6 Reasons Why Bitter Gourd Is Sweet For Diabetes

By Kapiva Editorial

Diabetes has become an increasingly common condition that causes fluctuations in your blood sugar. It is estimated that around 422 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. Insulin, the hormone responsible for controlling your glucose levels at any given time, is impaired in diabetics.

While a healthy diet, exercise, and medication suggested by modern medicine is necessary to treat it, certain plants and vegetables with medicinal value have been proven to be effective against diabetes as well.

One such vegetable is the bitter gourd, aka karela for diabetes. While its bitter flavour might not be unpalatable to all, it is packed with vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, and B-vitamins. Antioxidants such as zeaxanthin and lutein mean it has a lot of health benefits as well. Let’s look at the benefits of karela for diabetes.

1. It Lowers Blood Sugar

low blood sugar

Want to control blood sugar spikes after meals? Go for bitter gourd for diabetes. Research shows that bitter gourd extracts inhibit the enzyme alpha-glucosidase, which breaks carbohydrates down from food into glucose. By doing this, the sugar released in your bloodstream is lowered significantly. Choose karela for diabetes management.

Green tea to control blood sugar? Yes, you heard it right! Enriched with the goodness of 13 ayurvedic herbs such as cinnamon, jamun seeds, licorice and others, Kapiva’s Madhu Tula – Blood Sugar Control Green Tea helps keep sugar levels in check with every aromatic sip.

2. It Prevents Insulin Resistance

blood sugar checking

Insulin resistance is one of the biggest issues for diabetics. This all-important hormone is responsible for regulating the glucose in your blood. How does bitter gourd for diabetes help? Studies have shown that it improves your body’s response to insulin, helping clear glucose from your bloodstream faster. Enjoy karela juice benefits for blood sugar control.

3. It Improves Glucose Tolerance

blood glucose levels

Bitter gourd can be hard to stomach for some people due to its taste, but it helps your glucose tolerance get better. This means your body can clear the glucose from your bloodstream faster, managing your blood sugar levels. You might be tempted to fry up your bitter gourd to make it more tolerable, and that certainly helps, but research shows that drinking juice of raw bitter gourd for diabetes helps you a lot more. So bottoms up!

4. It Mimics Insulin

health check blood sugar

Another of the potent karela juice benefits? It acts like insulin in your body. Yes, that’s right, extracts from bitter gourd juice have been shown to help your body use sugar as energy by moving it into your cells. So drink up the juice of bitter gourd for diabetes control!

If you aren’t a big fan of its bitter taste then why not consume it in capsule form? Kapiva’s Dia Free capsules contain gurmar with other ayurvedic herbs like karela, giloy, haldi, and kutki which help you maintain healthy blood sugar levels naturally.

5. It Stimulates The Release Of Insulin

karela for diabetes

Another one of karela juice benefits as a wonder vegetable for diabetes is that it triggers the pancreas into releasing insulin in your body. This in turn helps control your blood sugar levels. Try throwing it in a yummy stir fry to add to your meals!

6. It Helps With Diabetes-Related Complications

karela juice

Sometimes diabetes can cause complications other than unstable blood sugar levels. Bitter gourd for diabetes has been shown to help with this. Researchers think blood sugar levels can cause cataracts, but this anti-diabetic veggie may delay their formation. Diabetes is also known to cause nerve damage over time. A of the key karela juice benefits is that it not only helps lower blood sugar but also improves damaged nerves in diabetics.

Goodness Of Bitter Gourd In Easy-To-Drink Juice Form

kapiva dia free juice

If the peeling, cleaning and juicing routine is making you sweat, then sweat no further! Try the Kapiva Dia Free Juice – a traditional ayurvedic combination of karela, amla, jamun, and guduchi that regulates carbohydrate metabolism which keeps the blood sugar levels in check. Regular consumption of this wonder juice leads to overall nourishment and ensures better functioning of the body.

This information is part of the series produced for

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Kapiva Editorial

We are a team of food scientists and Ayurveda experts at Kapiva. Our mission is to raise awareness and educate people on ancient principles and herbs found in traditional texts. We work together to develop the most comprehensive content on Ayurveda which is grounded in peer-reviewed, scientific research.