The rumors that “eating XX foods” can cure “XX diseases” are endless. The theory that Zhang Wuben’s “mung beans cure all diseases” has long since been settled, and recently there have been many claims such as “bitter melon and okra cure diabetes”. The origin of this is inseparable from the belief in “food therapy” rooted in people’s hearts. When faced with the threat of disease, people desperately hope that there is some kind of food in nature that can satisfy both the needs of food and health. Nutritional value of bitter melon From the perspective of nutritional composition, each 100g of bitter melon contains 93.4g of water, 3.5g of carbohydrates, 1g of protein, 0.1g of fat, 1.4g of dietary fiber, as well as sodium, calcium, iron and other trace elements and a variety of vitamins, of which the content of VB1 and Vc is the highest among melons and fruits. The most common indicator used to evaluate whether a food is suitable for diabetics is the glycemic index (GI). Bitter melon is a typical “low GI food” with a GI value of only 24, close to cherries (22), cucumbers (23) and papayas (30), and much lower than foods such as carrots (71) and pumpkins (75), which have little effect on blood sugar. Simple summary: Bitter melon has more water, less carbohydrates, low glycemic index, and also contains essential dietary fiber, many vitamins and trace elements, making it an ideal food for diabetics. However, this is only a common feature of most vegetables, and bitter melon is no better in these aspects than its “brothers and sisters” such as loofah, winter melon, cucumber and papaya. The “glucose-lowering active ingredient” in bitter melon It is certainly not that simple to say that “bitter melon lowers sugar”. Since the 1980s, studies have been conducted to find that bitter melon juice extracts contain a variety of glucose-lowering active ingredients such as triterpenoids, steroids, glycosides and peptides. Among them, the peptides are similar in structure to insulin and can mimic the physiological effects of insulin, which is called “phytoinsulin”. Researchers injected these extracted peptides subcutaneously into diabetic mice and found that the mice showed a certain degree of reduction in blood sugar. ”Plant insulin” and “natural, chemical-free” sound very beautiful, but unfortunately, they are still a long way from being put into practice. It is a complex project to extract the glucose-lowering active ingredient from bitter melon juice. The classic laboratory extraction process includes: organic alcohol extraction, acetone precipitation, water dilution of the precipitate, dialysis to collect the supernatant, salinization, ion exchange chromatography and purification. And we cannot effectively extract these substances in the kitchen by braising, dry-frying, or chilling. In addition, in these animal experiments, the peptide extract of bitter melon was injected subcutaneously and intraperitoneally to exert hypoglycemic effects, but could not be directly administered orally, otherwise it would be rapidly broken down by digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract, which is the same reason that insulin cannot be taken orally and needs to be administered subcutaneously. This is the same reason why insulin cannot be taken orally and needs to be administered by subcutaneous injection. This also suggests to us that “eating” cannot bring out the sugar-lowering effect of bitter melon. How to take a correct scientific view of “bitter melon to lower sugar” For this issue, we may get inspiration from the story of “exenatide”. In the 1990s, scientists isolated a peptide from the saliva of Mexican giant lizards: exenatide, and found that it can mimic the effect of human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and maintain normal blood sugar by regulating the secretion of insulin and glucagon. After nearly two decades of research and numerous animal and human trials, exenatide finally made its way from the saliva of lizards to the prescriptions of doctors. Today, exenatide has become a full member of the family of hypoglycemic drugs, and more and more diabetic patients are being treated with it. In a similar vein, the presence of “glucose-lowering active ingredients” in bitter melon is a scientific phenomenon that deserves in-depth study. However, when the conclusion is not yet known, it is not advisable to make a hasty judgment that “eating bitter melon can lower sugar”, and we should not consume too much bitter melon in order to lower sugar, just as we would not directly consume lizards or lizard saliva because exenatide can lower sugar. With that said, some people may be disappointed and turn their hopes back to okra, pumpkin, and fruit kernels boiled in water, because many posts tell people this: “Diabetes is attacked by it, turn quickly. Unfortunately, these are not reliable. The real “diabetic diet” is a scientific, balanced diet, not a specific food.