What This Bitter Melon Tea Is For, and the Warning It Needs
Nutra Glycemia is the bitter melon tea people reach for when they are watching their blood sugar, two to three cups a day. The blend is bitter melon at 30% and cinnamon at 20%, with black tea, fenugreek, jambolan and banaba leaf alongside them, and four of those six are traditionally used for the same purpose, which is why we want to talk to you before you buy rather than after.
Here is why, in one sentence: bitter melon lowers blood sugar, and most of the people who buy a tea called Glycemia are already taking medicine that lowers blood sugar. That combination is where the risk sits, and it is an entirely manageable risk once somebody has told you about it and you know what to watch for. The sections below give you the interaction, the signs of a reading that has fallen too low, the three groups who should leave this tea alone, and the two tests worth having.
If You Take Diabetes Medicine, Read This Before You Open the Box
Four ingredients here — bitter melon, cinnamon, fenugreek and jambolan — are all traditionally used to bring blood sugar down, and banaba leaf is the fifth. Bitter melon has the strongest effect of its own. Taken alongside insulin, or a sulfonylurea such as glibenclamide, glimepiride or glipizide, or metformin, the effects add up and the result can be a blood sugar that falls too low.
Please treat that as a reason to come and see our pharmacist first, to test more often for the first two weeks, and to let our doctor adjust the medicine if the readings come down. Please never reduce or stop a diabetes medicine yourself because you have started a tea, and please keep testing. Know the signs of a low reading too: shaking, sweating, sudden hunger, a thumping heart, irritability or confusion. Take sugar straight away if that happens, then tell us or our doctor.
There Is Fenugreek in It, and Fenugreek Is a Legume
Fenugreek sits in the same botanical family as peanut, chickpea and lentil, and reactions in people allergic to those have been documented. So if peanut or chickpea allergy runs in your family, please speak to our pharmacist before you open the box.
Two smaller things from the same ingredient list. There is black tea in here, so the tea carries caffeine and is better kept to the daytime; and fenugreek has a blood-sugar-lowering effect of its own, which is part of the arithmetic in the section above rather than separate from it.
Three Groups Who Should Not Drink It at All
- Pregnancy. Bitter melon is regarded as likely unsafe taken by mouth in pregnancy. Compounds in the fruit, the juice and the seeds can bring on menstrual bleeding and have caused abortion in animals. Please ask our pharmacist for something suitable instead.
- Breastfeeding. Too little is known, so the sensible position is to leave it alone and ask us.
- Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. A compound in bitter melon seeds is related to the one in fava beans that causes favism, and the advice for anyone with G6PD deficiency is to avoid bitter melon entirely. It is common enough here that our doctor can test you if you have never been told.
One more, which is easy to forget: if you have an operation coming up, stop this tea at least two weeks beforehand, because of the effect on blood sugar control around surgery. Tell the surgical team you were drinking it.
The Numbers Are What Tell You
Diabetes is judged by numbers rather than by how a person feels, which is why a tea taken for months without a reading is a poor way to manage it. The useful figures are a fasting blood sugar and an HbA1c, which shows the average over about three months, and our doctor can arrange both.
So the honest version of this product is: drink it if you like it, keep taking your medicine, and come in for a test. If the readings improve, our doctor will tell you whether the medicine can change. If they have been drifting up, you will find out in time to do something, which is worth more than any teabag.
The Cinnamon at 20%, and a Question We Are Asking the Supplier
Cinnamon is a fifth of this blend and it has a mild blood-sugar effect of its own, which adds to the point above rather than changing it. Two species are sold under the name and one carries far more of a compound called coumarin. The tolerable daily intake for coumarin is 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, which is around 6 milligrams for a person of 60 kilograms, and the cassia type reaches that in a few grams.
The species is worth knowing for a tea drunk every day, so please ask our pharmacist, who is putting the same question to the supplier for this and for our other cinnamon lines. If cinnamon is really what you want, our turmeric and cinnamon tea carries none of the bitter melon cautions. And if the aim is a daily cup while your readings are being sorted out, ask us about our lemongrass and ginger tea, which has no effect on blood sugar at all.
What We Are Permitted to Tell You
No health claim for bitter melon or cinnamon is authorised, and every botanical claim submitted in Europe remains on hold. Beyond that, diabetes is a disease, and no food or supplement may be presented as treating, preventing or managing one. So nobody may tell you a tea controls blood sugar or helps diabetes, and we hold back from saying it.
What we can give you instead is the full ingredient list, the interaction with your medicine, the signs of a low reading, the legume and the caffeine in it, the three groups who should leave it alone, the two-week rule before surgery, the open question about the cinnamon, and the tests that actually tell you how you are doing. Bitter melon is a food eaten across this region and a cup of it is a reasonable thing to enjoy. It belongs alongside your treatment, not in place of it.
Is This Bitter Melon Tea Right for You?
Please talk to our pharmacist or our doctor before you buy if any of these apply to you.
- Insulin, glibenclamide, glimepiride, glipizide, metformin or any other diabetes medicine. The effects add up. Test more often for the first two weeks and let our doctor adjust the medicine, never yourself.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding. Bitter melon is regarded as likely unsafe in pregnancy. Please ask us for something else.
- G6PD deficiency, or never having been tested. Avoid bitter melon. Our doctor can arrange the test.
- Surgery coming up. Stop at least two weeks before and tell the surgical team.
