The Bitters

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Hurray.

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Kia here.

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Thanks for joining me for the

creative, spiritual journey podcast.

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Where Judy and I share our

thoughts about this journey.

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We call life.

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I promised I wouldn't talk about

seasons as much in this podcast.

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That is true.

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Still the impetus for this

podcast is based on the seasons.

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So I'm cheating a little.

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The holy week of Passover is

April 22nd through April 30th.

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This year.

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Like Easter.

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The date for Passover is based

around the Equinox and the moons.

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But there's something else going on with

the Jewish calendar and how they set

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up the months, which pushed Passover

and Easter away from each other.

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The point is all this boon

stuff and celebrating holidays.

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Got me thinking about Passover.

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And while considering the Passover.

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I found my topic for this week's podcast.

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And that is.

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The bitters.

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Traditionally bitters are

served with the Passover meal.

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It is said that bitter herbs

represent the bitter trial of slavery.

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The Jews experienced in Egypt.

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This is a great analogy.

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And I want to talk about it more in a

few minutes, but first I want to say

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that personally, I doubt that bidders

were added to the Passover meal to

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make the analogy I suspect they were

already part of a traditional meal

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and that the analogy was added later.

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This is because I suspect that bitters

have been a part of the human diet since

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Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden.

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That's how important?

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I think they are to the human diet.

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And while I can't prove this, there is

certainly evidence that the Egyptians

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have been eating bitters for centuries.

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As well as evidence that bitters have

been used in many other ancient cultures.

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.

So with the Passover coming up, it's the perfect time to talk about bitters because

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now in the spring, the little green leaves

are starting to come up out of the ground.

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And eating seasonally, or let

me say, trying to eat seasonally

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has become a passion of mine.

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In our current society, it's

very difficult, but I personally

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believe it's a wise way to eat.

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And I used the word wise,

deliberately here wise as in wisdom.

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Listen to this quote from doctrine and

covenants 89, known as the word of wisdom.

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Verily I say unto you.

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All wholesome herbs.

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God, Hathor deigned for the

constitution nature and use of man.

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Every herb in the season thereof.

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I love this little phrase,

the season thereof.

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Contemplating.

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And wondering about that little

phrase is actually what sent me

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on this whole seasonal journey.

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I'm on.

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But the question is, can we do that?

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Can we eat every herb?

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Meaning all kinds of plants

in the season thereof.

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I'm giving it a try and bitters is a

good place to start for many reasons.

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There are lots of different

bitters and they are great

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for our body all year round.

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But right now this is the

season of bitter greens.

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Think kale mustard, greens,

collards, turnip greens.

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Radicchio.

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Chicory and end dive.

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But you might say Ghia, why

would I eat something better?

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And I would say, I remember

that spoonful of medicine.

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Your mother tried to give

you a, when you were a child.

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Bitter our nature's medicine.

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The number one use for

bitters is for digestion.

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Poor digestion is the starting point.

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For many maladies, you could

be eating healthy foods, but

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not absorbing the nutrients.

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Yep.

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Bitters do more than help digestion.

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Here's a quote from

herbalists Maria Noel groves.

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Bitters single handedly.

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Turn on your GI tract.

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This is done through Paris.

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Dulces.

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The wave-like motion

that moves everything.

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Saliva.

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Enzyme production and excretion

stomach acid, production, bile

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production, and excretion.

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And thanks to Peristyle SIS.

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Bowel movements.

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Indirectly bitters also benefit

liver function and detoxification.

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Lower blood sugar, reduced cholesterol,

alkaline skin conditions, and fix

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some cases of heartburn and reflux.

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And get this part.

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It's really cool.

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Bitters have a remarkable ability

to modulate weak or excessive

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appetite and weight as needed.

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Stimulating a week appetite and curbing

cravings, especially for sweets.

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And making healthy food more appealing.

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I love that bitters can stimulate

a weak appetite, but they

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can also curb sweet cravings.

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That's amazing that a plant can do that.

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All this from little green leaves

that start growing in the spring.

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.

But have bitters are so important.

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Why don't we like them?

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Here's what I think I

didn't read this anywhere.

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This is my humble opinion.

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Sugar salt fats.

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These are all things we need,

but are hard to find in nature.

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So we have evolved to crave them.

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Look for them.

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Hunt for them.

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Bitter has traditionally always

been easy to find it was everywhere.

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We had to eat it, whether

we wanted to or not.

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But bitter has been hybridized

out of most of our food.

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Why.

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Because we wanted our

food to taste better.

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Apples, carrots and broccoli.

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Just to name a few are not nearly

as bitter as they once were.

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Or in some cases they aren't

bitter at all anymore.

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.

An article I read from the herbal academy explained that traditionally the

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wealthy consumed most of the sweet, salty

and savory foods that were available

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without realizing that the peasants

left with the bitter foods were keeping

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their bodies and healthier condition.

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I think that's interesting.

