Monday, July 30, 2012

Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia)

When I was in Costa Rica in the early 90s I learned that a bitter tea made from this relative of the cucumber taken daily is a cherished health tonic that cures and prevents many health issues....a friend here in Tampa was told recently by her Jamaican friend that her culture views and uses it the same way. Inn Florida it is a hated summer vining weed, an annual. But I know people here who by eating a few leaves daily ( I now  each morning put three leaves atop my Cuban coffee grounds in my mini-expresso machine in part because I LIKE the bitterness it adds) have fully controlled raging hypertension and long term diabetes when drugs not only did NOT, but instead caused side effects. Here in Tampa Thai folks and East Indians gather the bitter immature fruits as a treasured medical addition to entrees, and since my teens I've relished the red sweet pulp inside the orange ripe fruits.

I sent this link to a friend with many health issues who had not found the capsules in local health food stores...this is a VERY good price in part due to the large number of capsules per jar.

John

http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-bitter-melon-fruit

No comments:

Post a Comment