Mangosteen: the trials tested the juice, not the fruit

Read this page knowing one thing first. Every human study under it tested mangosteen juice, a supplement or an extract, and several of those products also contained multivitamins, minerals, aloe vera or green tea, so no trial here can tell you what the fruit on its own does. The single USDA record we hold is mangosteen canned in syrup, which is not the fresh fruit either, and the sugar in that record is the syrup it was canned in rather than the fruit's own. What the trials found is mostly nothing. A 250 mL serving of the juice an hour before cycling changed no fatigue marker in 12 healthy adults, and the only score that moved was mood, a secondary measure in a 12-person crossover whose own conclusion was that the juice had no impact. Over 30 days a xanthone-rich drink lowered C-reactive protein against its own starting level, not against the placebo, in 59 adults aged 40 to 60, and that drink carried multivitamins and minerals as well, so the result belongs to the mixture. The best evidence on this page is a systematic review of 52 trials that lists mangosteen among 26 plants and says the effect on stress hormones is unclear.

The numbers, per 100 g

What your body absorbs

• After 59 mL of a xanthone-rich mangosteen drink, alpha-mangostin reached peak blood levels at about 1 hour and blood antioxidant capacity rose 18% at 2 hours. — healthy adult volunteers, acute single 59 mL dose of a mangosteen liquid that also contained aloe vera, green tea and multivitamins (n = not stated in the abstract) Evidence C source
  Alpha-mangostin and vitamins B2 and B5 bioavailable with Cmax near 1 h; ORAC antioxidant capacity up to 18% higher at 2 h, elevated for at least 4 h

What it does to your health

• A single 250 mL serving of mangosteen juice taken 1 hour before cycling changed no fatigue marker in 12 healthy adults. — 12 healthy adults, randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover, single dose 1 h before cycle ergometer exercise (n = 12) Evidence B source
  No difference between mangosteen juice and placebo in time to exhaustion, heart rate, perceived exertion or blood markers; mood score favoured the juice
• Over 30 days a xanthone-rich mangosteen drink lowered C-reactive protein against its own starting level, not against the placebo, in 59 adults aged 40 to 60 (P = .014), but the same drink also carried multivitamins and minerals. — 59 healthy adults aged 40-60, randomised double-blind placebo-controlled, 30 days of daily intake (n = 59) Evidence B source
  Higher T-helper cell frequency (P = .020) and lower serum C-reactive protein (P = .014) versus baseline; no absolute values reported in the abstract

Safety, limits and interactions

• One published case links severe lactic acidosis to daily use of mangosteen juice as a dietary supplement. — single middle-aged man using mangosteen fruit juice as a supplement (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Severe lactic acidosis with respiratory insufficiency reported alongside the juice; a case report cannot show that the juice caused it

What people believe that the data does not support

• The European Union refused the right to say that mangosteen juice helps regulate anti-inflammatory responses. — EU Register on nutrition and health claims, snapshot 2026-09-21; 4 mangosteen claims assessed, 0 authorised (n = 4 claims) Evidence E source
  Claim POL-HC-7565 carries the status Non-authorised, which means the evidence did not satisfy the assessment rather than that the effect was disproved
• The antioxidant selling line for mangosteen juice was also assessed in the European Union and refused. — EU Register on nutrition and health claims, snapshot 2026-09-21; claim POL-HC-7568 on antioxidant protection (n = 1 claim) Evidence E source
  Status Non-authorised; in the United States the 21 CFR 101 health claim sections carry no mangosteen entry at all, so neither regulator permits such wording

What is still unknown

• A systematic review of 52 human trials of plants and phytonutrients, mangosteen among them, found the effect on stress hormones unclear. — 52 randomised controlled human trials of single plants or phytonutrients, searched to October 2020 (n = 52 trials) Evidence A source
  No clear direction for mangosteen; the only consistent finding across the whole review was lower morning cortisol with ashwagandha

