Bitter gourd predominantly grows in tropical areas, including parts of Asia, East Africa, the Caribbean, and South America, where it is used both as food as well as a medicine. The plant's fruit truly lives up to its name, because it really tastes bitter. Although the seeds, leaves, and vines of this fruit have different uses, the fruit is considered as the safest and most predominantly used part of the plant in traditional herbal medicine.



Bitter Melon, also known as Karela, Momordica Charantia or Bitter Gourd is a herb that helps regulate blood sugar levels and keeps body functions operating normally. It contains Gurmarin, a polypeptide considered to be similar to bovine insulin, which has been shown in experimental studies to achieve a positive sugar regulating effect by suppressing the neural response to sweet taste stimuli. Karela's principle constituents are lectins, charantin and momordicine.

It has also been thought that Bitter Melon may help in the treatment of HIV, but the evidence thus far is too weak to even consider. The ripe fruit of Bitter Melon has been suggested to exhibit some remarkable anti-cancer effects, but there is absolutely no evidence that it can treat cancer. However, preliminary studies do appear to confirm that Bitter Melon may improve blood sugar control in people with adult-onset (type 2) diabetes.

Bitter melon is a herbaceous tendril-bearing vine that bears small leaves, yellow flowers and fruity gourds shaped like cucumbers. The light green fruit is eight to 12 inches long and ridges punctuate the fruit's exterior. The flesh is thin and surrounds a cavity of seeds and pith. Before the fruit ripens, seeds and pith are white. In this state, they are not bitter and for culinary purposes, are removed before cooking.

The juice of bittergourd is rich in minerals and vitamins. It can do wonders to improve hypertension and other complications. The best time to take this juice is right in the morning. Also, two chunks of garlic to chew with the help of little water is similar to a juice. Curd helps better functioning of pancreas.

It differs from conventional medicine in the basic principles of investigation and assigning causes to processes rather than specific areas of physiology. The increasing awareness of herbal medicines in Western markets such as USA, UK, Canada and Japan and the technological advancements in biotech industry were two major reasons which compelled us to offer a platform like this.

At least three different groups of constituents in Bitter Melon have been reported to have hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering) or other actions of potential benefit in diabetes mellitus. These include a mixture of steroidal saponins known as charantin, insulin-like peptides, and alkaloids. It is still unclear which of these is most effective or if all three work together. Nonetheless, Bitter Melon preparations have been shown to significantly improve glucose tolerance without increasing blood insulin levels, and to improve fasting blood glucose levels.

Because of the high cholesterol content, non veg food is not okayed by Ayurveda. A 100 gms of Mackerel contains 95 mgs of cholesterol, haddock 65 mg, tuna 63 mg , halibut 50 mg, beef 70 mg, chicken 60 mg and pork 70 mg. And when the comparison is made based on calories, fish ( 50mg/100 calories) is much higher in cholesterol than pork (24mg/100 calories), beef (29 mg /100 calories) or chicken (44 mg /100 calories). Animal protein causes osteoporosis or bone loss. Fish contains neither fibre nor carbohydrate.