Benefits of Bitter
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Today I’d like to talk about the bitter taste and its benefits. As we discussed last week, spring is the time to prioritize the bitter taste.
Yes, I know, bitter is not most people’s favourite. So, what are the benefits of bitter and why should we include it in our diet? Let’s see what the ancient Ayurvedic text, Charak Samhita says. Quoting the great sage Atreya, the text begins by acknowledging that most of us don’t find the bitter taste exactly yummy. However, when we include the bitter taste in our diet, our palate is cleansed, and we gain a much greater ability to relish our food. That might be especially important at this time of year, when we perhaps are getting tired of the heavier and oilier foods recommended for winter. We’re actually ready for some bitter greens and lighter foods.
Bitter foods and herbs are important for detoxifying the body and getting rid of parasites and various kinds of dysbiosis like candida and SIBO. Bitter clears our skin and alleviates itching. It reduces excessive thirst and tones the skin and muscles. Bitter foods, drinks and herbs are also good to combat infectious diseases. Including bitter in your diet improves your appetite and digestion. And if you are breastfeeding, be sure to include some bitter fenugreek sprouts in your diet, because bitter cleanses the milk ducts and helps you avoid breast abscesses. Bitter is also your friend if you want to lose those extra pounds that tend to go on in winter.
One of the big problems with spring is that we tend to get mucusy. Bitter is great for lowering kapha and clearing up phlegmy conditions. It also removes pus, lowers pitta and helps us shed water weight as well as fat. Overall, bitter is light and drying, just what we need at this muddy time of year.
As with everything else, the bitter taste should be included in a balanced way. For pitta and kapha, pretty much have as many bitter vegetables as you can eat. For vata, certainly introduce a little more in the way of bitter during the spring season, but don’t overdo it. The bitter taste is drying, and vata tends to be dry. Squeeze a little lemon on your bitter greens and serve them with plenty of ghee, so vata doesn’t get imbalanced.
Unfortunately, we tend to use coffee as a major source of bitter. But caffeine imbalances all three doshas and isn’t the best choice for including the bitter taste in our diet. If you like a bitter drink in the morning, try “coriander coffee”. Coriander seeds are roasted, ground and made into a beverage. The roasting provides a coffee-like bitterness while the coriander seeds are pitta-calming, digestant and soothing to the urinary system. Or, you can have a nice cup of brahmi tea.
As we’ve discussed in previous weeks, bitter greens are in season—kale, collard, mustard, turnip greens. Lovely little dandelion greens are popping up in the garden ready to be picked and eaten. There’s also a wonderful vegetable known as bitter gourd or bitter melon that you can find at your local Indian or Asian market. This vegetable looks like a crinkly cucumber. The Indian variety is smaller, darker green and more bitter, while the Chinese bitter melon is longer, lighter green and slightly smoother. It’s easier to stuff, although you can use both varieties in stuffed bitter melon recipes. Bitter melon is often described as an acquired taste—but it’s a taste worth acquiring if you need to reduce body fat, balance blood sugar or combat viral infections. Diehards like us at Alandi happily enjoy simple curried bitter melons. Frankly, we’ve even taken to making bitter gourd bruschetta, frying bitter gourds in olive oil and serving them on olive bread. But for beginners, it might be easier to disguise the taste at first, by making Bitter Gourd Dal or Stuffed Bitter Gourds.
Enjoy your bitters and have a happy spring!
Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.
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