Overweight, ignorant and 55 plus, I was a hard-core sugar addict living in the fast lane to diabetes disaster. My left foot began to hurt with strange burning and tingling sensations. A friend at work who had lived with diabetes for years said “Those are diabetes symptoms. You better get to a doctor–fast!”
I was scared. I found out that my blood sugar was elevated, but not to the extreme that classifies me as a diabetic. I was what doctors today call “pre-diabetic.”
On my journey to know the truth, i found diabetes is a complex health challenge. There is no cure. The experts contradict each other. The diagnosis and treatment of diabetes is a global, multi-billion dollar industry. As I gazed upon this man-made chaos, I decided to try nature first.
Why Should You Be Interested in “Bitter Melon”?
Bitter melon is a gourd-shaped fruit that looks like a light green cucumber. Though technically it’s a fruit, I will be referring to it as an herb. Many people do searches like “herbs for diabetes” or “herbs for blood sugar.” So I’m taking the liberty of calling bitter melon an “herb” for their sake.
Rather than bore you with studies and statistics like many articles do, let me jump to the good news! This wonderful herb, bitter melon, works! It changed my life! I will tell you all about it.
Take a few hours to research it on the internet. Read the book Ampalaya by Frank Murray. Available on Amazon, it is an excellent summary of the medical and anecdotal evidence in favor of bitter melon as a treatment of diabetes mellitus stage 1 and stage 2 as well as pre-diabetes.
Do whatever it takes to convince your head that bitter melon just might work for you. Then, assuming you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, take a deep breath and make the leap. Try bitter melon for at least two weeks, preferably a month, before you decide if it’s helping you or not.
Encouraged by a friend with a pharmacology background who successfully gave up insulin and now controls his diabetes with bitter melon, I boldly went where I had not gone before. I started taking an average of five 1,000 mg. tablets a day. These big green tablets contain an extract of 1% Charantin, the active ingredient as established by laboratory studies. Within a week, my foot was better. I started thinking “Maybe with the help of bitter melon, I can avoid diabetes!”
So What Happened?
That was six months ago. Do i have pre-diabetes or diabetes now? I’m thrilled to say, nay, shout it to the world: I don’t have diabetes at all! What i do have is still a slightly elevated blood sugar level that is within normal range. Not only am I not diabetic, I’m not pre-diabetic either.
I never got to the diabetic stage, so I can’t give you a success story of how i overcame diabetes with bitter melon. But I can tell you it was a miracle herb for someone with pre-diabetes–me! In my opinion, would it help with full-blown diabetes? Yes, absolutely! Just about any adult with a form of blood sugar imbalance, with some kind of glucose intolerance, should try bitter melon.
Case in point: myself, again. I had been diagnosed with hypoglycemia–low blood sugar–long before the pre-diabetes arrived. One source cautioned that bitter melon might be too much and lower my blood sugar too far too fast. Bitter melon has instead been the perfect balancing act.
Mind you, I still check my blood sugar regularly at home. I still go to my doctor. That’s just part of life, especially when you’re my age. For me, bitter melon is the wonder herb that kept me out of that long sad slide into full-blown diabetes with potential symptoms like blindness.
How to Take Bitter Melon
Nowadays I take one tablet with meals and any other time I feel the need for it. I’m not the only person I know who can tell by subjective sensations like light-headedness or sluggishness that their blood sugar is out of whack. My policy: when in doubt, pop a blitter melon pill.
In the Phillipines and other countries like India where it is grown locally, people take it as a tea, eat it as soup or drink the fresh juice. The bitter melon does actually taste bitter. Frankly, I like to bite my tablets in two because I like this melon’s uniquely bitter flavor. I am not usually a fan of bitter foods, but I love the taste of this stuff.
Should you take 5,000 mg. a day like I do? I don’t know. Based on what I’ve learned, that’s a little high, though I haven’t had a problem with it. I intend to take bitter melon for the rest of my life. It is also said to assist in weight loss by curbing the appetite–so what’s not to like?
I’ve lost a few pounds since I started taking bitter melon. I can’t say if it’s the bitter melon or the changes I made in my diet, or both. Now I eat rye instead of wheat bread (rye has a lower “glycemic index,” so less of an impact on my blood sugar). My sugar intake is less than half of what it was. For example, I used to eat lots of ice cream. Now I never do. Sometimes I substitute frozen yogurt or sherbert, but it seems the cravings have disappeared. Bitter melon?
What to Get and Where to Get It
The scientific name for bitter melon is momordica charantia. It also goes by the names of ampalaya, karela and bitter gourd, depending the region of the world it is grown.
If you want to try bitter melon in all its naked, natural, bumpy glory, you may be able to find it at your local Asian food store. Some say a fresh concoction made from the fruit is the best way to take it.
