Bitter Olive Salad

Bitter Melon, an Asian squash with a somewhat bitter taste, seems to have some slight medicinal properties for diabetics, stimulating the processing of sugars. So, I'm trying to come up with different ways to include some Bitter Melon in my diet on a regular basis.


2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
chop 4-5 slices bitter melon (de-seeded).
1 chopped celery stalk
2-3 onion slices, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green olives
1/3 tbsp horseradish
couple of dashes of red pepper flakes
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Marinate from 2 hours to a couple of days.

Serve as a topping for Italian sandwiches, hamburgers, etc.

Mashed Bitter Melon

Boil 1 Bitter Melon, 1 small red potatoe, 1 green pear and mash together (spoon our the pear core before mashing). Just use a regular potatoe masher or a large fork.

Add about 1/4-1/2 tsp tumeric as you mix it.

You could also add 1 turnip to the mix.

That's all there is to it. You could add a little butter and black pepper if you like.

A Bitter Melon recipe

Bitter Melon and tumeric are both good for reducing blool sugar levels.

Boil 1 bitter melon and 1 green pear
Coarsely chop 1 red onion.
Saute onion in a little oil.
Add one large sliced jalapeno.
1 tsp. tumeric and 1/2 tsp. dried red pepper
Keep stirring.
Chop the boiled bitter melon and pear and add to the pan.
At the last minute add 1/2 cup chopped bok choy greens.

If you weren't diabetic you could serve over rice.

This might be a little hot for you, reduce the red pepper, tumeric and jalapeno to taste.

Also, it can't hurt your blood sugar to reserve the stock used to boil the bitter melon anad green pear and use it as a base to make some tea.

Bitter Melon

Bitter Melon is a tropical squash type vegetable. It appears to have the effect of lowering blood sugar levels in diabetics. (Saxena and Vikram, "Role of selected Indian plants in Management of Type 2 Diabetes", Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004, pp 369-378. That would be a good thing.

The research has mostly been done on rats, with some human research. Bitter Melon juice has been used in most of the research.

It's widely available in capsule forms from health food distributors but I have my doubts about the usefullness of that form.

Just a small glass of juice daily seems to do the trick. To much can cause diarrhea. There are no known drug interactions.

It's available on Amazon in tea form, either in Bitter Melon Tea Bags or in bulk form

You can grow your own with Bittermelon Seeds It's a tropical plant and needs lots of heat and lots of water. The seeds won't germinate if nighttime tempuratures fall below 70 degrees.