Natural Cures: Bitter Melon for Diabetes

Did you know that the number of people with diabetes rose from 1.5 million in 1998 to an epidemic 17.9 Million in 2007? How about that each year over 1.6 million new adult cases are diagnosed?  At this point it’s an anomaly to not know personally or have at least heard about someone that has had to deal with some of the devastating side effects of diabetes such as blindness, kidney failure, and even cognitive decline. Many people who have altered their diet to include a wide array of fruits and vegetables and have seem remarkable results, even those who were former sufferers of diabetes and all sorts of other degenerative dis-eases.  Diabetes is essentially marked by the presence of excess sugar in the bloodstream, which then results in an inability for the pancreas to secrete sufficient or sometimes any insulin.

            Bitter melon is a special vegetable that you probably have never heard of, that has been used with positive results in the attempt to treat diabetes naturally. This vegetable is very well known in Asia and has been shown to significantly lower blood sugar. Bitter melon is an amazing healing agent  has a structure similar to insulin, hence its natural ability to assist in the movement of glucose into cells which gives you the energy to do all the great things that you do! Bitter melon has been used as in traditional medicine for a long list of conditions such as: killing bacteria, parasites, and viruses, reducing inflammation, cleansing the blood, acting as an antibacterial agent against e.coli, and possibly destroying some strains of the herpes virus.

          What’s even more interesting is that this vegetable is widely used by the Okinawa people in Japan which have per capita some of the longest life spans in the world. This vegetable grows in tropical areas like East Africa, Asia, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Bitter melon is very rich in iron, phosphorous, contains twice the beta carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of bananas, and Vitamins A, C, B1 to B3. Which is not surprising due to its amazing healing effects. To make things even better,  it is a great source of dietary fiber. Bitter melon can usually be found at your local Asian supermarket, or bought as a supplement from a health food store. It can also be made into teas, tinctures, and soups.

         The mother of a friend of mine a few years ago was suffering from intense symptoms, and was later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She started juicing bitter melon with lemon every morning, and in a matter of months the doctor was flabbergasted at the fact that she was no longer in need of any insulin. Moral of the story? Mother Nature has always provided us what we need and our bodies can heal if we choose to give it the right fuel.  I encourage you to try bitter melon out for yourself and recommend it to others who are battling diabetes. As the name suggests, it may be an acquired taste, but in order to live optimally we need balance. We need the bitter and the sweet, and sometimes the bitter may hold the key to our healing. – XoXo Nicola, signing in for Raw Girl