“I will let loose against you the fleet-footed vines–
I will call in the Jungle to stamp out your lines!
The roofs shall fade before it,
The house-beams shall fall;
And the Karela,. the bitter Karela,
Shall cover it all!”
-Rudyard Kipling
“I’d rather eat karela than miss my ex.”
-Nikhil, Facebook
Overview
Bitter Melon, Momordica charantia, belongs to the squash family and has long been known for its medicinal properties. Native to the Indian subcontinent and cultivated in China by the 14th Century, bitter melon is now grown throughout the world’s subtropical and tropical regions and is widely used in Asian cooking.
Also known as bitter gourd, bitter squash, karela, balsam pear and goya, the fruit resembles a cucumber with warts and is a member of the squash family, which includes gourds and cucumbers.
What are the known benefits?
This excellent overview of bitter melon identifies the fruit’s three chemicals with proven blood sugar-lowering properties – charantin, vicine and polypeptide-p – but also notes that science has yet to determine what fractions of those compounds are the active ingredients and also whether bitter melon contains other hypoglycemic compounds that remain as yet unidentified.
Any other potential benefits?
It has known hypolipidemic effects, i.e. it lowers cholesterol, and also has antiviral, antibacterial and antihelmintic effects.
Bitter melon sambal, a fried chili paste.
Any reports debunking these benefits?
At worst, doubters and skeptics complain that while the antidiabetic effects are well-documented in animal studies, human studies are inconclusive, and while anti-hyperglycemia is also documented, no one really knows the reason.
What is the scientific mechanism at play?
This peer-reviewed article proposes many possibilities, and one is that M. charantia stimulates insulin production.
Conclusion
Is bitter melon a natural, botanical cure for diabetes, pre-diabetes, or metabolic syndrome? Click here for different ways to sample the bitter gourd.
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4027280/
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf3042402
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12672924
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25164446
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/bitter-melon.html