Surthrival’s carefully curated Herbal Digestive Bitters—made from certified organic and wildcrafted herbs accented with essential oils of orange, lemon, and grapefruit— improve digestion with a tasty but not overpowering flavor. 

First, look for herbs that stimulate the digestive process. These are ingredients that excite the parotid glands, get saliva and gastric juices flowing to prepare for digestion, and that help the stomach reach an optimal pH for breaking down foods. These secretions also send message to other parts of the digestive tract so everything happens smoothly and efficiently down the line. Digestive stimulants will often be aromatic and strong or bitter in flavor like dandelion, citrus, gentian, and ginger.

Next, you want a supplement with ingredients that optimize “motility”: the speed of digestion. When digestion is too fast your intestinal tract loses opportunities to absorb and assimilate nutrients, and undigested foods can cause damage to the sensitive intestinal lining. When digestion is too slow, food sits in your intestines for too long, leading to discomfort, gas, bloating, and dysbiosis of your gut flora. Herbs like fennel, yellow dock, and blue flag root are all helpful in improving motility and smooth digestion.

Finally, look for herbs and ingredients that support your gallbladder. The gallbladder is responsible for storing and secreting bile, which is essential for breaking down dietary fats and assimilating fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Remember—you’re not just what you eat, you are what you digest. Gallbladder supporting herbs like dandelion, gentian, oregon grape root, and yellow dock improve the gallbladder’s receipt of hormonal signals from the rest of the digestive system, improve the fluidity and quality of your bile, and help you absorb all of the nutrition from the quality fats you incorporate into your diet. 

Check out the helpful graph below to see how our proprietary blend of bitter herbs keeps your digestive system on the move.