Does Bitter Melon Contain Anti-Diabetic Substances? - Diabetes 13

Three different sizes of bitter melon

We sometime buy bitter melon (Momordica sp) to make our traditional food. You might know that bitter melon is among most bitter of vegetables.

Many people consume bitter melon as a juice and as a tea, like a green tea.

Because of its bitterness, people in Asian countries use it for medical purposes. One of them is to control diabetes, type 2 diabetes.

People believed that bitter melon could lower blood sugar. It is because bitter melon substances bring glucose into cells, and burned down or used it for energy.

In addition, the cell processes the glucose to be stored in the organs such as muscles and liver or change the glucose to be fat.

Does Bitter Melon Contain Ant-Diabetic Substances? Yes. Some anti-biotic substances are following:

- Charantin

This is a hypoglycaemic property responsible to lower blood sugar

- Vicine

This is “a glycosidic compound,” it has been known for reducing plasma glucose in diabetes mellitus patients.

- Polypeptide-p.

This is “an insulin like compound” to control blood sugar.

Now, some pharmaceutical companies or herbal product companies or food companies extracted bitter melon and sold in capsules as a dietary supplement to “support healthy glucose metabolism.”

The size of one small bottle is range from 60 to 120 pills. Price is around US$ 2.74 to US$ 11.61.

It is suggested to consume capsules when patients have blood glucose already in the normal condition (normal range).

Have you tasted bitter melon and know its medical benefits?