5 Surprising Benefits of Bitter Melon

By Alex Assoune Mar 16, 2021

Bitter melon is also known as bitter gourd. It looks like cucumber having gourd like bumps all over. As the name suggest, this vegetable is a melon which has a bitter taste. There are mainly two varieties of this vegetable. One that grows around 20cm long and pale green in color and oblong in shape and the other that is small in variety. The smaller one is oval and is dark green in color. Both these types have seed which are white when unripe and red when ripe. The vegetable and fruit become reddish orange when it is ripe. During this time, it becomes even bitterer.

Due to the bitterness, many people are unable to consume bitter melon. However, if you are able to handle the bitterness, you can enjoy several benefits of bitter melon. Take a look at the enormous amount of health benefits that it has to offer.

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Treats Diabetes

Bitter melon is known to be one of the best fruits when it comes to managing diabetes mellitus because of certain reasons. There are considerable levels of charntin. This is actually peptides which resembles insulin. It also has alkaloids with the fleshy fruit like bitter melon. These elements help to reduce the blood sugar levels. Bitter melon helps in preventing unpredictable spikes and drops in insulin level simply by regulating the metabolism and the use of sugar that your body has consumed. This is a potent hypoglycemic agent. Thus, avoid using it if you are taking medicines for the purpose of reducing your blood sugar levels.

Improves Immune Function

Bitter melon is known to be a source of various different antioxidants which it makes it a powerful defense against any type of illness. Anti-oxidants scavenge the body for the dangerous compounds and free radicals which is released during the time of cell metabolism which can cause various illnesses. If you add bitter melon to your diet, you will be able to improve your chances of combating various illnesses. This includes kidney damage, heart attack, and also liver failure.

Prevents Cancer

The antioxidants that are present in bitter melon will enable you to seek out and also destroy free radicals that can cause a disease. This includes various forms of cancer. However, this isn’t the only benefit that the fruit has when it comes to cancer. Bitter melon is an extensively studied as an anti-carcinogenic and anti-tumor agent along with its proper autoxidizing properties. These studies have shown a positive correlation in between reduction or prevention of cancer of prostate, cervical, or breast cancer and eating bitter melon. Some of this is because of the ability of the fruit to induce apoptosis in the cancerous cells. Nonetheless, more studies are being performed to find out more about bitter melon’s anti-cancerous properties.

Relief from Asthma

There have been numerous studies which show that bitter melon helps you to get relief from respirational problems such as bronchitis, asthma, and hay fever. It has suppressant, anti-histamine, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral properties. These properties make it the perfect booster for any respiratory health issues. If you suffer from any of these problems, you should take some bitter melon before going to bed. This way the soothing effects will occur when you sleep.

Maintains Skin and Hair

If you want flawless skin, make bitter melon your best friend. It has been noticed that bitter melon has powerful anti-oxidants apart from the vitamins. This helps in preventing premature skin ageing. Moreover, it also helps to reduce wrinkles. If you have bitter melon, you can reduce acne. It will also help with the help with the treatment of psoriasis and eczema. It will also protect your skin from the harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun.

The nutrients such as zinc, vitamin A and C, and biotin offer luster and shine to your locks. Moreover, if you are able to apply the juice of bitter melon to your scalp on a regular basis, it will prevent your hair from greying. It also treats your hair loss. You can either apply just bitter melon juice or mix it with curd for your hair loss. It is capable of treating the problem of dandruff.

Apart from these, there are various other benefits of bitter melon. For instance, it cleanses the liver, helps with weight loss, and also lowers your bad cholesterol level. However, make sure that you do not consume bitter melon when you are pregnant as it might stimulate excessive menstrual bleeding. Moreover, do some research before having bitter melon when you breastfeed. As it acts actively to reduce blood sugar level, you need to avoid it before and after any surgeries.

This is a guest post by Holly Klamer from CalorieSecrets.net

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