Bitter Melon Fruit Contains Components Resembling Insulin

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Bitter Melon Fruit Contains Components Resembling Insulin

 

 

BITTER MELON (MOMORDICA CHARANTIA)

Other botanical names include:

 

Bitter Gourd,Carilla, Karela, Kuguazi,African cucumber,

& wild cucumber.

 

Bitter Melon is a common vegetable. Eaten by many throughout the

world, Bitter Melon grows on a vine, is cousin of the squash and

does not grow well in cold weather. The vine resembles that of the

tomato.

 

Instead of round red fruit, however, the bitter melon has green

cucumber

shaped fruit. It's called " bitter " for taste, " melon " for looks.

Bitter

melon isn't its only name.

 

Botanists and scientists call it--Momordica charantia (botanical

name).

 

There are many nick-names, including bitter gourd, carilla plant,

wild cucumber, African cucumber, karela, and its medicinal herb name

in china, Kuguazi.

 

Bitter melon is science-friendly. For example, you can find it in

the

" MERCK INDEX " , the chemist's and physician's encyclopedia of

chemicals,

drugs and biologicals.

 

WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

 

Bitter melon is native to almost all tropical climates. It is common

in

Africa, China, the Far East, India, Brazil, the Caribbean, etc.

 

HERE IN PART IS WHAT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SAYS ABOUT

BITTER MELON:

" Bitter melon is used for tumors in Brazil, for malignant ulcers in

Guam.

 

Arubans take the decoction for hypertension, Puerto Ricans for

diabetes;

Hondurans as a depurative; Peruvians for colic and worms. Jamaicans

for

colds, constipation, fever and stomachache; Congolese use the leaf

for

colic, the seed for roundworm.

 

Japanese use the plant for constipation, headache, and skin

ailments.... "

* *James A. Duke, PhD., Chief, Germplasm Resources

Laboratory, United States Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.,

quoted from HANDBOOK OF MEDICINAL HERBS (1985;pp315-316)

 

 

 

WHAT IS THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH DATA ABOUT BITTER MELON?

 

Some research scientists are concerned with leukemia or lymphoma.

 

Others with the immune system. Some research AIDS and HIV-1.

Others seek proteins that have immunosuppressive effect.

 

Still others look for hypoglycemic peptides.

 

Some look for extracts that kill human leukemic lymphocytes.

 

Some are interested in the highest neutral detergent fiber or

monoclonal

antibodies or the lowering of glucose concentrations or stimulators

of

insulin release.

 

Please spend a few moments browsing over the research material

listed

below.

 

We think you will agree, that there is some- thing unique about this

plant.

Re: Its lowering of glucose concentrations, improving glucose

tolerance,

and promoting glucose disposal:

 

" The mineral and amino acid analysis showed that the bitter gourd

contained nutritionally useful quantities of the most essential

mineral

and amino acids.

 

The blood sugar once lowered after 30 days did not increase even

after

15 days of discontinuation of the treatment. " *

 

*Journal of Ethnopharmacology 15(1):107-17 1986 Jan.

 

" Investigations were carried out to evaluate the effect of Momordica

charantia on the glucose tolerance of maturity onset diabetic

patients.

 

The juice of Momordia charantia was found to significantly improve

the

glucose tolerance of 73% of the patients investigated while the

other

27% failed to respond. " *

 

*Journal of Ethnopharmacology 17(3):277-82 1986 Sept.

 

" Cerrasee--

 

A wild variety of Momordica charantia is traditionally prepared as a

tea

for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in the West Indies and

Central

America.

 

The cerasee extracts did not significantly alter plasma insulin

concentrations, suggesting that cerasee may exert an extrapancretic

effect to promote glucose disposal. " *

 

*Diabetes Research Clinical & Experimental 2(2):81-4 1985 Mar.

 

" The hypoglycaemic effect of orally administered extracts of fruits

of

cultivated Momordica charantia (Karela) was examined.

 

The results suggest that orally administered karela extracts lower

glucose concentrations independently of intestinal glucose

absorption

and involve an extrapancreatic effect. " *

 

 

 

*Planta Medica 56(5); 426-9 1990 Oct.

 

" The effect of Karela (Momordica charantia), a fruit indigenous to

South

America and Asia, on glucose and insulin concentrations was studied

in

nine non-insulin-dependent diabetics and six non-diabetic rats.

 

These results show that karela improves glucose tolerance in

diabetes.

Doctors supervising *Asian* diabetics should be aware of the fruit's

hypoglycemic properties. " *

 

*British Medical Journal-Clinical Research 282(6279); 1823-4 1981

June

6.

 

 

 

" An aqueous extract from the unripe fruits of the tropical plant

Momordica charantia was found to be potent stimulator of insulin

release

from beta cell rich pancreatic islets isolated from obese-

hyperglycemic

mice.

 

Studies of 45 Ca fluxes suggest that the insulin releasing action is

a

result of perturbations of membrane functions. In support for the

idea

of direct effects on membrane lipids, the action of the extract was

found to mimic that of saponin. " *

 

*Acta Biologica et Medica Germanica 41(12):1229-40 1982.

 

 

 

" A hypoglycemic peptide, Polypeptide-p has been isolated from the

fruit

seeds and tissue of Momordica charantia.

 

Polypeptide-p is a very effective hypoglycemic agent when

administered

subcutaneously to gerbils, langurs and humans. " *

 

*Journal of Natural Products 44(6):648-55 1981 Nov.-Dec.

 

 

 

" Extracts of Momordica charantia fruit pulp, seed, and whole plant

were

tested for their hypoglycemic effects on normal and diabetic rat

models.

 

 

The results indicate the presence of non-sapogenin hypoglycemic

compound(s) in Momordica charantia fruit pulp and the activity is

probably mediated either by improving the insulin secretory capacity

of

the B cells or by improving the action of the insulin. " *

 

*Planta Medica 59(5):408-412 1993

 

 

 

" The Bitter Melon or Balsam Pear--

is cultivated as a tropical vegetable in South America, Asia, and

Africa where it has been used as a traditional therapy for diabetes

in a

variety of cultures of these countries.

 

Further investigation has confirmed the ability of the fresh juice

from

the unripe fruit of the bitter melon to lower blood sugar.

 

One isolate of Momorica, Charantin is a mixture of steroidal

glycosides

and compares favorably to " tolbutamide " , an allopathic drug commonly

used as a oral hypoglycemic agent.

 

Another isolate, polypeptide-P has been shown to lower blood glucose

when administered via subcutaneous injections.

 

A variety of oral extracts have been shown to lower blood sugar and

improve glucose

tolerance in both human and animal studies.

 

Evidence suggests that a constituent in Momordica, or the sum of all

the

constituents have an insulin-like activity themselves and do not

directly alter existing insulin levels. " *

 

*Chakravarthy BK, Gupa S, and Gode KD:

 

Functional beta cell regeneration

in the islets of Pancreas in alloxan induced dibetic rats by

epicatechin. Life Sc 31:2693-7, 1982

 

" ....The results indicated that M. charantia fruits and seeds

contained

components that resembled insulin in inhibiting hormone-induced

lipolysis... " *

 

*Wong CM, Yeung HW, Ng TB: Screening of (family Cucurbitaceae) for

compounds with antilipolytic activity.

*Journal of Ethnopharmacology 13(3):313-21, July 1985.

 

http://home.istar.ca/~hlth2000/bittermelon.html

 

*CLICK HERE to view Published Clinical Articles on MOMORDICA

CHARANTIA

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