Ampalaya Herbal Medicine

Ampalaya is also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd. This is actually a tropical plant which normally goes by many names, is commonly grown for its edible fruit, which is probably among the most bitter of all vegetables on earth. Bitter gourd or Ampalaya predominantly grows in tropical areas, including parts of Asia, East Africa, the Caribbean, and South America, where this is used both as food as well as a medicine. The fruit of the plant truly lives up to its name, because it really tastes bitter. Although the leaves, seeds, and vines of this fruit have different uses, the fruit is considered as the safest and most likely used part of the plant in traditional herbal medicine.

Ampalaya or bitter gourd is now used in herbal medicine. Ampalaya or bitter gourd until recently has been noted to be a potent herbal medicine for a lot of diseases, particularly in treating diabetes. The Philippine variety of this fruit is known for its more potent anti-diabetic components. This fruit is consists of a mixture of flavonoids and alkaloids which make the pancreas produce insulin that controls the blood sugar levels in diabetics. Besides the touted medicinal value of Ampalaya, it is also a very wonderful source of vitamins A, B and C, iron, folic acid, phosphorous and calcium. Ampalaya or bitter melon is a very common herb used in Chinese herbology too. The leaves of Ampalaya are often used for children's coughs and are utilized in the treatment of skin diseases, sterility in women, as a parasiticide, an antipyretic, as well as a purgative. Like most other bitter-tasting fruits and vegetables, bitter gourd stimulates digestion and can be very potent in people with constipation and dyspepsia.

Ampalaya or bitter gourd is noted to be an effective component in herbal medicine, and the bitter fruit is known to help treat, or alleviate the symptoms of rheumatism and gout and ailments of the liver and spleen. The fruit also is effective in helping lower the blood sugar and blood pressure levels of the body. There are a number of beneficial aspects of using bitter gourd like, it help to disinfect and heal cuts, wounds and burns; it is useful as a cough and fever remedy; it is used in the treatment of intestinal worms and diarrhea; it helps prevent some types of cancers; it helps enhance the body's immune system to ward off infections and it serves as an effective antioxidant, antibacterial and antipyretic agent.

As the bitter gourd is famous for its many herbal medicinal attributes, there are also other unique ways in preparing mixtures, drinks or solutions made from ampalaya. For diabetes, fever, worms, cough, diarrhea, it is helpful to drink a spoonful every day of grounded and juiced ampalaya leaves. For other health ailments, the fruit and leaves can both be juiced and taken orally. For skin wounds, burns and other skin diseases, people may apply the fruit's warmed leaves to the affected area. Aside from the medicinal benefits, bitter gourd is also an effective natural digestive agent that works by properly stimulating the secretion of gastric juices. It also effectively helps in stimulating the liver for proper secretion of bile juices that are essential for the metabolism of body fat.

• Janny Raines
• 08/01/2009, 10:59 PM
• 0 Comments