Episode 70
Why Bitterness is Good for You
The Bitter Truth: Why Bitterness Matters More Than You Think
Have you ever taken a sip of black coffee and immediately regretted it? Or maybe you’ve bitten into a grapefruit and felt like your tongue was under attack? If so, you’re not alone. Bitterness is one of the most misunderstood flavors, but it plays a huge role in our health and survival. From keeping us from eating toxic foods to helping digestion, bitterness has a bigger impact on our bodies than most people realize. So, let’s dive into the bitter truth—why some people hate it, why your stomach can actually taste it, and how it has been used as medicine for centuries.
Why Do Some Foods Taste Bitter?
To begin with, bitterness exists for a reason. In nature, many poisonous plants contain bitter compounds. Long ago, humans who could detect bitterness had a survival advantage. In other words, their ability to taste bitterness kept them from eating something deadly. As a result, our bodies evolved to be extra sensitive to bitter flavors.
However, not all bitter foods are dangerous. Many are incredibly healthy. Take kale, dark chocolate, and turmeric, for example. These foods may taste strong or even unpleasant to some people, but they are packed with antioxidants and nutrients that support overall health.
So, why do some people love bitter foods while others can’t stand them? The answer lies in our genes. Scientists have discovered that a gene called TAS2R38 determines how sensitive we are to bitterness. If you are a super-taster, bitter foods might seem unbearably strong. On the other hand, if you are a non-taster, you may barely notice the bitterness at all.
Your Stomach Can "Taste" Bitterness Too
Interestingly, your tongue isn’t the only part of your body that detects bitterness. Your stomach can taste it as well. But how does that work? Well, your stomach has bitter taste receptors that serve a very important function.
First, these receptors help control digestion. When bitter foods enter your stomach, the receptors slow down gastric emptying. In simpler terms, they make food stay in your stomach longer. As a result, you feel full for a longer period. This is one reason why bitter greens like arugula or dandelion leaves can help with weight management.
Second, these bitter receptors act as bodyguards for your digestive system. If your stomach detects a bitter substance that shouldn’t be there—like a potential toxin—it delays digestion to prevent harmful substances from moving too quickly into your intestines. This process gives your body extra time to neutralize any potential threats.
Bitters: From Medicine to Cocktails
Because of their digestive benefits, bitter herbs have been used in medicine for centuries. In the past, people took bitters—herbal mixtures containing bitter plant extracts—to help with digestion, bloating, and nausea. Some of the most common bitter herbs include:
- Gentian root – A powerful bitter used to stimulate digestion.
- Dandelion – Helps with liver function and gut health.
- Wormwood – Historically used for digestive problems and gut health.
- Burdock – Supports digestion and has anti-inflammatory properties.
Over time, bitters made their way from medicine cabinets to cocktail bars. During the 1800s, bitters became a key ingredient in alcoholic drinks, including the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan. In fact, some of today’s most famous bitters, like Angostura and Peychaud’s, were originally marketed as health tonics.
But perhaps the most interesting story of all is how gin and tonic became a malaria treatment. In the 19th century, British soldiers stationed in tropical regions were at high risk of getting malaria. The best available treatment at the time was quinine, a bitter compound from the bark of the cinchona tree. However, quinine was extremely bitter and unpleasant to drink on its own. So, soldiers mixed it with sugar, lime, and soda water to make it more palatable. Eventually, someone had the genius idea to add gin, and just like that, the gin and tonic was born.
Even though modern tonic water contains only small amounts of quinine, the drink remains popular today—not as medicine, but as a refreshing cocktail with a fascinating history.
A Word of Caution: Who Should Avoid Bitters?
Although bitters have many health benefits, they aren’t for everyone. Some people should avoid them, including:
- Pregnant or breastfeeding individuals – Some bitter herbs can have harmful effects during pregnancy.
- Children – Since bitters are often infused with alcohol, they are not suitable for kids.
- People with digestive disorders – If you have ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, or other stomach sensitivities, bitters could make your symptoms worse.
In addition, taking too much of certain bitters can lead to side effects, such as:
✔ Nausea
✔ Cramping
✔ Diarrhea
✔ Gas
✔ Stomach pain
As always, if you’re thinking about adding bitters to your diet, it’s a good idea to check with a doctor first.
Conclusion: Embrace the Bitter!
