The Benefit of Drinking Bitter Gourd Tea

The bitter gourd plant, or Momordica charantia, is a tropical perennial that produces a fruit resembling a cucumber with a warty skin. Also called bitter melon or bitter cucumber, you can brew tea from the fruit, leaves and stems of the plant or use bitter gourd extract to make a tea. Bitter gourd tea has several potential health benefits, although you should discuss its use with your doctor to determine if it might help you.

Components

The fruit and leaves of the bitter gourd plant contain several vitamins, including vitamins A and C and the B-complex vitamins -- water-soluble vitamins that are leached from the plant when you brew bitter gourd tea. Bitter gourd also contains a number of natural compounds with biological activity, including alkaloids, glycosides and triterpenoids. It also provides linoleic acid, an essential, omega-6 fatty acid and oleic acid, a healthy, unsaturated dietary fat. Compounds called vicine, charatin and polypeptide-P that affect how your body manages carbohydrate nutrients are also found in bitter gourd.

Blood Sugar and Diabetes

According to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, bitter melon increases uptake of blood glucose by your liver, fatty tissues and muscles, stimulating these tissues to convert glucose into glycogen, its storage form. These changes tend to lower levels of blood glucose. This helps lessen the demand on your pancreas for insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar, and may improve your glucose tolerance. Overall, compounds in bitter gourd improve glucose management and might lower your risk of developing diabetes or help regulate your blood glucose if you already have the disorder.

Cancer

Some of the compounds in bitter melon might also suppress growth of certain types of cancer cells, according to the Cancer Center, which cites several research studies suggesting this. In one study, published in "Anticancer Research" in 2000, researchers tested the ability of a compound from bitter gourd to affect growth of highly malignant human breast cancer cells in culture and in laboratory animals. They found the compound inhibited division of the cultured cells and suppressed expression of cancer-associated genes. In laboratory animals with tumors, administration of the compound extended survival times significantly. While promising, these results still need to be confirmed by trials with human subjects.

Precautions

Dried bitter gourd and bitter gourd extract are available at most health food stores. You can brew bitter gourd tea by infusing dried leaves and fruit in boiling water for five to 10 minutes or by adding bitter gourd extract to preheated water. Although generally considered safe, do not consume bitter gourd if you are pregnant, since it can induce contractions. It may also interact with some medications, especially insulin or other diabetes medicines. If you are diabetic, do not self-treat with bitter gourd tea; talk to your doctor to determine if it might help you.

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