Bitter cucumbers work against high blood sugar levels

Hypoglycemic effect: Positive effects of bitter cucumber

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 350 million people worldwide are already affected by diabetes. The number of patients continues to rise massively. Those affected are usually recommended to have a healthier lifestyle, with nutrition playing a very special role. Researchers have now discovered that even the consumption of bitter cucumbers can positively influence the blood sugar level.

Get diabetes under control in a natural way

There are around seven million people with diabetes in Germany. Worldwide, about 350 million people are affected by the so-called diabetes. According to health experts, the disease can often be cured naturally, especially in the early stages. What is needed is a healthy lifestyle with adequate exercise and proper nutrition with fewer calories. Often already losing weight can normalize insulin levels. Certain foods are obviously of particular benefit to diabetics. Researchers have now discovered that eating bitter cucumbers can positively affect blood sugar levels.

Researchers have found that a bitter cucumber extract can significantly reduce fasting blood sugar in people with early diabetes. (Image: Silvia Bogdanski / fotolia.com)

Hypoglycemic effect of bitter cucumber studied

As the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) reports in a recent communication, a bitter cucumber extract can significantly reduce fasting blood sugar in people with early stage diabetes mellitus type 2 - so-called prediabetic.

Nutritionists were able to demonstrate this positive effect of the bitter cucumber in a randomized double blind trial in which the subjects were assigned to different groups using a random mechanism.

The results of the study have now been published in the international "Journal of Ethnopharmacology".

They are building on joint research in Giessen, Taiwan and Tanzania, where the blood sugar lowering effect of the bitter cucumber (Momordica charantia) has been studied over the past decade.

Dietary approach of particular importance to people in poorer countries

Like the leader of the study, Prof. i.R. Dr. Michael Krawinkel from the Institute of Nutritional Science of the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) explained that for ethical reasons, only subjects in the study who were in the early stages of diabetes mellitus and who did not require any drug therapy were included in the study.

The choice of this study group inevitably entails that the deviations measured are not very large. The more difficult it was to prove the effect. However, this was definitely achieved.

The study found that the effect on fasting blood glucose is greater the higher the baseline is.

For the scientists involved, this means that an even stronger effect can be expected for the group of diabetics than was observed in the prediabetic.

Since the dietary approach is of particular importance to people who do not have secure access to adequate drug treatment, the study was conducted in the city of Moshi, Tanzania, at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center.

Several components responsible for the effect of bitter cucumber

According to the university's announcement, chronic non-infectious diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, have become more prevalent worldwide over the last few decades because dietary habits have changed.

This poses enormous challenges not only to individuals and their families, but also to decision makers in low-income countries.

This indicates the importance of prevention and treatment through a diet that prevents diabetes and its consequences. In addition to general rules, special vegetables can play a special role in this diet.

Although the bitter cucumber (English 'karela' or 'bitter melon') affects the blood sugar, has been known for some time, but so far there was no study that could scientifically prove the effect as significant.

For comparison, the research material from bitter cucumber and cucumber was produced at the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan, where preliminary studies were also carried out in cooperation with the International Nutrition Working Group of the Giessen Institute of Nutrition Science.

These showed that it is not a single active substance but several components that are responsible for the effect of the bitter cucumber. (Ad)