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Digestive Bitters - BEFORE

216 reviews
$27.00
$27.00 - $145.80
$27.00
$27.00 - $145.80
$27.00
  • Aids digestion and liver detoxification
  • Delightfully tasty (balanced, not bitter)
  • Before-a-meal formula
  • About 40 servings
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Deliver Every:
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“I absolutely love these before and after meal bitters! Not only are they delicious but they do help with digestion.”
– VICTORIA B., USA – VERIFIED BUYER

How Digestive Bitters can help hormones

  • Aids liver detoxification: Burdock, dandelion root, and andrographis are bitter herbs that have been shown to move toxins, protect the liver, and help it regenerate. The liver plays a vital role in overcoming Estrogen Dominance and a healthy thyroid function.
  • Helps bind "dirty" estrogens: The increase in bile then helps address Estrogen Dominance.
  • May enhance fertility: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is the leading cause of infertility in women, and now there’s a possibility bitters could help.

How Digestive Bitters support overall health

  • Improve digestion: Thanks to increased enzyme secretion and stomach acid production.
  • Better bile production: Which in turn eases constipation, improves fat digestion (key to HDL “good” cholesterol formation), estrogen metabolism, and regular bowel movements.
  • Lower inflammation in the gut: A bitter combination of myrrh, chamomile, and coffee charcoal was comparable to the drug mesalamine in helping ulcerative colitis patients maintain remission.
  • Lessen acid reflux: Bitters improve the tone of the esophageal sphincter, according to animal studies.
  • Activate the parasympathetic nervous system: Stimulates the vagus nerve. This can help get you out of “fight or flight” and into “rest and digest” mode.
  • Healthy skin: By supporting the liver, you support the skin. When the liver gets overwhelmed as a detoxification system, the skin can be used as a second resort for elimination of toxins. Even psoriasis has a liver connection. Other examples include “liver rashes” and jaundiced skin associated with liver disease.

Featured Ingredients: Before Bitters

Gentian Creates significant “digestive fire.” Benefits include: regulates inflammatory response, increases bile flow, liver decongestant, stimulates GI secretions (promotes digestion, promotes peristalsis, and relieves constipation).
Schisandra A mighty adaptogen which restores the adrenal cortex, generates strength, and improves fatigue. Benefits include: helps with sleep, protects the liver from toxins, increases bile flow, antibacterial, anti-ulcer, immunomodulator, antioxidant, and supports liver detoxification.
Angelica Helps with dyspepsia (heartburn), flatulence, nocturia (overnight urination), arthritis, stroke, dementia, circulation problems, “runny nose”, nervousness and anxiety, and trouble sleeping (insomnia). It also has strong expectorant properties (loosens up mucus and expels it
Ginger Regulates inflammatory response, aromatic, stomachic (salivary and gastric secretagogue effect), GI tonic, antiemetic (acts on the parasympathetic nervous system), analgesic (pain reliever by inhibiting biosynthesis of prostaglandins and leukotrienes), relieves flatulence, iincreases bile flow, cholesterol reducing, antispasmodic, antimicrobial, and antifungal.

And it includes...

Clove Warms the stomach, aids digestion, and is a circulatory stimulant.
Meadowsweet Regulates GI inflammatory responses (can help gastritis, ulcers, dyspepsia), relieves acid, and helps relieve pain.
Did you know?
Bitters have been used as a pre- and post-meal digestive throughout culinary cultures; from Sweden, France, Italy, to India, and Korea. They got popularized by British sailers who started adding it to cocktails, the first one being the Old Fashioned using Angostura bitters which are made with gentian (also used in our bitters).

How this product can help:

  • Improve digestion
  • Aid liver detoxification
  • Balance hormones
  • Improve bowel movements
  • Reduce acid reflux
  • Feel lighter and more energetic after meals

This Product Works Best With

B Maximus Supports liver detoxification, estrogen balance, and energy $28.00
D3 Maximus Supports immune responses, essential in bone health $28.00
Magnesium Replenish The most bioavailable form of magnesium that supports natural relaxation and necessary for over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body $38.00
How to use
2-4 Pumps Before Meals

Recommended use: To prepare your digestive system, pump 2 to 4 squirts into your mouth BEFORE a meal. You can use it before each meal. Enjoy the good work of the herbs and their deep flavors.

Our Ingredients

Before: Gentian (Gentiana lutea)*, Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis), Angelica (Angelica archangelica)*, Ginger (Zingiber officinale)*, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)*, Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)*, Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)* * Organic

Quality Check

A quality herbal supplement should
  • be 3rd party tested for contaminants y
  • be FREE of gluten, dairy, soy, fillers and additives
  • taste good!

