Bitter Melon

Momordica charantia · Bitter gourd · Karela

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Glycemic control in type 2 diabetes¹ Prediabetes fasting glucose^{2, 3} Insulin resistance³ Knee osteoarthritis symptoms⁴	Pregnancy⁵ Breastfeeding⁶

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a tropical fruit eaten as food and used in traditional medicine⁵. Insulin-like activity drives its main use, lowering blood glucose in prediabetes and type 2 diabetes⁵. It is also taken for knee osteoarthritis, supported by one randomized trial⁴, and for cancer and infections, supported only by laboratory work⁵.

In a 2023 case report, a man developed herb-induced liver injury after drinking large amounts of a bitter melon cleansing tea; no trial has tested this. About 1,700 products list bitter melon, mostly capsules, teas, and powders; see Form comparison.

Pregnancy is the main exclusion, because animal studies suggest developmental abnormalities⁵. Memorial Sloan Kettering lists additive effects with insulin and other glucose-lowering medications⁵. LiverTox rates bitter melon extracts an unlikely cause of clinically apparent liver injury⁷.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

52 sources, 42 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources