Rosemary Grapefruit Digestive Recipe

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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 having 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:

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:

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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 enzymes that promote healing.

 

Spinach & Grapefruit PeeL:

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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.
 

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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.

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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!

 

 

 

Here are more 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.

No time to make your own?

I've got you covered!

 
Sara Steinbeck