1.   Because of the mix, the Chus can find traditional Chinese produce like bitter melon and food more typical in Filipino cooking, like okra.

2.   But Deseran does a very nice job of demystifying items like loofa squash and that ultimate acquired taste, bitter melon.

3.   Clean bitter melons and cut stem ends.

4.   If I close my eyes I can still taste the roasted duck topped with lime and served with bitter melons.

5.   Animal studies reveal that bitter melon actually block the growth of cancerous tumors in the prostate and inhibit tumor formation in other animal models.

6.   As it is known to stimulate appetite, many infected people have reported that they had gained weight after eating the bitter melon fruit.

7.   Bitter melon, known by its botanical name mamordica charantia, has long been used as a food and traditional medicine in many Asian countries.

8.   Bitter melon extract can also be easily contaminated with fungus.

9.   Even though studies showed that extract from bitter melon had very low clinical toxicity, it did show some toxicity in pregnant rats and rabbits.

10.   For centuries, bitter melon has been used therapeutically in China, India, Africa and the southeastern part of the US.