Benefits Of Bitter Gourd For Eyes
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) popularly known as bitter melon is a green-skinned vegetable with white to translucent flesh and a taste that fits its name. It is low in calories and high in dietary fiber which regulates diabetes and promotes digestion. Packed with antioxidants, flavonoids, and other polyphenol compounds, bitter gourd helps to reduce the risks for several health issues including vision disorders.
Being high in beta-carotene and vitamin A, bitter gourd improves eyesight and prevents vision-related disorders such as nearsightedness and further deterioration of sight especially in children. Let’s discuss the various benefits of this superfood in detail.
Bitter Gourd - The Powerhouse of Nutrients
Bitter melon is widely grown in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. There are mostly two kinds:
- Chinese bitter melon: It resembles a cucumber that has been dried out.
- Indian bitter gourd: The dark green, stouter Indian bitter melon has spiky skin and sharp tips.
A nutritional powerhouse with several health advantages, bitter melon is well-known for its intensely bitter flavor. Although it can be eaten raw, most people boil it to lessen its strong bitterness.
There are abundant nutrients in bitter gourd. For instance, one hundred grams of raw bitter melon yields:
- 4 grams of carbohydrates
- 2 grams of fiber
- 99% of the Daily Value (DV) of vitamin C
- 44 percent of the DV for vitamin A
- 17% of the DV for folate
- 8 percent of the DV for potassium
- 5% of the DV for zinc
- 4% of the DV for iron
Vitamin C, a crucial element in bone development, wound healing, and disease prevention, is particularly abundant in bitter melon. Additionally, it contains a lot of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that supports healthy skin and eyesight and holds various antioxidants (epicatechin, gallic acid, catechin, and chlorogenic acid)
that can help shield your cells from harm. It also contains potassium, zinc, and iron, and offers folate, which is necessary for growth and development.
How Bitter Gourd Benefits Your Eyes
Due to its high concentration of vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta-carotene (a pigment that makes vegetables red, orange, and yellow) bitter gourd is considered highly beneficial for your eyesight. Our body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, and both beta-carotene and vitamin A help in the improvement of eyesight.
Vitamin A helps the eye convert light into a signal that can be transmitted to the brain, allowing people to see under conditions of low light. In addition, the cornea (the clear front of the eye) can literally disappear if the body does not get enough vitamin A.
Hence, due to its high beta-carotene and vitamin A content, bitter gourd not only helps prevent vision-related problems such as cataracts but also strengthens eyesight. It also helps treat dark circles.
Also, vitamin C plays an important role in the eye itself due to its protection from oxidative damage also protecting against UV light damage.
Other Benefits of Bitter Gourd
Bitter melon has antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and sugar-lowering properties. Let’s discuss its overall role in our body in detail:
- Strengthens the immune system, improves respiratory function, and contains anti-aging properties.
- Packed with high antioxidant content, bitter gourd can be used to cure several illnesses associated with contaminated blood. Consuming bitter gourd regularly helps with skin, hair, and cancer problems.
- Rich in vitamins A and C, bitter gourd juice is proven beneficial for the skin. It delays the aging process while treating acne and other skin imperfections, such as psoriasis and itching.
- Helps control blood glucose levels. Bitter gourd contains polypeptide, an insulin-like compound that has anti-diabetic properties, therefore it is highly beneficial in managing diabetes.
- Rich in dietary fibers, it helps in relieving constipation and indigestion.
- Reduces cholesterol in the blood due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
- Holds cleansing and detoxifying properties. Bitter gourd is good for the liver as it is packed with liver-detoxifying agents. It naturally improves gut health by cleaning the gastrointestinal tract.
- Low in calories, fat, and carbohydrates, bitter gourd juice regular consumption helps improve metabolism and aids in weight control.
How to Add Bitter Gourd to Your Diet?
You can include bitter gourd in your diet in one of the following ways:
- Bitter gourd juice, which you can prepare along with a few other vegetables like cucumber, celery, and lemon for a nutrient-packed green beverage.
- Mix bitter melon into your stir-fry to bump up the health benefits.
- Sauté bitter melon alongside tomatoes, garlic, and onions, and eat it with your favorite bread.
- Salt and boil seedless bitter melon that softens the bitter flavor and after draining water, mix it with your choice of dressing and nuts and garnish for a savory salad.
- Stuff with ground meat and vegetables and serve with a black bean sauce.
Not everyone loves bitter gourds, but this amazing vegetable has several health advantages. Hence, enjoy the abundance of antioxidants and minerals of bitter gourd bearing its faintly bitter taste. Having said all the above, excessive intake of bitter melon juice can be harmful so make sure to consume it in moderation. Before including bitter gourd juice in your daily diet, Ask a Nutritionist about the right time and amount of consumption
If you have any questions related to eyesight improvement, you can Ask an Ophthalmologist online at Ask a doctor, 24x7.
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Disclaimer: Information provided on this page is not intended to substitute for proper medical advice provided by your healthcare professional. This is only for informational purposes.
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