(NaturalHealth365)  Herbs are truly fascinating. They can actually protect themselves from munching predators by evolving a bitter taste.  In fact, with these herbs, there’s a direct correlation between its bitter taste and greater nutrient-density.  Generally speaking, bitter is better!

For example, arugula, dandelion and mustard greens are all quite bitter but they are also some of the most nutritious greens you can eat.  In addition, echinacea may have a super-bitter taste, but it certainly packs a strong punch when you want to knock out a cold that’s coming on.

See how bitter herbs can be a great friend to our health

Plants use phytonutrient color compounds like anthocyanins, the phytochemical in blueberries that makes them blue (and which happens to spark new brain cell growth), and these colors help them to avoid detection in flower fields and, ultimately, to remain alive. Likewise, this bitter taste helps to wards off animals that may come by to eat them.

Ultimately, everything wants to naturally say alive.  This is why bitter leaves often surround and cloak a sweet berry plant or fragile flower.  All these evolved compounds are profoundly healthy – due to their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.

Here are some wonderful bitter herbs you can add to your diet:

Clove: is certainly a bitter and pungent herb, but it’s also one of our most powerful natural antibiotics that fight viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Research is now finding that clove water extract may be effective against many different kinds of bacteria, including E. coli.

The compounds in clove oil such as eugenol and β-caryophyllene, which have also proven highly effective at eradicating mouth-bacteria, are strong antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antifungal agents.

Goldenseal: is a very bitter herb – and one that contains a powerful natural antibiotic called berberine.

Berberine is what makes this ancient herb such a powerful healer of wounds and bacterial skin infections like MRSA.  Goldenseal is also a powerful immune-boosting herb which helps to lower levels of inflammation in the gut as well, where 70% of our immune system resides.

Oregano: is a small-leaved but bitter plant which is super-rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Oregano is a natural antibiotic, especially when it is made into an oil.

Oregano oil, thanks to chief constituents of the herb called carvacrol and thymol, is such a powerful antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent that it helps to heal the gut and reduce levels of the bacteria that causes small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO). It’s also a great herb for healing wounds and treating fungal infections caused by candida, including athlete’s foot, and oral thrush.

Use more of these herbs in herbal teas, cooking, and tinctures, and you’ll be armoring the body with natural antibiotics that will protect you from these pathogens.

Sources for this article include:

Huffpost.com
NIH.gov
Academic.oup.com
NIH.gov