Bitters for hormonal balance? Herbal allies for your digestion, blood sugar, inflammation + hormonal health

Bitter herbs beyond digestion?It's true. Almost everything we ever hear about bitters is about how they stimulate our appetite, encourage digestive juices to flow and enhance our bowel movement.Like, literally, that's what most people say, on repeat, every time they talk about bitters. But there is SO MUCH MORE to these herbs and foods than just supporting our digestive function (though that's obviously important too).Did you know there are "bitter taste receptors" outside of the digestive tract? Well there are. And they're everywhere... from your heart, your respiratory tract to your uterus.This awareness as only been really coming to light in recent years, but it explains a lot about why some herbs may have affinity for some organ systems.So in this episode I cover all of this and more, exploring the specific ways that bitters enhance our digestion and how many of those actually impact our hormonal health (for real!) as well as our emotional and mental health, too. Listen to this episode to learn:what the bitter taste is and how it works in the bodywhat bitters actually do to enhance your digestionwhy you may not have to taste bitters to achieve the medicinal effect you're seekingsome examples of my favorite bitters and which organ systems they have affinities forwhat to consider when adding bitters into your protocol from a constitutional and energetic perspectivewhy I wouldn't want to be without bitters when working on hormonal health challengesResources:Free dandelion recipe collection!Today's shownotes + all the nerdy references: Bitters + hormonal health?Episode 8: Spring tonic herbsEpisode 11: Herbal Spotlight on DandelionEpisode 30: 5 herbal pillars for hormonal healthEpisode 32: Motherwort love: An herbal ally for every season of your womb If you loved this episode, share it with a friend, or take a screenshot and share on social media and tag me @herbalwombwisdom.  And if you love this podcast, leave a rating & write a review! It's really helpful to get the show to more amazing humans like you.  ❤️DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only, I am not providing any medical advice, I am not a medical practitioner, I’m an herbalist and in the US, there is no path to licensure for herbalists, so my role is as an herbal educator. Please do your own research and consult your healthcare provider for any personal health concerns.Click here to send me a quick message :)