Bitterness may not be everyone’s favorite flavor, but it plays an important role in our health. It helps regulate digestion, protects against harmful substances, and has been used in medicine for centuries. Even though many people find bitter foods challenging at first, the good news is that your taste buds can adapt over time. So, if you want to develop a taste for bitter foods, start small. Add a little lemon or olive oil to bitter greens, try a piece of dark chocolate, or experiment with herbal bitters in your drinks.
Who knows? You might just learn to love the bitter side of life!
References
- Beauchamp, G. K., & Mennella, J. A. (2009). The biology of bitter taste. Scientific American, 301(2), 36-43.
- Meyerhof, W., Batram, C., Kuhn, C., Brockhoff, A., Chudoba, E., Bufe, B., & Appendino, G. (2010). The molecular basis of bitter taste perception. Trends in Neurosciences, 33(2), 92-101.
- Bartoshuk, L. M. (2000). Comparing sensory experiences across individuals: Recent psychophysical advances illuminate genetic variation in taste perception. Chemical Senses, 25(4), 447-460.
- Klee, H. J. (2010). Improving the flavor of fresh fruits: Genomics, biochemistry, and biotechnology. New Phytologist, 187(1), 44-56.
- Bisset, N. G., & Wichtl, M. (2001). Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. CRC Press.
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: M why is it that some of you gag at Brussels sprouts?
Speaker:Okay, maybe that's just me. While others
Speaker:munch arugula like it's candy. Today, we're diving
Speaker:into the world of bitterness. Why it exists, why your
Speaker:stomach can taste it, how bitters went from medicine to
Speaker:cocktails, and why gin and tonic isn't
Speaker:just a refreshing drink. It's actually
Speaker:a medical treatment.
Speaker:I am your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry Simpson,
Speaker:and this is Fork you Fork
Speaker:University, where we make sense of the madness, bust
Speaker:some myths, and teach you a little bit about food and maybe
Speaker:some bitter medicine.
Speaker:Bitterness is nature's way of saying,
Speaker:hey, maybe you don't want to eat that now. It didn't
Speaker:work when mom fed me Brussels sprouts, but it is a,
Speaker:uh, built in warning system, like your body's version of
Speaker:a car alarm, except instead of just
Speaker:annoying you, it's trying to keep you from poisoning
Speaker:yourself. Historically,
Speaker:many toxic plants have bitter
Speaker:compounds. So our ancestors who were pretty good
Speaker:at detecting bitterness were less likely to snack
Speaker:on something deadly. So congratulations.
Speaker:Your picky eating habits might just be a leftover
Speaker:survival benefit. I knew those Brussels sprouts
Speaker:were not meant for me. But here's where it
Speaker:gets weirder. While some bitter compounds
Speaker:are toxic, others are packed with health
Speaker:benefits. Think of foods like kale,
Speaker:coffee, dark chocolate,
Speaker:turmeric, all bitter, all loaded with
Speaker:antioxidants and nutrients. The problem?
Speaker:Not everybody's taste buds
Speaker:agree. Have you ever wondered why some people can
Speaker:sip black coffee and smile, while others, if you
Speaker:give them a cup of black coffee, react like they just licked a
Speaker:9 volt battery? It all comes down to
Speaker:genetics. In fact, it's a gene called the
Speaker:TAS2R, uh, 38, that
Speaker:determines whether you're a supertaster, meaning bitter
Speaker:flavors hit you like a freight train, or a non
Speaker:taster, meaning you're oblivious to
Speaker:them. Supertasters experience
Speaker:bitterness so intensely that food like Brussels
Speaker:sprouts and grapefruit are borderline
Speaker:inedible. Non tasters, on the other hand, can drink
Speaker:a bitter ipa, beer and black coffee without
Speaker:a second thought. And then there's the rest of us. We're all
Speaker:somewhere in between, politely tolerating kale in
Speaker:the name of health. Now, here's a plot
Speaker:twist. Your bitter taste buds
Speaker:aren't just on your tongue. Your stomach
Speaker:has them too. Yep, your stomach can
Speaker:taste bitterness. And when it does, it actually
Speaker:reacts when these bitter
Speaker:compounds hit these stomach receptors. And that's what the bitter
Speaker:tastes are. They slow down
Speaker:digestion. Which means that
Speaker:bitter foods can help you feel full longer because
Speaker:your stomach holds onto them instead of rushing
Speaker:them through. This is one of the reasons why a meal
Speaker:packed with bitter greens keeps you satisfied with while
Speaker:that sugary breakfast cereal leaves you starving an hour
Speaker:later. But that's not all. But wait, there's more.
