Bitter lauki juice may cause trouble

The lauki (bottle gourd) juice that you are consuming might not be providing you all the health benefits. A panel of experts investigating the issue of safety of consumption of lauki juice has warned consumers to taste a small piece of lauki before extracting its juice, and discard the bitter ones.

The lauki (bottle gourd) juice that you are consuming might not be providing you all the health benefits. A panel of experts investigating the issue of safety of consumption of lauki juice has warned consumers to taste a small piece of lauki before extracting its juice, and discard the bitter ones.

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“If you feel uneasy after eating or drinking its juice, you must see a doctor without wasting time,” said Dr SK Sharma, head of department of medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who is also heading the team of clinical experts.

Department of health had constituted an expert committee last year, following the death of a CSIR official, Sushil Kumar Saxena, 59, after he consumed a mix of lauki and karela (bitter gourd) juice, as a popular remedy to control his diabetes in June last year.

The endoscopy reports had revealed that Saxena was bleeding excessively in the stomach and had died due to what was called bottle gourd poisoning.