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Yet another scientific research confirms what most of us already know – that nature provides us with the best remedies for our ailments.
Bitter melon is the edible fruit of the plant Momordica Charantia. It grows in tropical and subtropical climates, and it can be found in many Asian grocery stores. As its name suggests, the fruit tastes very bitter. It’s also available in liquid extract and capsule forms.
Bitter melon is highly beneficial for many health applications. It is used in some cultures as a food source, and scientists have only begun to fully comprehend how and why it is so beneficial. Its positive effects on treating and preventing diabetes is probably the most well-known benefit of bitter melon, but, as with most natural substances, new uses are cropping up all the time as we begin to understand better the ins and outs of the interplay between its various components.
Bitter Melon Produces Sweet Results For Diabetes
Here is one more reason to include bitter melon in your diet! Read this research on Bitter Melon and Diabetes.
Scientists have uncovered the therapeutic properties of bitter melon, a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine, that make it a powerful treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
People with Type 2 diabetes have an impaired ability to convert the sugar in their blood into energy in their muscles. This is partly because they don’t produce enough insulin, and partly because their fat and muscle cells don’t use insulin effectively, a phenomenon known as ‘insulin resistance’.
Exercise activates AMPK in muscle, which in turn mediates the movement of glucose transporters to the cell surface, a very important step in the uptake of glucose from the circulation into tissues in the body. This is a major reason that exercise is recommended as part of the normal treatment program for someone with Type 2 diabetes.
The four compounds isolated in bitter melon perform a very similar action to that of exercise, in that they activate AMPK.
Garvan scientists involved in the project, Drs Jiming Ye and Nigel Turner, both stress that while there are well known diabetes drugs on the market that also activate AMPK, they can have side effects.
“The advantage of bitter melon is that there are no known side effects,” said Dr Ye. “Practitioners of Chinese medicine have used it for hundreds of years to good effect.”
Bitter Melon For Diabetes (photo Flickr frontinbras)
Resource: ScienceDaily
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Bitter Melon Produces Sweet Results For Diabetes,
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