Bitter Melon Nutrients Fight Type 2 Diabetes Better than Prescription Drugs

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(NaturalNews) In a collaborative effort between the Chinese government and an Australian research institute, scientists have isolated four compounds in bitter melon that may account for the vegetable's utility as a diabetes treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.

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

"Chinese medicine is a very rich source for finding new therapies for diseases, including diabetes," said researcher Jiming Ye, also of Garvan. He noted that bitter melon has a long history as a natural diabetes remedy in China, and its use is described in texts nearly 500 years old.

"Bitter melon was described as 'bitter in taste, non-toxic, expelling evil heat, relieving fatigue and illuminating in the famous Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen (1518-1593), one of the greatest physicians, pharmacologists and naturalists in China's history," he said. "It is interesting, now that we have the technology, to analyze why it has been so effective."

In addition to relieving the symptoms of diabetes, bitter melon is used in traditional Chinese medicine to promote digestion, brighten the eyes and cool the body.

"Not just diabetes, [but] for people keep slim, weight loss - even for ... cholesterol," said Benny Fan of the Australian Chinese Medicine Association. Fan says he has been promoting bitter melon as a natural remedy for 25 years.

Researchers pulped approximately a metric ton of bitter melon and analyzed its chemical components. They identified four compounds that appeared to stimulate the activity of a chemical known as AMPK, which is known to help regulate blood sugar levels.

"When we give this compound to our mice just before a meal, we then give the meal, we find that they have a much more efficient removal of glucose from the blood compared to animals that have not been given the drug," James said.

The results of the study were published in the journal Chemistry & Biology.

In people with diabetes, the body is not able to move enough sugar from the blood and into the cells where it can be burned for energy. This problem arises either from a lack of insulin, a lack of sensitivity to the hormone, or both.

Exercise is normally prescribed as a part of diabetes treatment because it activates AMPK, which is known to help move glucose transporters to the surface of cells, where they can then grab the sugar out of the blood. In the current study, the compounds isolated from bitter melon had the same effect on AMPK as exercise. As a next step, the researchers hope to identify the chemical pathways through which this effect occurs.

The research into bitter melon was launched four years ago, when the Chinese government initiated efforts to form partnerships with Australian researchers into developing new diabetes treatments.

Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that the number of people with diabetes worldwide will increase from 171 million to 350 million by 2030. China is expected to have one of the world's biggest diabetes public health problems by 2025.

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