Bitter Gourd

Bitter Gourd - make it a part of your diet

Have you ever thought of adding some bitterness to your daily diet? Having something bitter for lunch or dinner is considered essential for an Indian meal and that is not without any reason. Bitter gourd is an essential part of an Indian menu. Bitter gourd, commonly known as karela helps to regulate blood sugar level and keeps body functions operating normally. It contains Gurmarin, a polypeptide considered similar to bovine insulin, which has been shown in experimental studies to achieve a positive sugar regulating effect by suppressing the neural response to sweet taste stimuli. The fruits have long used in India for treatment of diabetes mellitus. Bitter gourd being rich in all essential vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A, B1, B2, C and iron is helpful in preventing many complications such as hypertensions, eye complications, neuritis and defective metabolism of carbohydrates. It increases body’s resistance against infections. Bitter gourd is highly beneficial help in the treatment of blood disorders like blood boils, scabies, itching, psoriasis, ringworm and other fungal diseases. Bitter gourd preparations are always eaten at the start of a Bengali meal with plain boiled rice. Some of the traditional ways of cooking this vegetable in Bengal include deep-frying the slices, adding the vegetable to moong dal (lentils), boiling it and combining it with mashed potato, and, the most famous of all, making a light stew of bitter gourd and other vegetables (shukto). Bitter gourd can be eaten in combination with other vegetables — stir-fried with potatoes or curried with eggplant and onions. When the gourd ripens, it turns orange and the seeds turn red. These can be grilled, mashed and eaten. Serving bitter foods at the beginning of a meal stimulates the digestive juices and it enables you to go through a sumptuous spread easily.