2010-11-29

Bitters and Chamomile.

Apéritifs and Digestifs : both are bitter alcoholic drinks. Apéritifs are served before a meal and their bitterness helps prepare for digestion (increase appetite, stimulate the secretion of gastric juices and enzymes, etc). Digestifs, on the other hand, are served after dinner and they help with the digestion of the meal.
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The chamomile plant is very high in anti-inflammatory constituents. It may be helpful to drink chamomile tea when experiencing heartburn. My botanical medicine professor said that he tells his patients with stomach colitis (inflammation) to brew very strong chamomile tea in 500 mL of water, drink it on an empty stomach, then roll around on the floor for a bit to fully coat the stomach lining with the tea. This sounds pretty funny, but he said the patients are often very compliant! My professor also said that if you don't eat a lot of fruits and veggies, that the least you can do is start drinking herbal teas like chamomile; the amount of healthy phytochemicals found in herbal teas are (somewhat) equivalent to what are found in fruits and vegetables. He also said that a tablespoon of unpasteurized honey is full of healthy compounds just like those in fruits and veggies. From his comments, I am assuming that the ultimate concoction would be an herbal tea with honey to sweeten!

Note: while honey and herbal tea introduce lots of health-promoting compounds into the body, they should not be used to completely replace f&v. You may consume them if you've been lacking or have a hard time eating enough f&v.

1 comment:

  1. Now that's an idea for your brother?

    PJ& M

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment!