Gentian is a plant that is inherently bitter in nature. It is one of the most bitter medicinal plants that we have. This bitter flavour serves as a gastric stimulant for our digestive system as well as our liver and gallbladder. It also tonifies the digestive tract. This helps in bloating gas, weak digestion, nausea and much more.
Cinchona Bark is a plant that contains a constituent known as alkaloids. The type of alkaloid in cinchona bark is bitter serving as a digestive stimulant in a similar way as gentian just slightly less intense. It also has antimicrobial qualities helping to fight off any pathogens that may be in the digestive tract contributing to these symptoms.
bitter orange has been used in traditional medicine as a digestive stimulant to help support symptoms associated with indigestion. It can also help decrease appetite in cases where overeating is exacerbating digestive symptoms.
Cinnamon is an herb that has been used traditionally in cooking and flavouring. It is warming in nature helping to stimulate the digestive system and aid in the digestion of food. Warming herbs help to stimulate areas of the body so that they are better able to function. It also has antimicrobial properties helping to destroy any bacteria, fungus or viruses that threaten to upset the digestive system. It is also an important herb in blood sugar regulation. It helps to keep blood sugar balanced, decreasing cravings for sugar and eating when one is not hungry.
This combination of herbs work to relieve digestive disturbances from many different mechanisms of action making it effective in supporting symptoms such as bloating, gas, nausea, stomach pains, weak digestion, and sluggish gallbladder. The bitter qualities of each of these plants acts synergistically to stimulate the stomach to secrete hydrochloric acid and the gallbladder to release bile. These two juices help to facilitate digestion. Increasing them makes it much easier for your body to digest food from all different food groups. These herbs also help to support digestion from other actions. Some like cinchona bark and cinnamon help to destroy any pathogens that may be causing digestive symptoms. In addition cinnamon helps to relax the body and digestive system making it easier for it to work properly. Finally bitter orange helps to regulate appetite, relieving digestive symptoms that can be exacerbated by overeating.
There are many other natural supplements that can help to support digestion, however most of them do not have the same diverse action as Amara Pascoe. Betaine HCL is often give to help increase acid in the stomach, where as other specific digestive enzymes such as pepsin can be given to help support specific processes in the digestive system. Often betain and pepsin can be given together in oral supplements. While these are important tools in digestion they only support one small part of the digestive process and therefore may not be as holistic or helpful for all people. Other bitter or warming herbs may also be helpful in supporting digestion. Ginger is one of these that is often used as a tea to decrease nausea and help break up food that has been ingested making it easier on the body to digest. While these herbs are helpful on their own, they still do not have the plethora of actions that Amara Pascoe has. The same could be said if each of the herbs in Amara Pascoe were taken on their own. For example a tincture of gentiana lutea, will be supportive for our digestive system through its bitter action however it will not have the other actins found in this formula such as warming, antimicrobial, muscle relaxing and appetite modulating.
