With the winter holidays, we come home to tastes that conjure tradition, bring us pleasure and remind of us of past good times. The six tastes enumerated by Ayurveda—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent—are featured in many holiday feasts. In the United States, typical holiday meals contain all six tastes: turkey is sweet and astringent, sage is predominantly astringent with a little bitter and pungent, squash and sweet potatoes are predominantly sweet, green beans are astringent, bitter and sweet, cranberries are sour and astringent, pumpkin pie spices are pungent and sweet. The salt we add to the meal enhances the flavor of our feast-foods and helps to boost our digestive fire so that we can digest the food.
This fundamental recommendation—that all six tastes be consumed, in appropriate amount, with sweet taste being predominant for health—can extend to our daily meal pattern, all year. It is in knowing what is appropriate, where we can really foster our health and nurture our digestive fire. Traditionally, Ayurveda characterizes tastes and the foods that carry them as hita: beneficial, or ahita: unbeneficial.
Taste or rasa also signals the elements that are predominant in the food and the effect it will have on our bodies. The Ayurvedic medical texts enumerate the many qualities and actions of tastes. For this article, I have referred to the Astanga Samgraha, a compendium of the knowledge held in prior texts. In general, Sweet, Sour and Salty help to balance Vata; and Sweet, Bitter and Astringent help to balance Pitta; and Bitter, Pungent and Astringent help to balance Kapha; but, knowing the individual qualities and actions that each taste carries and does in the body help us fine-tune what we eat to support us in the moment and for the long term.
Following are some of the qualities and actions described in the Asthanga Samgraha.
- Sweet taste
- Predominant in Earth and Water elements
- Coats the mouth, brings pleasure to the senses and happiness to the body
- Nourishes all of the tissues of the body and prolongs the life-span
- Improves bodily strength and complexion
- Fosters healthy skin and hair.
- Balances Vata and Pitta
- Heavy to digest, unctuous, cool, soft
- Sour taste
- Predominant in Earth and Fire elements
- Stimulates the tongue
- Causes watering of the mouth
- Produces a burning sensation in the throat, chest and abdomen
- Hastens the movement of feces and gas through the digestive tract
- Improves the taste of food
- Kindles the digestive fire
- Produces stoutness, nourishes and moistens the body
- Balances Vata
- Although cold to the touch, is hot, unctuous, light to digest and spreading
- Salty taste
- Predominant in Water and Fire elements
- Increases salivation
- Creates a burning sensation in the throat and cheeks
- Enhances taste of foods
- Removes stiffness and obstruction
- Spurs appetite
- Improves digestion
- Moistens at first—but in excess it dries
- Balances Vata and liquifies Kapha
- Spurs movement and spreading
- Can cause destruction of vitality and create laxity in the bodily tissues and joints
- Hot, sharp and penetrating; neither too heavy nor too unctuous
- Bitter taste
- Predominant in Air and Space elements
- Cleanses the mouth and clears the throat but hinders the perception of other tastes
- Dries excess moisture, fat tissues, feces and urine as well as the liquid part of Pitta and Kapha
- Kindles digestive fire and aides in digestion
- Relieves burning sensation
- Cold and scraping
- Pungent taste
- Predominant in Air and Fire elements
- Stimulating to the digestive fire but irritating to the tip of the tongue, throat and cheeks
- Causes watery discharge from the mouth, eyes and nose
- Improves taste perception
- Addresses digestive issues characterized by heaviness and sluggishness
- Dries both watery and oily moisture
- Scrapes out accumulations
- Cleansing, but causes burning sensation and impedes the healing of wounds.
- Astringent taste
- Predominant in Air and Earth elements
- Inactivates the tongue and obstructs the throat through drying and binding action
- Balances Kapha, Pitta and increased Rakta dhatu (red blood)
- Impedes elimination of feces
- Heavy to digest, drying and cold
- Binding/mending to tissues