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Is your lauki juice bitter? Here's why you shouldn't drink it

Is your lauki juice bitter? Here's why you shouldn't drink it

Drinking bitter lauki juice can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and can also lead to death!

Written by Poorva Chavan |Updated : February 24, 2016 9:06 AM IST

Lauki is easily available and is widely used in Indian cuisine. Ayurveda has for long been advocating drinking lauki juice to control blood glucose levels and manage diabetes. Drinking lauki juice also has a variety of health benefits as it helps you losing weight, Is an excellent cooling agent and also helps in detoxifying the body. But is all lauki juice good for the body?

In the past few years, there have been a few cases of toxicity due to drinking lauki juice. So is lauki juice bad for you?

Lauki juice that is bitter in taste can be extremely toxic and also be fatal in some cases. A study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research [1] says that the bottle gourds contain a tetrapenoid called cucurbitacins which are responsible for the bitter taste the bottle gourd. Fruits that are grown under stressful conditions like high temperatures, wide temperature swings, too little water, uneven watering practises, low soil fertility and acidic soil are more likely to contain large quantities of cucurbitacins. Another study published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research [2] says that the plant produces cucurbitacins as a defence mechanism against insects and herbivores. You may like to know how lauki juice helps in fighting urinary tract infections.

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These cucurbitacins posses anti-tumorigenic properties, cytotoxic properties. They often increase the permeability of capillaries causing your blood pressure to drop suddenly, accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity and excess fluid build up around the lungs.

What happens when we drink bitter bottle gourd juice?

According to the case studies published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research [1], three deaths were reported after drinking extremely bitter bottle gourd juice. 26 other patients were hospitalised after they complained of abdominal pain and vomiting after drinking freshly prepared bottle gourd juice. You may like to read about the health benefits of lauki.

The study [1] says that if you drink bitter bottle gourd juice, you are more likely to suffer from abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea. Gastrointestinal bleeding which leads to melena--dark or 'tarry' faeces, and passing blood through stools is also observed. Kidney function also gets affected decreasing the urine output. Symptoms usually begin within five minutes to nine hours after consumption and may continue for two to seven days.

The study [1] also says that out of the 26 patients that were hospitalised after drinking bitter bottle gourd juice, blood pressure data was only available for 22 patients and all of them suffered from hypotension. Further investigations revealed a severely bleeding stomach with extensive ulcerations in the distal oesophagus, stomach and the duodenum.

Treatment--Currently, there is no antidote for such kind of a toxicity and doctors usually treat the symptoms. When a patient is brought to the hospital, he /she is immediately put on IV fluids to maintain the blood flow and electrolyte balance. The person is also assessed for gastric bleeding.

How do you know if the bottle gourd is bitter?

The Department of health research at the Indian Council for Medical Research has also set up an expert committee to look into issues related to the safety of consumption of bottle gourd juice. The committee has also outlined a few measures one should take before drinking bottle gourd juice.

There's is no way of finding out if the bottle gourd is bitter from the outside and the only option left is to taste it. So before you decide using the bottle gourd to extract its juice or use it as a sabzi, taste a small piece of the bottle gourd. If it is bitter, discard it.

Also, do not consume mix bottle gourd juice with other juices. Also, if you feel uncomfortable and start showing symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting after drinking bottle gourd juice, visit the doctor immediately.

References

1. Sharma SK, Puri R, Jain A, et al. Assessment of effects on health due to consumption of bitter bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) juice. The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 2012;135(1):49-55. doi:10.4103/0971-5916.93424.

2. Khatib KI, Borawake KS. Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria Siceraria) Toxicity: A Bitter Diagnostic Dilemma. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research : JCDR. 2014;8(12):MD05-MD07. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2014/10826.5324.

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