Bitter meals to assist kickstart your digestive processes are known as literal digestion. Although the bitterness is commonly seen as an unpleasant flavour, it serves a crucial function in the processing of food.
Digestion is the unpleasant process of breaking down food into nutrients for energy, development, and repair. By enhancing this process with bitter meals, the body is better able to absorb the nutrients it requires.
We’ve broken it down for you—or should we say, digested it—below. (Sorry, it’s as if we can’t stop ourselves.)
WHAT:
The digestive process begins before we take our first food. Bitter foods hasten this process by inducing a number of responses, the most significant of which is the generation of saliva. The brain instructs the salivary glands to create more saliva after tasting something bitter.
A bitter taste also indicates to the stomach that we are eating. The stomach then secretes gastric acid and other digestive enzymes, which break down the meal and aid in nutritional absorption.
HOW:
It may not sound attractive to incorporate bitter foods into your regular diet, but it is simple. Here are some meals that will help keep your gut healthy:
Kale: This leafy green superfood includes glucosinolates, which aid in liver detoxification. It’s simple to include in smoothies, salads, and sandwiches.
Dandelion greens: They are high in nutrients that assist digestion and protect the liver. They are an excellent accent to any salad.
Coffee: Caffeine boosts both your energy and the synthesis of digestive hormones in the morning.
Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate is more bitter than milk chocolate, but it includes fibre and antioxidants that appear to create anti-inflammatory chemicals during digestion.
Radicchio: The inulin fibre in these distinctively flavoured leaves may help keep you regular. Grilling them might help to reduce the bitterness.
WHY:
While you may believe that excellent digestion is important for avoiding stomach problems, it actually plays a far larger role in overall health and fitness. Aside from boosting nutrition absorption, efficient digestion is linked to weight maintenance and avoiding discomforts like bloating and constipation.
So don’t be frightened to accept food’s bitterness. Your digestive system will be grateful.
