Bitters - A Tasteful History

Tao Newsletter  

History of Bitters

Bitters were first compounded by Paracelus, a physician and alchemist   Organic Bitters
in the 16th century and used to treat a number of illnesses. In 1824, Urban Moonsh
Angostura bitters were compounded in Venezuela  by German physician Original, 2 fl oz
Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert; it was compounded as a cure for
 Enzymes For sea sickness and stomach maladies, though other medicinal uses had
Fibrin Control been discovered long before this. Dr. Siegert perfected the formula for  
aromatic bitters to use in his medical practice as Surgeon General to the
 Psoriasis and
armies of Simon Bolivar.  Dr. Siegert subsequently formed the House of
Natural
Angostura, a company selling the bitters to sailors.   Joy Tonic by U
Remedies
Moonshine,
Whether brewed according to secret recipes by medieval monks or
 Oregamax Organic, 2 fl oz
concocted according to oral tradition by wise women, the first bitters
Information /
had medicinal purposes. Over time, the theory, if not the actual recipes,
Oregamax
passed into the hands of apothecaries and on to the makers of 19th
Testimonials
century patent medicines. After bartenders discovered that bitters
 Face Doctor softened the often harsh liquors of the day, the cocktail was born.
Soap Bitters serve much the same role in cocktails that spices serve in food—
they add depths of complexity and flavor to the final product. Until the
late 1880s, any drink called a cocktail contained bitters-this includes
such classics as the Martini, the Manhattan and the Old Fashioned.
Today, cocktail lovers the world over are experiencing what some call a
renaissance of ‘pre-prohibition’ and classic cocktail recipes, throwing
bitters back into the limelight. Urban Moonshine takes it one step
further, by reacquainting the public with the healthful roots of bitters.

Many cultures around the world believe that it is important to have

foods that provide all the tastes humans can distinguish, i.e., sweet,
salty, sour and bitter. Many foods and drinks have some or all of these
flavors, but in the Western diet we tend to saturate our taste buds with
sweet, salty processed foods that our taste buds cannot recognize as
distinct flavors. Our bodies are also unable to distinguish these foods
and signal the body’s digestive functions to properly break them down.
The majority of whole food in nature has elements of all the tastes -
think of berries, greens, coffee and cocoa to name a few.

How do bitter herbs benefit our health?

Bitter herbs are one of herbal medicine’s great contributions to human

health. Quite simply, this category contains herbs that have a bitter
taste, ranging from mildly bitter yarrow to fiercely bitter rue. Absinthin,
a constituent found in wormwood, is so bitter it can be tasted even at
dilutions of 1 part in 30,000 parts of water. The strong flavor is often
attributed to a “bitter principle,” which can be a volatile oil, an alkaloid,
an iridoid, or a sesquiterpene

Following stimulation of the bitter receptors, located at the back of the

tongue, a range of physiological responses occurs. Specific taste buds
transmit the taste of bitterness to the central nervous system, triggering
a number of reflexes. These reflexes have important ramifications, all of
value to the digestive process and general health:

 The stimulation of the flow of digestive juices from the exocrine

glands of the mouth, stomach, pancreas, duodenum, and liver
aid in good digestion as well as helping a range of conditions
caused by inefficient or allergy-distorted digestion.

  The flow of digestive juices triggers a stimulation of appetite.

This is helpful in convalescence as well as in cases of appetite
reduction.

 A range of liver activities is stimulated, including increased bile

production and the release of bile from the gallbladder.

 A very mild stimulation of the endocrine glands occurs,

producing insulin and glucagon secretions from the islets of
Langerhans in the pancreas. Diabetics need to use bitters
cautiously, as these herbs can change the blood sugar balance.
In the hands of a skilled practitioner, however, bitter remedies
can play a role in the treatment of non-insulin dependent
diabetes.

 Bitter remedies can trigger subtle psychological effects, even

acting as mild antidepressants. For example, bitters can help lift
the spirits in cases of post-viral-infection depression.

 The central reflex stimulates peristalsis, an action that moves

wastes through the intestines through a series of muscular
contractions.

 Bitter remedies also stimulate the gut wall’s self-repair

mechanisms.
  Bitters promotes ease and comfort of digestion utilizing bitters
and tonic herbs to promote digestive functions and support
digestive organs.

How does our body detect bitter sense?

Have you ever thought about why foods taste different? It's really quite
amazing. Your tongue and the roof of your mouth are covered with
thousands of tiny taste buds. When you eat something, the saliva in
your mouth helps break down your food. This causes the receptor cells
located in your tastes buds to send messages through sensory nerves to
your brain. Your brain then tells you what flavors you are tasting.Taste
buds probably play the most important part in helping you enjoy the
many flavors of food. Your taste buds can recognize four basic kinds of
tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

The salty/sweet taste buds are located near the front of your tongue;
the sour taste buds line the sides of your tongue; and the bitter taste
buds are found at the very back of your tongue.

Everyone's tastes are different. In fact, your tastes will change as you get
older. When you were a baby, you had taste buds, not only on your
tongue, but on the sides and roof of your mouth. This means you were

* The products and the claims made about specific products on or through this site have not
evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagn
 treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided on this site is for informational purp
only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care
professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of an
health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment.
** Individual results may vary.
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