Digestive Bitters
What are Digestive Bitters?
Digestive bitters stimulate the release of digestive enzymes and have various health benefits like alleviating digestive discomfort, reducing inflammation, and potentially lowering blood sugar levels.
Digestive bitters or simply “bitters”, are an infusion that’s created using bitter ingredients from herbs, roots, bark, seeds, fruit, or flowers.
Scientists believe we have evolved with receptors for bitters as a protective mechanism to detect poisonous and dangerous things in our environment, as these typically have a highly bitter taste. [1]
Digestive bitters have been used since ancient times for digestive support as a pre or post-meal drink. These work by increasing the secretion of ”digestive juices” from our digestive tract. These “digestive juices” secreted include digestive enzymes which are naturally produced by our body to help break down food.
Common herbs used in digestive bitter formulations include peppermint, dandelion, burdock root, chamomile, gentian, wormwood, artichoke, and more.
Although as the name suggests bitters are for digestion, these also have benefits for things like inflammation and blood sugar levels.
Digestive enzyme supplements are different than bitters as these are an external supplement source of enzymes that the body naturally produces during the digestion of food. Bitters simply encourage the natural release of these enzymes instead of providing an external source of them.
Sources of Digestive Bitters
Digestive bitters are only found through products formulated with bitter herbs, roots, and flowers, however, there are various plants that have bitter compounds in them commonly used in the formulation of digestive bitter products including:
Arugula
Chamomile
Gentian
Dandelion
Peppermint leaf
Orange peel
Lemon peel
Ginger root
Fennel seed
Are Digestive Bitters Beneficial for Autism?
There are currently no studies specifically linking autism and digestive bitters; however, there are many interesting studies that indicate why it might be helpful to include in your child’s regimen.
Bitters and Digestive Discomfort
Although there is mixed research on how digestive bitters work on our digestive system, one study found that two herbs commonly used in digestive bitter formulation may help to prevent and relieve dyspepsia. These herbs were wormwood and gentian. [2]
Dyspepsia refers to discomfort or pain that occurs in the upper abdomen after eating or drinking. [3]
Children with autism were found to commonly suffer from dyspepsia as one of the main digestive complaints reported to their physicians. [4]
Bitters and Blood Sugar
Control of blood sugar is largely governed by hormones secreted from our GI tract and the rate at which food empties through our stomach. [5]
Bitters have been thought to stimulate hormones in our GI tract associated with lowering post-meal blood sugar, as well as delaying the emptying of food throughout our stomach, however, these were mainly preliminary findings. [6]
Recently researchers were able to study these effects in humans. They found the preliminary findings to be true, with bitters potentially lowering blood sugar after a meal. [7]
Although no research has been done specifically on digestive bitters and diabetes, one could hypothesize that bitters may help with blood sugar management among those with diabetes.
Bitters and Inflammation
Traditional Chinese medicine has generally recognized bitters as being anti-inflammatory.
Researchers in one mouse model study wanted to test this belief with five bitter compounds. They found that all five selected bitter compounds were shown to increase the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines (immune molecules that play a role in inflammation). [8]
Berberine, a compound found in herbs like Oregon grape and goldenseal, along with naringenin, a compound found in grapefruit, and herbs such as Greek oregano and water mint were found to be the most anti-inflammatory out of the five selected bitter compounds.
Although animal study findings can’t exactly translate to humans, these findings are still interesting and bitters could be something worth trying to reduce inflammation, especially when they are generally recognized as safe (as always check with your health care provider before implementing).
Supplementation
Digestive bitters are typically found in liquid form using an alcohol or glycerin base to extract the plants bitter compounds. Capsule/softgel bitters are less common but also available for those who struggle with the potent bitter taste of them in the liquid form. Note: digestive bitters are different from digestive enzymes
Examples of common digestive bitter supplements include:
DISCLAIMER: Before starting any supplement or medication, always consult with your healthcare provider to ensure it is a good fit for your child. Dosage can vary based on age, weight, gender, and current diet.
Note: All supplements are linked to Amazon for convenience, however, buying supplements on Amazon does not guarantee quality, as there are many “unverified resellers” selling nutrition supplements. To buy supplements that are verified to be sent directly to the consumer, you can create an account on the Autism Dietitian FullScript and search for the respective supplement under “Catalog”.
Author
Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, CLT
Blayne Andrews, Dietetic Intern
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[1] Shaik, F. A., Singh, N., Arakawa, M., Duan, K., Bhullar, R. P., & Chelikani, P. (2016). Bitter taste receptors: Extraoral roles in pathophysiology. The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology, 77(Pt B), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocel.2016.03.011
[2] McMullen, M. K., Whitehouse, J. M., & Towell, A. (2015). Bitters: Time for a New Paradigm. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2015, 670504. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/670504
[3] Harmon, R. C., & Peura, D. A. (2010). Evaluation and management of dyspepsia. Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology, 3(2), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1756283X09356590
[4] Luna, R. A., Savidge, T. C., & Williams, K. C. (2016). The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis: What Role Does It Play in Autism Spectrum Disorder?. Current developmental disorders reports, 3(1), 75–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-016-0077-7
[5] Camilleri M. (2019). Gastrointestinal hormones and regulation of gastric emptying. Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity, 26(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0000000000000448
[6] Janssen, S., Laermans, J., Verhulst, P. J., Thijs, T., Tack, J., & Depoortere, I. (2011). Bitter taste receptors and α-gustducin regulate the secretion of ghrelin with functional effects on food intake and gastric emptying. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(5), 2094–2099. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011508108
[7] Iven, J., Biesiekierski, J. R., Zhao, D., Deloose, E., O'Daly, O. G., Depoortere, I., Tack, J., & Van Oudenhove, L. (2019). Intragastric quinine administration decreases hedonic eating in healthy women through peptide-mediated gut-brain signaling mechanisms. Nutritional neuroscience, 22(12), 850–862. https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2018.1457841
[8] Lin, W. C., & Lin, J. Y. (2011). Five bitter compounds display different anti-inflammatory effects through modulating cytokine secretion using mouse primary splenocytes in vitro. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 59(1), 184–192. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf103581r
