Digestive System
The gut from mouth to colon — digestion, absorption, the microbiome, and a large share of immune and nervous activity.
General herbal approach
Treatment usually starts at the top: bitters prime secretion of stomach acid, bile, and enzymes, sharpening sluggish digestion. Carminatives (fennel, ginger, peppermint) relax the gut wall to relieve gas, bloating, and cramping, while demulcents (marshmallow, slippery elm) coat and soothe irritated or inflamed mucosa. Astringents tighten lax, weepy tissue in diarrhoea, hepatics and cholagogues support the liver–bile axis behind good fat digestion, and antimicrobials address dysbiosis and gut infection.
Key herbal actions
The actions most often called on for the digestive system: Bitter, Carminative, Demulcent, Astringent, Hepatic, Antispasmodic. Each links through to the herbs that carry it.