Sweet taste is so important to the joys of life that every small joy is amplified by the word “sweet”, be it “sweet pie” or “sweetheart” and when we are told no sugar or almost sugarless a lot of joy is snatched. Sweetness is the Raas (mucas) of life and it pains when someone is asked to curtail it. I always have a major issue when I get advice – cut on the small joys of life.
Bitter one taste we normally do not like and can it possibly counterbalance the “sugar” fault lines – my dear friends in white coats and I have a large fraternity of them and from some of them I have learnt a lot and will always be honoured by the fact I know them.
In ayurvedic method of eating the rule of eating always was start with thing and end up with a bitter thing. Some where down the times it got reversed in front of taste buds and slowly removed. One more reason to understand the importance of a sweet tooth as sheer human joy and how traumatic it is to human subconsciousness.
INSULIN RESISTANCE
Insulin resistance in layman's terms can be said when the body starts moving in a zone where the body is unable to manage sugar in any shape (and it comes from food), or drinks anything)—it is not a zero game –it means body’s capacity is declining in managing sugar successfully. And since that is not the reason for this topic we straight go to bitters.
The whole plant of Momordica charantia L. has been reported to have anti-diabetic functions, whereas bitter melon (also known as bitter gourds or balsam pears), i.e., the fruit of M. charantia L., are the most commonly consumed parts of the plant as food or herbal medicine.
There are enough animal and clinical studies to consider it established fact that bitter melon or Karela as we call it commonly reduces the sugar in blood serum.
The mechanisms underlying the hypoglycemic effect of bitter melon have been widely studied and explored in insulin-sensitive tissues, but mostly in the liver, the skeletal muscles and the adipose tissues.
Cheng et.el 2021 saw its effect on intestines insulin resistance and low inflammation and concluded it results in :
“In summary, BME contains components with insulin-sensitizing, insulin substitution, and GLP-1 secretagogue functions upon intestinal cells. The exact principles of bitter melon possessing these functions deserve to be identified. Meanwhile, these findings suggest that apart from absorbing bitter melon ingredients from the lumen for transporting to other organs through circulation, the intestines may actively participate in the hypoglycemic mechanisms of bitter melon. The interactions of bitter melon compounds with the intestinal epithelial cells in situ are likely a significant part in the hypoglycemic action of bitter melon.”.
Kok et.el (2018) working on other bitter hops (ah beer in summer) reached :
“Acute treatment stimulated GLP-1 secretion and enhanced glucose tolerance. Chronic treatment caused weight and fat mass loss, increased energy expenditure, enhanced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, normalized plasma lipids, and induced broad suppression of inflammatory markers. Chronic KDT501 treatment altered enteroendocrine hormone levels and bile acid homeostasis and stimulated sustained GLP-1 release. Combined treatment with a dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor amplified the incretin-based benefits of this pure isohumulone.”
And interestingly the gold standard treatment for all metabolic disease is Metaform – , a derivative of isoamylene guanidine present in French lilac and is bitter and authors had to wonder on dicthomy .
Or take Kalmegh/ Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) also called queen of bitters less globally researched because its growth is limited to India and Sri Lanka. Its active compound andrographolide is known for:
1. Its antidiabetic
2. It protects liver
3. It manages inflammation
4. It improves digestion.
And if we bring what we know of diabetes liver, pancreas, bile, and intestines are involved.
So taking bitters improves the quality of insulin resistance in the body and increases the window for enjoying more sugar.
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