Bitter Melon

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Leaderofthecats

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I had been taking bitter melon aka bitter gourd, in tablet form, for ages. It's reputed to help with womanly cycle issues, was why.
But it turns out to be reputable for lowering and regulating blood sugar, as well.

Mine are kind of cheap ones, so are half the strength of some other products. I've decided to double the dosage because of this, as they're just one-a-day hard pressed tablets.

Fingers crossed that it's helpful. It certainly shouldn't do any harm. 🙂

I'm going to find some fancier and maximum strength ones to replace these when they run out, as bitter melon is a comparatively cheap supplement anyway.
 
We generally urge caution about these sorts of herbal supplements.

It can be a bit of a minefield tbh. And just because something is natural or herbal doesn’t mean that it may not interact with medications that people may be taking... eg Grapefruit and statins / BP tablets etc (https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/medicines/does-grapefruit-affect-my-medicine/)

Annoyingly because: the internet, there are often also often extravagant claims made for all sorts of supplements and combinations of herbs and spices (cinnamon... okra... take your pick), with little, if any solid peer-reviewed evidence of any effectiveness. :(

Mostly it feels like if there were a really promising component in a natural source then one or other pharma company would extract it, purify it and trial it... then make a pharmaceutical version of it.

That’s not to say you mustn’t take any supplement that you think might help you... but be careful (there are some wildly exaggerated claims and plenty of shysters trying to get your hard-earned).

You may also get some fairly cautious/negative replies from members here, because these topics come around fairly often over the years.
 
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Thankyou for your informative and helpful reply.

Pharmaceutical companies are making a killing from selling Metaformin, so I doubt there's any real incentive for them to spend lots of money on researching alternatives tbh.

They also seem to be obsessed with making medication for mice and rats, which no doubt could lead to some perfectly good stuff being rejected early on during research.

Ofc if something is useful but not dirt cheap to churn out in bulk, they might not be interested in that either.

I'm not taking grapefruit, statins, or anything for blood pressure.

Anyone not interested in bitter melon is welcome to look at some other topic or webpage, rather than this one ofc. 🙂 There are plenty to choose from.
 
Also... with my moderator hat on, I know that threads like this will
quite possibly be siezed upon at some point in the future by scammers and possibly resurrected by new accounts only created to post links. So don’t be surprised if a thead like this gets locked if/when that happens.
 
Yikes! I don't want to be encouraging plebs to tout crappy products!! :-0 I was just mentioning it in case anyone hadn't known bitter melon might help and would like to try it for diabetes, as this was the case with me except I already had some for lady issues. A fellow from my pixel art course group mentioned to me that it might be helpful.
 
There always seems to be some magic cure for this and that which periodically come along, I remember not long ago it was Raspberry ketones that was supposed to be the weight loss go to, or this XLS medical which is widely advertised.
 
Well, even Diabetes co uk seem to be "sucked in" by this particular "snake oil" and are promoting it as helpful, so I'll take my chances.
;-)

It could do nothing or it could help, but it seems at least less alarming than the pharmaceuticals I've been given lately and I can afford it. 🙂

www.diabetes.co.uk

The bitter melon contains at least three active substances with anti-diabetic properties, including charanti, which has been confirmed to have a blood glucose-lowering effect and an insulin-like compound known as polypeptide-p.

The bitter melon contains at least three active substances with blood glucose-lowering properties.
www.diabetes.co.uk www.diabetes.co.uk
 
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Ah! The old 'Melon Cure' :D I wrote this ten years ago 🙂


There are lots of natural remedies that can help people with diabetes maintain good blood glucose levels, although their efficacy is often difficult to prove, and relying on them can be potentially dangerous. One such remedy is bitter melon, or bitter gourd, and the majority of advocates of this recommend eating the fruit or seeds, or taking the active ingredients in a supplement.

However, in the wacky world of diabetes, there’s always one stand-out fruitloop who puts forward a bizarre slant of their own, and offering a cure. Bitter melon is no exception. I won’t publicise the site that suggests this, but the method is as follows:

“Take half kg of bitter gourd in a big container and stand in it with clean feet. Then crush the bittergourds with your feet continuously. Then you will start to get the bitter taste of bittergourd in your tongue. Getting the taste of bittergourd without eating, is in itself a miracle. Do this daily for about 7 days. Then check your blood sugar level. When you do this ‘exercise’ regularly remain assured that your blood glucose level will remain in control.”

So, let us imagine then a specialised Cure Centre, run by a hard-nosed and officious instructor who will, for a fee, ensure you comply with the demands of the cure…

Keep your knees up number three! I want to see you sweat!
If you put in the work then this will cure you, don’t you fret!
And number five – I’m watching you! Stop paddling around!
I should be hearing squelching, but I hardly hear a sound!

Excuse me, are you Norman? I’m here about the cure.
I thought I’d found the right address, but now I’m not so sure!
No, you’re not mistaken, have you got your receipt?
Ah yes, that seems in order, now let me see your feet!

Cubicle number four is free, it just needs swilling out,
So go and get your swimsuit on and I’ll give you a shout!
I’m sorry? I don’t follow you – don’t I get a pill?
Don’t be so ridiculous! Now, in here if you will…

Now, on the rail behind you, suspended from a cord
You’ll find a row of melons, also known as bitter gourd.
Nut them with your forehead and split them on the ground,
And then get those legs pumping, and your feet stomping around!

I’ll make sure you keep working, so there’ll be no slacking off –
I want to see your melons pulverised inside that trough!
If you make the effort and maintain a good technique,
Then I can guarantee you – you’ll be cured within a week! :D
 
Leaderofthecats said:
Pharmaceutical companies are making a killing from selling Metaformin, so I doubt there's any real incentive for them to spend lots of money on researching alternatives tbh.
Click to expand...
Metformin's much too cheap, I suspect.

The ~10% or so of people with T2 (and similarly people worried about it) is an enormous market, in no way completely satisfied by Metformin and the like. If there's something that can be profitably supplied to them I feel sure it'll happen.
 
Maybe they will, eventually.

But having well-designed studies with a worthwhile group size seems to be beyond them, right now. No idea why. Seems like a good idea, to me.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antidiabetic effects of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) and its medicinal potency

Diabetes mellitus is among the most common disorder in developed and developing countries, and the disease is increasing rapidly in most parts of the world. It has been estimated that up to one-third of patients with diabetes mellitus use some form of ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Leaderofthecats said:
Well, even Diabetes UK seem to be "sucked in" by this particular "snake oil" and are promoting it as helpful, so I'll take my chances.
;-)

It could do nothing or it could help, but it seems at least less alarming than the pharmaceuticals I've been given lately and I can afford it. 🙂

www.diabetes.co.uk

The bitter melon contains at least three active substances with anti-diabetic properties, including charanti, which has been confirmed to have a blood glucose-lowering effect and an insulin-like compound known as polypeptide-p.

The bitter melon contains at least three active substances with blood glucose-lowering properties.
www.diabetes.co.uk www.diabetes.co.uk
Click to expand...
The link is to the website diabetes.co.uk, which is not the chartiý Diabetes UK, which this forum is part of.
 
Leaderofthecats said:
Ah, they're a different bunch?
Confusing! Ok. Thankyou for explaining this.
Click to expand...

It’s a commercial website, run in part by advertising. Unfortunately it isn’t always made clear that they are not related or affiliated with Diabetes UK the charity.

They also have a forum (sometimes called the ‘red forum’ here). We have a few members here who are also members there, and some who have migrated here from there.

It might be helpful if you could update your earlier post to clarify matters?
 
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