Reviews

Customer Reviews
4.8 Based on 216 Reviews
5 ★
89% 
192
4 ★
6% 
12
3 ★
3% 
7
2 ★
1% 
2
1 ★
1% 
3
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A
12/02/2022
Anonymous
United States United States

Best Bitters in the World!

I love these bitters, they really help my digestion and cut any gas and bloating to minimal. My doctor loves the way my body responds to these and I do too! Please don’t stop making them.

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A
11/22/2022
Anonymous
United States United States

Digestive Enzymes

The taste is unique but so far so good.

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CS
11/22/2022
Christine S.
United States United States

The Best

It is clear that these bitters are my digestion's best friend.

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DG
11/09/2022
Diane G.
United States United States

The BEST!

For 2 years now I have been seeking a remedy for my gut and digestion issues. I had procrastinated for months about trying these digestive bitters, and perhaps free shipping helped push me forward, so I decided to try the “before” bottle of bitters. Truly, the BEST decision and result so far. I plan to try the “after” bottle, as well! Thank you, Magdalena, for all the great informational content you put out, as well as, effective products. I am a happy customer!

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11/12/2022

Wellena / Hormones Balance

Hi Diane, thank you for the amazing review and your support. We are really glad to hear you are so satisfied with the bitters and noticing some great improvements. Thanks for being part of our community!

AP
11/08/2022
anjela p.
United States United States

Review

The before bitter has a nice taste. I think it might be helping a bit. They are very responsive to emails.

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11/12/2022

Wellena / Hormones Balance

Hi Anjela, we're so happy the Before bitters are helping you. Thanks for your awesome feedback and for leaving us this wonderful review!

Are you Estrogen Dominant? This formula is designed to help your hormones. We've put together several herbs, vitamins, and minerals that synergistically support hormone balance in women. This formula works its magic in women going through peri- and menopause as much as PMS and irregular periods. – MAGDALENA WSZELAKI, FOUNDER OF WELLENA

Frequently Asked Questions

For best results, take the bitters any time between 15 minutes or immediately before or after a meal.
The Wellena Digestive Bitters can be taken every day. If you are using bitters from other brands, that might not be the case.
You can but the bitter receptors in your body need a higher concentration of bitters for you to gain the medicinal benefits.
Pregnant women, children, and people with ulcers and gastritis, and former alcoholics should avoid bitters. If you are sensitive to any of the herbs present in the bitters, avoid the product.
Our Wellena Before Digestive Bitters are 90% organic and After Digestive Bitters are 80% organic. The non-organic herbs are responsibly wildcrafted and confirmed not to contain any harmful compounds.
Our glycerin is derived from coconut.
Our alcohol/ethanol is derived from sugarcane.
Yes.
Unfortunately, we do not. Many of the medicinal constituents found in herbs are only alcohol-soluble and won’t get extracted by water or glycerin alone.
It’s officially 3 years but they are likely to last much longer. We hope you use them much sooner than that!
If you have stomach ulcers, you should avoid bitters for the time being – although it depends on the blend of herbs. The herb gentian, as an example, stimulates the stomach’s production of hydrochloric acid (HCL), which will irritate the ulcer. The same goes for if you have gastritis. You can use gentian and other HCL-promoting herbs once you heal your stomach lining.
Digestive bitters have a proven track record to helping digest food better which may result in feeling lighter after meals, experiencing less acid reflux, burping, flatulence, and constipation. The liver loves bitters, too, the bitter taste facilitates detoxification. Bitters also stimulate bile flow which is helpful in digestive fatty meals and metabolism of “dirty” estrogens (present in estrogen dominance). Bitters have also been shown to balance blood sugar levels and activate the parasympathetic (rest-and-relax) nervous system.
Yes, many bitter users swear that bitters have relieved their constipation.
Before dinner, yes. Before bedtime, we don’t recommend it as it may make you feel hungry and cause night waking.
Yes, almost every culinary tradition has an element of bitterness. Some in the form of aperitifs (like Campari in North Italy, pastis in France, ouzo in Greece), others as condiments (green mango chutney in India, mustard in many countries).
The role of digestive bitters is to stimulate your own body to produce and release the various enzymes that aid digestion. Taking digestive enzymes is giving your body these enzymes. For some people, taking bitters creates enough enzymatic activity that they don’t need enzymes. For others, it’s not enough and they need to supplement with enzymes. So, it really depends on your age and digestive “fire.” We suggest starting with the bitters and see if that’s enough. If not, add the digestive enzymes. You know you’ve taken too many digestive aids when you develop nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramping or discomfort, headache, neck pain or nasal congestion.

