This is the time of year when we start thinking about how to best support our bodies as our diets shift to heartier winter eating and those inevitable holiday meals that are just around the corner. Digestive function is a key factor in our overall health and wellness, and can be thrown off by a number of things that are part and parcel of this time of year: not just hearty cold weather meals, but also changes in our routine, less sun and exercise, the stressors (both positive and negative) of family gatherings, holiday travel, etc. This seasonal dietary and energy flux impacts our bodies in a wide variety of ways, and can particularly play havoc on our digestive system. Fortunately, when we pay attention to our own unique rhythm, we can get ahead of these factors and be prepared when our normal balance is off-kilter. There are three herbal actions that are particularly helpful: bitters, aromatics, and demulcents.
Helpful hint: The recipes below are measured in parts. If you need a refresher on what that means, see our blog The Folk Herbal Art of Measuring in Parts.
“Bitter” isn’t always seen as a positive in American cuisine, although in the last years we are experiencing more love of bitter beers, salad greens, and of course the bitters used in cocktails. Bitters are herbs that help stimulate appetite and digestion by encouraging the production of gastric fluids and peristalsis. Just a drop is enough to set your digestive tract into healthy motion.
Another option is to make an easy, delightful bitter soda! Make the concentrate ahead so you can mix it with bubbly water when you need it later in the year.
Makes 2 to 3 ounces.
Ingredients
Directions
Aromatic herbs are the ones we love to smell, like ginger, dill, fennel, coriander, thyme, basil, and mint. Aromatics are full of volatile oils that flavor our food and also stimulate appetite. Incorporating aromatic herbs into your winter meals is a good choice for healthy digestion and many aromatic herbs are also warming to the digestive tract and carminative in nature, helping to ease the discomfort of feeling overly full or bloated.
A simple way to be prepared for those moments is by making herbal lozenges (also called pastilles). Easy-to-make lozenges give you a quick way to ingest herbs. Take a look at our video How to Make Herbal Pastilles, with Rosalee De La Forêt, for a visual guide to the process.
The after-dinner digestif lozenges below are good ones to keep on hand for the season.
Ingredients
Directions
People have used demulcents since ancient times to soothe the mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach. Botanicals that are demulcents contain mucopolysaccharides, which are chains of sugar molecules often found in our mucus and in the fluid around our joints. The mucilaginous action of demulcent herbs triggers a reflex in the digestive tract and other parts of the body. This reflex stimulates natural, moistening secretions that soothe and relax any irritated mucous membranes they come into contact with.
Mucopolysaccharides are destroyed by heat, so demulcents should be extracted as an infusion in room temperature or cool water, rather than with heat or in an alcohol tincture form.
Ingredients
Directions
Other herbs that have historically been used to support healthy digestive function include:
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Tea & Herbal Drinks
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is proud to have earned a certificate of completion for the Herbal Medicine Making Course at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
This is the time of year when we start thinking about how to best support our bodies as our diets shift to heartier winter eating and those inevitable holiday meals that are just around the corner. Digestive function is a key factor in our overall health and wellness, and can be thrown off by a number of things that are part and parcel of this time of year: not just hearty cold weather meals, but also changes in our routine, less sun and exercise, the stressors (both positive and negative) of family gatherings, holiday travel, etc. This seasonal dietary and energy flux impacts our bodies in a wide variety of ways, and can particularly play havoc on our digestive system. Fortunately, when we pay attention to our own unique rhythm, we can get ahead of these factors and be prepared when our normal balance is off-kilter. There are three herbal actions that are particularly helpful: bitters, aromatics, and demulcents.
Helpful hint: The recipes below are measured in parts. If you need a refresher on what that means, see our blog The Folk Herbal Art of Measuring in Parts.
“Bitter” isn’t always seen as a positive in American cuisine, although in the last years we are experiencing more love of bitter beers, salad greens, and of course the bitters used in cocktails. Bitters are herbs that help stimulate appetite and digestion by encouraging the production of gastric fluids and peristalsis. Just a drop is enough to set your digestive tract into healthy motion.
Another option is to make an easy, delightful bitter soda! Make the concentrate ahead so you can mix it with bubbly water when you need it later in the year.
Makes 2 to 3 ounces.
Ingredients
Directions
Aromatic herbs are the ones we love to smell, like ginger, dill, fennel, coriander, thyme, basil, and mint. Aromatics are full of volatile oils that flavor our food and also stimulate appetite. Incorporating aromatic herbs into your winter meals is a good choice for healthy digestion and many aromatic herbs are also warming to the digestive tract and carminative in nature, helping to ease the discomfort of feeling overly full or bloated.
A simple way to be prepared for those moments is by making herbal lozenges (also called pastilles). Easy-to-make lozenges give you a quick way to ingest herbs. Take a look at our video How to Make Herbal Pastilles, with Rosalee De La Forêt, for a visual guide to the process.
The after-dinner digestif lozenges below are good ones to keep on hand for the season.
Ingredients
Directions
People have used demulcents since ancient times to soothe the mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach. Botanicals that are demulcents contain mucopolysaccharides, which are chains of sugar molecules often found in our mucus and in the fluid around our joints. The mucilaginous action of demulcent herbs triggers a reflex in the digestive tract and other parts of the body. This reflex stimulates natural, moistening secretions that soothe and relax any irritated mucous membranes they come into contact with.
Mucopolysaccharides are destroyed by heat, so demulcents should be extracted as an infusion in room temperature or cool water, rather than with heat or in an alcohol tincture form.
Ingredients
Directions
Other herbs that have historically been used to support healthy digestive function include:
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Tea & Herbal Drinks
Heidi is an award winning freelance writer with a passion for urban homesteading. She has been honored to receive a number of literary prizes including the esteemed Pushcart Prize and an Individual Artists Award in Creative Writing from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is proud to have earned a certificate of completion for the Herbal Medicine Making Course at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. When she isn’t working in the garden, cleaning the henhouse, preserving food, crafting herbal formulations, or writing and editing content for really fantastic small businesses, you’ll likely find her with her nose in a book.
