Bitter tasting vegetable linked to surprising health benefits: 'So much potential'
'I think there's so much potential in foods and herbs and spices, but we've probably only explored the top layer,' she told Yahoo News Australia.
One of the foods she's interested in is bitter melon, a long, green, bumpy fruit that's often paired with garlic and pork in Chinese cooking, or fried in traditional Indian curries. Kamdar became intrigued by its health potential when her father-in-law revealed he was mixing its extract into drinks to help his diabetes.
'Scientists have tried to see what the active compounds are in bitter melon, to see what is helping diabetes, and they think it could be mimicking insulin. But the data on it is limited,' she said.
Anyone with health concerns should consult a doctor before eating bitter melon because it can negatively impact the health of pregnant women, people with hyperglycemia, or those with damage to their liver or kidneys. And it should only be eaten when it's green, well before it turns orange and splits open to reveal its seeds.
While bitter melon vines are easy to grow, they can become an invasive pest. And some councils warn it can out-compete native vegetation.
Are bad-tasting foods good for us?
Kamdar's research into the health properties of foods has found that many with a bitter taste 'show promise' in terms of their mineral properties.
'A lot of the spices and vegetables that taste the worst for most people tend to be more therapeutic compared with the sweeter ones,' she said.
Due to her own cultural background, Kamdar is increasingly interested in foods that feature in India's traditional medicine, a practice that goes back more than 3,000 years.
'What we do know is that it's generally quite safe to eat most foods in culinary amounts, but when you start taking specific supplements, that's when people need to be really careful, particularly if they're taking other medicines.
'For instance, someone on diabetes medication would need to be careful their blood glucose doesn't drop too low if they're eating bitter melon.'
Ancient claim about rosemary may be true
While it's possible to standardise doses of medications like paracetamol, it's much harder with natural foods. Growing conditions, varieties of the plants themselves, and how old they are can all play a role.
'There's so much variability, it's very hard to standardise foods across different batches,' Kamdar said.
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Limited research into foods appears to indicate that some ancient legends about plants are sometimes grounded in truth.
For instance, rosemary is traditionally worn for 'remembrance', particularly at funerals, and there are some indications that its scent can help improve memory tasks.
'Ashwagandha seems very good for stress, anxiety, and potentially sleep. There have been limited trials that show it could be beneficial,' she said.
'A lot of these food ideas I get from my mother, and I try to test things on myself. My cholesterol is a little bit high, and recently I've been having fenugreek and carum seeds, and it seems to have come down.
'A lot of foods have an effect. For colds and flu, it's pretty well-known that turmeric, honey, lemon and ginger are good natural remedies.'
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