Rosemary Grapefruit Digestive Tonic
Rosemary Grapefruit Digestive Tonic
This article is Part 5 of the digestion series:
Let’s talk more about step 3 in the previous blog post:
3. Sip digestive bitters or apple cider vinegar a few minutes before eating
Bitters have long been used in digestive aid. Many foods, herbs, and spices are bursting with bitter flavor. When consumed, they can stimulate the production of saliva, bile, and other gastric juices to prepare your body for digestion.
The problem is that our foods have shifted more to the sweet side of the spectrum and moved away from the bitter side. Food companies add sugar into almost everything. Even our produce has been bred to be sweeter. Thus, most of us are not getting enough bitter foods in our diet.
One solution is ingesting something bitter before we eat to really prime the body for digestion. One of my favorite ways is making a nice refreshing beverage to sip on before I eat:
Rosemary Grapefruit Digestive Tonic
Ingredients:
8oz (1 cup) of filtered water
1-2oz (1/8-1/4 cup) of apple cider vinegar with the mother (depending on your taste buds’ tolerance for vinegar)
5 spinach leaves (or any other bitter greens i.e. kale, mustard, collard, arugula, etc.)
1 sprig of rosemary
1 thin slice of fresh ginger
A few pieces of grapefruit peel
Directions:
combine all ingredients and let them steep overnight.
*I make this in a large batch and drink over a few days.
Let’s take a deep dive into the ingredients and what makes this beverage so powerful:
Apple Cider Vinegar
In the previous blog post, we talk about some of the benefits of apple cider vinegar. It helps us breakdown food for digestion, nourishes beneficial bacteria, and prevents overgrowth of bad bacteria. You want to make sure your apple cider vinegar contains “the mother” which is what gives it that murky appearance. The mother consists of raw enzymes and gut-friendly bacteria that promote healing.
Spinach & Grapefruit
The spinach leaves and grapefruit peel are your bitter additions. Most people think of grapefruits as being sour (which they are), but have you ever taken a nibble of the peel? It’s bitter! The spinach and grapefruit peel act on the mucous membranes of the mouth and stomach to increase appetite and promote digestion. In addition to aiding with digestion, bitter herbs and foods also help decrease inflammation, fight infection, and promote liver function.
Rosemary
The rosemary sprig is our aromatic addition to the drink. Aromatic herbs are dispersive, which means they spread out through our system, warm things up and get things moving. They help to normalize our gut function. Aromatic herbs also are wonderful for clearing toxins and moving stuck residue.
Ginger
The fresh ginger is our spicy addition to the drink. Like aromatic herbs, spicy herbs are also wonderful for dispersing nutrients and clearing toxins. Thus, the rosemary and ginger work hand in hand to really get things moving. In addition to this, the ginger is also carminative, which is key in relieving flatulence and bloating. Ginger is also antimicrobial, fighting viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
Time
Why let it steep overnight? Not only will the steeping draw the flavors out of the herbs and fruit, but it’s also drawing out the healing nutrients. And you’re left with a delicious, refreshing, and HEALING beverage to sip on before meals.
Enjoy!
There are tons of creative ways to incorporate bitters into your diet!
Take a drop of bitter herbal tincture before eating. We have wonderful, local plants that are super bitter. I make mesquite, dandelion, and agarita tinctures that are wildly harvested here in Austin, TX.
Take a drop of fire cider before eating. I make my fire cider with apple cider vinegar (with the mother), garlic, onions, horseradish root, ginger, rosemary, grapefruit, cayenne, and other peppers.
If you’re into tea, a good gut health tea is marshmallow root, ginger, rose, and plantain.
Of course, you can eat more bitter foods! Bitter greens are healthy and beneficial. You can also cook with more herbs and spices. This is an easy way to get more nutrients in our diets. Did you also know that papaya is great for digestion? It contains an enzyme called papain, which is very similar to the enzyme pepsin. Pepsin is what the gastric juices of the stomach produces and helps digest the proteins we consume. Improper protein breakdown in the system often leads to allergies. Papaya is effective in relieving allergies by its ability to denaturize proteins.
About the author
MY NAME IS SARA...
and my mission is to give people access to natural remedies made in a spiritually-minded manner to improve health and decrease reliance on harsh, chemical-laden alternatives. I grew up taking antibiotics upon any sign of sickness and eating a typical western diet full of processed foods. My career led me to the consumer packaged industry where I got to experience first-hand the chemicals that are in most processed, conventional foods.
Health problems involving asthma and food allergies led me back to basics: less processed foods, whole ingredients, and a holistic approach to healing the body.
I moved to Austin, Texas in 2014 and began working with natural food brands. The world of supply chain and ingredient sourcing unfolded in front of my eyes. I discovered how powerful the dollar can be when purchasing products that are ethically sourced and sustainably made. Every dollar we spend is a vote we cast for how we believe things should be. The natural food companies I worked with didn’t just care about making money; they truly cared about the impact their products had on the environment, the customer’s health, and even the farmer’s welfare.
About 5 years ago, I began my journey with herbal medicine, using herbs as a support and healing system for my health issues. I haven’t looked back since.
I recently graduated from The Sacred Journey School of Herbalism where I learned to be a steward of the medicinal plants, the natural world, and the Earth herself. I completed 200 hours of training, both inside the classroom and outside in the field with the plants.
Herbalists connect people with plants so that they may partner on a healing journey.
I truly believe that food is medicine and making these herbal remedies connects me to the healing power that Mother Earth can provide. I can’t wait to share that healing power with you :)
To learn more about me and what I do, please visit my website and Etsy shop:
https://www.buonasarahealing.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BuonaSaraHealing