How Bitter Gourd Helps with Diabetes
There are actually three separate types of compounds in bitter gourd that researchers have attributed to its blood sugar lowering actions:
Charantin
This is a compound of assorted steroids that’s been discovered to be more powerful than one oral hypoglycaemic drug, Tolbutamide.
Polypeptide P
Polypeptide P is an insuline like polypeptide which seems to lower blood glucose in Type-I diabetics. Alkaloids existing within bitter gourd are also noted to contain blood glucose lowering effects, but investigators are still not clear on which of the compounds is most powerful or if it’s the mix of every one of them which causes this effect.
Oleanolic Acid Glycosides
Biter gourd has been linked to effects of raising the amount of beta cells within the pancreas, and as a result helps when enhancing the body’s capacity to create insulin.
Recommended Dosage
Health care providers with the University of Michigan Health System recommend having bitter gourd as a regularly eaten food, decoction, fresh juice, or as a tincture. People who have diabetes may have one little melon or choose to drink 2 oz. of fresh bitter melon juice every day. Unfortunately, the flavor of bitter melon is fairly unpleasant – – you might find that mixing it with another type of juice makes it easier to consume. Either that, or just shoot it down as quickly as possible.
Take Care When Using
Only your physician can let you know how much bitter gourd you ought to take to help with your diabetes. Your daily dosage of bitter melon may depend on a large number of variables including your age, weight, and health status. Discuss any questions you might have about using bitter gourd to manage your blood sugar with your doctor before starting treatment with this supplement.
Adverse Effects
Normally, bitter gourd is well tolerated when used appropriately. As a diabetic, taking an excessive amount of bitter gourd may badly lower your blood glucose to hypoglycemic levels. Consequently, you might be in danger of experiencing dizziness, blurred vision, shakiness, exhaustion, headache, or constant hunger. In addition, having an excessive amount of bitter melon juice may irritate your alimentary canal, resulting in stomach pain or diarrhea.
Unpleasant Drug Interactions
People who have diabetes who keep their blood sugar levels be controlled by drug therapy should not take bitter melon. These treatments may considerably raise your chance of developing hypoglycaemia when used in conjunction with bitter melon.
Additional Health Benefits
You can read the full list of the benefits of bitter gourd, but below is a short list of some of those health benefits. We see it utilized in alternative medicine for:
- Colic
- Temperature
- Burns
- Chronic cough
- Painful menstruation
- Skin conditions
In addition to the above benefits it has also been used to heal wounds, help with childbirth, and in some areas of Asia and Africa, prevent or treat malaria and viral illnesses like the chicken pox and measles.