Herbal Bitters: A Brief Introduction

It's the Holiday Season! That means it's time to get together with friends and family. Time to share gifts, drinks, and stories. Time to get fat and lazy after eating amazing meals. All of this can be very exciting and wonderful. However, this can do a serious number on your digestion. I figured that I could let you in on a tip to help keep your digestion going strong even after a day of gorging yourself on food you don't normally eat.

Over the years, “Bitter” has gained a bad reputation. The word is most commonly associated with harsh feelings like anger, resentment, and pain. However, “Bitter” can be a wonderful and healthy tool to use. Bitter herbs help digestion, and a number of them are already in our diets. Coffee, most culinary herbs, and leafy greens are just a few examples. Even though we do continue to enjoy our bitter herbs, we don't have enough of them to really use their true potential. If you aren't tasting the bitter flavor, you aren't getting the benefit. But before I dig to deeply into that, here's a basic introduction to the world of Bitters.

Bitter Herbs and Foods:

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are 5 flavors of food. Sweet, Salty, Pungent (sometimes referred to as Spicy or Acrid), Sour, and Bitter. Each of these flavors is associated with certain actions on your digestive system, as well as your body as a whole.

Bitter herbs and foods help to stimulate digestion by triggering the production and/or release of digestive enzymes, hormones, and various digestive secretions (saliva, bile, etc). This action benefits the gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreas, and just about your whole body. Bitters help us to properly digest proteins, fats, and starches. They help increase nutrient absorption, improve the integrity of the tissues lining the digestive tract, and help to create a protective barrier against pathogens. Most bitters are also cooling in nature, helping to reduce inflammation and rid the body of excess heat. They also help aid the elimination process.

With such a wide range of bitter options available to us, why do so many health professionals think that the modern American diet is all but devoid of bitter flavors? Because sweetening the bitter flavors destroys most, if not all, of the health benefits. So eating those dark leafy greens in your salad is a great choice, but using a salad dressing packed full of sugar negates most of the healthy benefits. This is one of the reasons that herbal bitters are such a great tool for your health.

Herbal Bitters:

The herbal bitters we usually refer to are mixtures of various herbal extracts designed to help aid digestion. There are an unlimited amount of combinations of bitter herbs out there that can be put into these herbal bitters, and many recipes date back thousands of years. Some of the oldest recipes come from the Mediterranean region and date back over 2,000 years ago. Some of the more famous recipes are still in use today, though mostly as cocktail ingredients. The most famous of these is Angostura Bitters which is used in the traditional Old Fashioned. And for those of you who are fans of Gin and Tonic, tonic water started off as a bitter folk remedy as well.

Who Should Take Bitters?:

EVERYONE!

Bitters are great for everyone to use. Pregnant and nursing women should use caution with certain herbs, but an Herbal Bitter formulated with fennel and other gentle herbs can be a great asset, especially since fennel helps increase breast milk production. Those of you who have had problems with your gallbladder, pancreas, liver, or kidneys can benefit tremendously from taking bitters. People who suffer from anemia, or iron deficiency, should think seriously about adding bitters to their diet. Our bodies need bitters in order to properly absorb and use iron.

How Do You Use Bitters?:

I typically recommend using bitters 15 min before you plan on dining. Bitters most often come in liquid extracts with droppers, but occasionally you will find them in spray bottles. In the case of the droppers, take 1-2 dropperfuls, under your tongue. For the spray, spray into your mouth 2-3 times. When in doubt, follow the instructions on the bottle.

Whatever your digestive concern, there is an Herbal Bitters formula out there for you (or you can make your own). I urge you all to talk to a nutritionist, herbalist, or other health professional about adding bitters to your daily routine.

I hope I have gotten you excited about herbal bitters, and I hope that they help you throughout this holiday season. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.

