How You Can Use Bitters Like Gentian to Improve Digestive Health

The fact that gentian and other bitters stimulate the production of bile explains why they aren't for everyone. If you happen to have gallstones, it's not a good thing for your liver to secrete more bile. This places pressure on the stones and can result in significant pain. You should also avoid bitters if you have a hiatal hernia.

However, if you have chronic problems with :

• Bloating,
• Flatulence,
• Heartburn,
• Nausea,
• Alternating constipation and diarrhea, especially if you have mucus with your bowel movement,
• Severe abdominal pain with diarrhea right after eating, or a diagnosis of 
• Irritable bowel syndrome

then using bitters can help you control your symptoms. Here's how.

• Increase your use of bitter foods and decrease your use of acid foods. Bitter foods include radishes, radicchio, endive, dandelion, chicory, and coffee. These foods stimulate stomach acid and help digested food pass through your digestive tract faster. Acidic foods, especially vinegar, make food linger in your stomach. Oddly enough, they reduce the amount of acid your stomach generates on its own, but increase the risk some of it will come up into your throat with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD).
• If you drink alcohol, take a shot of Angostura bitters in a cocktail before any big meal. Cocktails that use Angostura bitters include the Singapore Sling, Vodka Pekoe, Amaretto sour, and Añejo Highball. Just a dash of Angostura bitters is enough. Swedish bitters aren't quite the same thing. They don't contain gentian, but they do contain rhubarb root and aloe, which are laxative herbs. They contain chemicals (actually, these chemicals have to be released by probiotic bacteria after they reach the colon) that stimulate nerves lining the bowel that propel feces outward and paralyze nerves that enable you to "hold it" until you can get to the bathroom. You want to digest your food more quickly, not necessarily to run to the bathroom.
• If you don't drink alcohol, then take gentian tablets or drink gentian tea (most of us have to take it as a shot) before a meal, especially a heavy, fatty meal. 
• Be sure to chew your food thoroughly. Don't expect stomach acid to do all the work. The more thoroughly you chew your food, the more easily it can be digested in less time, so you have fewer problem symptoms.
• Avoid acid-blockers, such as Tums, Nexium, and Prevacid, unless your doctor has prescribed them. The problem is not enough acid, not too much acid.
• Take bitters before your meal, and drink bitter beverages after your meal. Coffee is the obvious choice. Decaf can be helpful for digestion, without stimulating heart rate. Sugar and cream may be problematic for other reasons, but they don't cancel out the effects of the bitters in coffee.

READ Herbal Treatment for Gastrointestinal Disorders

If you have persistent discomfort on the left side of your abdomen up under your rib cage, the problem may be a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes. Supplemental pancreatic enzymes (which you can buy in health products stores and pharmacies) may solve the problem. If not, see your doctor.