Diabetes is one of the fastest growing health conditions in the world now. Most countries have run awareness campaigns to control diabetes . This slow killer disease impacts all your organs and slowly degenerates over the period of decades to no points of return.
When the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin or insulin resistance is developed by the body diabetes occurs. Therefore, regular health check up is necessary and people suffering from it should monitor and control their blood sugar levels.
There are a number of natural remedies and dietary changes that can control and even reverse diabetes type 2. Bitter melon has been in use for controlling blood sugar levels for centuries. If you have never consumed bitter melon then you need to get used to its bitter taste to stay healthy.
Table of Contents
- How Bitter Melon Treats Diabetes?
- How to Take Bitter Melon for Diabetes?
- Take Bitter Melon Supplements for Diabetes
- Other Tips and Precautions
How Bitter Melon Treats Diabetes?
Diabetes type 2 is a Lifestyle disorder. Lack of exercise and eating high carb food are the main causes of this dangerous condition.
Let us understand what happens?
Normally and organ behind the stomach called pancreas helps our body to store and use sugar and fat from the food we eat. This is done through release of insulin from the pancreas.
Pancreas releases insulin that regulates blood sugar. If it produces less or no insulin or the body doesn't respond to insulin in the appropriate manner diabetes occurs.
It is believed that there is no cure to diabetes. Therefore you need to manage diabetes to stay healthy.
Food plays a vital role in managing your diabetes.
Bitter melon is one such food that can help in managing diabetes type 2.
Bitter melon or bitter gourd is a vegetable-fruit that tastes bitter and is used for food and medicine. It is part of the plant Momordica Charantia, a vine of cucurbitaceae family. It thrives in tropical and subtropical conditions.
Charantin which has blood glucose lowering effect and vicine ( polypeptide) which mimics insulin are among the main compounds of bitter melon that helps to deal with diabetes type 2. Another compound called lectin is a major contributor to hypoglycemic effect that develops after eating bitter melon.
Various scientific studies have also proved the usefulness of bitter melon to reduce blood glucose levels in varying degrees among type 2 diabetic patients.
It has also been found to improve glycemic control and glucose tolerance. Some researchers have found not much evidence of bitter melon controlling diabetes. More research is required on this highly acclaimed food item to control diabetes.
Bitter melon has also been found to control fever, reduces pain during menstruation, improves skin conditions, reduces chronic cough and helps in healing burns faster. Another research work from Saint Louis University in the US indicates that the extract from bitter melon can kill breast cancer cells and prevent them from spreading.
How to Take Bitter Melon for Diabetes?
You can consume bitter melon in a number of ways to control your diabetes. The only limiting factor is its better taste and it becomes very difficult to develop its taste for this bitterness. Following are some of the ways in which you can eat bitter melon juice with varying degrees of bitter taste.
1. Bitter Melon and Onions
This is perhaps the best way of eating bitter melon without losing any of its properties in trying to reduce the bitterness of the taste. Adding salt can certainly reduce the bitterness, but if you have high blood pressure then this extra intake of salt may not be advisable.
If you eat bitter melon with onion in the following way then you will not require any other method particularly after developing a taste for bitter melon and onion together.
- Cut 100 grams of bitter melon in very small pieces of roughly 5 mm size each. A medium size bitter melon will roughly weigh hundred grams.
- Cut double amount of onion in slightly bigger size then bitter melon pieces
- Mix all the pieces bitter melon in onion
- Add juice of half lemon and mix well.
- Eat the mixture with spoon.
- Chew it well
You can add tomatoes and cucumbers to further reduce bitterness.
Eat this salad every day for 30 days. This will also reduce your hunger. Low food intake also will benefit diabetes type 2.
You can eat bitter melon in many different ways. Some of the useful methods in terms of controlling diabetes effectively are described as under. You can develop your own combinations to suit your taste. make sure that the ingredients you add to bitter melon are diabetes friendly.
2. Bitter Melon Juice
- Make juice of bitter melon tomato and cucumber together and drink it daily.
- 1 medium size bitter melon 1 large size tomato in 1 medium size cucumber is enough for 1 day's requirement.
- Add lemon juice if you prefer
3. Stir Fry Bitter Melon
- Cut thin round slices of bitter melon
- Stir fry them with others vegetables of your choice
- Onion will be your best companion here also to reduce the bitterness of bitter melon
- Green bell peppers and baby corn will add taste to these stir fry vegetables
Take Bitter Melon Supplements for Diabetes
Bitter melon supplements are generally available in capsule forms in Asian grocery shops or natural food stores. You can take a 500mg capsule of bitter melon twice a day.
Whichever method you apply to consume bitter melon to treat your diabetes, please ensure to monitor your blood sugar levels regularly.
Other Tips and Precautions
Bitter melon is generally safe for most adults.
- Bitter melon is also good for colic, fevers, burns, coughs and various skin conditions
- Excessive consumption of bitter melon can cause stomach troubles such as diarrhea.
- Avoid giving it to children as it may cause diarrhea and vomiting.
- Bitter melon may interact with diabetes medications so take bitter melon therapy under monitoring of a doctor.
Bottom line is bitter melon is worth trying to lower blood sugar levels and control diabetes.