The Lost Taste & Why It’s Making You Bloat
Does everyone have a wellness friend?
The friend who is 10 steps ahead of you in her wellness journey? The one who tells you what supplements you should be taking, superfoods you should be trying, and tests you should be doing?
For many years, my “wellness friend” was my former BFFL, let’s call her Penelope.
Penelope was always going down the alternative medicine rabbit holes. She was the first person I knew who took probiotics. She was diagnosed with leaky gut and hypothyroid back when I was first reading of these conditions. She has done approximately 76 parasite cleanses, completely overhauled her diet at least 6 times, and nearly sent her family into bankruptcy because she gutted their house because she was convinced her chronic fatigue was from invisible mold.
[note: I am no longer friends with Penelope, in large part because our morals and values diverged over the years. But this story centers on a more innocent time, before Penelope danced around the entrance of the Wellness —> Alt right pipleline]
Anyway, years before she start searching for worms in her poo and recreationally tearing up floorboards, Penelope once texted me:
“have you ever tried bitters?”
I was confused.
Did she start taking up mixology? I found that hard to believe given that Penelope wouldn’t even look twice at a scone for fear that it would flare up her delicate system. WTF was she talking about?
Digestive Bitters
Turns out, she did not take up a new mixology pastime, she was talking about digestive bitters.
And if you’re wondering WTF that is, don’t worry, I was too.
Digestive bitters are plant-based extracts that contain compounds with a bitter taste, traditionally used to stimulate digestion. These extracts can come from various bitter herbs and plants such as gentian root, dandelion, artichoke leaf, and orange peel. The theory behind digestive bitters is that consuming them before meals activates receptors on your tongue that send signals to your brain to kickstart the digestive process.
Most of these products come in a spray bottle that you simply spray onto your tongue 10-15 minutes before meals, taste that bitter tastes, and your digestion starts prepping for the meal to come.
The bitter taste triggers the production of saliva, stomach acid, bile, and digestive enzymes, all of which are essential for breaking down food efficiently. This enhanced digestion is believed to prevent undigested food from lingering in the digestive tract, where it can ferment and cause bloating, gas, and discomfort. Additionally, bitters stimulate peristalsis (the wave-like muscle contractions that move food through your digestive system), which helps relieve constipation and promote gut motility.
So…do they work?!
Although digestive bitters have been used for centuries in herbal medicine, evidence supporting their effectiveness for bloating is largely anecdotal. Some studies suggest that bitters can enhance bile flow and digestive secretions, particularly for those with low stomach acid or sluggish digestion. For example, one study found that bitters could increase the secretion of gastric juices in individuals with reduced stomach acid production
Natural Bitters
Needless to say, the answer to Penelope’s question was no, I had not tried bitters.
But after that, I sure as shit did.
And here was my experience: it was too stimulating for me. It made me produce too much saliva & bile, which in turn made me more bloated.
That’s the thing with supplements…it’s a lot harder to control your intake, get your dosage right, and not overcorrect the problem.
But one really good thing came from this experience:
I learned about the lost taste: bitterness.
Apparently, bitter foods were an integral part of the human diet for much of history. Early human diets consisted of a wide variety of wild plants, many of which were rich in bitter compounds. These plants—like dandelion greens, chicory, and wild herbs—played a crucial role in stimulating digestion, balancing gut health, and encouraging the production of digestive enzymes and bile. As a result, our ancestors naturally benefited from the digestive-boosting properties of bitter compounds in their daily diet.
However, with modern agriculture and selective breeding, the bitterness of many foods has been bred out in favor of sweeter, less complex flavors. As people moved toward diets rich in processed foods, high in sugar, and low in fibrous and bitter plant compounds, the incidence of digestive issues like bloating and constipation has increased significantly. A more homogenous diet, lacking in plant diversity, further reduces the gut's exposure to beneficial compounds like fiber and polyphenols that bitter foods naturally provided.
This shift away from consuming bitter foods has likely contributed to a decline in digestive efficiency. Without the regular stimulation of bile and enzymes that bitters provide, modern diets can lead to slower digestion, poor fat breakdown, and increased fermentation of undigested food in the gut—all of which can contribute to bloating. Moreover, the reduced intake of natural prebiotics (often found in bitter foods) has impacted the diversity of gut bacteria, which plays a key role in digestive health.
Increasing Your Bitters
One way that I tackle this issue, rather than spending $40 on a bottle of digestive bitters, is to include bitter herbs like arugula, radicchio, or frisee in a starter salad before or with a heavier meal.
