Today I am going to talk a super important organ – in fact, one of the largest internal organs – liver. While much of the emphasis on liver health relates to detoxification, which is one of the Root Causes in the Adrenal gland/ thyroid problem, the liver and its paired organ just below it – your gallbladder – play an important role in the emulsification, digestion, and ease of elimination of your foods.
The bitter taste is one that has, unfortunately, gradually seeped out of our diets. Our ancestors obtained bitter in the diet in the form of wild greens, plants rich in bitter principles, many of them containing plant constituents called alkaloids and lignins, those in extreme might have signaled the presence of poison if present in excess. Thus, due to protective evolutionary biology, it is a taste that gets our full attention, and naturally creates a strong reaction.
Unfortunately, as we became more agrarian, our natural aversion to bitterness and our predilection for the sweet taste, leads to a greater emphasis on naturally sweet tasting carbohydrate-rich grains. They are sweet because complex carbohydrates are complex sugar molecules.
Harnessed in the form of herbal medicines, the bitter principles in plants provide us with numerous health benefits that emanate from their action on the digestive system. The bitter principles affect networks in our nervous system that alert your body to their presence, and trigger the increased production and release of gastric (or stomach) acids that continue the process of digestion in your gut that began in your mouth with the process of chewing. Improved release of hydrochloric acid denatures proteins and triggers the gut’s immune system to destroy bacteria and viruses.
Bitters also stimulate peristalsis – the natural wavelike motion of your digestive system that stimulates the motility of food along your digestive passages. They aid in the production and release of digestive enzymes and mobilize your gall bladder to release bile and enzymes – all of which further the process of digestion of carbohydrates and fats at they move through your intestines. Stimulation of the pancreas leads to the release of hormones that reduce blood glucose and pancreatic juices that contain over a dozen enzymes that break down proteins, starch, and fats.
Among the many actions of bitters, they:
- Stimulate appetite
- Stimulate release of digestive juices from the pancreas, duodenum, and liver
- Aid the liver in detoxification work and increase the flow of bile
- Help regulate secretion of pancreatic hormones that regulate blood sugar, insulin, and glucagon
- Help the gut wall repair damage
The tonic effects of these remedies go beyond digestive activity. Because of the gut-brain connection, not only can bitters enhance digestion, but they can reduce depression and improve mood. They also support your liver’s natural detoxification processes, and thus can improve skin health.
While tasting bitters has an added advantage of stimulating receptors in the tongue that directly stimulate the brain, and also getting salivary action and thus the digestive process that begins in your mouth flowing, the good news is that if the taste is just too foreign to you, your digestive system has bitter receptors in your stomach, pancreatic duct, small intestine, liver and gall bladder, so even if you bypass the taste, you can still get the benefit.
So how can you get bitters into your life to boost your digestion and improve your health?
Examples of herbal bitters include:
- Gentian
- Burdock root
- Dandelion
- Artichoke leaf
- Wormwood
- Motherwort
- Chamomile
The dose varies according to the herb – follow the instructions on the product you’re purchasing. Because the nature of bitter herbs is considered cold, or cooling, they are commonly combined with herbs of a warming nature, including cinnamon, ginger, fennel, and cardamom, to prevent digestive discomfort and create energetic balance.
My herb teacher’s favorite way to take bitters is to squirting 2 dropperfuls of tincture into a 1/2 glass of sparkling water and enjoying an apéritif (a before-meal digestive beverage) or a digestif (an after-meal digestive beverage).
There are a number of contraindications to the use of bitters. Do not use bitters in the following conditions:
- Kidney stones
- Gallbladder disease
- Hiatal hernia
- Gastritis
- Peptic ulcer
While it might be counterintuitive to use an herb that improves gastric acid secretion if you have reflux (heartburn), improved gastric acid secretion may actually improve the tone of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), reducing the reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus. But check with your primary provider first if you have concerns or are on medications.
Most bitters should not be used in pregnancy, in fact, wormwood can be toxic to the baby, and motherwort can stimulate contractions. However, chamomile and dandelion are safe in pregnancy, and they can be used while breastfeeding, too.
My favorite bitters products are made by HerbPharm, Gaia Herbs, and Urban Moonshine.
Great sources of “bitters” in your diet include leafy greens, particularly dandelion greens, endive, arugula, kale, and collards, and including the pith in your citrus if you eat it, particularly lemons if you include them in your green juice.
A number of sour foods, for example, apple cider vinegar, lacto-fermented vegetables, and juice from lemons and limes also enhance the action of bitters in your digestive system, while improving the taste – thus some lemon on your dandelion greens or lime vinaigrette on your endive and arugula salad can give you even greater digestive enhancement.
Nutrients especially important for liver detoxification include:
- Vitamins B1, B3, B6 and B12
- Folic acid
- Vitamin C
- Choline
- Amino acids
- Magnesium
These can be obtained from foods and multivitamins.
As you continue to reintroduce foods, make sure to continue to pay close attention to how you feel. While I don’t want you to be cuckoo about symptoms, self-awareness is one of greatest tools for staying mindful about how foods make us feel.