A bitter pill to swallow
James Green an American herbalist said “the mistake of eliminating the bitter flavour from our daily experience is like eliminating one of the colours of the rainbow.” Unfortunately, in Australia, bitter foods are thin on the ground. Grapefruit, chicory, radicchio, endives, cress, olives, hops (say yeah for the cleansing ale) and coffee are the only bitter foods that spring to mind. The bitter herb Gentian forms the basis of the European Digestifs and Aperitifs such as Campari and good old Angustura bitters.
Taste buds are bundles of nerve endings, located all over the tongue. Their job is to interpret tastes from the chemicals in food, revealing whether food is yuk or yum, and more specifically sweet, salty, bitter or sour. Bitter buds are found at the back of the tongue, sour to either side, sweet at the tip and salty in between. Bitter taste buds connect to the Vagus nerve, a nerve that stimulates the functioning of the digestive organs; stomach, pancreas, gall bladder and intestine. One of the main tenets of natural therapies is to improve digestion, and stimulating the Vagus nerve will do this, which explains why bitter herbs have been prescribed since Hippocrates.
Symptoms of a suffering digestive system include bloating, burping, flatulence and constipation. These symptoms in particular indicate low stomach acid production. Other signs include peeling fingernails, dry lips and increased susceptibility to parasitic and fungal infections and food poisoning (a gastric tummy). As we age stomach acid production tends to drop. This inhibits absorption of nutrients especially protein, iron and B12.
Tickling tastebuds with foul-tasting herbal concoctions is a favourite sport among herbalists. The main bitter herbs include gentian, goldenseal, wormwood, St. Mary’s thistle and dandelion root. Although taking a tablet would be more palatable, the idea is to taste the bitterness. The bitterer, the better. A teaspoon of herbal bitters in a wineglass of water sipped before dinner will train your digestive system into healthier habits. Bitters enhance your appetite, but will not cause you to overeat.
People with stomach ulcers or women who are pregnant should not take herbal bitters.
Conditions
The A to Z of natural cures.
DigestivoArticles
Select a category of interest.