I was on my sprout message board and someone said "Try Bitter Melon fruit, it sucks the sugar right out of you".

So I went online, and boy, it's exactly how this guy described it. Bitter Melon also comes in tea version and capsules. It's not cheap.

So I'm wondering if any of you have tried this or looked into this tea?

I'll give it a try if I see it near me in a store that sells all kinds of teas.

Mrs. D? Have you ever heard of this for diabetics? If I could get off of my diabetes meds, BOY WOULD THAT BE WONDERFUL. Not that I take a lot, but I'm all about non-meds, so this would be cool.


http://www.iherb.com/Charantea-Ampal...ags/11477?at=1

Hope some of you have heard of this tea (or capsules???).

Mel

Here is an article on how bitter melon works:

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Ne...l/23040802.asp

My understanding is that you have to have endogenous insulin.
Type II diabetics can burn out the pancreas and need insulin like you do Mel. This herb will only work when insulin is present, but having difficulty at the cellular level only.

This is another herb that has a long history of blood sugar effects:
http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetCo...chunkiid=21774

It never made to the "drug" stage tho. I worked on this herb when I was in college, doing the extractions for it, for the medicinal chemistry department. There was a grad fellow there from India studying it. So I have a nostalgic connection to it!

Mrs. D.

I clicked on the first link, read the article and DIDN'T UNDERSTAND ONE WORD. But that's okay.

then I clicked on the second link you provided and one paragraph popped out at me.

"If you are taking insulin or oral medications to reduce blood sugar levels, gymnema might cause them to work even better, potentially causing hypoglycemia. Therefore, you may need to reduce your dose of medication."

I take between 18 and 20 units of Lantus, and the people at Accord, and even my doctor told me I could get off Lantus and switch to an oral med any time I want because my diet is extremely supportive of good glucose control. My goal, and this will probably take awhile, is to get off ALL of it altogether. Might not get there, but I'll do my darndest.

So if you were me, which item would you try?

The Charantea, or the Gynmema. I mean, I'm not going to take big doses of anything, but I want to experiment. I have absolutely no signs of neuropathy since I began the methyl B-12 and my eye doctor has told me I have no signs of diabetic eyes so I'm good as far as that goes.

But I would LOVE to get off diabetic meds EVENTUALLY.

So, if you had to pick, which one could I try. The iherb one sounds the easiest to find.

I just came back from all the chinese stores in my neighborhood and only one sales person said "oh bitter melon tea, yeah we used to sell that, but no one bought it, so we don't carry it anymore".

So give me your best shot. I have no idea what it means by cellular level and endogenous insulin but if I can be a guinea pig for everybody on these forums, well I'm game!!!

lol
thanks much

Melody

I don't know, Melody.... I am not going to endorse any experiments with you. You just don't know how these things might work, etc. I just can't do it.

What happens with long term type II diabetes, is that the pancreas stops making insulin after a while...the cells that make it wear out. There is no way of knowing if you have that issue.
(endogenous means coming from your pancreas).

Most of the oral drugs work by stimulating the pancreas to put out "more" insulin. When that fails, finally, one has to go on insulin injection.

Ah, I get it. But my pancreas must be doing SOMETHING because 4 years ago I was on 4 pills a day of metformin, (as well as other oral stuff), and then I went on Lantus (46) with the metformin, then gradually went off the metformin because it killed my stomach, the no oral meds at all (for 4 years now) then slowly, I went lower and lower on the Lantus.

And since I've been told that if I continue to lose weight, I JUST MIGHT (but no one really knows), well, I just might be able to go off of everything. Of course, I have to be really thin, but at my age, well, don't think that's possible.

So I guess I have to choose either the tea or the iherb thing.

If I see the tea in a store, I'll try it for a week. I check my blood sugar so I know what I have to do.

MELODY THE EXPERIMENTER!!!!

lol lol lol

Mrs. D.

I took a walk to my local GNC (where I get my cranberry pills). I ask her about the charantea and the other thing you mentioned. She walks me over to this product called "SUGAR BALANCE".

Well, guess what? It has BOTH INGREDIENTS. It's also $28.99

So I'm about to buy it (You know me, I'll try ANYTHING within reason), and I look at the label. I ALWAYS look at labels. I once read that if you can't pronounce anything on a label, don't buy it.

I couldn't pronounce it. I didn't buy it.

I came home and typed it in google, and sure enough it's all over the place at different prices. The GNC site does not give you the list of ingredients.

This site does:

http://www.americandiabeteswholesale...ets/Detail.bok

It also says:

Sugar Balance by GSL combines herbs and nutritional supplements to increase the release of insulin from the pancreas and increase the number of insulin receptors, thus increasing insulin sensitivity. Its main ingredient is bitter melon extract, which contains an insulin-like protein called Polypeptide-P. Ingesting the plant or an extract form of the plant seems to work on both the pancreas and non-pancreatic cells to help decrease blood glucose levels. Clinical trials and lab reports show the health benefits of Bitter Melon.

How Does It Work

1. Sugar Balance acts as a mediator between the body's cells and insulin already produced by the pancreas. It helps to block the formation of glucose in the bloodstream and breaks down the barrier that prevents cells from absorbing and breaking down glucose into a usable energy form.
2. Sugar Balance has been shown to help increase production of beta cells by the pancreas. This improves the body's ability to produce and release insulin. Sugar Balance may also increase the number and activity of insulin receptors. Research has shown that Bitter Melon (Sugar Balance's main ingredient) can improve glucose tolerance and help the body process blood sugars.


It gives a breakdown of Bitter Melon Extract, American Ginseng Extract, and Gymmema Sylvestre Extract. So far, so good, right?

Well, when it got to OTHER INGREDIENTS, here is what it lists:

Dicalcium Phosphate, Cellulose, Stearic Acid, Croscarmellose Sodium, Magnesium Stearate, Hydroxypropylmethycullolose and Polyethylene Glycol.

That word has 27 letters.

Why on earth would it put an ingredient that contains 27 letters in a supplement? I'm going to google this hydroxprop........and see what the heck this is. And I think that polyethylene glycol is a laxative, right? Jeez. All I wanted to do was help my blood sugar a bit.

I'm just amazed that there exists a product that has both bitter melon, and Gymmema Sylvestra.

Your comments as usual are very welcome.

Take care,

Melody

GNC is normally very expensive.

Also "peptides" are not absorbed thru the GI tract. They are digested.

When something is wrong, like gluten intolerance the gluten peptide is absorbed. It slips thru the holes between cells called Zonulin channels. But not for everyone.

Insulin is a peptide and still we do not have an oral form for it.
I keep hearing that it is coming, but that has been the mantra for a decade now.

Well!! Look what I just stumbled upon.

http://www.israel21c.org/health/isra...ulin-treatment

Now you know that I was in the ACCORD program right?

Well, I know me.

If I ever find a clinical trial here in NYC that uses this new protocol, I'll ask the doc at Cornell if it's applicable in my case.

One never knows.