Speaker:Those stomach taste buds also act as
Speaker:bodyguards against potential foodborne
Speaker:threats. If your stomach detects
Speaker:something bitter, especially if it wasn't supposed to be
Speaker:bitter, it pumps the brakes on digestion.
Speaker:The idea is to keep those potentially harmful
Speaker:compounds from reaching the small intestine too quickly,
Speaker:where they can do damage. Think of it like airport security.
Speaker:Before anything moves on, your stomach is running a
Speaker:background check. So imagine this.
Speaker:These bitter compounds have something deadly in
Speaker:them, and your stomach is going to create more
Speaker:acid and not let things through. And that
Speaker:acid is going to try and destroy that, whether it's a bacteria
Speaker:or a virus or whatever. And if it doesn't
Speaker:let it through like it's truly a bad bug,
Speaker:you will end up bloating and bloating and bloating and getting more
Speaker:nauseated. And finally, your stomach will expel
Speaker:them violently. We call that vomiting.
Speaker:Speaking of bitterness and digestion, let's talk about
Speaker:bitters. You know those little bottles that the
Speaker:bartenders dramatically shake into your Old
Speaker:Fashioned, or in my case, a Manhattan. Before
Speaker:bitters were the secret ingredient in cocktails, they were
Speaker:actually medicine. Yep. Bitters started
Speaker:out as, as an herbal remedy for digestive
Speaker:issues. And they've been used for centuries to
Speaker:help with bloating, nausea, and sluggish
Speaker:digestion. Monks in the Middle ages created
Speaker:bitter herbal tonics to help with digestion.
Speaker:Basically, it was an early form of Pepto
Speaker:Bismol, but with more wormwood
Speaker:and fewer weird pink bubbles. By the 1800s,
Speaker:bitters had become, uh, a staple for apothecaries, early
Speaker:pharmacies. And people would take a few drops of them before meals
Speaker:as a digestive to aid in digestion. And
Speaker:some of those famous brands of bitters today, like
Speaker:Angostera or Peychaud's, were originally sold as
Speaker:health tonics before bartenders figured out they could
Speaker:make that alcohol taste even better.
Speaker:And here's why they bitter compounds
Speaker:in these herbal extracts activate those
Speaker:stomach taste receptors we talked about earlier,
Speaker:delaying gastric emptying and helping break
Speaker:down food more efficiently. So while today
Speaker:you might think of bitters as a fancy cocktail ingredient, they
Speaker:actually have a long history of keeping people's
Speaker:digestive enzymes in check. It's
Speaker:medicine with a side of booze. What's not to
Speaker:love. And during prohibition,
Speaker:in New Orleans, or New Orleans if you happen
Speaker:to be from there, bitters were held by pharmacies
Speaker:and people would actually be able to legally buy
Speaker:bitters as their medicine. You
Speaker:know, get drunk on, uh, the government's time.
Speaker:But now let's talk about a bitter drink that was actually
Speaker:used as medicine. Gin and tonic. Now,
Speaker:I'm not telling you to replace your multivitamins with happy hour,
Speaker:but back in the day, gin and tonic wasn't just a
Speaker:refreshing cocktail, it was a
Speaker:legitimate treatment for malaria. So here's how it
Speaker:happened. In the 1800s, British soldiers and
Speaker:colonists in tropical regions were getting absolutely
Speaker:wrecked by malaria. And the best known
Speaker:treatment at the time was quinine, a bitter
Speaker:compound found in the bark of a tree.
Speaker:Quinine was incredibly effective at treating and
Speaker:preventing malaria. But there was a problem.
Speaker:It tasted awful. Imagine
Speaker:chewing aspirin mixed with tree bark and
Speaker:regret. So to make it more
Speaker:palatable, they mixed it with sugar, lime
Speaker:soda, water, and thus tonic water was
Speaker:born. But British soldiers weren't about to drink
Speaker:just tonic water. So they did what any
Speaker:reasonable person would do. They added gin. The
Speaker:result? The drink that kept malaria at
Speaker:bay while also making colonial life slightly
Speaker:more tolerable. Missing old England. And just like that,
Speaker:the gin and tonic became the most functional
Speaker:cocktail in history. The 4 o'clock
Speaker:high tea in many of the tropical
Speaker:sites, Africa, India was replaced
Speaker:with gin and tonics. Now, before you go
Speaker:prescribing yourself gin and tonic for medical reasons, let me
Speaker:clarify. Modern tonic water contains
Speaker:trace amounts of quinine, and malaria prevention
Speaker:has come a long way since then, but they still use it as an
Speaker:excuse to order at the bar. I'm drinking this one for historical
Speaker:and medicinal purposes.
