You won\u2019t be bitter about this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A weird, warty vegetable is the latest darling of the wellness world, packed with antioxidants, nutrients and a bold flavor that\u2019s not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s only just now catching on in the US, the gnarly green gourd has been a staple of Eastern medicine for thousands of years \u2014 helping fuel some seriously long lives. <\/p>\n
The green gourd has been used as an ancient remedy for thousands of years. Andri \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
Just look at Okinawa, Japan, one of the world\u2019s five original \u201cBlue Zones<\/a>,\u201d known for its exceptional longevity.<\/p>\n Bitter melon is a dietary staple in the prefecture, where residents have far lower rates of heart disease, cancer and obesity than Americans \u2014 and women live longer than anywhere else on Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a reason why foods like bitter melon have been preserved and passed down for generations in a place like Japan. They intuitively knew that this food was somehow good for you,\u201d Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN\u2019s chief medical correspondent, said on his show \u201cChasing Life<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Bitter melon, a member of the squash family, is commonly grown in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. <\/p>\n It primarily comes in two forms: the Chinese variety, which is long, pale green, and covered in wart-like bumps; and the Indian variety, which is slimmer, with pointed ends and a rind lined with sharp, jagged spikes.<\/p>\n Known for its intensely bitter taste, the gourd isn\u2019t just for culinary adventurers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great option for those looking to fight disease through healthful food choices,\u201d Beth Czerwony, a registered dietician, told the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. <\/p>\n The bitter melon is also known as bitter gourd, bitter squash, Goya melon, karela and balsam pear. Onuchcha \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Bitter melon is loaded with vitamin C, the immune booster that helps heal wounds and keeps cartilage, bones, teeth and skin healthy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also packed with vitamin A, great for your vision and reproductive health, plus essential minerals like calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus.<\/p>\n The veggie is high in dietary fiber too, helping promote satiety, slow digestion, and support weight management. It may help prevent blood sugar spikes as well. <\/p>\n \u201cBitter melon also has its own version of insulin, a chemical called polypeptide-P,\u201d Czerwony said. \u201cResearch has shown<\/a> that polypeptide-P may help regulate and lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n In one study<\/a>, patients with type 2 diabetes who took 2,000 milligrams of bitter melon daily for 12 weeks saw their blood sugar levels drop significantly compared to a control group. <\/p>\n In studies, the bitter melon has been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels. Proxima Studio \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Bitter melon is also known for its potential to help lower cholesterol. <\/p>\n Research suggests<\/a> it may reduce levels of LDL, or \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol, which can cause fatty plaque buildup in the arteries and increase the risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n And if it\u2019s immune-boosting potential wasn\u2019t enough, scientists have found that bitter melon may also inhibit the growth of certain bacteria and viruses<\/a>. <\/p>\n In lab studies, its pulp and seed extracts have shown promise in fighting a variety of pathogens, including E. coli, salmonella, herpes viruses and malaria parasites<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bitter melon might even pack a punch against cancer.<\/p>\n One test-tube study<\/a> found that bitter melon extract effectively killed cancer cells in the stomach, colon, lung and nasopharynx.<\/p>\n The fiber in bitter melon may help support weight management. chathuporn \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Another combined lab and animal study<\/a> showed it could stop cancer cells in the mouth and tongue from growing, even causing some to die.<\/p>\n \u201cAll animal model studies that we\u2019ve conducted are giving us similar results, an approximately 50% reduction in tumor growth,\u201d Dr. Ratna Ray, co-author of the study, told Medical News Today<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cOur next step is to conduct a pilot study in [people with cancer] to see if bitter melon has clinical benefits and is a promising additional therapy to current treatments,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n But before you start loading up on bitter melon, be warned: too much can trigger some unpleasant side effects, including headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, indigestion, bloating and diarrhea. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking about taking bitter melon supplements, experts recommend checking with your doctor first, since they can interfere with certain medications and health conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pregnant women are also generally advised to steer clear. While more research is needed, some animal studies suggest bitter melon may increase the risk of miscarriage<\/a> and birth defects<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You won\u2019t be bitter about this.\u00a0 A weird, warty vegetable is the latest darling of the wellness world,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,1617,1835,137,1296,10485,490,532,555],"class_list":{"0":"post-90856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cancer","11":"tag-diabetes","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-heart-disease","14":"tag-longevity","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-nutrition","17":"tag-weight-loss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}