Anyone with diabetes have

[thinkingagain]

Experience using bitter melon to lower their A1c ?

[samplegirl]

1. No never heard

of this. But would give it a go.
I have lowered my husbands through diet though,

[thinkingagain]

10. It's hard to keep my husband on track

He’s not really compliant or a very good listener he tries for a while and then gives up

[SheltieLover]

2. No but diabetes, prediabetes & nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are very common

This soleus muscle pushup l)(seated calf push up) is an amazing finding:

https://www.iflscience.com/doing-this-small-movement-while-sat-at-your-desk-can-boost-your-metabolism-and-burn-fat-65534

There has also been great research on taking supplements to regulate blood glucose. You can search these up if interested:

Ceylon cinnamon
Jerusaleum artichoke
Green tea
D3 & K2 (mk 7)

And on & on & on...

NYT recently published article about how walking just 2 minutes after meals significantly reduces blood glucose.

Dr. Berg has great nutrition videos online about diabetes.

I hope this is helpful.

Ps - not a doc or nurse here. Just sharing what I've found helpful.

[WhiteTara]

5. That is an exciting discovery

However, they emphasized that it wasn't as easy as it sounded. That was discouraging.

[SheltieLover]

6. If you look at images of soleus muscle in calf

And view videos online of how to do soleus pushups, I think it's pretty easy.

At least it's a win-win, can help, but sure can't hurt to try.

[WhiteTara]

7. I wonder why they made it seems so hard?

I thought that it seemed easy and I could feel the bottom muscle of my leg move...so I'm going to say, good, keep it up.

Thanks so much for the info! I'll let you know if it makes a difference in my beloved's diabetes II

[thinkingagain]

9. Interesting on the soleus muscle pushup

I might have to try it.
My husband Has tried the cinnamon and vitamin D without any real results. he’s been taking the bitter melon just recently and it looks like it might be helping. So I was trying to see if anybody else had any good or bad things to say about it

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. Berberine is supposed to help too

[MyMission]

16. I've been taking berberine for years

It's helped reduce my a1c and my fasting blood sugar levels and I'd recommend it.

I've been prediabetic for almost 20 years. My dad was type 2 diabetic, overweight.
I am not overweight, eat a very healthy diet and take berberine, which is probably why I have not progressed to diabetes. I'm battling my hereditary tendency. I try to count carbs and test my blood sugar, which also helps keep my numbers down. They wanted to put me on metformin 12 years ago but I discovered berberine, which can actually be taken with metformin from what I've read. I opted to just take berberine, and I know it's helped me, but I also need to really watch what I eat.

There was a prediabetic program at the Y, run by the hospital, I applied for years ago. I was rejected because I'm not overweight and one of the goals of the program was a 10-15 % weight loss goal, which they couldn't recommend for me. There was also diet and exercise support in this program. I was disappointed I couldn't participate. Lots of people with prediabetes can reverse it with diet and weight loss. I control it with diet and berberine.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. no. am alergic.

[mahina]

4. Not your question

but I was able to knock it back from borderline with an hour of exercise a day, 5x/week, just walking or swimming mostly. Been working with a nutritionist. The other thing that helped a ton was 22 g of soluble fiber a day, veggies and stuff. Psyllium husk in oatmeal to get it all the way to 22 grams when veggies didn’t get there. Tracked w MyFitnessPal.

i googled the search terms diabetes, bitter melon and PubMed to get abstracts from peer reviewed journal articles on the NIH. Here’s one

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12625217/

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia): a review of efficacy and safety
Ethan Basch et al. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2003.
Show details

Abstract

The pharmacology, clinical efficacy, adverse effects, drug interactions, and place in therapy of bitter melon are described. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is an alternative therapy that has primarily been used for lowering blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes mellitus. Components of bitter melon extract appear to have structural similarities to animal insulin. Antiviral and antineoplastic activities have also been reported in vitro. Four clinical trials found bitter melon juice, fruit, and dried powder to have a moderate hypoglycemic effect. These studies were small and were not randomized or double-blind, however. Reported adverse effects of bitter melon include hypoglycemic coma and convulsions in children, reduced fertility in mice, a favism-like syndrome, increases in gamma-glutamyltransferase and alkaline phosphatase levels in animals, and headaches. Bitter melon may have additive effects when taken with other glucose-lowering agents. Adequately powered, randomized, placebo-controlled trials are needed to properly assess safety and efficacy before bitter melon can be routinely recommended. Bitter melon may have hypoglycemic effects, but data are not sufficient to recommend its use in the absence of careful supervision and monitoring.

Here’s another one

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4027280/

Antidiabetic effects of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) and its medicinal potency

Baby Joseph and D Jini

Additional article information

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is among the most common disorder in developed and developing countries, and the disease is increasing rapidly in most parts of the world. It has been estimated that up to one-third of patients with diabetes mellitus use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. One plant that has received the most attention for its anti-diabetic properties is bitter melon, Momordica charantia (M. charantia), commonly referred to as bitter gourd, karela and balsam pear. Its fruit is also used for the treatment of diabetes and related conditions amongst the indigenous populations of Asia, South America, India and East Africa. Abundant pre-clinical studies have documented in the anti-diabetic and hypoglycaemic effects of M. charantia through various postulated mechanisms. However, clinical trial data with human subjects are limited and flawed by poor study design and low statistical power. The present review is an attempt to highlight the antidiabetic activity as well as phytochemical and pharmacological reports on M. charantia and calls for better-designed clinical trials to further elucidate its possible therapeutic effects on diabetes.

