Bitter melon grows in the tropical and subtropical areas of the East Africa, Asia, India, South America and the Caribbean. It is used traditionally as both food and medicine in all of these areas. Momordica charantia goes by many names and is known as bitter melon, bitter gourd, balsam pear, karela, and pare. Most Westerners will identify bitter melon as looking like a pale green or green cucumber with warts. Indian varieties may be whitish to gray-green, as well. Commercial cultivars can range up to a foot or more in length, whereas wild bitter melon varieties may measure only an inch or so, more than making up for their small size with greater bitterness and intense flavor. The gourd becomes more bitter as it ripens. As a food, unripe bitter melon is used fresh in salads, cooked into soups and curries, employed as a flavoring for eggs, meat and so forth.

Long popular as part of the cuisine of South Asia and China, bitter melon today is conquering new gastronomic territories. Okinawans, renowned for longevity, are extremely fond of a small local variety reputed to confer health benefits. From Okinawa and other sources, bitter melon is becoming increasingly widespread on the Japanese mainland. This reflects an East Asian trend typical of Korea as well as Japan: Highly flavored and colored nutrient-dense foods are being adopted as everyday sources of health. Hence black and red rice, black garlic, bitter melon and other such foods and condiments are being embraced.

A Plethora of Benefits
Almost every part of the Momordica charantia plant has been used in traditional medical practices, including not just the fruit, but also the leaves/vines, seeds and roots. Folk and traditional systems often suggest bitter melon for microbial infections, sluggish digestion and intestinal gas, menstrual stimulation, wound healing, inflammation, fever reduction, hypertension, and as a laxative and emetic. All these benefits are from a plant with fruit that has been proven safe by centuries of oral consumption. The only concern generally of note is that bitter melon seed consumption is not recommended for those seeking to become pregnant.

In South Asia, bitter melon is recommended to support immune health. Some of the effects are direct and some are indirect. Benefits include the inhibition of the growth of a variety of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and H. pylori. Extracts, similarly, according to in vitro studies, appear to have an impact on a number of viruses. For instance, bitter melon constituents may prevent viral penetration of the cell wall. Immune effects include support for healthy T-helper cell ratios, natural killer cell populations and related mechanisms.

With current problems involving overweight and obesity, some of the more attractive actions of bitter melon involve controlling weight gain in the face of the consumption of excessive calories. Animal studies have demonstrated that bitter melon can reduce insulin resistance and visceral obesity caused by a high-fat diet. Similarly, bitter melon may be protective against many damaging results of high fructose diets, including diet-induced hyperglycemia, hyperleptinemia, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. The American Medical Association currently is recommending that added sugars should not account for more than five percent of the diet, yet added sugar, especially fructose and “corn” sugars, are found everywhere in the American food supply, although often hidden. Bitter melon may offer some nutritional protection against these added sugars.

Traditional uses and preclinical research provide a very positive picture of bitter melon. Human trials have confirmed many of these findings. In clinical trials, the fresh fruit, its freshly squeezed juice and the homogenized suspension of bitter melon have led to significant reductions in both fasting and postprandial blood glucose. The caveat is that the successful trials in the literature as a rule have used almost exclusively fresh preparations. For whatever reasons, dry extracts have not fared well in clinical trials. Perhaps this is due to the fact that dry extracts usually are concentrated for charantins even though, according to some research, charantins, the saponins commonly selected for “standardized” preparations, may be inactive or only weakly active. Another possibility is that the most active compounds in bitter melon rapidly deteriorate in most dried powders and extracts.

If you like the taste of bitter melon, the success of freshly prepared materials in clinical trials is great news because it means that the vegetable may deliver not just a taste treat, but also health benefits when consumed raw and cooked in salads, soups, curries, egg and meat dishes, etc. There also remains another option. Recent research suggests that a special form of bitter melon, especially with proper handling, may deliver on the promise of the fresh material even when dried and delivered in capsules and tablets.

