 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Diabetes / March 2006Bitter Melon
Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and have been taking 2 with each meal. Haven't noticed any discernible change yet. Looked for bitter melon tea but so far haven't been able to find it. Thanks. >Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some >positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and >have been taking 2 with each meal. Haven't noticed any discernible change >yet. Looked for bitter melon tea but so far haven't been able to find it. > >Thanks. I tried it early on, right after diagnosis, and before I discovered this group. In my opinion, it was a *total* waste of money, as are most of the products targeted at T2 diabetics in the vitamin and health food industry. That is just my opinion, however, based upon my own experience. Anyone wanting to try that stuff can certainly go for it! Just use that meter and verify that it is working for you, before you keep taking the stuff. Will, T2 I don't have much information for you on "Bitter melon" but here is a pointer to some of the "alternative" herbs etc that NIH has shown some interest in. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat1.section.95374 Note they call out interest in fenugreek and Gymnema sylvestre (tulis as it is know in India) are both part of my diet right now. I use fenugreek powder in cooking my soups and also sprout them and use them in cooking beans. Anil > Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some > positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and > have been taking 2 with each meal. Haven't noticed any discernible change > yet. Looked for bitter melon tea but so far haven't been able to find it. Not on a regular basis. I've read enough about it not to consider it safe to do so. However I have taken it on occasion when my BG is too high for no apparent reason. I also take Fenugreek. These things seem to work sometimes, sometimes not.  SignatureSee my webpage: http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm This post not CC'd by email On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 06:51:17 -0500, "Newby" <nobody@nowhere.net> wrote: >Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some >positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and >have been taking 2 with each meal. Haven't noticed any discernible change >yet. Looked for bitter melon tea but so far haven't been able to find it. > >Thanks. G'day G'day Newby, Talk to Anil. Anil and I spar occasionally over vegan diets and stuff like that. I think the exchanges help both of us as we bring fresh information to the table. Anil lives in India. In one of his posts he discusses the province of Kerala. Kerala apparently has a higher rate of T2 diabetes than the rest of India which is bad enough. Kerala is also the home of bitter melon. In the Indian cook books I have bitter melon is referred to as kerala, the vegetable from Kerala. I have eaten platefuls of the stuff in Thai restaurants with egg and chicken mince. It is bitter but refreshing. Refreshing is an unusual feeling to have after eating out so we actually enjoy it and they make the dish especially for us when it is in season. It didn't seem to have an immediate effect on blood glucose. When I was first diagnosed I took a supplement which contained some biter melon along with other ingredients. It worked in that it lowered my blood glucose by a measurable amount. I went through a couple of cycles of taking it and not taking it and the results confirmed a small but not spectacular difference. Unfortunately it priced itself off the market so now, I can't even tell you what the other ingredients were. Best wishes, SignatureQuentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin My Dear Quentin! Now I see what Newby was refereing to. Bitter Melon (The Latin word is Momordica Charantia) is also known as Karela in India. I can see why Quentin felt it is a popular vegetable in Kerala. The similarity of words is indeed some what misleading. Now that I know Newby is referring to "Karela" or also known in US as "bitter gourd" I can give plenty of anecdotal here-say information confirming its value as applied to T2DM treatment. My mother loves this vegetable. Its bitter as hell as the name implied. So she cooks with plenty of Jagury (Raw Sugar). I am ye to develop test for this vegetable. My own sense is when you start going after vegetables like "bitter gourd" you start training your taste buds for vegetables that are otherwise not readily likable. The over effect is you eat more vegis and thus healthier diet. Just my theory. I did some research on "Momordica Charantia" on pubmeds and found that there is plenty of interest in this Melon. Plenty of studies in Rats show reduction in BG levels. It is also cited for it beneficiary effect on Cholesterol level. Few Indian studies cite good results for T2DM in limited trial. But could not quite locate a study that I found big enough to quote. You are free to do the research while you chew on this melon. This much I can say for sure...You would feel Broccoli out right sweet. Thanks Quentin in taking me to the right place to look for KArEla. Good Day Quentin! Anil I've got a couple of recipes for preparing Karela in an Indian "Diabetic cookbook" I picked up in Delhi last month. I'll find some at the India Grocery here and try them out. If they make a decent dish I'll publish the recipes. Karela is mentioned as being helpful in regulating BG in the book. I've picked up several other good ideas from this book so it may be pretty good. Pete Romfh Here is additional information about Bitter Mellon /Bitter Gourd/Karela. http://tinyurl.com/fp93g. The information sounds legit. But have no way of independently judging its accuracy. Let us know if you unearth any thing substantial. I will be attempting to drink a juice of Karela. Hopefully I have trained by taste buds enough to show the accept this bitter remedy! If it works I will report here. What I can also add to my previous posting is that as soon as people hear you have Diabetes they recommend you start drinking this juice. A close friend of mine swears by it. But over a period of time I have healthy skepticism for all such remedy. Anyway as I said I am going to give it a try. Call me in two months :-). Anil Dear Newby, I found additional information that sure have perked my interest. I thought I would share it with everyone. "Bitter melon fruit juice has also been shown to stimulate both glycogen storage by the liver, and insulin secretion by isolated -cells of islets of Langerhans [9-10]. The hypoglycemic activity of the bitter melon fruit has been shown in