Experts often say, “You are what you eat.” If that’s true, perhaps it’s time to rethink putting cheap, easy, and fast options at the top of your list. It might sound cheesy, but if food is fuel, why not choose premium? Think of it as whole foods for whole bodies.
Starting your meal with fresh, fiber-rich foods, especially those with a bitter taste, can make a significant difference. The most bitter foods, like kale, artichokes, and arugula, are packed with nutrients. One of my favorites is ginger, which has been praised for its benefits on appetite, digestion, and gut health. Used in traditional medicine for centuries, emerging research confirms the gut-boosting benefits of these powerful superfoods.
There’s a method to incorporating bitters correctly. Eating bitters first gives your stomach a chance to rest and kickstart digestion. This practice offers numerous health benefits. After consuming the bitter foods, proceed with your meals. This approach helps you feel fuller faster, stay satisfied longer, slim down, and support heart health, diabetes management, immune function, and digestion.
So, what exactly are bitters? In this article, we will delve into what bitter foods are and the health benefits they offer.
What are Bitter Foods?
Bitter foods may not be the most popular or tastiest ingredients, but they are certainly among the most nutritious. Often referred to as “bitters,” these foods activate the bitter taste receptors in your mouth and offer a multitude of health benefits.
Bitter foods stimulate your body’s digestion by increasing the production of digestive secretions in your stomach, which helps break down food more quickly and effectively.
By stimulating digestion, bitter foods also help keep your body active in the parasympathetic nervous system (think rest and digest). So, if you’re feeling gassy, nauseated, bloated, or experiencing any other tummy troubles, bitters can provide relief!
The use of bitter foods to aid digestion has a long history. We now understand that a reflex termed the “bitter reflex,” triggers a series of actions in the body to prepare our digestive system for the food we are about to eat.
What Foods Are Bitter?
Commonly, bitter foods, such as greens, roots, and herbs, were brewed into stimulants. They were served after a large meal to help stimulate digestion and provide comfort and relief. Plus, in many forms of medicine, bitter foods have long been revered for their powerful medicinal properties.
Health Benefits
For years people have used bitter foods as a health benefit for digestion by serving them after a meal as a digestion stimulant. Not only that but increasing what you take in of bitter foods may also increase the production of digestive enzymes. The main responsibility of digestive enzymes is the digestion and absorption of many key nutrients in the body. This can ensure you get the most effective digestion of nutrition while also optimizing your overall diet.
Top 20 Bitter Foods List
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Arugula
- Broccoli Rabe
- Chicory
- Cranberries
- Dark Chocolate
- Eggplant
- Grapefruit
- Kale
- Saffron
- Artichoke
- Bitter Melon
- Brussels Sprouts
- Coffee
- Dandelion Greens
- Dill
- Endives
- Ginger
- Mint
- Sesame Seeds
