Permaculturist Health

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Bitters:

Its bitters for digestion, Swedish bitters is a traditional formulation. They are tinctures, usually in alcohol or water. You only take a little bit in an eyedropper, before meals. Use ginseng the same way, half an eyedropper before breakfast, once a day. Herbs Etc. offers "Ultimate Ginseng", a blend of ginseng types, red, white, Siberian and so forth. This is the one I use. So do most asians.


Bitters are decoctions of herbal essences, certain ones known to promote healthy digestion. Wikipedia: Ingredients

Common ingredients in bitters includes cascarilla, cassia, gentian, orange peel, and quinine from cinchona bark (grown in Peru and Indonesia). The flavor of Angostura bitters, Suze and Peychaud's Bitters derives primarily from gentian, a bitter herb. Bitters are prepared by infusion or distillation, using aromatic herbs, bark, roots, and/or fruit for their flavor and medicinal properties.

In Foundations of Health, Christopher Hobbs, LAc, AHG lists angelica root (A. archangelica), artichoke leaf (Cynara scolymus), bitter orange peel (Citrus aurantium), blessed thistle leaves (Cnicus bendicutus), gentian root (Gentiana lutea), goldenseal rhizome (Hydrastis canadensis), wormwood leaves (Artemisia absinthium), and yarrow flowers (Achillea millefolium) as typical contents of bitters formulas.
History
This 1883 advertisement promised help with a variety of ailments.

Angostura bitters was first compounded in Venezuela in 1824 by German physician Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert. Originally, bitters was compounded as a cure for sea sickness and stomach maladies, though other medicinal uses had been discovered long before this.[1] Dr. Siegert subsequently formed the House of Angostura, a company that previously sold the bitters to sailors. The oldest and rarest of antique bottles command prices of tens of thousands of dollars.[3]
Digestive bitters

Digestive bitters are typically consumed either neat (unadulterated) or with ice at the end of a meal in many European and South American countries. Some, like Fernet Branca or Campari, are regularly used in cocktails, as well.

Some brands of digestive bitters available today are: <....> Swedish bitters is a traditional herbal tonic,[citation needed] said to have been formulated originally by Paracelsus[citation needed] and rediscovered by 18th century Swedish medics Dr. Claus Samst and Dr. Urban Hjärne.[citation needed] In modern times Swedish bitters has been popularised by Maria Treben, an Austrian herbalist.[citation needed] The tonic is claimed to cure a large number of ailments and help digestion. However, these claims are presented with little in the way of scientific evidence to support them.

One published recipe[citation needed] uses the following ingredients:- aloe, myrrh, saffron, senna leaves, camphor, angelica root, zedvoary root, manna, theriac venezian, carline thistle root and rhubarb root.[citation needed]

There are variations on this recipe and herbal shops supply alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of the drink. The alcoholic Swedish bitters is reported as having a similar flavour to Angostura bitters, though perhaps a little drier.
Ingredients

The following herbs are added to alcohol to make Swedish Bitters[clarification needed][citation needed]

aloe (active ingredient)
water extract of the following herbs:
angelica root
carline thistle root
camphor
manna
myrrh
rhubarb root
saffron
senna
theriac venetian
zedoary root

You have probably heard of Bitter Campari.

<>

Diet, foods and recipes:

My experience: I tried them along with orange oil and a number of commercial tinctures designed to promote good digestion. They can be useful. I discovered that I really needed probiotics, simple meals with lots of fiber and plenty of fresh raw and dried fruits and vegetables. For probiotics: miso, kraut, kim chee, kombucha, yoghurt, etc. Rice and corn grits, barley, oats, sesame are all excellent grains for fiber. Lots of raw salads, soups (not overcooked), sauteed or stir fried vegetables. Tofu and tempeh are good to eat a few days a week. Meat: pork, fish, poultry, beef, lamb, goat....eat all you want but balance it with plenty of dietary fiber and raw salads and raw or dried fruits; get plenty of vitamin C, raw citrus especially, pineapple, bananas, etc. Sprouts are also a mainstay of one's dirt: sunflower, buckwheat, radish, broccoli, alfalfa, mung, soy, adzuki(?) and eat plenty of beans, cooked any way you choose, good for protein and fiber: Peruvian or Pink Beans are best, should be available in Mexico - they cook really quick, no soaking needed; open 1# bag, pour in pot, add water, no salt, a little oil, maybe a little onion or garlic, put lid on pot, cook until you can mash them in the pot with bottom of can or bottle to consistancy of mashed potatoes, put on plate, add salt and black pepper - they are best this way - very tender, delicious, my favorite next to pinto, cannellini, navy, great northern, red, lentils, french red or green lentils, kidney, a lot of other types of beans from traditional hispanic cuisine. Coarse ground corn grits are really delicious. Serve topped with olive oil, herb salt, black pepper, nothing else, as a side to pork sausage, glass of fresh squeezed orange juice or grapefruit half, scrambled eggs, buckwheat pancakes, butter & maple syrup. Seeds: sesame, pumpkin, sunflower; grains: barley, corn, rice, millet, oats, rye, spelt. Buy grain whole and grind it in your kitchen with a hand crank grinding mill (Corona, Azteca).