Bitter Break - Giving your liver a break for better digestion

Giving your liver a break is easier than you think. Bitter foods are not everyones favorite but can be very beneficial to your health by keeping your liver functioning at its optimal level.

During the holidays we tend to eat more sugar. It is tempting, gingerbreads, cakes, and pies. But eating all of this sugar can cause our bodies to crave more sugar and makes our organs work harder. It’s like a non stop process. To halt this, we can incorporate more bitter foods which in return help to wipe our palette clean, rid sugar cravings, and simply give our liver a break.

So what bitter compounds can you eat or drink this season? Try juicing dandelions. Dandelions are super bitter but they are the best and can aid digestion by allowing your liver to make more bile. Bile is crucial for a happy digestion process. Bile is secreted by the liver. It’s job is to absorb and breakdown fats. All bitter compounds will stimulate bile production. While dandelions are really healthy, you’ll need to team them up with some additional vegetables like romaine lettuce, cucumber, spinach, one apple, and a little ginger. These fruits and vegetables will help to mask the bitterness. Bitter melon is also bitter. It kind of looks like a wrinkled cucumber. Bitter Melon is a popular eat among the asian community and can also be used for helping to regulate ones blood sugar. You can find it here in our Diabetes Tea.

You can also drink tea to receive your daily amount of bitter compounds. We make a catharsis tea, which is great for stimulating the digestive system. Although it's a bitter tea blend, it works great! I love this tea. It’s great for detoxing and convenient to have at home in the pantry. Not only does this tea help with digestion but it helps the glandular organs push out toxins. It’s primary ingredients are Dandelion Root and Leaf. This formulated tea also contains Birch which is good for purifying the blood and riding excess water. To join Birch is Elderflower. Elderflower is known for its immune system boosting abilities. Although Fresh fruits and veggies are the way to go, they can also be costly. Our catharsis tea offers a valuable way to get your share of bitter without the spoilage factor.

Cravings

Cravings tell you a lot about your eating. Some cravings for processed, sugary, and unhealthy foods might be a sign for the lack of greens and bitter foods in your diet. Excess sugar, processed foods, and simple carbohydrates make our digestion sluggish. When this happens, the body becomes overwhelmed, and starts to store excess fat. After you add more bitter foods to your diet, you’ll notice the cravings go away. Instead of eating that candy bar you usually love so much, you’ll notice you will crave healthier foods like a bowl of broccoli or a healthy salad.

Detox

The only option for a sluggish digestive system is to detox. Detoxing helps push excess toxins out of our bodies. Our bodies are amazing machines and already have the capability of refreshing itself and riding of things in our bodies that don’t have any value to it. It’s just when our body becomes sluggish that we need to give it a boost and help rid excess waste. When you are adding more bitter foods to your diet, you’re doing just that — Detoxing.

Bitter’s highs and lows

Dandelion and bitter melon are very bitter but there are some less obvious bitter foods that you might already be including in your diet. For example, endive, cacao powder, radishes, arugula, broccoli, kale, and spinach. These are some of the best bitter foods to eat.

Chronic digestive complications

The digestive disorders of today are mainly a result of two cases; lack of fiber and lack of bitter compounds. By adding more fiber and bitter substances into your diet, you can see an improvement in your digestion faster than you think.