Bitter foods are particularly effective for reducing bloating because they stimulate your digestive system, enhancing the breakdown of food and promoting gut motility. When you eat bitter foods, such as arugula, dandelion greens, or radicchio, they activate receptors in your mouth that signal the stomach to increase acid production. This helps break down proteins and fats more efficiently, preventing undigested food from fermenting in the gut, which often leads to gas and bloating.
Bitters also stimulate the production of bile from your liver. Bile is essential for digesting fats, and when fat isn’t properly digested, it can slow down digestion and lead to bloating and discomfort. Increased bile flow not only helps with fat digestion but also improves overall gut motility, preventing constipation, which is another major contributor to bloating.
Additionally, bitter foods promote the release of digestive enzymes, which further assist in breaking down food particles and easing the digestive process. They can help balance stomach acid levels, which may reduce acid reflux, indigestion, and bloating caused by poor breakdown of food.
This Dish
Nobu-inspired warm mushroom salad (shiitake, oyster, beech), spinach, arugula, caramelized onion, avocado, yuzu-truffle vinaigrette, truffle powder
The Benefits
as part of our October DeBloat by Halloween series, this dish is designed to reduce bloating, enhance elimination, and improve overall gut health. specifically:
Arugula is excellent for reducing bloating because it’s a bitter green, which stimulates digestion by activating your body’s digestive enzymes and bile production. When you eat bitter foods like arugula, your taste receptors trigger the release of saliva and stomach acid, improving the breakdown of food. This can prevent the buildup of undigested food that may ferment in the gut, producing gas and leading to bloating.
Spinach, arugula, and mushrooms are packed with fiber—both soluble and insoluble. The insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stools, helping food move through your digestive tract more efficiently, which can relieve constipation and reduce bloating. Soluble fiber, meanwhile, feeds beneficial gut bacteria, helping balance your gut microbiome and preventing the growth of gas-producing bacteria that contribute to bloating
Mushrooms contain a unique type of beta-glucan fiber that supports digestion and improves gut health by stimulating the growth of good bacteria
Yuzu juice and caramelized onions are rich in vitamin C, which helps regulate gut health by aiding in the production of collagen for gut barrier repair and supporting the absorption of iron, which can be crucial for those with sluggish digestion. Vitamin C also acts as a mild laxative, drawing water into your intestines, which helps soften stools and alleviate constipation
The onions are high in prebiotic fibers like inulin, which support the growth of beneficial gut bacteria that help reduce bloating by regulating digestion and reducing gas buildup
Medjool dates and avocado are rich in magnesium and potassium, which are essential for regulating muscle contractions in the intestines and promoting smooth digestion. Magnesium helps relax the muscles of the intestinal wall, preventing cramping and encouraging peristalsis, which aids in moving food through your gut
Potassium from avocado also helps regulate fluid balance in your body, reducing water retention, which is a common cause of bloating. Avocado’s healthy monounsaturated fats are gentle on the digestive system and support smooth bowel movements by lubricating the digestive tract
The Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups raw baby spinach
2 cups raw wild arugula
1 onion
3 cups mushrooms (I used shiitake, beech, and oyster, but you can use whatever you can find. I recommend checking out an asian grocer for more variety)
1 avocado
a little avocado oil
optional:
freshly cracked black pepper
truffle powder
Yuzu Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1/3 cup + 1/4 cup yuzu juice
1 tbsp chickpea (or white) miso
7 pitted medjool dates
1/4 cup tamari
4 tbsp truffle oil
3 tbsp water
optional: 1 clove garlic
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 425F convection roast
Heat up a little avocado oil in a skillet on medium-low heat
finely slice your onions
sauté onions until they caramelize. be patient. it'll take a while. just stir them when they start to brown. once they are fully golden brown, remove them from the heat
meanwhile, roughly chop your mushrooms. if you are using shiitake, cut off the stems* and slice the caps. *note: I recommend saving the stems in a freezer bag for making broth!)
put mushrooms on a lined baking tray, spray with avocado oil, and roast until browned and fragrant, roughly 12-15 minutes
Blend all the dressing ingredients together until super super smooth
slice your avocado
To assemble:
add the greens to a big bowl
add enough dressing to cover everything. I like things really saucy, so I'll use 1/2 cup, but you do you
toss the greens w the dressing
add the mushrooms & onion and toss again
top with avocado
grind some pepper and/or add truffle powder
Links
I used this yuzu juice
For More on Gut Health & Bloating
If you want more recipes that will help you debloat, I highly recommend checking out my [free] Gut Health Cookbook, which has 5 yummy, gut-friendly, recipes. You can download it here.
