If you are having diabetes then you must have got recoomendation of drinking karela juice . Many claim karela juice to be a cure for Diabetes. Is this true ? Can karela juice cure diabetes. We will let know the role of Karela juice in Diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease and living with diabetes is not easy. The prevelance of diabetes is increasing day by day and it expected to reach 366 million by 2030. In india also diabetes cases are soaring and it has second largest number of diabetes patients.
Generally Diabetes management is divided in to types one is medicine for diabetes and other is non medicinal way to manage diabetes. Medicine for diabetes are having long term side effects upset stomach, constipation, tiredness, risk of liver diseases etc. Where as non medicinal ways helps in achieving the goals of diabetes treatment such as preventing late disease complications, decrease mortality and maintain good quality of life.
Ayurveda has the power to achieve all the above objectives. It recommends physical activity along with herbal palnt extract to reduce blood sugar level. One such herb is Karela.
Karela also known as Momordica charantia is most common herbs used in management of diabetes. Bitter gourd contains lectin and has hypoglycemic effects which develops after eating bitter gourd by acting on peripheral tissues and suppresing appetite.
In charak samhita it is included in tikth skanda that means group of herbs that have bitter taste.
It is bitter and pungent is taste.
Karela is light and dry in quality .
It is Kapha- pitthar that means it reduces kapha and pitta dosha.
Because of its bitterness it helps to increase appetite ( Deepan )
Because of Bitter taste and Kapha- pitta balancing properties karela is beneficial in people with diabetes. Also a research says that Karela juice helps to lowers blood sugar levels immediately after consuming it.
It helps in reducing weight which is again good for diabetes management.
Karela is known to improve liver function and also helps in lowering low lipoprotien Ldl choloestreol in the blood.
Along with this Karela is having wound healing properties ( Vrana ropan).It helps in wound healing of diabetes.
It is also very useful in urinary tract disorders again useful in diabetes.
In Ayurveda karela is also used in following conditions
Pandu ( anemia), Krumi ( worm infestation) shwaas ( asthma ), Kasa ( cold and cough), kustha ( Skin disorder) and Jwara ( fever).
How to use Karela
Most commonly Karela is used in form of Vegetable. So you can make karela vegatable like any other Vegetable.
Another way is to make juice of Karela fruits. For this you need to chop bitter gourd into slices, remove the seeds . Then put it into mixer add some water and extract juice. Take this juice in 20-30ml quantity and drink it early morning.
Now a days you can get readymade Karela juice from many companies. However i would recommend to use fresh juice.
Some people while consuming karela may report dairheaa, abdominal pain, acidity, chest pain . Also Karela because of its light and dry quality tend to increase vata dosha in the body therefore its should be used in moderation and regular continous use should be avoided.
In diabetes also it should be not be used regualrly for too long as it will create dryness in the body and increase vata dosha.
Conslusion
Karela or bittergourd is very good for diabetes patient as it helps to lower blood sugar levels. However it is not cure for diabetes and you have to take it intermitantly with others ayurvedic herbs which helps in manging sugar levels. It will help you not only in managing sugar level but also avoid future complications associated with diabetes.
