I've been formulating this for a little while now with someone that's special to me in mind. Tincturing each herb individually and then creating a blend to enhance the synergy for full and complete digestive support. 
I wanted to craft a digestive bitters tincture with the herbs, barks and lichens that are prevalent during this season. I'm a strong believer that the woods offers us what we need, and taking note of what's growing, or what parts of the plants are at their peak potency during this time can shed a lot of insight about ourselves. This time of year, our diets (in a traditional sense) are much heavier in proteins, fats and starches. This benefits us in a lot of ways! Though, this heavier winter diet can be a bit more difficult for our digestive tracts. 
Bitters is a taste that has worked its way out of our modern day diets, which I think is a huge part of the root issue for so many health problems. Bitters support the digestive and nervous system, and I'm sure by now we all know how important both of those are for not only physical health but also mental health. In the 1700s, bitter herbs were a common remedy for digestive troubles. They have a long history all over the world as a healing taste. 
Now, in modern day there's been an abundance of scientific studies done proving the benefits of Bitters, from digestive support by increasing digestive secretions (which also leads to better absorption), to helping curb sugar cravings by countering brain receptors. As a digestive aid, Bitters have shown to help with everything from bloating to nausea and heart burn. Consuming bitters has been shown to stimulate the bodies production of PYY and GLP-1 which suppresses appetite, allowing us to also create healthier eating habits. Some Bitters (like Dandelion root) support the liver, which then allows our bodies to eliminate toxins. We all know about the gut brain connection by now, when our gut is out of balance the effects go far beyond that, affecting our mood and stress levels. Bitters play such a huge role in healing both physical and mental health.
Every season I plan to craft a seasonal bitters formula to support our bodies through the diets and movements of that season 🥰 so, I'd love to introduce the wildcrafted Winter Sunset Bitters Formula. 
❄️Birch bark
❄️Usnea
❄️Yarrow root
❄️Dandelion Root
❄️Turkey Tail Mushroom
Every herb provides its own unique quality in supporting winter digestion and gut health. 
Birch bark (the inner bark) is one of my favorite bitter herbs to stimulate the digestive tract. The Birch tree was actually dubbed “White Gold in the Boreal Forest" and has been taughted in TCM as the Russian Ginseng. It's been shown study after study that the betulin compound that birch provides  relieves a host of gastric disorders. 
Turkey tail is a wonderful prebiotic for the microbiome (foor for your gut). The polysaccharopeptides are the main compound that makes this fungi so healing to the gut lining and aids in reducing inflammation. Turkey tail is also great metabolism support. 
Which leads me to Usnea. Usnea is considered a bitter, which activates the digestive secretions. Though, it's role in this tincture doesn't stop there! Usnea is a wonderful metabolism modulator, which during the winter season can be incredibly helpful. There are studies showing how effective it is in remodeling intestinal flora homeostasis, especially in higher fat diets. 
Yarrow root and Dandelion root are wonderful and reliable bitters I've always been able to count on. Both grow abundantly here in the UP, and while I'm fairly new at working with Yarrows root (I've always normally just handled the leaves and flowers), I feel this might now be my favorite part of the plant to work with as the potency is exceptional. 
This is an ethyl alcohol derived tincture 🥰 and remember, the key to a healthy immune system is a healthy gut 🤗