At initial visit, all eligible patients were requested to maintain
behavior according to the criteria of the study from the run-in
period (2 weeks) and during the intervention (16 weeks). These
criteria were: not taking other source of bitter melon except
the assigned product in this study, maintaining usual dietary
intake/medications/physical activities, not taking any supplements
and herbal medicines which may affect glucose
level or oxidative status, and not smoking. After the run-in
period, participants were randomized to take either 6 g/day
of MC dried fruit pulp in 3 divided doses 30 min before meals
or placebo. Block randomization using a block size of four was
employed. In the present experiment, 6 g of dried pulp was
derived from 4 fresh fruits of Thai MC which did not exceed
usual daily intake as food in general. The patients were followed
up every 4 weeks. Laboratory investigation, anthropometric
assessment, and physical examination were
performed at the first visit (baseline, week 0) as well as after 8
weeks and 16 weeks of the treatment. Blood and urine