Bitter Melon extract herbal supplement for blood sugar management, diabetes, benefits and side effects by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Bitter Melon extract supplement for blood sugar control, diabetes treatment by Ray Sahelian, M.D benefits and side effects, capsules

Bitter melon is a plant eaten and used medicinally in much of Asia. Bitter melon, also known as balsam pear or bitter gourd, is traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes in Asia, Africa, and South America. This medicinal plant is used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for various conditions, including blood sugar control. In the Philippines, bitter melon is known as Ampalaya, and widely used and advertised for its blood sugar lowering benefits. The botanical name of bitter melon is Momordica charantia. Recently in vitro studies has indicated that an extract from this plant is effective against breast cancer cells.
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Dietary Supplement
Bitter Melon has been used for centuries for its broad health benefits.

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Biter melon benefits
Bitter melon gets its name because it's among the most bitter of all vegetables, although it's also called African cucumber, balsam pear and bitter gourd. It is widely grown and used in India, Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Caribbean. It resembles a shriveled cucumber or gourd and the texture of the vegetable is described as being similar to both a cucumber and bell pepper. It's high in fiber and vitamin C. It also contains the B vitamins, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin and B6, as well as magnesium, potassium and zinc. Recent studies indicate that bitter melon, in addition to lowering blood sugar, can also lower plasma lipids and VLDL in diabetic animal models as well as animals fed a high-fat diet, suggesting an effect on lipoprotein metabolism. Bitter melon may also have some anti viral activity and anti-cancer potential.

Herbal Promise Cinnamon 6 with bitter melon- 750 mg

Cinnamon is one of the oldest remedies used in traditional Chinese herbalism. Recent studies show cinnamon (Cinnamomum aromaticum) supports healthy blood sugar levels when used as part of your diet, by activating insulin and glucose transport and improving glucose metabolism.

Additional herbs involved in sugar management include gymnema, prickly pear, fenugreek, and bitter melon.

Cinnamon 6 Supplement Facts:
Amount Per 9 Tablets:
Chromium picolinate - 450 mcg
Proprietary blend 6750 mg:
Cinnamon herb, Gymnema Sylvestre leaves (Gumar), Nopal (prickly pear cactus), American ginseng herb, fenugreek, and bitter melon extract.
All the herbs used in this product are either organic, wild harvested, non-fumigated, non-irradiated, pesticide free and/or non-genetically altered.

High Quality products formulated by a medical doctor
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Bitter melon mechanism of action
Bitter melon is known in South-East Asia as pare. There are several dozen active substances in bitter melon fruit. Compounds in this plant activate the enzyme AMPK, a protein that regulates the body's metabolism and affects glucose uptake. One of the compounds increases fatty acid oxidation and glucose disposal in the body.
Dr. Mon-Jia Tan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai isolated several compounds from bitter melon known as cucurbitane triterpenoids, and tested their effects on glucose (sugar) and fat metabolism in cells and in mice. When tested in muscle and fat cells the compounds stimulated the glucose receptor GLUT4 to move from the cell interior to the cell surface, thus promoting more effective glucose metabolism. Several of the tested compounds had effects comparable to those of insulin. Tests in mice of two of the compounds found that they promoted both glucose tolerance and fat burning, and one was particularly effective in promoting glucose tolerance in animals consuming high fat diets. Chemistry and Biology, March 2008.

Antidiabetic Activities of Triterpenoids Isolated from Bitter Melon Associated with Activation of the AMPK Pathway.
Chemistry and Biology. 2008 March. Tan Mon Jia, Ye JM, Turner N, Hohnen-Behrens C, Ke CQ, Tang CP, Chen T, Weiss HC, Gesing ER, Rowland A, James DE, Ye Y. State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
Four cucurbitane glycosides, momordicosides Q, R, S, and T, and karaviloside XI, were isolated from the vegetable bitter melon Momordica charantia. These compounds and their aglycones exhibited a number of biologic effects beneficial to diabetes and obesity. In both L6 myotubes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes, they stimulated GLUT4 translocation to the cell membrane-an essential step for inducible glucose entry into cells. This was associated with increased activity of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key pathway mediating glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore, momordicosides enhanced fatty acid oxidation and glucose disposal during glucose tolerance tests in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant mice. Cucurbitane triterpenoids, the characteristic constituents of bitter melon, may provide leads as a class of therapeutics for diabetes and obesity.

