Bitter Sweeeeet!!!

We have almost completely phased out the bitter taste from our palate. Everyone hates bitter! Probably the only cultural norm of bitter we have left is coffee, and just think what we do to coffee to make it more palatable - cream, sugar and added flavors (me included)! But the Bitter Principle is SUCH an important aspect of our eating and digesting process...another super powerful example of how we can be in an intimately beneficial relationship with our herbs. 

The bitters in this tincture I'm taking are chamomile, gentian and pepper mint. Taken a couple seconds before my meal, my entire GI tract is stimulated before I eat, maximizing digestion and absorption. 

But how the hell do they do this? 

Dropping bitters on your tongue stimulates the bitter taste buds toward the back of your tongue. The stimulus is picked up by the vagus nerve, a honking nerve that innervates structures from your head all the way to your pelvic floor and everything in between. Its job? To make you relax. It is the boss of our parasympathetic nervous system - rest and digest. So when the vagus nerve is stimulated before a meal with the bitters it increases gastric acid secretion, mucous, enzyme production from the pancreas and duodenum, and bile from the gall bladder. 




By effect this stimulates appetite, peristalsis and helps regulate other digestive functions like blood sugar maintenance (via insulin and glucagon in the pancreas). If digestion is maximized, absorption is also maximized so that we are getting maximal nutrient absorption and assimilation. It even stimulates the liver to maximize its role of essential detoxification! 

As an added bonus, the vagus nerve also stimulates all other aspects of relaxation and pleasure via the parasympathetic nervous system. The best part? The bitters completely trump the stress response of sympathetic nervous system that takes us out of rest and digest mode..so they help us cheat the system on our chronically stressed society ;). How freakin amazing is this?!

So thats the theory. My practical experience? 

I accidentally started taking way too much of this formula. I took an entire droppersful at dinner time when I should have only taken 3 drops! I experienced significant abdominal discomfort – gas, bloating, rumbling, pain and frequent lose stools. As soon as I tapered down to 3 drops the symptoms went away. I am actually really grateful for that experience because, again, I entered the field of naturopathic medicine as a faithful skeptic with very little experience. So I now know first hand the powerful effect of bitters on the GI system and could see somewhat of an amplified version of their stimulating effect.

With 3 drops before dinner for two weeks (minus about 4 days of not remembering) my bowel movements got extremely regular, more frequent and easier to pass (sorry for the TMI, we get really used to talking about stools - very important!). I did notice a bit of detoxing effect with some red bumps on my face (helped by the all powerful neem), but overall I noticed a greater sense of wellbeing in my body.

Here are some bitters you can try to include in your daily routine as a tincture or tea:

• Artemesia absinthium (Wormwood)
• Gentiana lutea (Gentian)
• Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)
• Angelica archangelica (Angelica)
• Berberis vulgaris (Barberry)
• Hydrastis canadensis (Goldenseal)
• Matricaria recutita (Chamomile)
• Taraxacum off. (Dandelion)

Note that if you have any inflammation or disease of the gut bitters would be contraindicated. Always try to find your local naturopathic doctor for direction because we ROCK! 

The journey continues...

Love,

Kimani