Bitters

One of the most important ways that we can support the function of the liver and our need to detoxify at this time of year is by consuming bitter vegetables and herbs. Unfortunately, in modern Western culture we tend to be addicted to sweet, salty and fatty foods, and we avoid foods that taste bitter. This is one of the (many) things that are unbalanced about the modern industrialized diet, whereas traditional folklore diets contain a balance of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter foods. Our obsession with sweet and salty, and aversion to bitter, has some basis in physiology. We have a natural attraction to sweet, salty, and fatty foods because our hunter-gatherer ancestors needed a high calorie diet (thus sweet and fatty) to support their very active lifestyle. Salty flavours are also indicative of minerals in foods, some of which were more difficult to get. Unfortunately, this built-in attraction that served our ancestors has become a disadvantage in the modern context where sugar, salt, and fat are readily available. Bitterness, on the other hand, was often associated with poisonous chemical constituents (such as many alkaloids) in plants. Many of these chemicals are specifically produced by plants to discourage animals from grazing on them. Although they are not appropriate for regular consumption, many of these herbs can be consumed in small quantities as medicines. Even animals know this and will consume very bitter herbs that are not a normal part of their diet if they are sick.

Health Benefits and uses of Bitters are

Bitter foods and herbs confer numerous important health benefits. Although many of these are due to nutritional and medicinal properties of their constituents, some of their benefits are actually due to their bitterness. This is partly because there are bitterness receptors in the mouth and upper digestive tract. When these receptors are activated by the bitter constituents of plants, it triggers a variety of important physiological responses.

• Angelica archangelica : Dating back centuries, it’s been used to remedy colds and ailments such as rheumatism. Its properties make it a stimulant, stomachic, and tonic. For liquors, it’s been used to flavor gin.
• German Chamomile : Matricaria chamomilla. A mild bitter herb used as a sedative and antispasmodic. Its curative properties include relief of both fever and restlessness.
• Dandelion : Taraxacum. A mild bitter herb used as a blood cleanser and diuretic. Also said to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Still used in traditional cooking in the Mediterranean and parts of Asia.
• Chicory greens are very similar to dandelion. They should be harvested in April or May, before their flowering stalks start to develop. Early spring chicory tends to be more bitter than early dandelion. There are commercial cultivars of both dandelion and chicory that have larger, less bitter leaves. Some common vegetables, such as radicchio and belgian endive, are actually cultivars of chicory.
• Jerusalem Artichokes
• Goldenseal : Hydrastis canadensis. A strong bitter herb used to stimulate appetite and eliminate infections. In Collections for an Essay Toward a Materia Medica of the United States (1804), Professor Benjamin Smith Barton declared goldenseal a tonic, observing, “The root of the plant is a very powerful bitter.”
• Horehound : Marrubium vulgare. Dating back to Ancient Egypt, horehound is believed to be one of the original bitter herbs of the Bible. It has been used for colds and respiratory ailments (such as in cough syrup and throat lozenges).
• Milk Thistle : Silybum marianum. Also known as “sow-thistle,” this herb was likely one of the original bitter herbs. In healing, it’s known as a powerful liver detoxifier, as well as an antidote for Amanita-mushroom poisoning.
• Peppermint : Mentha piperita. Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote of peppermint, “The very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes the spirit.” The ancient herb is used as a flavor, a fragrance, and medicine. Peppermint oil is used to allay nausea and stomach aches.
• Rue : Ruta. A strong bitter herb used as an antispasmodic, a sedative, and a mild stomachic. Mentioned in the Bible as “peganon” and in William Shakespeare’s Richard III — “Here is this place/I’ll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace.”
• Wormwood : Artemisia absinthium. A perennial plant used as an antiseptic, tonic, diuretic, and stomachic. The herb’s strong bitter taste is still used in wines and spirits, such as vermouth.
• Yarrow : Achilles millefolium. A flowering plant that produces a mild bitter herb used as an astringent and cold remedy. The entire herb can be used.
• yellow Gentian root (Gentiana lutea).
• Devil’s Club Root
• Black Walnut Leaf
• Cinchona Bark
• Cassia
• Sarsaparilla
• Wild Cherry Bark
• Orange Peel
• Stinging Nettles are not as bitter as dandelion and chicory. They are harvested in April or May, when they are about four to six inches tall. It is important not to harvest more than 25% of the young nettles in any given area or it will over-stress the plants. Large colonies of nettles are usually only a few plants with many leafy stalks that are connected by underground rhizomes.
• Wild leeks are similar to garlic when eaten raw, or to onions when cooked. They have already been over-harvested and wiped out in many areas. To help maintain their population, the bulbs should not be harvested. Each plant produces two (or occasionally three) leaves. We only harvest one leaf per plant; otherwise the plant will die.
• Garlic Mustard is a somewhat invasive species that lives in open woodlands and transition areas. It is virtually impossible to over-harvest. As a result, this is a good herb to get to know. It is very common in both urban and rural areas and probably the best green to wild-harvest because it is so plentiful. The top 50% of the plant is harvested in late April or early May, just as it’s coming into flower. The leaves are delicious raw in salads. As a cooked green, it is very similar to rapini (to which it is closely related), but a little more bitter. When cooked, it is best mixed with other milder tasting greens.
• Purslane, Lamb’s Quarters, Pigweed – Anyone who has a garden knows that, as soon as you till the soil, there are a lot of plants that sprout up all over the place. Several of these are great late spring edibles and it’s a good idea to let them grow between the rows of whatever we are cultivating until they are big enough to harvest. Purslane is a creeping plant that often pops up in gardens. It is best eaten raw in salads. Pigweed (a type of amaranth) and lamb’s quarters are excellent cooked greens. They are best harvested in June, when they are about six to eight inches tall. I love all cooked greens, but lamb’s quarters is my favourite. It tastes like a stronger, wilder version of spinach. Along with nettles, it is the best wild green to mix with more bitter plants to make them more palatable.
• Fiddleheads – These are the opening leaves of the ostrich fern. Commercially available sources are almost always wild-harvested and I don’t recommend purchasing them. If we are harvesting fiddleheads ourselves, it is important not to harvest more than two or three fiddleheads per fern because they only produce a limited number of leaves and harvesting too many of them will stress out, or even kill, the plant. Fiddleheads should not be eaten raw. Although they are very nutritious, even cooked it is best not to eat too many because they can be mildly toxic when consumed in excess.
• Elecampane root (Inula helenium)
• Elecampane leaf
• Burdock Leaf
• Yarrow herb (Achillea millefolium)
• Boneset herb (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
• Blue Vervain herb (Verbena Hastata)
• White Vervain herb (Verbena Urticifolia)
• white Horehound herb (Marrubium vulgare)
• Hops
• Blessed Thistle