Bitter and other melons that can help diabetics

We've posted before about bitter melon and the potential benefits it has for diabetics, mainly because of its effect in slowing digestion and helping indigestion problems, and this is how it has been used in native medicine and widely throughout Asia.

A study of tribes in Pakistan, prompted because the older people who know all the herbal and native medicines are dying out and the young are not taking on the knowledge, found a type of melon from the bitter melon family in use.

In particular, the people and surrounds of the village of Dhibbia Karsal, a village in the south west of the Punjab Province of Pakistan were studied.  The area has a population of about 1 million people, average maximum temperature per annum of 47-degrees Celsius, and a strong tradition of herbal medicine and natural healing - through "hakims" or local healers.

Locally known as Tumba the older folk used the seeds, fruit and roots for stomach disorders, and it was also effective for constipation.   One of its active ingredients is momordicin, an this is the ingredient in bitter melon thought to be most useful for diabetic support because it is thought to slow digestion.

It brought to my attention that there is a wide variety of these melons - much broader than just bitter melon.  The family is the Curcurbitaceae (commonly referred to as the cucumber, gourd, melon, or pumpkin family) and it includes:

Major domesticated species (food plants): Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Cucumis melo (melon), Cucumis anguria (bur gherkin), Cucurbita (five species of squash & pumpkin), Momordica charantia (bitter melon), Sechium edule (chayote), Luffa (two species of loofah), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd), Benincasa hispida (wax gourd), Trichosanthes (two species of snake gourd), Telfairia (two species of oyster nut), Sicana odorifera (casabanana), Coccinia grandis (ivy gourd), Praecitrullus fistulosus (tinda), Cyclanthera pedata (slipper gourd), and Cucumeropsis mannii (white-seeded melon).

Medicinals: Bryonia (two species of bryony), Citrullus colocynthis (colocynth), Coccinia grandis (ivy gourd), Cucurbira foetidissima (buffalo gourd), Ecballium elaterium (squirting cucumber), Fevillea cordifolia (antidote vine), Gynostemma pentaphyllum (jiaogulan), Hemsleya amabilis (luo guo di), Momordica (a number of species including bitter melon), Sechium (two species including chayote), Sicana odorifera (casabanana), Siraitia grosvenorii (luo han guo), Trichosanthes kirilowii (Chinese snake gourd).

Number of these varieties aren't medicinal but the list gives you a clue where to start looking and experimenting with natural products which could help in relation to digestion and blood sugar uptake - that is, to slow down your blood sugar uptake by making one or more these part of your regular food plan.

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