Bitter Melon

Memordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown for edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all vegetables.

Bitter melon has been used in various Asia traditional medicine systems for a long time. Like most bitter-tasting foods, bitter melon stimulates digestion. While this can be helpful in people with sluggish digestion, dyspepsia and constipation, it can sometimes make heartburn and ulcers worse. The fact that bitter melon is also a demulcent and at least mild inflammation modulator, however, means that it rarely does have these negative effects, based on clinical experience and traditional reports. 

Folk wisdom has it that ampalaya (Momordica Charantia Linn.) helps to prevent or counteract Type 2 diabetes. A recent scientific study at JIPMER, India has proved that ampalaya increases insulin sensitivity. Also, in 2007, the Philippine Department of Health issued a circular stating Ampalaya as a scientifically validated herbal medicinal plant, can lower elevated blood sugar levels. The study revealed that a 100 milligram per kilo dose per day is comparable to 2.5 milligrams of the anti-diabetes drug Gilbenclamide taken twice per day. 

Bitter Melon Benefits

Also known as bitter gourd, the bitter melon is rich in iron, beta-carotene and potassium. Anecdotal references also indicates it can relieve constipation and improve circulation, thereby producing slimming effects on the body. 

Bitter Melon and Diabetes

In addition, one of its oldest known medicinal effects is in regards to diabetes. It has long been recorded in Chinese medicine text as having medicinal properties that are beneficial for diabetes. On symptoms specifically related to modern day diabetes, the bitter melon was recorded in the ancient texts as being able to stop thirst and clear vision. A modern study with combined research by a Japanese and Thai university revealed that bitter melon can reduce blood sugar levels up to 25% in mice.

Bitter melon contains a lectin that has insulin-like activity. The insulin-like bio activity of this lectin is due to its linking together 2 insulin receptors. This lectin lowers blood glucose concentrations by acting on peripheral tissues and, similar to insulin’s effects in the brain, suppressing appetite. This lectin is likely a major contributor to the hypoglycemic effect that develops after eating bitter melon and why it may be a way of managing adult-onset diabetes. Lectin binding is non-protein specific, and this is likely why bitter melon has been credited with immunostimularoty activity – by linking receptors that modulate the immune system, thereby stimulating said receptors. 

Bitter melon’s powerful insulin lowering properties are currently being looked at as an effective treatment for Diabetes. Studies suggest that Bitter Melon may play a role in controlling the production of insulin by the body, thus promoting blood sugar control. The hypoglycemic effect is more pronounced in the fruit of Bitter melon where these chemicals are found in the highest quantity. Some of the documented studies show this bitter gourd to enhance cells’ uptake of glucose, to promote insulin release, and to make the effect of insulin more potent. Some even document Bitter Melon’s effect on total cholesterol reduction.

Scientists, natural health practitioners, and others are now focusing on the beneficial properties of this gourd with promising returns. In Ayurvedic medicine, bitter melon is seen as a ‘plant insulin’, and some studies show that, if administered correctly, it can behave similarly to slow-acting animal insulins which represents exciting potential for a more sustainable, vegetarian, source of insulin. It is not, however, advisable to substitute eating bitter melon for taking insulin.

In India, for example, some doctors are so confident about the anti-diabetic effect of Bitter Melon that it is sometimes dispensed in hospitals to people suffering from diabetes. Additionally, the department of Health in the Philippines has recommended Bitter melon as one of the best herbal medicines for treating diabetes.

There are three groups of compounds in Bitter Melon that scientists have found to be responsible for blood sugar lowering action:

Charantin: a compound of mixed steroids that has been found to be more effective than one oral hypoglycaemic drug, Tolbutamide.

Polypeptide P: An insulin-like plypeptide, which appears to lower blood sugar in Type 1 Diabetics. Alkaloids present in the bitter gourd are also noted to have blood sugar lowering effects but researchers are not yet clear on which of the compounds is most effective or if it is the combination of all which cause this effect.

Oleanolic Acid Glycosides: These compounds have been found to improve glucose tolerance in Type 2 Diabetics by preventing the absorption of sugar from the intestines. Bitter Melon has also been linked to effects of increasing the number of beta cells in the pancreas as well, and as a result improving the body’s capability to product insulin.