Bitter melon happens to be a plant that is used for many purposes. It is used as a vegetable in Asian countries such as India. There is a connection between diabetes and bitter melon. The seeds and fruit are used to produce medicine. In fact it is also used as an ingredient in curry. But why Eat Bitter Melon for Diabetes? Let’s see why:
What are the Benefits of Bitter Melon?
Now while bitter melon has many health benefits for you, I want to talk about the effect it has on lowering blood sugar and diabetes. I’m for anything that helps to lower blood sugar levels the natural way without medications.
It just seems as though the medical profession just wants to prescribe drugs but on the flip side, if patients don’t take care of themselves then what else is a doctor to do?
Bitter melon is rich in minerals and vitamins and that’s what we need to be healthy. But it also happens to be the most bitter of every vegetable and fruit. In addition to India, it also grows abundantly in the Caribbean, Asia, South America, and parts of Africa. As you can see it appears to thrive in many different areas of the world.
Bitter melon is a powerful disease fighter because it is packed with over 32 phytochemicals. And while bitter melon also contains other properties that are anti-bacterial and anti-viral, its main focus lies in the ability to help and improve metabolic diseases that are chronic. And there’s more. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant resources.
Bitter melon and diabetes
So we know that with diabetes our bodies are not producing enough insulin or aren’t able to effectively use insulin. We require insulin for energy for our cells. It’s much better for you to eat healthy foods and exercise and look for the natural ways to lower blood sugar as opposed to taking medications. That’s exactly what I am doing and helping you to do too.
There’s been many researches done on the effects on blood sugar levels due to consuming bitter melon. It actually acts as a “substitute” for insulin by decreasing your appetite and blood glucose.
One study done revealed that folks taking 2,000 mg of bitter melon a day had their blood sugar lowered considerably. It wasn’t the same result as taking 1000 mg of the popular diabetes drug Metformin, but still comparable. Still, bitter melon does help with your blood sugars.
Insulin resistance can be a major factor to having high blood glucose levels. Your cells have to let your insulin get into them from your bloodstream and when your sugar is high, your cells are resistant and won’t let the insulin in. That’s where bitter melon comes in and may lower your insulin resistance level.
But no matter what bitter melon can help you with, do not ever stop taking any medications that you are taking for diabetes. Bitter melon is beneficial, but you also must still be checking your sugars regularly.
When you take something such as bitter melon that could help you a lot, it’s crucial that you monitor your numbers. You don’t want your sugar to get too low either!
Other health benefits of bitter melon
* Weight loss- You can lose weight with bitter melon. It is low in calories but still is packed with nutrients and vitamins that are essential for your body. It also gets rid of your excess fatty tissue. With the juice of the melon, it aids in glucose levels decreasing and insulin resistance. This will help you to lose weight by preventing your body from storing sugar.
* Cholesterol- Bitter melon can reduce your cholesterol levels. If you want to protect your heart and yourself against strokes and heart attacks, then keep these levels down with bitter melon.
* Immune system- Your immune system is what keeps you going and alive. If you want to help boost it and helping to improve against illnesses and disease, then bitter melon juice and fruit together can give you the boost that you need.
* Skin disorders- You can treat many skin disorders, infections, and diseases with bitter melon juice. It can help treat acne, psoriasis, eczema, itching, as well as fungal infections such as athlete’s foot and ringworm.
* Bladder and kidney- You can help to make sure that your bladder and kidneys stay healthy by having bitter melon. It works for taking care of kidney stones because you do not want these at all!
* Anti-aging- If you want yourself and your skin to look and feel younger, then bitter melon with its vitamin C and antioxidants can eliminate the free radicals that are harmful for your skin. It can act as sort of a “sunscreen” as well by protecting you from damage caused by the ultraviolet rays of the sun. In addition, it can aid in slowing down the aging process and helping to prevent those unsightly wrinkles that appear with old age.
* Healing process- You can help your wounds to heal faster with bitter melon. It is beneficial in controlling the blood and it’s clotting and flowing. This not only speeds up the healing process, it helps in preventing of any future infections.
* Your vision- For me, my eyes are about the most important part of my body. I want to be healthy but especially my eyes. You need more vitamin A to avoid macular degeneration and therefore decreasing your risk of developing poor vision as you get older and you don’t want your vision to suffer.
So if you want to have your night vision to improve and give your corneas an upper hand on old age and dwindling eyesight, then bitter melon is packed with vitamin A for that purpose. It’s all about the more bitter melon you have, the better your eyesight can potentially become. This alone is a reason to have bitter melon.
* Osteoporosis and bones- Calcium and vitamin K are two extremely important nutrients for the health and strengthening of your bones. Since bitter melon contains large amounts of both, it can aid in preventing bone fractures and osteoporosis. Anything that helps with old age is worth a try.