Sometimes Wild Is Better!
With many grains, fruits and vegetables, wild genotypes retain healthful qualities that have been bred out of cultivated varieties. For instance, Khorasan wheat (Kamut), a much older form of wheat, provides more protein, minerals and more complex carbohydrates with lower gluten levels than is true of modern wheat. Similarly, carrots initially most often were purple rather than orange because of the vastly greater amounts of phytonutrients in the form of anthocyanidins. Lettuce was more bitter, and so forth and so on.

With bitter melon, much the same is true. There are literally hundreds of different forms of bitter melon found in China and India. In many ways, the most interesting of these nutritionally are the “wild” forms found in India.

In a just published trial that did look at wild bitter melon, over a period of 60 days the effect of an extract from the wild genotype of bitter melon offered commercially under the name Glycostat proved to be more efficacious than the varietals typically used in Chinese and Indian preparations and certainly more consistent in influencing all the health parameters tested. Wild bitter melon was compared with two commercially available Chinese and Indian preparations in an animal model with a standard test called a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT). In this test, a fixed amount of glucose is consumed and then the amount that accumulates in the blood (Area Under the Curve/AUC) is measured and the change (delta) is calculated. A smaller change is good because it means that the body is rapidly taking the glucose into the tissues and that there is good insulin sensitivity. All the bitter melon extracts reduced the increase in blood sugar. However, wild bitter melon was superior to both the Chinese and Indian extracts and it was the only extract to deliver statistically significant results. Of particular note, this greater benefit was achieved without elevating insulin levels.

Other interesting findings included the wild extract’s significant influence on the nitric oxide system (influencing whether the blood vessels can dilate), a system that controls blood fluid volume known as the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and the closely related angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity. These three systems and activities influence blood pressure and cardiovascular health and in each of them, wild bitter melon either was the only extract that exhibited significant activity or it was more active compared to the Chinese and Indian extracts.

Concluding Thoughts
Bitter melon is yet another example of a traditional food and health aid that has made good when tested against modern Western standards. The benefits are real in areas such as blood glucose and blood pressure support—with the caveat that until now bitter melon needed to be eaten in large amounts or the freshly prepared juice consumed regularly in order for the benefits to be realized. Extracts and dried powders have been less successful, perhaps because unstable or for other reasons. A specially prepared wild bitter melon extract produced with special processing appears to have solved this limitation. Wild bitter melon extract supports both blood sugar and blood pressure health, all without the bitter taste.

Four humble herbs with an impressive history for helping people to improve their health and overcome disease include burdock root (Arctium lappa L.), sheep sorrel herb (Rumex acetosella L.), Indian rhubarb root (Rheum officinale L.) and slippery elm bark (Ulmus rubra Muhl.). A traditional herbal formulation made with these four herbs is gaining recognition as a good remedy for treating a wide range of health problems. The below information covers some of the impressive research on these four herbs and helps to shed light on how this synergist blend can afford so many profound health benefits.

BURDOCK ROOT(Arctium lappa L.) Not far from your doorstep, if you look, you can usually find the soft green leaves of burdock, common in most neighborhoods— and based on much scientific and historical data, the root of this plant can dramatically enhance your health by boosting your immune system, improving digestion and thwarting cancer in many different ways. Regularly incorporating burdock root in your daily regime may even be able to increase your lifespan based on anti-aging results found with animals. There are many other documented and accepted health benefits of regularly drinking burdock root tea based on the German Pharmacopoeia, including the relief of gastrointestinal complaints and bone and joint conditions.

Burdock root, also known as gobo or Poor-man’s potatoes, is an important food in Japan known for its many healing properties. Burdock root can safely be eaten as a root vegetable and is popularly eaten by Japanese people and sushi lovers of all nationalities. When grown in loamy soil, the root grows into a very long, creamy colored tap root similar in appearance to a carrot but much longer. It can grow deeper than most root veggies and is known as a good source of trace elements and minerals accessed from deeper soil layers. Unlike carrots and potatoes, burdock root does not contain starch it contains complex carbohydrates called fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) including 27–45 percent inulin. When people eat starchy roots, this causes a sharp rise in blood sugar and blood insulin levels. But burdock root provides the body with soluble fibers that do not affect blood sugar or blood insulin levels. This makes burdock root and FOS particularly beneficial for diabetics. FOS and inulin have many scientifically documented health benefits including acting as a beneficial prebiotic by feeding beneficial intestinal microflora (BIM) while also eliminating potential gut pathogens, optimizing colonic pH, boosting bone strength through increasing calcium and mineral absorption from food, supporting serum enterolactone and enterodiol concentrations, helping to control blood sugar levels and reducing cholesterol. Other foods that contain inulin include chicory root, onions, Jerusalem artichokes and bananas.

