Currently I am hearing of lots people, 3 just today, mentioning digestive reflux and thus antacids (Mylanta, Quick Eze, Gaviscon) and PPI's (proton pump inhibitors ie Nexium, Somac, Losec, Zoton) - Australian drug names.
All medications you really want to avoid if possible and certainly not take for long periods of time - even the medical journals agree on that! With good reason...
Being a practitioner who looks to food before supplements, it is very common, in my treatment plan following a consultation, for me to suggest including bitter foods and drinks into the diet especially when the complaint is around digestion, or liver related like reproductive and skin issues – that pretty much covers almost everyone these days...
I am constantly in awe at how people generations before us, without all the science, technology and research grants we have today, just knew the most nourishing parts of animals and plants and about food preparation to increase nutrient density and digestibility or decrease toxicity.
The value of including bitter foods in their diet to assist digestion was of great importance and with good reason. When we taste bitter on our tongue it primes the digestive system and various digestive enzymes along the digestive system are released to assist in the breakdown and assimilation of our food. Almost every culture really got this for example European cultures with the consumption of bitter aperitifs before a meal like Campari, Angostura bitters and gentian tonics.
Today bitter tasting foods have been edged out of our diet in favour of more salty and sweet tastes - I get so irritated seeing ‘supa sweet’ on the tag of most produce in the green grocer now. We vilify sugar and have conniptions about using it as an ingredient in our cooking yet it’s rarely considered that one of the major contributors to our modern day increase in sugar intake could be due to the fact that foods that aren’t suppose to be naturally sweet are being grown sweet. In the same vein, eating fruit gets a bad rap when traditionally most were not nearly as sweet as they are today. That’s humans sticking their noses into natures business and now we pay the price
With the edging out of bitter foods we are seeing the fallout in many ways, a common one being so many people experiencing digestive issues, decreased stomach acid being a common one. Modern medicine sees reflux as a sign of too much stomach acid and prescribe nasty medications from antacids to proton pump inhibitors (PPI's) to suppress its production. In fact it is nearly always caused by either low stomach acid and/or low pH of stomach acid. There are a number of causes, stress being a common culprit.
If good breakdown of our food doesn't occur at the very beginning then we are set up for problems further down the digestive tract in a number of ways; pathogens that are meant to die in the strong stomach acid, getting through and causing problems. Bacteria in our small intestines, a place there's not meant to be much, leading to conditions like SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) and with chunks of undigested food in our large intestine, putrifying in our gut leading to symptoms like bloating, gas, constipation and thus an increase of unhealthy microbes.
Adding some bitter leaves to each meal is a great idea. Maybe start with a rocket (arugula) salad to get your digestion going or some nettles or dandelion sautéed in lemon and garlic included with each meal. Braised or roasted raddichio, trevisio or witlof is really easy and yummy. Try artichokes drenched in butter.
I regularly buy produce from Rita's Farm Fresh Produce, a very inspiring farmer. I always get exposed to out of the ordinary and very economical produce, bitter greens in particular, mainly from her own Chinese heritage. Rita, like all ridgey didge farmers delights in sharing what the different produce is and how to prepare it.
You can also sip on teas like dandelion and nettle, balanced with some chamomile, dill or caraway – all of which you can easily grow yourself.
Eat very dark chocolate. Drink good quality coffee. Make a horseradish paste or grate it into sauces. Citrus fruit and don’t forget the rind – not only for the bitter taste but also for strong immune boosting qualities.
Bitter tasting food and drink may take time to get used to but please persist - you only need a little and your body will thank you in so many ways
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