1. Beauchamp G. K. Why do we like sweet taste: A bitter tale? Physiology & behavior. 2016.

2. Wszelaki, Magdalena. Overcoming Estrogen Dominance. New Type Publishing. January 2021.

3. Raja MK, Sethiya NK, Mishra SH. A comprehensive review on Nymphaea stellata: A traditionally used bitter. Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research. 2010.

4. Du, H. G., Ming, L., Chen, S. J., & Li, C. D. Xiaoyao pill for treatment of functional dyspepsia in perimenopausal women with depression. World journal of gastroenterology, 2014.

5. Yang, N., Jiang, X., Qiu, X., Hu, Z., Wang, L., & Song, M. Modified Chaihu Shugan Powder for Functional Dyspepsia: Meta-Analysis for Randomized Controlled Trial. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. 2013.

6. Zhao, L. et al. Efficacy of modified ban xia xie xin decoction on functional dyspepsia of cold and heat in complexity syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. 2013.

7. Ko, S. et al. An Herbal Medicine, Yukgunja-Tang is more Effective in a Type of Functional Dyspepsia Categorized by Facial Shape Diagnosis: A Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Randomized Trial. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. 2018.

8. Ahnfelt, N. O., & Fors, H. Making Early Modern Medicine: Reproducing Swedish Bitters. Ambix, 2016.

9. Melzer, J., Rösch, W., Reichling, J., Brignoli, R., & Saller, R. Meta-analysis: phytotherapy of functional dyspepsia with the herbal drug preparation STW 5 (Iberogast). Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics. 2004.

10. Oshikoya, K. A., et al. Herbal medicines supplied by community pharmacies in Lagos, Nigeria: pharmacists’ knowledge. Pharmacy practice, 2013.

11. Walker, J. M. The Bitter Remedy. The European Journal of Herbal Medicine. n.d.

12. Foster, S.R., Blank, K., Hoe, L.E.S., Behrens, M., Meyerhof, W., Peart, J.N. and Thomas, W.G. Bitter taste receptor agonists elicit G‐protein‐dependent negative inotropy in the murine heart. The FASEB Journal. 2014.

13. Lu, P., Zhang, C-H., Lifshitz, L. M., & ZhuGe, R. Extraoral bitter taste receptors in health and disease. Journal of General Physiology. February, 2017.

14. Mayo Clinic. Researchers find new treatment for constipation. ScienceDaily. May 16, 2011.

15. Langhorst, J., et al. Randomised clinical trial: a herbal preparation of myrrh, chamomile and coffee charcoal compared with mesalazine in maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis–a double-blind, double-dummy study. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 2013.

16. Tsai, C. C., et al. Salvia miltiorrhiza Induces Tonic Contraction of the Lower Esophageal Sphincter in Rats via Activation of Extracellular Ca2+ Influx. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2015.

17. Ano, Y., et al. Hop bitter acids containing a β-carbonyl moiety prevent inflammation-induced cognitive decline via the vagus nerve and noradrenergic system. Scientific reports, 2020.

18. Tong, X. L., et al. The safety and effectiveness of TM81, a Chinese herbal medicine, in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 2013.

19.Lvovskaya, S., & Smith, D. P. A spoonful of bitter helps the sugar-response go down. Neuron, 2013.

20. Ben Salem, M., Affes, H., Ksouda, K., Dhouibi, R., Sahnoun, Z., Hammami, S., & Zeghal, K. M. Pharmacological Studies of Artichoke Leaf Extract and Their Health Benefits. Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands),2015.

21. Mantovani, A., Gisondi, P., Lonardo, A., & Targher, G. Relationship between Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Psoriasis: A Novel Hepato-Dermal Axis?. International journal of molecular sciences. 2016.

22. Wu, S., Xue, P., Grayson, N., Bland, J. S., & Wolfe, A. Bitter Taste Receptor Ligand Improves Metabolic and Reproductive Functions in a Murine Model of PCOS. Endocrinology. 2019.

DO YOU SHIP TO CANADA, THE UK, AUSTRALIA OR OTHER COUNTRIES?

Unfortunately, at this point we only ship to the United States. This is due to the ever-evolving international laws surrounding supplements.

There are forwarding companies like MyUS.com, that will forward orders to you in your country for a fee.

In this case, it is the customer's responsibility to find out in advance if the supplement in question is legal in their country. For example, Progesterone and DHEA are not legal to ship into Canada (Canada classifies bio-identical hormones as drugs so they can only be prescribed by a doctor or naturopath).