both spontaneous and chemically induced diabetes mellitus in experimental animals as well as in human patients [9-11]. It has recently been shown that there is a significant increase in the number of cells in the pancreas of streptozotocin (STZ)- induced diabetic rats after 8 weeks of bitter melon fruit juice treatment [12]." -- Ref: http://tinyurl.com/p5w8u This is excerpt is taken from what appears to be a researched article with all the references attached. Do read the original to get the details. As always I lack the depth to know accuracy of this finding. Be prepared for the bitter lesson :-) Anil This post not CC'd by email >My Dear Quentin! > >Now I see what Newby was refereing to. Bitter Melon (The Latin word is >Momordica Charantia) is also known as Karela in India. I can see why >Quentin felt it is a popular vegetable in Kerala. The similarity of >words is indeed some what misleading. ROTFL. Thanks Anil, G'day G'day Anil, There has to be a reason why I am good with dyslexic students. I can't see that they have any problems so I treat them as normal. <grin> When I read American books on nutrition I am surprised at how often they make similar goofs referring to kiwifruit etc in New Zealand. Believe you me there was a good reason why I suggested "Newby" talk to Anil. There is nothing like local experience to set the record straight. I'm delighted to have had my mistake pointed out here. The issues surrounding bitter melon aka karela (India) or foo gwa (NZ Chinese) or goya (Okinawa) had me puzzled. The Okinawans have it as there most distinctive vegetable. It is often commented upon by Japanese school children on school trips to Okinawa. It seemed likely that it was one factor in the low incidence of T2 diabetes. For that reason I could not make sense of Kerala having such a high incidence of T2 diabetes. It also shows the dangers of relying on Westernized cook books. >Now that I know Newby is referring to "Karela" or also known in US as >"bitter gourd" I can give plenty of anecdotal here-say information >confirming its value as applied to T2DM treatment. >My mother loves this vegetable. Its bitter as hell as the name implied. >So she cooks with plenty of Jagury (Raw Sugar). I am ye to develop [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >limited trial. But could not quite locate a study that I found big >enough to quote. Big studies cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. There is never likely to be such funding. >You are free to do the research while you chew on this >melon. This much I can say for sure...You would feel Broccoli out right >sweet. LOL. You sure would. The traditional method that the local Chinese have related to me is to remove the seeds and sprinkle salt on the cut flesh then leave it. Use kitchen absorbent paper to remove the bitter liquid that comes out. My method is to cook it in a crock pot for about six hours. After five hours it tastes like you would want to throw it out. After six hours it tastes like green peas ought to taste. It is all a matter of timing. The local Chinese say something polite when I suggest this method. >Thanks Quentin in taking me to the right place to look for KArEla. Good >Day Quentin! > >Anil Best wishes and thanks for your help. SignatureQuentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, >#,#< [ / \ /\ "... and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin > Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read > some [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Thanks. I tried it for about a month with no discernable difference. Threw the bottle out. SignatureBest Regards, Evelyn (to reply to me personally, remove 'sox') >Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some >positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and >have been taking 2 with each meal. Haven't noticed any discernible change >yet. Looked for bitter melon tea but so far haven't been able to find it. > >Thanks. P.T. Barnum and you are the one he was talking about. Give me 30 seconds, I'll come up with a cure you can send me money for with the same results you are getting from the bitter melon scam. SignatureMâck©® Deltec CoZmore Pumper Type 1 since 1975 http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org http://www.diabetic-talk.org http://www.insulin-pumpers.org "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." ...Theodore Roosevelt (o ô) --ooO-(_)-Ooo-------------------- "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." ....Bilbo Baggins Jesus never hated anyone. DISCLAIMER If you find a posting or message from me offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... . >>Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some >>positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >Give me 30 seconds, I'll come up with a cure you can send me money for >with the same results you are getting from the bitter melon scam. That reminds me of an ad I saw one time, in which the advertiser was promising to show people how to get a million people to send just one dollar for advice on how to make a million dollars via the mail..... Will, T2 A better deal was offered in one of the classified adds which typically have just a few lines. This one read: "Last day to send in your dollar" No promise, no cure just send in your dollar as its the last day! Hey no one lost more than a dollar but the receiving end made more money than what he paid for the advertisement. Anil > >Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read some > >positive things about it so I bought some 450 MG capsules two days ago and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Give me 30 seconds, I'll come up with a cure you can send me money for > with the same results you are getting from the bitter melon scam. [snipped] Mack, Your sarcasm is unwarranted. >> >Anyone here use bitter melon to control their blood sugar? I had read >some [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > >Your sarcasm is unwarranted. actually what first went through my mind, but was not posted, was not warranted. Trust me, it was a hell of a lot worse than the sarcasm. SignatureMâck©® Deltec CoZmore Pumper Type 1 since 1975 http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org http://www.diabetic-talk.org http://www.insulin-pumpers.org "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." ...Theodore Roosevelt (o ô) --ooO-(_)-Ooo-------------------- "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." ....Bilbo Baggins Jesus never hated anyone. DISCLAIMER If you find a posting or message from me offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... . |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.