Buy Organically Grown Bitter Melon Tea Bags or pieces.

The Bitter Melon from our farm has been chosen by researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica as a reference standard for anti-diabetic activity.

They plan to use our farm as a source of Bitter Melon for clinical trials and other research, owing to their exceptional quality, purity and effectiveness. We will post further information as it comes available. Read how its helping our customers manage their sugar levels.

Review of Bitter Melon research

1. A tonne of bitter melon produces sweet results for diabetes, 22 Mar 2008

Scientists have uncovered the therapeutic properties of bitter melon, a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine, that make it a powerful treatment for Type 2 diabetes.

Teams from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica pulped roughly a tonne of fresh bitter melon and extracted four very promising bioactive components. These four compounds all appear to activate the enzyme AMPK, a protein well known for regulating fuel metabolism and enabling glucose uptake. The results are published online today in the international journal Chemistry & Biology.

"We can now understand at a molecular level why bitter melon works as a treatment for diabetes," said Professor David James, Director of the Diabetes and Obesity Program at Garvan. "By isolating the compounds we believe to be therapeutic, we can investigate how they work together in our cells."

Read the rest online at: http://www.garvan.org.au/news-events/news/a-tonne-of-bitter-melon-produces-sweet-results-for-diabetes.html

2. Ratna B. Ray, Amit Raychoudhuri, Robert Steele, and Pratibha Nerurkar, Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia) Extract Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation by Modulating Cell Cycle Regulatory Genes and Promotes Apoptosis, Cancer Res first published on February 23, 2010

... Together, these results show that BME modulates signal transduction pathways for inhibition of breast cancer cell growth and can be used as a dietary supplement for prevention of breast cancer.

3. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Dec 10;126(3):533-7. Epub 2009 Sep 8., Fruit extracts of Momordica charantia potentiate glucose uptake and up-regulate Glut-4, PPAR gamma and PI3K., Kumar R, Balaji S, Uma TS, Sehgal PK.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the significance of Glut-4, PPAR gamma and PI3K up-regulation by Momordica charantia in augmenting the glucose uptake and homeostasis.

4. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 May 4;123(1):82-90. Epub 2009 Mar 6., Momordica charantia extract on insulin resistance and the skeletal muscle GLUT4 protein in fructose-fed rats., Shih CC, Lin CH, Lin WL, Wu JB.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates, for the first time, the beneficial effects of two different extracts of bitter melon on insulin resistance in rats fed a high-fructose diet thereby producing evidence of the role of changes in expression of PPAR gamma and GLUT4.

5. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2008 Aug;81(2):134-43. Epub 2008 Jun 11., Effects of Momordica charantia on insulin resistance and visceral obesity in mice on high-fat diet., Shih CC, Lin CH, Lin WL.

… This is the first report demonstrating that bitter melon, is a food factor, but not a medicine, itself could influence dual PPARalpha/PPARgamma expression and the mediated gene expression, is effective in ameliorating insulin resistance and visceral obesity.

6. Chem Biol. 2008 Mar;15(3):263-73., Antidiabetic activities of triterpenoids isolated from bitter melon associated with activation of the AMPK pathway., Tan MJ, Ye JM, Turner N, Hohnen-Behrens C, Ke CQ, Tang CP, Chen T, Weiss HC, Gesing ER, Rowland A, James DE, Ye Y.

… These findings indicate that cucurbitane triterpenoids, the characteristic constituents of M. charantia, may provide leads as a class of therapeutics for diabetes and obesity.

7. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2007 Dec;53(6):482-8., Extracts of Momordica charantia suppress postprandial hyperglycemia in rats., Uebanso T, Arai H, Taketani Y, Fukaya M, Yamamoto H, Mizuno A, Uryu K, Hada T, Takeda E.

8. Indian J Exp Biol. 2007 Dec;45(12):1055-62., Regeneration of beta cells in islets of Langerhans of pancreas of alloxan diabetic rats by acetone extract of Momordica charantia (Linn.) (bitter gourd) fruits., Singh N, Gupta M.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2007 Sep 24;7:29., An experimental evaluation of the antidiabetic and antilipidemic properties of a standardized Momordica charantia fruit extract., Fernandes NP, Lagishetty CV, Panda VS, Naik SR.

CONCLUSION: Our experimental findings with respect to the mechanism of action of MCE in alloxan diabetic rats suggest that it enhances insulin secretion by the islets of Langerhans, reduces glycogenesis in liver tissue, enhances peripheral glucose utilisation and increases serum protein levels. Furthermore, MCE treatment restores the altered histological architecture of the islets of Langerhans. Hence, the biochemical, pharmacological and histopathological profiles of MCE clearly indicate its potential antidiabetic activity and other beneficial effects in amelioration of diabetes associated complications. Further, an evaluation of its antilipidemic activity in old obese rats demonstrated significant lowering of cholesterol and triglyceride levels while elevating HDL-cholesterol levels. Also, the extract lowered serum lipids in alloxan diabetic rats, suggesting its usefulness in controlling metabolic alterations associated with diabetes.