* Inflammation and digestion- Foods that are bitter can be good for and related to your small intestine and your heart and can clear heat from within your body. This cool calm feeling has affects on the heart and can lower any feelings of anger. At the same time bitter melon can also improve your digestive system and reduce inflammation.
* Cancer cells- In a study done on mice in Colorado it was determined that pancreatic cancer cells in mice were killed by bitter melon juice. Tumor cells were impeded by approximately 50% and there weren’t any signs of any bad side effects on the body or any toxic conditions. There was another study not related that showed that different parts of the bitter melon were able to help leukemia.
* Liver detox- Bitter melon and bitter foods are known for restoring balance to your body and detoxifying it with naturally. Now for your liver, the vitamin K contained in bitter melon decreasing your chances of any bleeding associated with liver disease.
* Triglycerides- There have been numerous studies that show that bitter melon lowers the triglycerides (fat) in your bloodstream. You don’t want high triglycerides because this can lead to heart issues.
* Blood purification- You can purify your blood and have your skin looking absolutely dazzling by having a glass of fresh lemon juice mixed with bitter melon juice. It will take some time but after so many months you’ll experience a better look and feel better too.
* Respiratory- The pods of the bitter melon are an exceptional treatment for respiratory issues such as cough and cold and asthma. A good treatment would be mixing the pasting of bitter melon leaves with honey first thing in the morning.
* Hair loss- You can mix a bit of sugar with bitter gourd juice and this mixture in helping to reduce your hair from falling out in a natural way. Preventing hair loss is a definite positive!
* Gray hair- Again bitter gourd juice can help by taking it freshly squeezed onto your gray hairs. Once every week and a half should do it.
Side effects and risks of bitter melon
- Bitter melon taken in excess may cause issues with your stomach including diarrhea
- A dangerous effect could be extremely low blood sugar
- Women who are pregnant should avoid bitter melon because of contractions, bleeding, and miscarriage. Pregnant women are advised to NOT take bitter melon at all!
- Children should avoid bitter melon as it can result in diarrhea and vomiting.
- Be careful with drug interactions. Talk to your doctor first!
- Consuming bitter gourds can possibly bring on inflammation of the liver if they are consumed for long periods of time. But they won’t damage the liver directly.
- Bitter melon could affect blood sugar during surgery. Do not use bitter melon for at least two weeks before you have surgery.
Final thoughts
Now you should have some knowledge of why to Eat Bitter Melon for Diabetes. While bitter melon is healthy for you and can help with lowering your blood sugar, you still should be careful with the amounts that you consume and even more important is to discuss everything you do with your doctor first. I always mention this because it is that crucial for the doctor to know everything.
While bitter melon does help to reduce your blood sugar levels, if your numbers are still too high, you might require another alternative that is a little stronger with higher results. This works best!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. I would appreciate it! Thanks for reading and as always have a happy and healthy one!
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I’ve never heard of bitter melon! My Dad is a type 2 diabetic and always looking for ways to help keep his blood sugar under control. So women shouldn’t take it at all?? Too bad, it sounds like it has a lot of benefits, I especially like the idea of anti-aging properties!
Bitter melon is really beneficial for helping to lower your blood sugar. And it has more health benefits than just that. But I do stand corrected. What I meant to say and I did change is that not all women, just pregnant women shouldn’t have bitter melon. I apologize for the error. Thank you for commenting.
Cheers!
Rob Sciubba,
You have written a wonderful article about Bitter gourd.
I am an Indian and we take bitter gourd at least twice a week with food, There are delicious recipes too. In fact, everyone can take this food if taken twice a weak. As per your article, it is much beneficial for diabetes. But I was surprised to see other benefits that bitter gourd gives.
Thanks for your valuable information.
Hi there!
I’m glad that you are familiar with bitter gourd. I didn’t know how healthy it was for you until just recently. So you must be a lot more familiar with it than most other people.
I look at it mainly for helping diabetes and blood sugar levels but why not get all the other benefits it offers too right?
Spread the word about bitter melon and thanks for your comments!
Honestly, this is the first time I’ve heard about bitter lemon. The fact that it helps with your blood sugar levels is totally amazing. Also, seeing that it helps with cancer cells is just mind-blowing. It has so many uses, and I’m really glad that I read this today. Thanks for writing on it.
Hey Chizoba, I’m not sure that many people are familiar with bitter melon. But sometimes it amazes me what foods can do for you. And this is one fruit that helps control blood sugars and that’s the most important part of diabetes. The more foods we eat like bitter melon, the healthier we will be, and hopefully diabetes free! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My son is susceptible to diabetes because of hormones that he has to take. It is kind of scary and I of course want to help him so he does not end up with diabetes. Would this bitter lemon also help with keeping from getting this as well?
I’m sorry that your son may have issues because of the hormones he takes. Bitter melon is very healthy for you and while I don’t believe that it will prevent type 2 diabetes, it can certainly help with lowering blood sugars. Thank you so much for your comments!