- Peanut, chickpea or lentil allergy in the family. There is fenugreek in this blend and it is a legume. Speak to us first.
- No blood test in the last six months. Come in for a fasting sugar and an HbA1c. That is the number that matters.
Where to Buy Nutra Glycemia in Kenya
Order online and we deliver countrywide, or collect from our pharmacy at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. We send orders to Nairobi and every neighbourhood around it — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Rosslyn, Kitisuru, Lower Kabete, Lavington, Kileleshwa, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Buruburu, Donholm, Embakasi, Ngong Road, Kasarani, Roysambu, Zimmerman, Githurai, Ruaka, Banana Hill, Two Rivers, Village Market and Pride Lands — and across Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru and Ngong.
Beyond the capital we deliver to Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Athi River, Kitengela, Kajiado, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Bomet, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Webuye, Kitale, Nandi Hills, Iten, Kapenguria, Embu, Meru, Chuka, Kerugoya, Murang’a, Othaya, Nyahururu, Nanyuki, Maralal, Isiolo, Marsabit, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Mwingi, Makueni, Emali, Kibwezi, Voi, Taveta, Wundanyi, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi, Lamu and Hola. At two to three cups a day a pack runs for a known length of time, so tell us the pack size you want and we will work out how many months that covers before you order.
Across Africa, ask us before you order. We have sent orders to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and as far as Malawi, and we will quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of the continent. Tell us the destination and we will confirm any import paperwork before the parcel leaves us.
Living abroad? Order from wherever you are and we deliver to your family here in Kenya. Kenyans in the UK, the United States, Canada, South Africa and the Gulf order from us regularly for parents and relatives at home. A herbal tea like this one taken steadily month after month does far more than a single pack, so tell us who it is for and how many months you want covered and we will set up the repeat.
Why Buy Your Nutra Glycemia from HealthAlone Kenya?
HealthAlone is a pharmacist-led health ecosystem licensed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and our stock is original, sealed and correctly stored. Kahawa Sukari is a real counter with real pharmacists behind it.
Our pharmacists will check a blood-sugar-lowering tea against your diabetes medicine before you start it, teach you the signs of a low reading, and send you for the HbA1c that actually tells you how you are doing. Our doctor is here too if you would rather have the whole question looked at properly.
It is one more step in our vision: building Africa’s most trusted health ecosystem, accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Nutra Glycemia Tea: Your Questions Answered
What is in this bitter melon tea?
Bitter melon at 30% and cinnamon at 20%, with black tea, fenugreek, jambolan and banaba leaf. Twenty bags to a box.
How many cups a day?
Two to three. For how long, ask our pharmacist, who will look at your readings rather than guessing.
I take metformin. Can I drink it?
Come and talk to our pharmacist first. Bitter melon lowers blood sugar on its own, so the two effects add up and your readings can come down further than expected.
I take insulin or glibenclamide. Is that a problem?
Those are the combinations we most want to know about, because a low reading is a real possibility. Test more often for the first two weeks and let our doctor adjust the medicine.
Is there anything in it an allergic person should know about?
Yes. There is fenugreek in the blend, which is a legume in the same family as peanut, chickpea and lentil, and reactions in allergic people have been documented. Please speak to our pharmacist first.
Does it contain caffeine?
There is black tea in the blend, so yes, a little. We would keep it to the daytime.
Can I stop my medicine if the tea works?
Please never do that on your own. Keep taking the medicine, keep testing, and let our doctor decide what changes, based on numbers.
What does a low blood sugar feel like?
Shaking, sweating, sudden hunger, a thumping heart, irritability or confusion. Take sugar straight away, then tell us or our doctor.
Can I drink it in pregnancy?
No. Bitter melon is regarded as likely unsafe by mouth in pregnancy, because compounds in the fruit, juice and seeds can bring on bleeding and have caused abortion in animals. While breastfeeding too little is known, so leave it alone. Ask our pharmacist for something suitable.
What is G6PD deficiency and why does it matter?
It is an inherited enzyme condition, common enough in this region to be worth knowing about. A compound in bitter melon seeds is related to the one in fava beans that causes favism, and the advice is to avoid bitter melon entirely. Our doctor can test you.
I have an operation booked. Can I keep drinking it?
Stop at least two weeks before, because of the effect on blood sugar control around surgery, and tell the surgical team you had been drinking it.
Does it treat diabetes?
No claim of that kind is permitted for any food or supplement, so we make none. The tea belongs alongside your treatment rather than in place of it.
How do I know whether anything is working?
A fasting blood sugar and an HbA1c, which shows your average over about three months. Our doctor can arrange both, and that is the number that matters.
Where can I buy Nutra Glycemia Tea 20’s (Bitter Melon & Cinnamon) in Kenya, and what does it cost?
From HealthAlone, online for delivery countrywide or over the counter at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. The current price is shown above. We deliver across Nairobi — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Kitisuru, Lavington, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Kasarani, Roysambu, Githurai, Ruaka and Banana Hill — and to Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru, Ngong, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Kitengela, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kitale, Embu, Meru, Nanyuki, Nyahururu, Isiolo, Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Makueni, Voi, Taveta, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi and Lamu. Outside Kenya we have delivered to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and Malawi, and we quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of Africa on request. Tell us which diabetes medicines you take when you order, because that is the one thing we need to know first.