Bitter melon and blood lipids
Momordica charantia ( bitter melon ) reduces plasma apolipoprotein B-100 and increases hepatic insulin receptor substrate and phosphoinositide-3 kinase interactions.
Br J Nutr. 2008 Mar 5; Nerurkar PV, Lee YK, Motosue M, Adeli K, Nerurkar VR. Laboratory of Metabolic Disorders and Alternative Medicine, Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96816, USA.
Bitter melon juice is a potent inhibitor of apoB secretion and TAG synthesis and secretion in human hepatoma cells, HepG2, that may be involved in plasma lipid- and VLDL-lowering effects observed in animal studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of bitter melon juice on plasma apoB levels and hepatic insulin signalling cascade in mice fed high-fat diet (HFD). Female C57BL/6 mice (4-6 weeks old) were randomized into three groups receiving regular rodent chow, HFD and HFD+BMJ. The data indicate that bitter melon juice not only improves glucose and insulin tolerance but also lowers plasma apoB-100 and apoB-48 in HFD-fed mice as well as modulates the phosphorylation status of IR and its downstream signalling molecules. Investigating the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in amelioration of diabetic dyslipidaemia by bitter melon juice may lead to identification of new molecular targets for dietary / alternative therapies.

Breast cancer prevention or treatment
Bitter Melon Extract Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation by Modulating Cell Cycle Regulatory Genes and Promotes Apoptosis.
Cancer Res. 2010 Feb 23. Ray Ratna B, Raychoudhuri A, Steele R, Nerurkar P. Authors' Affiliations: Departments of Pathology and Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri and Laboratory of Metabolic Disorders and Alternative Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.
We have used human breast cancer cells, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and primary human mammary epithelial cells as an in vitro model to assess the efficacy of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extract as an anticancer agent. Momordica charantia extract treatment of breast cancer cells resulted in a significant decrease in cell proliferation and induced apoptotic cell death. Apoptosis of breast cancer cells was accompanied by increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and caspase activation. Subsequent studies showed that treatment of breast cancer cells inhibited survivin and claspin expression. Bitter melon extract treatment enhanced p53, p21, and pChk1/2 and inhibited cyclin B1 and cyclin D1 expression, suggesting an additional mechanism involving cell cycle regulation. Together, these results show that Momordica charantia extract modulates signal transduction pathways for inhibition of breast cancer cell growth and can be used as a dietary supplement for prevention of breast cancer.
Lead researcher Ratna Ray, Ph.D., a professor in the department of pathology at Saint Louis University, uses bitter melon in her stir fries but was surprised to find the vegetable’s extract also appears to “kill” breast cancer cells and prevent them from multiplying.

Bitter Melon plant research studies
Reduced Adiposity in Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia) Fed Rats Is Associated with Increased Lipid Oxidative Enzyme Activities and Uncoupling Protein Expression1
American Society for Nutrition J. Nutr. 135:2517-2523, November 2005
To further explore the antiobesity effect of freeze-dried bitter melon juice, activities of mitochondrial lipid oxidative enzymes as well as the expression of uncoupling proteins and their transcription coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-{gamma} coactivator-1 {alpha} (PGC-1{alpha}) were determined in diet-induced obese rats. Rats were fed high-fat diets to induce obesity, and the effect of bitter melon was assessed at doses of 0.75, 1.0, or 1.25% (wt:wt). In a dose-response experiment, bitter melon -supplemented rats had lower energy efficiency (g weight gained /kJ consumed), visceral fat mass, serum glucose, and insulin resistance index, but higher plasma norepinephrine than unsupplemented rats. The present results suggest that decreased adiposity in bitter melon -supplemented rats may result from lower metabolic efficiency, a consequence of increased lipid oxidation and mitochondrial uncoupling.