We have had customers successfully ship their supplements abroad using MyUS.com, however we have only limited experience with this service.

WHY DOES SHIPPING COST $11.45?

For small businesses like ours, the shipping fee covers the very real costs of getting your order to you: shipping, handling, packaging, warehousing, insurances, and fairly compensating all the people involved along the way. We do our best to keep this shipping cost as low as possible, and offer FREE shipping for orders $97 and above.

WHY DOES MY SUBSCRIPTION ORDER INCLUDE $11.45 SHIPPING?

If you set up a subscription order and notice that you are being charged shipping, it could be due to one of these reasons:

1. Your order value is under $97

2. Your initial order qualifies for free shipping, but the order frequency on your subscriptions is different ( 1 product is set to ship every month, the other is set to ship every 2 months).

*The system automatically splits this kind of order into 2 separate shipments.

In this case it is more economical to set up one subscription every 2 months, and to increase your quantity to 2 units of the supplement that you consume monthly.

For example: 2 Vitamin B6 + 1 Essential Omegas every 2 months = free shipping.

Please email us at support@hormonesbalance.com if you would like some help managing your subscriptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

For best results, take the bitters any time between 15 minutes or immediately before or after a meal.
The Wellena Digestive Bitters can be taken every day. If you are using bitters from other brands, that might not be the case.
You can but the bitter receptors in your body need a higher concentration of bitters for you to gain the medicinal benefits.
Pregnant women, children, and people with ulcers and gastritis, and former alcoholics should avoid bitters. If you are sensitive to any of the herbs present in the bitters, avoid the product.
Our Wellena Before Digestive Bitters are 90% organic and After Digestive Bitters are 80% organic. The non-organic herbs are responsibly wildcrafted and confirmed not to contain any harmful compounds.
Our glycerin is derived from coconut.
Our alcohol/ethanol is derived from sugarcane.
Yes.
Unfortunately, we do not. Many of the medicinal constituents found in herbs are only alcohol-soluble and won’t get extracted by water or glycerin alone.
It’s officially 3 years but they are likely to last much longer. We hope you use them much sooner than that!
If you have stomach ulcers, you should avoid bitters for the time being – although it depends on the blend of herbs. The herb gentian, as an example, stimulates the stomach’s production of hydrochloric acid (HCL), which will irritate the ulcer. The same goes for if you have gastritis. You can use gentian and other HCL-promoting herbs once you heal your stomach lining.
Digestive bitters have a proven track record to helping digest food better which may result in feeling lighter after meals, experiencing less acid reflux, burping, flatulence, and constipation. The liver loves bitters, too, the bitter taste facilitates detoxification. Bitters also stimulate bile flow which is helpful in digestive fatty meals and metabolism of “dirty” estrogens (present in estrogen dominance). Bitters have also been shown to balance blood sugar levels and activate the parasympathetic (rest-and-relax) nervous system.
Yes, many bitter users swear that bitters have relieved their constipation.
Before dinner, yes. Before bedtime, we don’t recommend it as it may make you feel hungry and cause night waking.
Yes, almost every culinary tradition has an element of bitterness. Some in the form of aperitifs (like Campari in North Italy, pastis in France, ouzo in Greece), others as condiments (green mango chutney in India, mustard in many countries).
The role of digestive bitters is to stimulate your own body to produce and release the various enzymes that aid digestion. Taking digestive enzymes is giving your body these enzymes. For some people, taking bitters creates enough enzymatic activity that they don’t need enzymes. For others, it’s not enough and they need to supplement with enzymes. So, it really depends on your age and digestive “fire.” We suggest starting with the bitters and see if that’s enough. If not, add the digestive enzymes. You know you’ve taken too many digestive aids when you develop nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramping or discomfort, headache, neck pain or nasal congestion.

How we make things to be delivered directly to you

Science. Research. Facts.

All our products are rooted in science. No BS, just clean and honest ingredients that work.

We don’t greenwash. Ever.

No greenwashing means that we don't use misleading marketing to make our products seem more green or eco-friendly. Our products really are as natural as it gets.

If it’s not squeaky clean, it’s out.

We work hard to bring you products that are safe and effective. The top offenders we never invite to the party: GMOs, hormone disruptors, gluten, soy, and dairy.

Rigorously tested

Our manufacturing facilities are GMP compliant, which means every product is carefully tested. Our products are proudly made in the US and Canada.

Time-honored traditions

Many of our products use botanicals inspired by ancient herbal traditions from around the world.

1+1 = 5

Our ingredients work synergistically, amplifying each other. We transform them into meaningful products that make a difference for your body and spirit.