How Sage Tea Supports Fat Digestion

Did you know that poor digestion of fats = poor absorption of fat soluble vitamins from food?

This means that if you have trouble fully digesting the healthy fats you eat, your body won’t be able to properly extract all the crucial fat soluble vitamins from your food – including vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Many of us experience fat malabsorption without knowing it, writing it off as indigestion and gas.

This is why things like gallstones go unnoticed for years, until someone is in so much pain that they’re suddenly told they have to get their gallbladder removed!  

Prevention means paying attention to the early signs from the body. Gallstones do not form overnight, and they are just one of the many symptoms/causes (viscous cycle) of poor fat digestion.

EARLY SIGNS & SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:

Nausea after meals; right shoulder pain (also right chest/back pain especially after meals); itchy skin after eating fats; greasy, smelly, or light-colored stools; gallbladder pain (right side under ribs); excessively dry skin (because the body is not absorbing fats for skin lubrication); and recurring gas and burping after meals.

WHY THIS HAPPENS:

The liver produces bile, which is squirted into the small intestine from the gallbladder at every meal. Bile’s job is to break down the fats we eat into tiny building blocks for absorption. If the liver is congested, it may not be able to synthesize quality bile. Likewise, if the bile stored in the gallbladder gets thick and sticky, the gallbladder can’t squeeze it out for proper digestion. Gallstones are *eventually* formed if no early interventions are introduced to support the liver, thin out the bile and improve bile flow.

HOW SAGE TEA HELPS:

Sage is an herbalist’s best friend for supporting fat digestion and absorption.

1. You can keep a plant like this one in your house and make tea out of the fresh leaves OR even chew a leaf right after your meal.
2. If you don’t want to go the plant route, you can order dried sage leaf online and brew tea on the stove to drink with fat-containing meals.

Sage is an herb that is traditionally used to “oil the body” (because it’s so good at lubricating the skin from the inside out via proper fat digestion + absorption). Sage successfully encourages the flow of bile and digestive enzymes, settles one’s stomach, and relieves flatulence, indigestion, and nausea. It’s my favorite herb for someone who gets nauseous or uncomfortable after rich foods because it’s so simple and effective!

Let me know if you try out this tea, and if it works to make your digestion more comfortable and complete.

xo, Olivia