Ethnomedicinal uses of Momordicacharantia (Cucurbitaceae) in Togo and relation to its phytochemistry and biological activity.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Jan 4;96(1-2):49-55.
Beloin N, Gbeassor M, Akpagana K, Hudson J, de Soussa K, Koumaglo K, Arnason JT.
Biology Department, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont., Canada
Investigation of the traditional uses of Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae) - bitter melon - in Togo (West Africa) showed that it is one of the most important local medicinal plants both for ritual and ethnomedical practices. There was a high degree of consensus (>50%) for bitter melon use in the treatment of gastrointestinal and viral disease among 47 groups of village informants in the general population, while 19 traditional healers reported a larger and broader set of bitter melon uses. The use by informants in Gaur and Kwa language groups was not significantly different. Lyophilized bitter melon extracts prepared from accessions collected in Togo showed high antiviral activity (<5 microg/ml) against Sindbis and Herpes simplex type 1 viruses and anthelmintic activity against Caenorhabditis elegans at 500 microg/ml. Presence in the bitter melon leaves of the triterpene glycosides momordicins I and II follows biological activity of the plant extracts. However, momordicins were found to be anthelmintic but not antiviral. Traditional healers collected bitter melon plants in dry areas where momordicin content is greater.

Effect of Momordica charantia on lipid profile and oral glucose tolerance in diabetic rats.
Phytother Res. 2004 Nov;18(11):954-6. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Private Bag 0022, Botswana
In this study, the methanol extract of bitter melon fruit extract was administered to diabetic rats to assess the long term effect of the extract on the lipid profile and the oral glucose tolerance test. Treatment for 30 days showed a significant decrease in triglyceride, low density lipoprotein and a significant increase in high density lipoprotein level. A significant effect on oral glucose tolerance was also noted. Chronic administration showed an improvement in the oral glucose tolerance curve. The effect was more pronounced when the test was done in rats fed the extract on the day of the test compared with tests done in rats which were not fed the extract on the same day.

The effects of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extracts on serum and liver lipid parameters in hamsters fed cholesterol-free and cholesterol-enriched diets.
J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2004 Aug;50(4):253-7.
The hypolipidemic effect of dietary methanol fraction extracted from bitter melon (Koimidori variety), at the levels of 0.5% and 1.0%, was examined in male golden Syrian hamsters fed diets supplemented with and without cholesterol. The feeding of bitter melon at 0.5% and 1.0% levels in the diets for 4 wk tended to reduce food intake and growth, although there was no difference in food efficiency (weight gain/food intake). An effect of dietary bitter melon on serum triglyceride was not seen in hamsters fed diets free of cholesterol, while hypertriglyceridemia induced by dietary cholesterol was significantly lowered in a dose-dependent manner in those fed diets containing the bitter melon Serum total cholesterol concentration also tended to decrease in a dose-dependent manner following feeding of increasing amounts of bitter melon in the presence and absence of cholesterol in the diet. The effects of dietary bitter melon on liver triglyceride and total cholesterol levels were marginal, although dietary cholesterol caused a marked accumulation of these lipid molecules in the liver. These results suggest that the bitter melon contains some components that could ameliorate lipid disorders such as hyperlipidemia.

Bitter melon extract availability by herbal suppliers
Bitter melon extract is sold in a number of concentrations and extract potencies including a 10 to 1 extract concentration.

Supplement questions
Are bitter melon capsules standardized for MAP 30 content? If yes, what is MAP concentration per capsule or dose of the Himalaya Herbal bitter melon supplement product?
The Himalaya Herbal bitter melon product is not standardized to a MAP extract. There is, as of yet, no human research with bitter melon extract supplements for any length of time. Therefore standardization to any particular compound or substance within bitter melon does not seem to make any practical sense if there are no human studies to indicate one extract is better than another extract for standardization purposes, or better than the whole bitter melon herb.

Is bitter melon a cure for HIV? I take the following prescriptions for HIV: Kaletra and Didanose.
We have not seen any human research regarding the use of bitter melon supplements as a treatment for HIV.

Have been using the bitter melon suppliment going to one month. No major drop on my blood sugar level yet.
The first thing to make sure is that the product you are buying is from a reliable company. You could also discuss with your doctor whether a higher dosage may be worthwhile to try. Blood sugar variations occur on a daily basis and a one time test does not offer clear clues. Diet is the most important factor in regulating blood sugar levels, along with exercise.