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The article goes on to say that the

bidder's deficit has taken its toll.

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An unchallenged liver may contribute

to diabetes, heart inflammation,

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and fatty infiltration of the liver.

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So we aren't doing ourselves any favors

by only eating foods that tastes good.

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And while we're on the subject of taste,

I just have to say that beer and coffee

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are extremely better and people love them.

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Which proves that while bidders may

be an acquired taste, it is possible

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that we can not only put up with them.

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We can even enjoy them.

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So my suggestion this spring,

as that you find a way to

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include bitters in your diet.

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You can add them to salads, smoothies,

or take them as tinctures from a bottle.

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My personal favorite is camomile tea.

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If I only steep the tea for a

few minutes, cam a mile is sweet.

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But if I steep it for five

minutes or more, it gets bitter.

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Note, this only works for

me with loose cam a meal.

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It doesn't seem to matter how long

I steep a pre-packaged camomile.

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It doesn't get bitter.

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I don't know why, but

that's my experience.

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I love to drink it after dinner

because it's so relaxing.

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But I could just as easily drink

some bitter camomile before dinner..

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Recently, I have been experimenting

with dried artichoke leaves as a way

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to stimulate my digestion before I eat.

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These are the actual leaves of the

plant, not the part you buy for dinner.

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Let me tell you.

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Artichoke leaves will test your

ability to consume bitters.

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Over the years as I've been trying

to figure out how I want to eat.

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I have often said.

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I don't eat food because of how it tastes.

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I eat food because of

how I poop the day after.

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Don't get me wrong.

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I love good food.

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And I believe we can have good food

and good mobility at the same time.

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But I am sharing this because

it shows my recent mindset.

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In my aging body.

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I want my food to work for my health.

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Not just my taste buds.

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Thus, I am learning to

enjoy artichoke tea.

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One trick that helps is to add

some aromatic herbs, such as

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ginger, cinnamon, or cardamom.

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Which pair well with bitters.

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Before I go, there was one more

thing I want to discuss about bitter.

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You didn't think you were going

to get out of this podcast

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without a vocabulary lesson?

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Did you.

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One of Merriam Webster's

definitions for bidder is.

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Distasteful.

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Or distressful to the mind.

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Golling.

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We use better to describe

lots of things besides taste.

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Uh, bitter sense of shame.

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Uh, bitter death, bitter enemies,

bitter complaints, bitter contempt.

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Bitter wind.

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Bitter tears.

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But here's what's cool.

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And how all this ties

back into the Passover.

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Our bodies can digest our bitter thoughts

and experiences as well as our food.

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I truly believe that's why bitter herbs

are part of the traditional Passover meal.

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Not only do they represent the

bitterness of slavery that the

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Israelites experienced in Egypt,

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.

But they also provide part of the answer in dealing with it.

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A healthy well functioning

digestive system will help you

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digest the bitter experiences

that are a natural part of life.

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I learned some of these ideas from Louise

hay and her book, you can heal your life.

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She talked about our small intestine

digesting, our thoughts and our

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colon releasing unuseful ideas.

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But she didn't mention that bitters

were helpful in this process.

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I came up with that idea on my own.

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It just made sense to me.

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But while preparing for this podcast,

, I thought I should check and see if

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anyone else was talking about this idea.

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And after doing some research, I

found a really cool natural pathic

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doctor named Bridget so mean.

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I'll include her link in the show notes.

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I don't know anything about her

except what I found on her website,

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but I was so excited because

she totally validated my idea.

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Here's what she said.

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The science on the gut brain connection,

articulate how stress and emotions.

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And I'll add bitter thoughts.

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Influence digestion.

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And how imbalances in the digestive

track can also impact mood.

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She goes on to say.

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.

Fortunately, there's a treasure trove of tools that can help you

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facilitate the digestive process.

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Be it physiological digestion

or emotional digestion.

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She goes on to talk about

breathing and massage.

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And then lo and behold,

she talks about bitters.

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She says.

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Herbal supplements may include those

that relax the nervous system, but

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which also have a digestive effect.

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Typically these include

bitter and or aromatic herbs.

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Although each person will

have their own specific needs.

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Some of my general favorites are

camomile lemon, balm, lavender,

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valerian, mugwort, catnip, and fennel.

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So there you have it with someone

with more authority than me.

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Bitters can help digest

bitter thoughts and feelings.

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Does this idea sound weird.

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I totally believe it's true.

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The mind body.

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And I like to add spirit

connection is a real thing..

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And of course how we treat our body is

going to affect our bind and spirit.

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And vice-versa.

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So literally, if you are struggling with

bitter thoughts, feelings, or emotions,

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Add some bitter herbs to your life.

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Activate your digestion and you will

better digest whatever is going on.

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Those are my spring thoughts today.

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If you enjoy this podcast,

please share it with a friend.

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And if you would take a few minutes

to leave us a five-star review.

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And I Hope you find joy

in the bitter this spring.

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Nama stay.