Speaker:Finally, quinine also has a use in
Speaker:heart medicine and it's used for cardiac
Speaker:arrhythmias. Some of us are
Speaker:allergic to quinine. And if I were to
Speaker:drink a, ah, gin and tonic, for example, with normal
Speaker:quinine or some of the quinine filled ones like Indian
Speaker:fever, I will actually have fevers
Speaker:from that. Today's
Speaker:malarial parasites, by the way, are mostly
Speaker:resistant to quinine. So we just don't use it for that
Speaker:anymore.
Speaker:So before you start adding bitters to everything, let's go over some ground rules.
Speaker:Bitter bitters are not for everyone. In fact, for some people, they
Speaker:do more harm than good. Who should avoid
Speaker:bitters? Pregnant and breastfeeding
Speaker:individuals. Bitters contain compounds that can be harmful
Speaker:during pregnancy and they're infused with alcohol.
Speaker:They're not baby friendly children Again, they're alcohol
Speaker:based, not the children. So don't
Speaker:mix those into your kids. Grape juice or apple
Speaker:juice. People with gastrointestinal disease. So
Speaker:if you have ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, or any condition that makes
Speaker:your gut sensitive, bitters can actually
Speaker:worsen the irritation. They can cause
Speaker:nausea, cramping, diarrhea, gas, and a sore stomach.
Speaker:In other words, bitters can be great for digestion if
Speaker:your digestion system is in good shape. But if you're dealing
Speaker:with some gut issues, maybe skip the bitters and talk to
Speaker:your doctor before adding that routine. So
Speaker:what have we learned today? Bitterness. One of the
Speaker:tastes on the taste bud exists to protect us. But
Speaker:not all bitter foods are bad. Some
Speaker:people taste bitterness more than others. Those are supertasters. Your
Speaker:stomach can taste it too. And bitters have been used in medicine for centuries.
Speaker:Oh, and gin and tonic started as a malarial treatment.
Speaker:So really drinking one is just historical
Speaker:appreciation. Finally, a note to my
Speaker:all famous Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts were
Speaker:crossbred, so the Brussels sprouts that you
Speaker:taste today are unlike the brussels sprouts
Speaker:I grew up with back in the 60s and
Speaker:70s. Those Brussels sprouts were extremely bitter. The ones
Speaker:today are far more sweet and more palatable.
Speaker:Although I still have that sense of dread
Speaker:whenever I see a Brussels sprout on my plate.
Speaker:Anyway, if you love the food science without the flub,
Speaker:subscribe to my substack on T.
Speaker:Simpson.substack.com and do check out
Speaker:the blog associated with
Speaker:this@yourdoctorsorders.com
Speaker:all right. Eating smarts always in
Speaker:style. This podcast was researched and directed by
Speaker:me, Dr. Terri Simpson. And uh, while I am a doctor, I am
Speaker:not your doctor. This is for information and hopefully
Speaker:some educational purposes. If you need a doctor, please see
Speaker:a board certified western trained doctor. I don't see private
Speaker:patients off my podcast. Please don't see a chiropractor or some
Speaker:eastern guy trained in the dark arts. This pod
Speaker:is distributed by my friends at Simpler Media. Shout out to
Speaker:my good friend the pod God, Mr. Evotera.
Speaker:Alright, have a sweet and maybe a bitter
Speaker:week.
Speaker:Hey Ivo, you know, in the old days when I enjoyed a Good
Speaker:Man Patins, the bitters just had to be perfect.
Speaker:Not too few, but there never
Speaker:seemed to be too many. And I recall
Speaker:you teaching me a little bit about bitters in
Speaker:beers. Uh, that was a few years ago, my
Speaker:friend. I think we've
Speaker:gotten old.
Speaker:>> Speaker B: Well, that's the damn truth. Although I
Speaker:wonder, do the hops in beer. The
Speaker:bittering agent.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Hmm. Hm.
Speaker:>> Speaker B: Somehow slow down the aging process.
Speaker:More research needed, clearly. Cheers.
