Eating Mangos Found to Increase Nutrient Intake for Women, Older Adults

WASHINGTON — Older adults and women of childbearing age who regularly eat mangos have a greater intake of several key nutrients that are recommended for those stages of life, a new study finds.

The consumption of mangos was also found to be a marker for a better diet quality overall for participants in the study.

The findings were published in the journal Nutrients.

For the study, the researchers, Kristin Fulgoni and Victor Fulgoni III, evaluated data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine the nutrient and food group intake and diet quality of women of childbearing age and adults over 60 who ate mangos versus those who didn’t.

They found that when compared to nonconsumers of mango, both the women of childbearing age and the older adults who ate mangos had a greater than 20% higher intake of fiber and vitamin C, and that the younger group of women also had a 10% higher intake of magnesium, folate and potassium.

The researchers highlighted that the higher intake of fiber and magnesium among women of childbearing age suggests that including mangos in a diet could reduce the risk for hypertensive disorders and preeclampsia.

They also found that the overall diet quality of those who ate mangos was 13% to 16% higher than that of nonconsumers, based on the Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating Index 2020.

Notably, both groups of mango eaters had lower intakes of beef, poultry and fish, whereas women of childbearing age had a higher intake of grain and a lower intake of added sugars.

“It is possible that mango consumers are utilizing fruit, and specifically mango, as a source of sweetness in replacement of energy-dense foods with high added sugar content,” the authors said.

“This study suggests incorporating mango into the diet could be beneficial to nutrient intake as well as diet quality in specific life stages of adult Americans,” the researchers concluded. 

“Identifying individual fruits that help to ward off common health conditions in women of childbearing age could give multiple options for this subpopulation who are prone to food aversions,” they said.

The research was funded by the National Mango Board.

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