Keywords: Momordica charantia, Hypoglycaemic agents, Diabetes, Bitter melon, Medicinal plant, Bioactive compounds, Insulin, Glucose metabolism
1. Introduction

Diabetes mellitus is considered as one of the five leading causes of death in the world[1]. Diabetes mellitus is a major global health concerning with a projected rise in prevalence from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million in 2030[2]. It is a syndrome of disordered metabolism, usually due to a combination of hereditary and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia)[3]. Being a major degenerative disease, diabetes is found in all parts of the world and it is becoming the third most lethal disease of mankind and increasing rapidly[4]. It is the most common endocrine disorder, affecting 16 million individuals in the United States and as many as 200 million individuals worldwide. Diabetes has been a clinical model for general medicine[5]. Complementary and alternative medicine involves the use of herbs and other dietary supplements as alternatives to mainstream western medical treatment. A recent study has estimated that up to 30% of patients with diabetes mellitus use complementary and alternative medicine[6].

Medicinal plants and its products continue to be an important therapeutic aid for alleviating the ailments of human kind[7]–[9]. Herbs for diabetes treatment are not new. Since ancient times, plants and plant extracts were used to combat diabetes. Many traditional medicines in use are derived from medicinal plants, minerals and organic matter. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed 21 000 plants, which are used for medicinal purposes around the world. Among them, 150 species are used commercially on a fairly large scale[1],[10].

Momordica charantia (M. charantia), also known as bitter melon, karela, balsam pear, or bitter gourd, is a popular plant used for the treating of diabetes-related conditions amongst the indigenous populations of Asia, South America, India, the Caribbean and East Africa[11],[12]. Its fruit has a distinguishing bitter taste, which is more pronounced as it ripens, hence the name bitter melon or bitter gourd. Biochemical and animal model experiments have produced abundant data and hypotheses accounting for the anti-diabetic effects of M. charantia. In comparison, clinical studies with human subjects are sparse and low quality in design.

Diabetes mellitus is well known clinical entity with various late complications like retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, etc. Natural products are known to play an important role in pharmaceutical biology[13]. Specific plant knowledge may provide insight for strategic consumption and sustainable use. The alternate medicine system is now gaining momentum with the knowledge of active principles identified from plant species[14]. M. charantia has significant antidiabetic as well as hypolipidemic activity so that it can be used as an adjuvant along with allopathic treatment of medicine to treat diabetes as well as to delay the late complications of diabetes. In the present review, we have elucidated the possible antidiabetic activity of M. charantia and its medicinal potency responsible for the hypoglycemic activity.

There’s a lot more at the link or if you Google pubmed and bitter melon and diabetes. Good luck!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

8. Berberine is also used for sugar rediction too

My bsl is controlled so I dont need a suppliment. But if I do I'm going with berberine. Bitter melon did nothing for me.

[thinkingagain]

11. I will add berberine to the list of a possibility

If the results he’s been seeing in the last few days it’s very possible the bitter melon is helping. I hope so as long as it safe because it’s a lot cheaper than the medicine the doctor wanted to put him on

[thinkingagain]

12. He's not very good at exercising

He works such odd hours and everything is hard to be consistent plus the last time he so-called tried that he gained weight which was because it would’ve been turning the fat to muscle but he thinks his work is enough exercise He did promise to try and now he’s trying to do bike riding.


I thought I would ask if anyone had any info on it for them vs just what I found online.

Hubby had to get a new Dr recently
Who said his blood sugar is super high
while he has changed his diet some his at home blood sugar level has dropped a lot in just the last few days since he started taking the bitter melon.
The Dr wanted to put him on medicine that was $400+ Or $500+ Which we can’t do.
Bitter melon is fairly cheap
but I did my own research and a little nervous If I guessed his “dosage” right with it dropping so fast. I don’t want it to go dangerously low.

[Genki Hikari]

13. Never heard of it

But give it a try. It might work for you.

Some stuff, it's individual tolerances to things, anyway. Watermelon always makes my blood sugar soar. My likewise diabetic mother can eat watermelon all day, and her blood sugar doesn't take a hit. I can eat spoonfuls of peanut butter for lunch--no hit. My mother has a teaspoon of it, and her blood sugar is off the charts.

So all you an do is try out a modest portion, say 1/2 a cup of it. If it works for you, then it does.

The weird thing that works for me is a modest amount of agave sweetener a few times a week. As in whatever amount is in a recommended serving (1/3 cup) of NadaMoo vegan ice cream. If my blood sugar reacts badly to a new med, I eat some NadaMoo vanilla, and my blood sugar often stabilizes or even goes down.

Go figure.

[thinkingagain]

14. Interesting

I just assumed all foods same for all diabetics. Figure certain ones spike others don’t.
Thanks for the info.

[AllaN01Bear]

17. cant say i have .