The pungent taste of bitter melon may be something that takes getting used to, but this vegetable may have beneficial health effects that override its taste. Research involving bitter melon is still ongoing, and bitter melon can induce adverse reactions in some; so always check with a doctor before taking it for any condition. If you are pregnant or hypoglycemic, you may want to avoid it entirely.
Cultivation
Bitter melon, or Mormodica charantia, is a member of the same family as squash. It is native to south and southeast Asia and is also called bitter gourd. The long, cucumberlike squash is a light to medium green when unripe. The skin looks wrinkled, although the squash is firm. Bitter melon is usually eaten during that mature but unripe stage. It gets its name from mormordicine, an alkaloid that is highly bitter, reports Purdue University.
Herbal Medicine
In addition to its food value, bitter melon is a hypoglycemic agent in ayurvedic medicine, the traditional healing system of India, and herbal medicine has used it for a variety of ailments. Drugs.com notes it has been used for treating everything from asthma to diabetes to infections, and the Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants states that researchers in China once investigated it as a potential contraceptive.
Diabetes Research
Bitter melon may lower blood sugar and decrease triglycerides, though much of the research is on rats. A 2004 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology added three different varieties of bitter melon to rats' diets. The rats' triglyceride levels were reduced, especially by the Koimidori variety. In a 2006 study published in the Cardiovascular Journal of South Africa, investigators gave bitter melon extract to rats, and results showed a definite, dose-dependent reduction in blood sugar in rats with normal blood sugar levels and induced diabetes. However, a 2006 study published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology found little effect when type 2 diabetic human patients received bitter melon capsules after meals. The results were deemed inconclusive.
Cancer Research
A March 2010 study from Saint Louis University found that bitter melon extract can kill breast cancer cells. Lead investigator Dr. Ratna Ray noted that the decrease in cells was significant and the result promising, although the study was conducted on cells in a lab, rather than in humans. A June 2010 review in the journal Pharmacological Research noted that additional research had also found antitumor effects of bitter melon.
Warnings
As bitter melon matures, the skin changes from green to orange or yellow, the flesh becomes reddish, and the seed arils, or coverings, turn red. Drugs.com advises that the red seed arils are toxic to children. Drugs.com also warns against eating bitter melon while pregnant, as the plant can induce uterine bleeding and increase the risk of a miscarriage. Bitter melon may interact with chlorpropamide and increase its hypoglycemic effects. Bitter melon itself may induce hypoglycemia.
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