Bitters & Your Biology: Why a Little Spritz Sends a Big Signal

Most gut supplements are passive...they give your body something and hope it uses it.

Bitters are different. Bitters don’t give your body anything, instead they remind it what to do. They wake up ancient reflexes that your body already has built in. Cool right?! 

So when I say bitters “turn on” your digestion, I don’t mean they magically fix your gut.
I mean they literally activate your biology, using hardwired reflexes that have been in our DNA since, well, forever. 

Let’s break down the science (and the magic!).

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🧠 It All Starts with the Cephalic Phase Response

Let's get nerdy here. The cephalic phase of digestion is the very first stage, it starts before a single bite hits your stomach.

The second you see, smell, think about, or taste food, your brain starts prepping your body for digestion. Close your eyes, think about one of your favorite food memories you have and notice what shifts in your body. You probably start to calm down, salivate & feel your stomach gurgle. That's the cephalic phase response happening. What happens here is:

• Releasing saliva full of enzymes

• Stimulating vagus nerve signaling

• Increasing stomach acid secretion

• Priming your pancreas and gallbladder

The issue nowadays? Most people skip this phase completely. There's no pleasure, foreplay, ritual around meals. Just something to check off a to-do list or skip entirely bc well fasting, being "too busy" or just simply forgetting bc food isn't fun anymore. 

We're eating distracted, stressed, rushed, and disconnected. No pre-meal ritual. No anticipation. Just inhale-and-go.

This is where bitters come in. The second you taste something intensely bitter, it sends a clear signal to your brain: “FOOD IS COMING. PREPARE TO DIGEST.”

Bitters literally initiate the cephalic phase response and that alone can dramatically improve how well your body breaks down food and absorbs nutrients.

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👅 Bitter Receptors: Your Primal Warning System

Our ancestors evolved bitter taste receptors (called T2Rs) to detect potentially toxic plants or spoiled food. Bitter = danger. So your body learned to react fast.

These receptors live:

• On your tongue

• In your gut lining

• Inside your lungs, sinuses, and even immune cells

Your biology takes bitterness very seriously. Bitters shift biology, it's so cool. #geekingouthere

And here’s the cool part: modern science shows that stimulating these bitter receptors doesn’t just affect taste — it directly influences:

• Gastric secretions (like stomach acid)

• Appetite hormones (like ghrelin + CCK)

• Motility (how fast food moves through the GI tract)

• Immune responses (especially in the gut mucosa)

Bitters don’t just taste bad on purpose. They light up a whole-body system that’s designed to respond, regulate, and recalibrate.

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⚡️ Bitters Trigger Primal Reflexes

There are a few core biological reflexes that bitters tap into and they explain why even a few sprays work so fast:

1. Gustatory–Salivary Reflex

Bitter hits your tongue → brain says “activate saliva” → saliva preps carbs & fats for digestion.

2. Gustatory–Gastric Reflex

Your taste buds signal the brain to ramp up stomach acid production and prepare for protein digestion.

3. Gastrocolic Reflex

Once food hits your stomach, the colon preps to empty = bitters can improve motility and even support regular poops.

4. Enteroendocrine Reflexes

Bitters influence hormone signals like GLP-1, CCK, and ghrelin, which help regulate appetite, satiety, and insulin response.

These are built-in programs. You don’t need to “hack” your biology, just speak its language and bitters are one of the easiest ways to do that.

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🌿 What Happens After You Take Bitters?

1–5 sprays on your tongue, 5–15 minutes before a meal =

✅ More saliva (first step of carb + fat digestion)
✅ Increased stomach acid + enzyme secretion
✅ Better bile flow from your gallbladder
✅ More pancreatic enzyme release
✅ Improved appetite signaling + satisfaction cues
✅ Nervous system shift from "fight or flight" to "rest & digest"

Aka: you're activating your whole digestive sequence from brain to bottom... not just treating symptoms after the fact.

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✨ SUMMARY

Bitters don’t fix your gut. They just flip the switch that tells your body:
“Hey. It’s time to do what you already know how to do” which is digest like a pro. 

They activate your reflexes, your receptors, and your regulation system all through one ancient, primal taste.

So next time you spritz, remember: This is wayyyy more than a supplement. This is a primal reminder, a way to get back INTO your body, to remind your body of what it already knows how to do.