According to Bengmark (2005), researching out of the Institute of Hepatology, University College, London Medical School, U.K., inulin has prebiotic qualities and can affect intestinal immune cells and potentially repair the gut wall and thereby improve overall immune function. Several recent scientific studies have documented significant immune-enhancing effects of inulin and oligofructose.

Taking herbal formulas that contains burdock root, rich in natural oligofructose and inulin, have been found to afford many digestive benefits and favorable results have been shown with a number of digestive disorders according to Tamayo and colleagues (2000).

SHEEP SORREL (Rumex acetosella L.) Sheep sorrel is a common herb found abundantly at roadsides and is otherwise known as sour grass because of its tart leaves. The leaves are popularly used in herbal teas for rejuvenating health and cleansing toxins from the body. Sheep sorrel has powerful phytoestrogen activity (phytoestrogen means plant-estrogen) based on in vitro studies conducted by U.S. hormone researcher, Dr. David Zava in 1998. Sheep sorrel came in tenth out of 150 herbs tested for phytoestrogen activity; the list was headed by soy beans, licorice root and red clover herb, all legumes wellknown for their phytoestrogen activity.

Sheep sorrel is an important component of ESSIAC® tea and products, together with three other herbs, burdock root, slippery elm bark and Indian rhubarb root. Early research on sheep sorrel herb by famed Canadian nurse Rene M. Caisse and R.O. Fisher, M.D., in Ontario in the 1920s and 30s, found that sheep sorrel liquid extract given to mice with artificially induced tumors caused cancerous tumors to markedly regress and disappear. The other herbs in ESSIAC were said to help with cleansing and eliminating the dead cancer cells and other toxins from the system. Nurse Rene Caisse also reputedly had success with treating cancer patients with ESSIAC together with sheep sorrel extract—including one case cured and two cases improved accepted by a Cancer Commission set up by the Canadian Government in the 1939. There are many more anecdotal reports and some well documented cases of success with ESSIAC for dramatically improving people’s health very quickly.

Human clinical studies with other phytoestrogen-rich foods and herbs, such as flaxseed and red clover, have also produced profound anti-cancer results. For instance, clinical studies with breast cancer patients given muffins containing 50 grams of ground flaxseed daily (flaxseed contains phytoestrogens called lignans in its seed coat) versus placebo muffins (without flaxseed) conducted by Dr. Paul Goss, Dr. Lilian Thompson and colleagues in 2000 at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and a further clinical study conducted by these same researchers with post-menopausal breast cancer patients taking 25 grams of flaxseed daily documented significant anti-cancer effects within 30 to 40 days. A study done with a prostate cancer patient in Australia reported by Dr. Fredrick O. Stevens (1997) and a further randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study with prostate cancer patients conducted by Dr. Jarred and colleagues in England (2002) using red clover isoflavonoid extracts (160 mg/daily for only seven days in the case study and for 30–40 days in the clinical trial) have documented strong anti-cancer effects for red clover isoflavonoid phytoestrogens within days/weeks based on tumorectomies. There were no serious negative side effects noted in any of these studies.

