If you’ve never heard of a bitter melon, it is also known as bitter gourd, is referred to as both a vegetable and as a fruit of the Momordica charantia plant. Whichever you go for, bitter melon only grows in tropical and subtropical regions and lives up to its name because of its very bitter taste.
Bitter melon is a surprisingly popular natural remedy for type 2 diabetes. This is especially true among traditional medicine practitioners and it now the subject of various research studies that have presented varying and inconsistent results.
These numerous studies, which have used both animals and humans, have indicated that bitter melon could be extremely useful in the management of blood sugar levels among sufferers of type 2 diabetes. One reason for this increased interest in bitter melon is the finding of research published in 2008. This research looked at four bioactive components identified in bitter melon.
In that study, the team of investigators reported that the bitter melon seemed to activate a protein which is known to be involved with metabolism and with the ability of the body’s cells to take in glucose. The study’s authors stated that bitter melon was not associated with any side effects and that Chinese medicine practitioners had been using the vegetable for hundreds of years with impressive results.