoundé, subjects on extracts of the West African mango for about 10 weeks showed significant weight loss averaging 12 kg compared with a group on placebo.

A few commentators have, however, expressed their skepticism of new weight loss dietary supplements based on the West African mango extract claiming that it is commercial scam.

…the African Mango Weight Loss Scam is indeed a scam. Doctors have continually found that proper dieting (calorie restriction) along with daily exercise are the healthiest, most effective and longterm weight loss methods. African Mango has not been evaluated by the FDA or an independent reproduced double blind study. There is no proof that it is effective other than the biased statements and studies done by the manufacturers and anecdotal inferences.

JohnThomas Didymus

Transmodernist writer and thinker. Author of "Confessions of God: The Gospel According to St. JohnThomas Didymus"

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