BITTER MELON RESTRICTS CANCER

Scientists have found that the warty green fruit used in ancient Chinese medicine, restricts the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to metabolise glucose, cutting the cells’ energy source and eventually killing them.
Previous research has hailed the benefits of the unusual fruit which has been shown to contain natural chemicals which can help treat Type 2 diabetes.

Scientists discovered that it contains four bioactive compounds which activate an enzyme in the human body called AMPK.
The enzyme, also triggered by exercise, helps fat and muscle cells to use blood glucose effectively but is not activated properly in Type 2 sufferers.
Bitter melon extract has been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years, with no reported side effects.
Now, new research published in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that bitter melon juice could also be a powerful cancer treatment.
Rajesh Agarwal, co-program leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the University of Colorado Cancer Centre and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the USA said: “Three years ago researchers showed the effect of bitter melon extract on breast cancer cells only in a Petri dish. This study goes much, much farther.

Bitter melon extract has been used in Chinese medicine

“We used the juice - people especially in Asian countries are already consuming it in quantity. We show that it affects the glucose metabolism pathway to restrict energy and kill pancreatic cancer cells.”
Bitter melon has also been shown to regulate insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells.
After studies in cell cultures, the group showed that mouse models of pancreatic cancer that were fed bitter melon juice were 60 per cent less likely to develop the disease than controls.
Argarwal added: “It’s a very exciting finding. Many researchers are engineering new drugs to target cancer cells’ ability to supply themselves with energy, and here we have a naturally-occurring compound that may do just that.”
The Agarwal Lab is now applying for grants that will allow them to move the study of bitter melon into further chemoprevention trials in mouse models of pancreatic cancer.
Bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd or karela (in India), is a unique vegetable-fruit that can be used as food or medicine.
It is the edible part of the plant Momordica Charantia, which is a vine of the Cucurbitaceae family and is considered the most bitter among all fruits and vegetables.
The plant thrives in tropical and subtropical regions, including South America, Asia, parts of Africa and the Caribbean
The bitter melon itself grows off the vine as a green, oblong-shaped fruit with a distinct warty exterior - though its size, texture and bitterness vary between the different regions in which it grows - and is rich in vital vitamins and minerals.

SOURCE
www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/384209/Juice-of-bitter-melons-can-kill-cancer-cells