“An apéritif usually has bitters,” says French-Canadian Daniel Gagnon, a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), executive director of the Botanical Research and Education Institute, and owner of Herbs, Etc., in Santa Fe, NM. “Many apéritifs contain angostura bitters. The bitter taste gets the salivary glands going. It helps the stomach start secreting juices. The bitterness sends the signal to the brain to get the whole digestive tract—the liver, the pancreas, and the intestines—on the lookout for incoming food. It’s like a sneak preview.” Herbal practitioners say that when your tongue gets a dose of angostura’s natural bitterness, your taste buds tell your brain to tell your gastrointestinal system to release the hormone gastrin, which increases gastric acid, bile flow, and numerous other secretions all along your digestive tract. Just about any bitter-tasting herb will provide the same benefit, say herbalists. In beer, the flowering bitter herb hops prompts a similar reaction. Gentian ranks as perhaps the most effective bitter digestive herb. The problem is, it’s so bitter, few people can stand it. “But it’s very effective, especially for people who have difficulty digesting fat,” says Janet Zand, OMD, a doctor of Oriental medicine, professional member of the AHG, and co-founder of Zand Herbal Formulas in Boulder, CO. Other bitter herbs include milk thistle, dandelion, artichoke, and beet leaf. Here are some ways to use bitters to aid digestion:
Start each meal with a small salad that contains bitter, dark leafy greens such as arugula. Flavor the salad with lemon juice.
Have 1/2 cup of gentian tea or hops tea 15 to 20 minutes before meals. To make the tea, use 1 teaspoon of grated gentian root or 1 heaping tablespoon of hops per cup of boiling water.If you overeat at a restaurant, ask for a shot of angostura bitters. Pour the shot into a glass of water to dilute it. The bitter taste will speed digestion. “Yes, it’s bitter. But in a half-hour, you’ll feel so much better that you’ll be contemplating a second piece of pie,” says Gagnon.
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