The bottom line

Eat mangosteen because you like it. The questions on this page are about what gets bottled and sold under its name. Alpha-mangostin does reach the blood: after 59 mL of a xanthone- rich liquid it peaked at about 1 hour, and blood antioxidant capacity was up to 18 percent higher at 2 hours and stayed raised for at least 4 hours. That liquid also held aloe vera, green tea and multivitamins, the abstract reports no control group and no number of volunteers, and the measurement is a laboratory antioxidant assay rather than anything that happened to a person. Regulators have looked at the selling lines twice. The European Union assessed 4 mangosteen claims and authorised none of them, including the wording that the juice helps regulate anti-inflammatory responses and the wording about antioxidant protection. Non-authorised means the evidence did not satisfy the assessment, and it does not mean the effect was tested and disproved. In the United States the health claim sections of 21 CFR 101 carry no mangosteen entry at all, and since both registers are indexed by substance, a blank under a product name is never by itself a verdict. On harm we have one report, and you should know how thin it is. A middle-aged man using mangosteen juice daily as a supplement developed severe lactic acidosis with respiratory insufficiency. That is one patient, the published abstract gives no dose and no duration, and a case report cannot show that the juice caused it. It is a reason to treat a daily supplement differently from a fruit you eat in season, and it is not a measured risk. Now the part we cannot tell you, because looking for it came back empty. There is no upper limit for mangosteen from any food safety body in our sources, nothing on pregnancy, nothing on children, and no drug interaction data of any kind. There is no study of people with kidney or liver disease either, since the single case above is one patient and not such a study. That gap is the honest answer to who should be careful here, and anyone selling you the juice has the same gap. We also have no figure for how much the fruit varies by variety or season, no cooking loss factors, and no data on what a real portion looks like in a real diet. Two papers from 2025 turned up in our web pass and we could not quote them, so they carry no card and nothing on this page rests on them.

Sources

1. mgst-r4-03 · acute human bioavailability trial
   This study investigated the absorption and antioxidant effects of a xanthone-rich mangosteen liquid in healthy human volunteers after the acute consumption of 59 mL of the supplement. The liquid contained mangosteen, aloe vera, green tea, and multivitamins. Results indicated that alpha-mangostin and vitamins B(2) and B(5) were bioavailable, with observed C(max) at t(max) of around 1 h. The antioxidant capacity measured with the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay was increased with a maximum effect of 18% after 2 h, and the increased antioxidant level lasted at least 4 h.
   J Agric Food Chem, 2009 · checked 2026-09-23
2. mgst-r4-01 · randomised crossover trial
   A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study was carried out by 12 healthy adults. The participants were randomly assigned to receive acute oral administration of either 250 mL of the mangosteen-based juice (supplementation treatment; 305 mg of α-mangostin and 278 mg of hydroxycitric acid) or a placebo (control treatment) 1 h before cycle ergometer exercise...We concluded that acute mangosteen supplementation had no impact on alleviating physical fatigue during exercise.
   J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2016 · checked 2026-09-23
3. mgst-r4-02 · randomised controlled trial
   The effect of a mangosteen product containing multivitamins and essential minerals was tested on immune function and well-being in healthy adults. A randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 59 healthy human subjects (40-60 years old)...A xanthone-rich mangosteen product intake increased mean values for peripheral T-helper cell frequency (P = .020) and reduced the serum C-reactive protein concentration (P = .014).
   J Med Food, 2009 · checked 2026-09-23
4. mgst-r4-04 · case report
   Mangosteen fruit juice is now available in the United States and marketed for its purported health benefits. We describe a case of severe lactic acidosis associated with the use of mangosteen juice as a dietary supplement.
   Am J Kidney Dis, 2008 · checked 2026-09-23
5. mgst-r4-06 · regulatory register entry
   POL-HC-7565 Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L) fruits and extracts derived from the fruits Mangosteen whole fruit juice/concentrate [contains xanthones which] may help regulate anti-inflammatory responses [in the body] Non-authorised
   EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7565, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-23
6. mgst-r4-07 · regulatory register entry
   POL-HC-7568 Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L) fruits and extracts derived from the fruits Mangosteen whole fruit juice/concentrate contains antioxidants - [which may neutralise the damaging effects of free radicals in the body] - [which contribute to the total antioxidant capacity within the body] - [which offer protection from oxidative effects/damage within the body Non-authorised
   EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7568, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-23
7. mgst-r4-05 · systematic review
   Fifty-two studies were identified examining the effects of ashwagandha, Korean ginseng, St John's Wort, cannabidiol, Rhodiola rosea, curcumin, cherry juice, asparagus, Jiaogulan, Black cohosh, Siberian ginseng, Bacopa monnieri, blueberries, green tea, Caralluma fimbriata, cashew apple juice, melon, American ginseng, Ginkgo biloba, grape juice, grapefruit juice, rosella, hops, mangosteen, holy basil, and pomegranate juice. Due to significant variability in study designs, the effect of phytonutrients on HPA-axis activity in humans was unclear.
   Nutr Neurosci, 2022 · checked 2026-09-23