Gentiana Lutea

The great yellow gentian of European mountains, whose bitter root is a traditional digestive tonic, used in homoeopathy for poor appetite and acidity.

Yellow gentian is a tall perennial of the mountain pastures of central and southern Europe, with broad, ribbed leaves and whorls of starry yellow flowers. Its thick root is one of the bitterest natural substances known and has long been used in bitter tonics and aperitifs to stir the appetite.

Homoeopathy uses it mainly for the stomach. Homoeopaths traditionally associate it with poor appetite, sour risings and acidity, nausea, and a heavy, aching, bloated feeling in the stomach and abdomen with much wind. It is also linked with a frontal headache that eases after eating and in the open air.

• Poor appetite
• Acidity
• Bloating and wind
• Heavy stomach