You don’t have to spend alot of money. For example, you will find reliable suppliers of high quality bitter melon herb (fruit) on Ebay. The auction descriptions can be very informative, too.
Don’t forget your local dollar store–in my neck of the woods, they carry a variety of herbs, including bitter melon. Obviously, the price is right!
Some sellers of the herb will try to convince you that you need the “whole herb” and not just the extract that I used, Charantin. Note that their products are usually way more expensive.
Based on my limited experience, you don’t need anything fancier or more costly. But then I only had pre-diabetes. For diabetes stage 1 or stage 2, it is possible there are hidden benefits to the more complex, synergistic delivery of the powdered whole fruit or other more “pure” form.
Anything Else You Should Know?
Another herb often recommended for reducing high blood sugar, such as is found with diabetes, is gymnema leaf (gymnema sylvestre). That herb crashes my blood sugar faster than a falling meteor. I still have a big bag of it I haven’t used. But others swear by it, even prefer it to bitter melon. Other supplements to check out if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes: cinnamon, fenugreek, chromium picolinate, nopal (prickly pear), American ginseng.
The bitter melon product I take includes 50 mg. of American ginseng extract in each tablet. Since I take 5 tabs a day, I am also taking 250 mg. of ginseng a day–a significant amount.
In addition to bitter melon, I take daily two 610 mg. caps of fenugreek and two 500 mcg. caps of chromium picolinate. My source for these products is http://www.doctorstrust.com (no, that is not an affiliate link!). I have ordered from them for years. The quality is high. The price is low.
If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, you should not take bitter melon. There is also research suggesting that it lowers fertility in both men and women. Bitter melon can intensify the effects of insulin and drugs for diabetes and for lowering cholesterol, so consult with your doctor if you take those medicines. Finally, some sources say avoid bitter melon if you have liver disease, but others say take it if you have liver problems. The research is mixed on that issue, so play it safe.
Some people take bitter melon for chronic fatigue issues. While I have never been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, I have had a life-long energy and stamina challenge that kept me out of sports and kept me in a sitting or reclining position. Since starting bitter melon with American ginseng, my energy level has been through the roof. I feel great!
My chronic digestive problems are gone, too. Imagine my surprise when I did some more checking and learned that bitter melon helps with digestion! This melon is bitter, but its benefits are sweet! By the way, all these results are ancient news to the native cultures who use bitter melon.
You should, of course, consult with your doctor and take bitter melon only with his or her permission. But if you insist that you want to take natural herbs and supplements for your diabetes or pre-diabetes, the typical mainstream doctor may keep a closed mind and say “No!”
Conventional doctors have no training in herbs. Instead, locate an holistic physician in your area. The American Holistic Medical Association maintains a list. To find the AHMA and similar resources try search terms “find holistic physician directory” on Google or another search engine. You may also want to explore options like naturopathy and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Bitter melon is known for helping with other conditions besides pre-diabetes and diabetes, such as cancer, leukemia and HIV. I’d say if it helps with those extremely serious conditions, it’s pretty powerful stuff! However, most of the limited research on bitter melon has been on diabetes.
Bitter melon is supposed to give support to the pancreas and improve glucose tolerance, which would certainly explain why it helps with diabetes and pre-diabetes. Its incredients include natural equivalents to insulin. Definitely my experience is that bitter melon is a powerful yet harmless life-changing herb. Though I have a long history of being very sensitive to drugs and herbs, I have encountered no negative effects of any kind.
One more thing. I hate needles, and the notion of shooting up with insulin was both terrifying and depressing. In my case bitter melon appears to have prevented diabetes–and the need to stick myself with a needle every day just to get through the night. Also, insulin is not a cure. If anything is a genuine cure for diabetes, my money is on… bitter melon!
A Happy Ending
How’s my left foot, you ask? Pretty darn good. Sometimes it hurts a little, sometimes it has a little less feeling compared to my right foot, but it’s been doing that for over a decade. Typical diabetes symptoms like very painful burning numbness and excruciating tenderness to the soles of my feet when I stand or walk for ten minutes or so are gone and have not come back.
Scientific studies confirm that bitter melon can reduce the need for insulin and perhaps completely eliminate the need for it. Obviously, you should work in cooperation with a licensed medical professional when you start taking bitter melon for diabetes or pre-diabetes.
What if your physician doesn’t want to cooperate with you?
If he or she won’t support your efforts to help yourself with bitter melon, find a qualfied medical professional who will.
Take charge! It’s your body! It’s your health! It’s your life!
Using my body as a guinea pig, I proved that bitter melon deserves its reputation for safely, easily and naturally balancing blood sugar levels. The anecdotal evidence from around the world that bitter melon can help cure diabetes is based on fact. Bitter melon changed my life for the better. It can change yours, too.
It’s been a delight telling you about my successful healing journey. Please give bitter melon a full 30-day home test if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes. You’ll be glad you did!
