Bitter taste is one of six tastes, in addition to sweet, sour, spicy, salty, astringent. All tastes should be present in every meal, so that the food is well absorbed. Adding bitterness from seasonal products to the diet is the simplest of the most effective things that can be done, taking care of your digestion in general and the state of the gallbladder in particular. The use of bitter flavor in your diet and food and its health benefits.
Products with a bitter taste have properties that reduce inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, removes excess mucus from the body. And an overabundance can increase the excitement of the nervous system.
The addition of products with a bitter taste allows you to immediately remove many questions about a balanced diet and the state of the gastrointestinal tract. Because bitterness directly affects the functioning of the gallbladder, and therefore ensures its proper functioning.
Without good functioning of the gallbladder, it is difficult to achieve good digestion in general. When the gallbladder is relaxed, with a reduced tone, it contracts poorly, it is full of stagnant bile all the time, it does not have enough strength to shrink and throw this bile into the duodenum. And, consequently, there is not enough bile in the duodenum to produce the necessary digestive enzymes. This, in turn, can cause symptoms of insufficient digestion and assimilation of food: flatulence, belching, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach (an hour or two after eating), even from a small amount of food.
What are the advantages? The use of bitter flavor in your diet and food and its health benefits.
#1. Bitter-tasting foods support the liver and help it metabolize cholesterol, fats, balance hormones, and purify the blood.
#2. Acting on the receptors in the mouth, stimulate the production of digestive juices, which contributes to better digestion and assimilation of food.
#3. As mentioned above, the gallbladder shrinks due to bitterness. This prevents stagnation of bile, which means possible inflammatory processes and disorders in the work of the entire gastrointestinal tract.
#4. Thanks to bitterness and good bile flow, as well as optimal production of digestive enzymes, the risk of food fermentation and gas formation, and accordingly, disturbances in the balance of our microflora, which negatively affects health in general, is reduced.
#5. Bitter herbs are rich in vitamins, minerals, and numerous other phytonutrients. For example, arugula is a good source of thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, zinc and copper, dietary fiber, vitamins A, C, K, folic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and manganese.
#6. The addition of herbs during meals helps to get rid of weakness and lethargy after eating.
#7. Bitter taste cleanses the taste buds, which reduces the craving for sweets.
What foods contain bitterness? The use of bitter flavor in your diet and food and its health benefits.
#1. Greens and herbs: watercress, mustard leaf, chard, green onion feathers, lettuce, cycorn salad, lollo rosso, romaine lettuce, arugula, purslane, dandelion, vegetable amaranth, leaf beet, fennel, kelp, aloe, celery, wild plants.
#2. All types of cabbage: broccoli and cauliflower, kohlrabi, red cabbage and white cabbage, Savoy and Brussels sprouts, as well as artichoke, avocado.
#3. Seasonal root crops: radish (black and green), turnip, beetroot, radish, daikon, parsley root, celery root.
#4. Spices: thyme, bay leaf, ginger, lovage, turmeric, cardamom, sage, pepper, rosemary, tarragon, garlic, onion, horseradish, parsley.
#5. Honeysuckle berries, viburnum, red mountain ash, lime and lemon zest, as well as some fruits, such as grapefruit and lime.
#6. Drinks: chicory, matcha tea, cocoa. There are mixtures in the form of tinctures of wild plants and other bitter herbs.
#7. Milk thistle, flax, sesame seeds.
How to use it in the diet? The use of bitter flavor in your diet and food and its health benefits.
It can be combined with other products, adding a little to the dishes. The bitter taste should not interrupt other tastes, but should be felt. Products with a bitter taste can be finished with a meal for better bile flow and cleansing recipes in the mouth. To do this, for example, you can eat the last salad with herbs and root vegetables.
Or chew after a thin piece of ginger or a couple of clove buds. Before each meal, you can brew yourself bitter herbs and spices (for example, dandelion root tea) and drink a few sips or use a small amount of homemade bitter aloe juice. It will also contribute to the good functioning of the digestive system, and therefore to the preservation of one’s health.
(1) – “In conclusion, the typical taste profile of nutrient poor foods makes them attractive to consumers. The innate liking for sweet and salty taste can make it difficult to move consumers away from nutrient poor foods. However, taste preferences and subsequent food choices can be changed by repeated exposure especially during childhood during which taste preferences play a major role in food choice and consumption. In addition, strategies in which the good taste of nutrient rich foods are emphasized are especially recommended for those consumers who are more taste than health focussed.”
(1) – National Library of Medicine (US); The Influence of Taste Liking on the Consumption of Nutrient Rich and Nutrient Poor Foods; Djin Gie Liem and Catherine Georgina Russell; Published online 2019 Nov 15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6872500/