Foods and herbs rich in phytoestrogens, such as flaxseed (lignans), burdock root (isoflavones), burdock seed (lignans), milk thistle seed (lignans), red clover (isoflavones), soybean (isoflaonves), kudzu root (isoflavones), etc., once eaten, are metabolized within the gut by beneficial intestinal bacteria and the isoflavonoids and lignans that they contain significantly increase serum enterolactone and enterodiol concentrations. According to research conducted by the Australian company, Novogen, certain phytoestrogen metabolites function to inhibit anti-apoptosis proteins in cancer cells thereby causing cancer cells to go through apoptosis or programmed cell death without harming normal cells. Simply put, phtoestrogen-rich foods and extracts can cause cancer cells to simply die and be cleansed from the body without causing terrible side effects. Many phytoestrogens have also been shown to stimulate beneficial anti-cancer enzymes. The powerful and safe anti-cancer activity of phytoestrogen-rich foods and herbs may help to explain the myriad anecdotal reports of spontaneous remissions in cancer patients and miracle cancer cures documented over the centuries with various herbs and herbal combinations. More research is needed in this area to clearly define the anti-cancer activity of different phytoestrogens.

Many foods, herbs and supplements contain beneficial phytoestrogens and other natural anti-cancer compounds that help to balance hormones in different ways. Sheep sorrel appears to be one that may have great promise for cancer patients. Further human clinical studies with sheep sorrel are needed to confirm the beneficial estrogen modulating and anti-cancer activity of its phytoestrogens and other active ingredients.

SLIPPERY ELM INNER BARK
(Ulmus fulva Michx. and U. rubra Muhl.) Slippery elm bark has a long history of use as a medicine and also as a food that can be eaten like gruel and is commonly made into lozenges for sore throats and coughs. The inner bark of this tree has been used as folk remedy for treating cancer and other conditions including: respiratory problems, throat irritation, fever, abscesses, dysentery, urinary and kidney inflammations.

Choi and colleagues (2002) at Pusan National University in Korea studied slippery elm bark and found that it exhibited dose-dependent peroxynitrite scavenging activities. According to Langmead and colleagues (2002) at the Academic Department of Adult and Paediatric Gastroenterology, London, U.K., slippery elm bark also exhibited potent antioxidant activity using in vitro tests based on chemiluminescence used to detect herbal effects on generation of oxygen radicals by mucosal biopsies from patients with active ulcerative colitis. These researchers concluded that slippery elm and other herbal extracts merit formal evaluation as novel therapies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Lans, Turner, Khan and Bauer (2007) report the use of Ulmus fulva Michx. in ethnoveterinary medicines used to treat endoparasites and stomach problems in pigs and pets in British Columbia, Canada. The authors note that Ulmus fulva, along with other plants used for this purpose, have mid- to high-level validity for their ethnoveterinary use as anthelmintics (deworming agents).

Five case studies of patients with psoriasis following a dietary regimen including a pinch of slippery elm bark taken daily with meals found relief of symptoms according to Brown and colleagues (2004) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, U.S. The five psoriasis cases, ranging from mild to severe at the study onset, improved on all measured outcomes over a six-month period.

INDIAN RHUBARB ROOT
(Rheum officinale L.)
Michael Castleman in his book, Medicinal Herbs describes rhubarb (medicinal rhubarbs, Rheum officinale and R. palmatum; and garden rhubarb, R. rhaponticum noted as having similar but less powerful action) as an odd plant: its roots are medicinal; its stems make tasty pies but its leaves are poisonous. He also notes that Chinese physicians have used rhubarb root since ancient times prescribing it externally as a treatment for cuts and burns and internally in small amounts for dysentery while large amounts have powerful laxative action. Formerly, the root was an important drug in many army camps, said to stop dysentry in its tracks. The active ingredients of Indian rhubarb root include emodin and aloe-emodin, rhein and other anthracene derivatives.

Conclusion: According to many studies, adding a time-tested herbal formula with these humble herbs to your daily menu may bring a boon to your health resulting in many immediately noticeable benefits to your well-being.

Formal clinical trials are warranted to evaluate the real anticancer effects of formulas containing these four herbs. Such clinical studies need to be carefully designed, placebo controlled clinical trials with cancer patients scheduled for tumorectomies but not receiving chemo or radiation, in order to avoid confounding variables from these treatments (i.e. similar in design to studies assessing the anticancer effects of flaxseed and red clover).

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