of chronic disease. This is true even if everyone around you is experiencing significant health problems.

Supplementation is more important than most folks believe. The evidence about supplementation is no longer speculative; those who supplement do not suffer the same fate as those who do not supplement. Whether you are talking about heart disease, stroke, diabetes or most other diseases, you are far less likely to be struck down if you use food supplements. You will live a longer, healthier life by supplementing. Those who do not supplement take a huge health risk.

The best supplement that you can use, in my opinion, is called mangosteen. The mangosteen is a small, tangerine-size fruit grown in the tropics. The purple skin of the fruit is similar in texture to a pomegranate. Inside the husk, which is about the thickness of a grapefruit rind, is a delicious white, segmented fruit with such an exquisite taste that it has earned the title "The Queen of Fruits." The mangosteen is the national fruit of Thailand where it originated. However, it is now grown and treasured in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South and Central America as well as in Africa. In all of these areas the medicinal value of the fruit makes it as popular as its taste. I've visited many of these areas, and the mangosteen is always the most expensive fruit in the market.

Folk medicine uses vary from territory to territory, but the mangosteen is the centerpiece of botanical healthcare in most of the countries I have visited. The health benefits the fruit provides come primarily from the rind, or what we call the pericarp. This rind contains a remarkable class of bioactive agents called xanthones. These xanthones are hard to find in any other supplement. It is important to note that the mangosteen contains more than 40 different xanthones and that only 200 in total exist in nature.

What makes the mangosteen remarkable is the amazing breadth of its medicinal effects in folk medicine. It has been used as an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial (viruses, bacteria and fungi). It's been used to combat diarrhea, especially in Third World countries where up to a third of children can die of diarrheal illness. It is also used as a wound-healing agent and to fight malaria and other parasitic illnesses. It is used to treat skin rashes and as a pain reliever. In many countries it is also utilized as a treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

Xanthones have demonstrated effective anti-tumor activity in laboratory studies when exposed to cultures of human cancer cell mines. In other lab studies they have shown the ability to stimulate the immune system in the face of bacterial infection.

Mangosteen can also help with essentially all of the common GI conditions such as ulcers, reflux disease, gastritis, irritable bowel disease and diverticulitis. This has been true in my patients as well as in folk medicine patients in Third World countries. An ounce of mangosteen a day is worth a pound of cure. This is especially true because the ounce a day provides your body with more than an adequate supply of antioxidants and the other beneficial effects of xanthones. You will have fewer problems with your health because you are preventing disease. Cure will not be necessary.

As mentioned, studies have shown that white blood cells, which fight bacteria and infection, are better able to control bacteria in the presence of mangosteen xanthones than when the mangosteen is not present. Other studies document the plant's ability to combat fungi and viruses as well. In my experience, patients who use the juice on a daily basis report fewer viral infections, decreased time off work and milder symptoms when infections do strike. Mangosteen can, in fact, stimulate the immune system in the presence of infection, but it also appears to possess the ability to dampen the immune response in what are called autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Type I diabetes and lupus.

Mangosteen changed the way I practiced medicine. It provided a broad-spectrum functional food that was not a drug, which allowed me to dispense with many of the drugs that I had previously used to treat my patients. It is a safe and efficient alternative that I think patients should consider. In my opinion, every doctor should also consider it as well.

Dr. Templeman is the author of Mangosteen: The X-Factor, 2nd Edition, available through Sound Concepts