Where to Buy Great Bitters:

Urban Moonshine

Mountain Rose Herbs

Leaves and Roots

Check out your local Farmer's Markets

There are also several people who sell their herbal products on Etsy

I have also been known to make bitters occasionally. For more information, please contact me directly at BatLadyHerbals@gmail.com

Resources:

5 Reasons Why You Should Eat Bitter Foods and Herbs: Natures Sunshine: http://blog.naturessunshine.com/en/5-reasons-why-you-should-eat-bitter-foods-and-herbs/

10 Reasons to Use Bitters: Hint it All Starts with Digestive Health : Radiant Life: https://blog.radiantlifecatalog.com/bid/70036/10-Reasons-to-Use-Bitters-hint-it-all-starts-with-digestive-health

Benefits of Bitters: Organic Spa Magazine: https://www.organicspamagazine.com/the-benefits-of-bitters/

Digestive Bitters: Better than Probiotics: Gwen's Nest: http://gwens-nest.com/digestive-bitters/

Herbal Bitters: Invaluable Aid to Fat Digestion: The Healthy Home Economist: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/bitters-invaluable-aid-to-fat-digestion/

Herbal Medicine: Tonics, Bitters, and Digestion: Healthy.net: http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/Tonics_Bitters_and_Digestion/862

Natural Healing: Befriending the Bitter Herbs: Mother Earth Living: https://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/natural-healing-bitter-is-better-befriending-the-bitter-herbs

Properties of Food from a TCM Perspective: Shen Nong: http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/food_property_food_tcm.html

Taste and Action of Chinese Herbs: ITM Online: http://www.itmonline.org/articles/taste_action/taste_action_herbs.htm

Natural All-Purpose Citrus Cleaner

    I have been slowly and methodically ridding my home of chemicals over the years.  One of the things that has been hard to work with in this fight is my husband’s supreme dislike of vinegar.  Vinegar is a great household cleaning supply, but he hates the way it smells (and tastes, but that’s a different story).  So I decided to try using alcohol instead, and it’s been great.  One of my favorite things to make is a citrus vodka cleaner which can be used on just about everything in the house, including windows (though essential oils on windows can be a bit streaky, so just leave those out of your window cleaning version).  You can use any citrus fruit you want, and even get a little creative by adding herbs (pine needles work well) or essential oils like lavender, basil, or mint to spice it up a bit. 

 A Quick Word on Ingredients

Citrus Fruit makes great medicine, tasty food, and awesome cleaning products.  Plus the scent of citrus leaves everything smelling clean.

Vodka is an amazing disinfectant and cleaning agent and leaves surfaces virtually streak free.

All essential oils are also antibacterial, so to an extent you can feel free to vary the essential oils in my recipes, but tea tree and lavender essential oils are typically considered the best antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal oils.  Also consider aromatherapy benefits when choosing essential oils, lavender helps to maintain calm and mint helps to energize so adding these could help create the energy you want in your home.  Essential oils are really strong medicine and should be treated with respect.  Rosemary, eucalyptus, camphor and certain kinds of lavender essential oils have been known to trigger seizures in epileptic patients, please use caution when using these oils.

Citrus Vodka

Ingredients:

Citrus peels of your choice

Vodka

Instructions:

Fill a mason jar (or other jar that seals tightly) ¾ of the way full with citrus peels like lemon, grapefruit, orange, or lime.  Pour in vodka, leaving a little space at the top of the jar, but covering the peels.  Let sit for 2-6 weeks.  Once it has set, strain it for use.  If you want to add fresh herbs to this recipe, add them in with the peels.  This will last for a very long time and if you want to have fun, you can add simple syrup (sugar and water) to turn it into a cordial, but if you don’t want to sweeten it you can use it to clean your house. 

 

Citrus Multi Surface Cleaner

Ingredients:

Citrus Vodka (see previous recipe)

Purified or Filtered Water

15-20 drops of Essential Oil(s) of your choice

Instructions:

I use equal parts vodka and water, but you can mix it up however you want.  Combine ingredients in a spray bottle, shake it up and use it!

    Like all of my recipes (both edible and non-edible), you can feel free to play around with it.  I rarely use the exact same recipe twice for my own purposes.  I hope you enjoy making your own household cleaner and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Resources:

Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-homemade-citrus-cleaner-apartment-therapy-tutorials-185527

Clean Mama: http://www.cleanmama.net/2014/04/lavender-lemon-bathroom-disinfecting-spray.html

Do It Yourself: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/homemade-cleaners

Green Cleaning: http://greencleaning.about.com/od/DIYGreenCleaningRecipes/r/Diy-Disinfecting-Aromatic-Vodka-Cleaning-Spray.htm

Organic Authority: http://www.organicauthority.com/sanctuary/5-ways-that-vodka-can-clean-your-house.html