Guest Author - Amelia Tucker

Swedish bitters is a mixture of herbs that help stimulate the liver and digestive system. The mixtures vary and if researching for a pre-made product, you can often find hundreds of different recipes.

Many companies claim that Swedish bitters can cure anything. This is not as cut and dried as it seems. It is also not exactly a falsehood either. Our liver ability to cleanse our blood is vital to overall health. Keeping our liver in top shape, is an extremely important and often undervalued part of a healthy lifestyle. Stimulating our liver and digestive system is done with bitter and carminative,(meaning antispasmodic and expels gas)herbs.

A true bitters combination will balance herbs of both these natures, without the harshness of simply laxative herbs that many companies are touting as cleansing. Although a laxative has its place in health, it is not necessary for a true cleanse and can be detrimental to one's health.

Spring is a time for finding the first greens of the season. These greens, or potherbs, have the same liver and digestive stimulating results that our bodies crave just coming out of the sluggishness of winter. Dandelion is a wonderful addition to your own recipe of Swedish bitters. A balancing herb that is also available around the same time as your dandelion greens, is mint. My spearmint is growing wildly, right alongside my dandelions. I pick both without moving more than a foot. These are two ingredients that work nicely together and are easy to find.

You can mix a basic recipe, including many bitter herbs that are available in your area and create your own bitter tonic, or simply gather and enjoy the potherbs in a daily meal, until the season for them passes.

There are some well known makers of bitters, who seem to know how to heal everything from bruising to epilepsy, with their mixtures. I am not supporting or denying those theories, however, you will find that your energy may increase as you begin a daily tonic of bitters in your diet.

Whichever you choose, bitter herbs have a important place in everyone's health routine.