Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Gentian bitters are popular in Germany, where herbal medicine is considerably more mainstream than it is in the United States. German physicians discourage its use by people with high blood pressure They also echo the Eclectics’ warning that large amounts may cause stomach irritation with possible nausea and vomiting.

The FDA has approved gentian for use in foods and alcoholic beverages. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, who do not have hypertension or chronic gastrointestinal conditions, gentian is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.
Gentian should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your physician. If gentian causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or nausea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Hard to Start

Gentian is a striking o-foot perennial with branching medicinal roots, deeply veined, pointed oval leaves, and large, beautiful yellow flowers.

Once established, gentian requires little care other than abundant water and shelter from wind and excessive sun. But establishing this herb can be a problem. The seeds need frost to germinate, and even with frost, germination may take a year, if it occurs at all. Most authorities recommend using root cuttings. Gentian prefers rich, loamy, slightly acidic soil. An annual dressing of peat moss helps.

Harvest the roots in late summer. Desirable roots are dark reddish brown, tough, and flexible with a strong, unpleasant odor. They should taste rather sweet initially, then very bitter. Dry the roots, then reduce them to powder.

Forget gentian for “loss of manhood, helplessness, imbecility, and insanity.” But the bitter root may live up to its ancient reputation.

Digestion - Gentian contains a chemical (gentianine) that stimulates the secretion of stomach acid, lending some credence to its 3,000-year history as a digestive aid. Try it before meals.

Arthritis - One Chinese study showed gentian has strong anti-inflammatory properties, which suggests traditional Chinese physicians may have been on the right track when they prescribed the herb for arthritis. Try it if you have arthritis or any other inflammatory condition.

Women’s Health - Gentian has never been shown to stimulate the uterus, but for hundreds of years, herbalists have considered it a powerful menstruation promoter. Pregnant women should err on the side of caution and not use it. Other women may try it to begin their periods.

Rx for Gentian

Use a decoction or tincture to stimulate digestion. You might give either a try to help treat arthritis or bring on menstruation.

For a decoction, boil I teaspoon of powdered root in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Cool. Drink 1 tablespoon before meals. Gentian tastes very bitter, so you might want to add sugar or honey.

In a tincture, use ¼ to 1 teaspoon before meals.

Gentian should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

Feel Better with Bitter Moxie

Family: Gentianaceae; (includes other Gentians, Marsh Felwort)

Genus and Species: Gentiana Lutea

Also known as: Yellow Gentian, Bitter root, Bitterwort

Parts used: Roots

In Depression-era slang, moxie meant courage tinged with recklessness. Teddy Roosevelt, Charles Lindberg, Al Capone-they all had moxie. The term comes from Moxie, a bitter soft drink available only in New England since the 1890s. Moxie owes its bitterness to gentian root, a Healing herb with a 3,000-year history as a digestive “bitter.” Modern research shows gentian may stimulate digestion.

For Whatever Ails You

Gentian was used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans as an appetite stimulant, antiseptic wound wash, and treatment for intestinal worms, digestive disorders, liver ailments, and “female hysteria” (menstrual discomforts).

Sixth-century Arab physicians adopted gentian from the Greeks and introduced its medicinal use to Asia. Since then, Chinese physicians have used it to treat digestive disorders, sore throat, headache, and arthritis. India’s Ayurvedic physicians have used it to treat fevers, venereal diseases, jaundice, and other liver problems.

During the Middle Ages, European herbalists prized gentian because it caused less intestinal irritation than other digestive bitters.

Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote gentian “strengthens the stomach exceedingly, helps digestion, comforts the heart, helps agues [fevers] of all sorts, kills worms, and preserves against fainting and swooning. It provokes urine and terms I menstruation I exceedingly; therefore, let it not be given to women with child.”

When colonists arrived in Virginia and the Carolinas, they were greeted by Indians who applied a root decoction of native American gentian (G. puberula) to treat back pain.

America’s 19th-century Eclectics considered gentian “a powerful tonic,” and prescribed it to “improve appetite and stimulate digestion.” But their text, King’s American Dispensatory, warned: “When taken in large doses, it is apt to oppress the stomach, irritate the bowels, and produce nausea, vomiting, and headache.”

Gentian was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1955 as a digestive stimulant.

Before the introduction of hops, gentian root was used in beer brewing, and the herb is still used in liqueurs, vermouths, and many digestive bitters popular in Europe.

Moxie Makes Money

Then came Moxie. In 1885, Augustin Thompson of Union, Maine, introduced it as Beverage Moxie Nerve Food. The original label proclaimed the bitter brew cured “brain and nervous exhaustion, loss of manhood, helplessness, imbecility, and insanity”-claims that took a lot of moxie even in the pre-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heyday of patent medicines. Thompson peddled Moxie on the road in classic snake-oil style, and eventually it caught on-not as a medicine but as a beverage. That was fine with Thompson, who backed off from his medicinal claims and repositioned Moxie as a soft drink. For years, Moxie outsold Coca-Cola in New England. It’s still available there, and gentian is still one of its ingredients.

In her Modern Her8aL Maude Grieve called gentian “one of our most useful bitter tonics, especially in general debility, weakness of the digestive organs, or want of appetite. It is one of the best strengtheners of the human system.” Contemporary herbalists echo Grieve. One suggests chewing the root as a substitute for cigarettes.