Lauki/Ghiya is a wonderful vegetable for health. It helps in controlling high blood pressure, diabetes, weight loss and many other diseases. But consuming it in the form of juice, especially when consumed on an empty stomach can sometimes prove to be fatal, especially if the gourd is bitter.

Many traditional healers and social media influencers advocate empty stomach gourd juice and its demand has skyrocketed, leading to the rise of juice stalls in and around parks in recent times. People started drinking it even more in the name of health.

Because of this, we have seen an increase in cases of poisoning immediately after drinking the juice, leading to severe vomiting, low blood pressure and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. How can gourd harm our health? Nutritionist MeghaMukhijaji is telling us about this. MeghaMukhija is the Chief Dietician and Founder at Health Mania since 2016.

Expert opinion

MeghaMukhija says, 'As a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, bottle gourd contains toxic tetracyclic triterpenoid compounds called cucurbitacins that are responsible for the bitter taste and toxicity.'

There is no known cause for this toxicity and physicians treat such patients only symptomatically. It is important to educate the public about the harmful effects of this potentially life-threatening poisoning.

In recent times it has been discovered that bottled gourd juice can cause a severe toxic reaction with a bitter taste and symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, hematemesis, hematochezia, shock and death.

How to take a bottle of gourd juice?

Before making gourd juice or using it in any form, cut a small piece of gourd and taste it raw. If it tastes bitter, throw it away.

If the taste is completely neutral then you can proceed with the juice, but make sure you wash all the vegetables thoroughly with drinking water before juicing and consume the juice immediately within 2 minutes to avoid bacterial growth Do it.

We have already seen many deaths and serious diseases in India due to the poisoning of this juice. Therefore, to be safe, it is better to consume Ghiya as a cooked vegetable and avoid its juice. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Now you must have understood how gourd vegetables or juice can be harmful to you.

(Verified by Nutritionist MeghaMukhija)

Image Credit: Freepik

Disclaimer

Your skin and body are different just like you. We endeavour to bring you accurate, safe and expertly verified information through our articles and social media handles but still consult your doctor before trying any home remedy, hack or fitness tip.