Our nature is consisting of various medicinal plants which are widely used to treat several harmful diseases. Momordica charantia, generally known as bitter melon is such a medicinal plant, (well known for its biological activities) which has been used traditionally in folk medicines to treat various health disorders. It has seen that all parts of the plant, especially the fruits are used for consumption. They can be cooked with different vegetables, or they can be stuffed or stir fried or can be used in small quantities in soups for providing a slightly bitter taste and flavor. Several researches have shown that bitter melon possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-obesity, antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities (Dandawate et al., 2016). It also considered as a potent blood purifying agent. Bitter melon has great therapeutic advantages and should be consumed by everyone to achieve a better health.
Nutritional fact
Bitter melon is considered as one of the richest sources of nutritional bioactive compounds, which make it healthier and responsible for providing therapeutic activities. These bioactive constituents include –
- Cucurbitane type triterpenoids, phenolic acids, saponin, flavonoids and triterpene glycosides
- Phenolic compound and flavonoids of bitter melon act as potent antioxidant
- It is rich in trace elements like iron, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium
- It also contains several vitamins such as Vitamin A, E, K, C, B1, B2, B3 and B9
- It contains too some extent of fatty acids and essential oil which are considered as good fat
- It contains trace amount of carbohydrate, hence its consumption is not linked with increasing glycemic load
- It also contains some proteins
- Recent researches have shown that it contains some isolated compounds named Kuguaglycoside C, Charantin, Karaviloside XI, α-eleostearic acid, Momordicoside Q–U and Kuguacin J which possess strong biological activities (Dandawate et al., 2016)
Health benefits of bitter melon
Role on regulating blood sugar level
- Bitter melon is composed of an insulin like substance called polypeptide-p or p-insulin, which shows significant effect on reducing blood sugar level
- It helps the body to utilize glucose properly for energy production hence reduces the concentration of free glucose in blood
- It helps to improve the symptoms of type 2 diabetes
- It has seen that individual who consumes bitter melon or its extract show significant reduction in fasting glucose level and HbA1c test
Role on preventing cancers
- Bitter melon extract helps to inhibit the growth of cancer cells by suppressing apoptosis, autophagy, metastasis of malignant cells and related with inducing cell cycle arrest
- It helps to inhibit stem cell cancer
- It has seen that consumption of bitter melon is more significant to reduce the prevalence of stomach, breast, pancreas, lungs and colon cancers
Role on immunity
- It helps to boosting up the immunological responses of the body (especially by enhancing the activity of natural killer cell) and hence reduces the susceptibility of developing infectious diseases
- It also helps to kill pathogens
- It is associated with reducing the number of living microbes (bacteria, virus and yeast) within host by inhibiting their growth and replications
- It also prevents allergies and indigestion
Role on skin
- Bitter melon promotes skin health and responsible for providing a glowing effect
- It has seen that it is associated with treating some skin disorders like eczema, acne and psoriasis. So, consumption of bitter melon especially its juice is beneficial to treat such condition
Role on preventing obesity
- Bitter melon is low in calories as it contains fewer amounts of carbohydrates and fats. So, consumption of bitter melon does not contribute too many calories whereas gives a feeling of stomach fullness and leads to reduce appetite. So bitter melon can be a healthy option for weight reduction diet plan
- It is also associated with promoting fat metabolism and prevents unnecessary fat accumulation within body that helps to prevent obesity
- It helps to increase the catabolic rate of body resulting in increasing energy expenditure that helps in weight reduction
Role on liver
- Bitter melon helps to promote hepatic health by promoting bile synthesis, which helps in emulsification process leading to proper fat digestion
- It is also associated with improving gall bladder functions
- It has seen that consumption of bitter melon extract helps to wipe out alcoholic intoxication occurred within liver
- It helps to reduce fluid retention
- Consumption of bitter melon is associated with reducing the prevalence of liver diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis
Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant property of bitter melon
- Bitter melon has strong antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties
- Basically, the peptide component of bitter melon seed is the principle anti-inflammatory factor that helps to prevent inflammation by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines
- It has seen that usage of bitter melon polysaccharide is associated with preventing gastric inflammation
- As mentioned above the phenolic compound and flavons of bitter melon show antioxidant activity hence it helps to reduce oxidative stress of the body by decreasing the concentration of free radicals
Role on regulating cholesterol level and cardiac health
- Bitter melon helps to reduce the concentration of bad cholesterol which include triglyceride, LDL and VLDL and thus helps to decrease the prevalence of atherosclerosis, leads to reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes
- It also helps to increase the level of HDL that helps to absorb cholesterol and transported it into liver. Liver then flushes it out from the body
- Anti-inflammatory effects of bitter melon are responsible for preventing inflammatory events of heart like ischemic heart diseases, thrombosis and protects the heart from injuries
Recommended dietary allowance
- The recommended dose of bitter melon is ranging from 3 to 15g per day
- Whereas, if any individual wants to consume fresh juice or bitter melon extract, then it is better to consume 50 to 100ml per day or if the extract is consumed with water (not raw), then it can be consumed up to 100 to 200 ml per day
Risk factors
- Though consumption of bitter melon is health worthy, but it is better to avoid during pregnancy as it may start menstrual bleeding and leads to abortion
- We know that it helps to reduce blood sugar level so, diabetic patient who take hypoglycemic drugs or insulin should monitor their blood sugar level carefully while consuming bitter melon otherwise it would cause severe hypoglycemia
- People who have glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (an enzyme required for carbohydrate metabolism) deficiency should avoid bitter melon consumption as it may cause favism. Favism is a disease characterized by fever, anaemia, headache, stomach pain and if it is not treated properly then it would cause coma and finally death
- It can interfere with the blood sugar control mechanism among those individuals who have faced recent surgeries. So, it is wise to avoid its consumption before and after two weeks of surgery
- Excessive consumption of bitter melon may develop some health hazards like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, vaginal bleeding and liver damages. So, it is better to consume it as per recommendation
- It has seen that bitter melon interferes with some drugs like bumetanide, chlorthalidone, bendroflumethiazide, ethacrynic acid, cyclopenthiazide, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide and chlorothiazide. So, individual who takes any of the above stated medicines should consult with physician before consuming bitter melon
Source:
Abd El, A.K.E.D., Hameed, A.T. and Abd El, H.M.H.A., 2018. Nutritive Value and Improving Palatability of Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia L.). Suez Canal University Journal of Food Sciences, 5(1), pp.57-67.
Dandawate, P.R., Subramaniam, D., Padhye, S.B. and Anant, S., 2016. Bitter melon: a panacea for inflammation and cancer. Chinese journal of natural medicines, 14(2), pp.81-100.
Fang, E.F., Froetscher, L., Scheibye-Knudsen, M., Bohr, V.A., Wong, J.H. and Ng, T.B., 2019. Emerging Antitumor Activities of the Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia). Current Protein and Peptide Science, 20(3), pp.296-301.
Hsu, P.K., Pan, F.F. and Hsieh, C.S., 2020. mcIRBP-19 of Bitter Melon Peptide Effectively Regulates Diabetes Mellitus (DM) Patients’ Blood Sugar Levels. Nutrients, 12(5), p.1252.
Kwatra, D., Dandawate, P., Padhye, S. and Anant, S., 2016. Bitter melon as a therapy for diabetes, inflammation, and cancer: a panacea?. Current Pharmacology Reports, 2(1), pp.34-44.
Raina, K., Kumar, D. and Agarwal, R., 2016, October. Promise of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) bioactives in cancer prevention and therapy. In Seminars in cancer biology (Vol. 40, pp. 116-129). Academic Press.
Saeed, F., Afzaal, M., Niaz, B., Arshad, M.U., Tufail, T., Hussain, M.B. and Javed, A., 2018. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia): a natural healthy vegetable. International Journal of Food Properties, 21(1), pp.1270-1290.
Tan, S.P., Kha, T.C., Parks, S.E. and Roach, P.D., 2016. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) bioactive composition and health benefits: A review. Food Reviews International, 32(2), pp.181-202.
