Can Taking Ogbono (Irvingia Gabonensis) Cause Weight Loss?

Irvingia gabonensis, called African mango, wild mango or bush mango is a tree that is indigenous to West Africa that bears a fruit popularly called oro and ogbono in Nigeria. The fruit is green to orange outside with orange flesh and off white seeds at the core. The seed is called apon, ogbono, dikanut, and has become so popular recently for weight loss.

The seeds are made into soup called apon or ogbono soup in Nigeria

together with peppers, dry fish, crayfish, meat choices, palm oil and other flavouring agents.

To come back to my question. Can eating ogbono cause weight loss or give health benefits? If you have ever eaten ogbono, you will know that is highly mucilaginous (‘it draws’) and this indicates that it is high in soluble fiber. Fiber rich foods are very important for weight control, diabetes treatment and heart health for the following reasons;

• Fiber helps in controlling blood sugar levels by slowing down the breakdown of carbohydrates and the absorption of sugar by the body.
• Fiber promotes the feeling of fullness so you eat less.
• Fiber binds cholesterol and bile acids for excretion instead of allowing them to be reabsorbed into the body. This helps in lowering blood cholesterol levels.

If the above reasons are mainly why ogbono seeds will boost weight loss, why craze after the supplement when you can get soluble fiber from so many sources. The problem with most of us is that we love expensive quick fixes. If you are trying to lose weight for whatever reason, exercise regularly and follow a healthy diet that will consist of foods which will sustain your weight loss efforts reasonably.

The seed is also rich in calcium, iron, beta carotene and fatty acids. The bark, leaves and roots are used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments. Why run after expensive supplements when you can use the things around you?

It is quite difficult to find the fruits now in Lagos markets and I am wondering if this is due to its popularity as a weight loss supplement. Could it be that farmers prefer to sell them as seeds to people who would use them to produce expensive supplements? It’s nice that we can still get the seeds to buy though.

To my people who have always enjoyed their bowl of ogbono soup, you are enjoying good healthy food that others pay good money to take as supplement. Just go easy with the quantity of meats and starchy swallows and you will be okay.

Have you used Irvingia gabonensis for weight loss purposes? Please share your outcome below. Follow on Twitter @heal2bwell for updates.