Digestion

Digestion is one of the oldest fields of herbal tradition: bitter tastes before a meal, aromatic infusions after it, warmth on the belly. The aim was never treatment but comfort — the feeling that food 'goes down'.

This is where the split between bitters and aromatics comes from, and you will recognise it on the individual herb cards. Each herb has its own card because contraindications differ: what suits a feeling of fullness may not suit reflux or pregnancy.

Some species have trials on bloating, dyspepsia or nausea; elsewhere the evidence is weaker. A summary line such as 'herbs support digestion' would blur that spread, so the catalogue keeps it at the level of the individual cards.

The word 'detox' appears here only as a description of a folk framing. The liver and kidneys clear metabolites on their own; a herbal infusion neither starts that work nor speeds it up.

Blood in the stool, black stool, unexplained weight loss, vomiting, trouble swallowing or pain that wakes you at night need to be examined without delay.

A lasting change in bowel habit, repeated heartburn and pain that stays for weeks should also be checked. Chronic complaints have a diagnosis, and tea does not replace it.