Six Tastes

The 6 tastes- the balanced nutrition in your diet .

By Dr. Sushma Tharanath

What if everything we ate taste the same? Life would be so dull, wouldn’t it? Meals would

become bland and snacks would be boring.

Luckily for us that isn’t the case in real life.The

food we eat daily usually checks off different tastes. Ayurveda-the science of life describes

six tastes or shad rasas for healthy body and mind.

Hello everyone and I am Dr. Sushma Founder and consultant Ayurveda physician at Kesari.

Ayurveda wellness center, Girinagar Bangalore. Yes, so today we are going to talk about the

six tastes- the balanced nutrition in your diet.

It’s the fact that A healthy diet is very important for a healthy body and mind. And healthy diet incorporates around the six tastes or shad rasas as per Ayurveda. Diet and nutrition in ayurveda comprise a wide variety of grains, fruits, milk, ghee, fresh vegetables and freshly

prepared food.

These directly or indirectly affect the three doshas of the individual. What are

these three doshas?

VATA, PITTA AND KAPHA are the three doshas of our body. The balanced state of tridoshas

comprises health and imbalance lead to disease. We can achieve balance in these three

doshas by regulating diet.

Rasa means taste and shad rasa means 6 tastes. As per ayurveda there are 6 tastes. These tastes have a direct energetic effect on digestion.

The sense of taste is a natural guide towards proper nutrition. For ages, humans relied largely upon taste to discover healthy foods in nature and avoid toxicity.

Every taste has a longterm effect on our metabolism after digestion is complete, and all the nutrients have been assimilated in the tissue. The six tastes in nature by which all foods can be categorized are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.

These six tastes are unique and naturally guide us towards body’s nutritional needs. Each taste has its own therapeutic effects and changing impact on our body from the time it enters the body till it is absorbed.

Let us know these tastes in detail:

Sweet- The sweet taste is highly nourishing, in fact the most nourishing of all tastes. Sweet food is excellent for building the bodies seven vital tissues plasma, blood, fat, muscles, bones, marrow and reproductive fluids. Sweet food also increases the saliva, soothes mucous

membranes and burning sensations, relieves thirst and has beneficial effects on skin, hair, voice and fertility. Sweet taste is found in milk and milk products, legumes like beans and lentils, sweet fruits like mango, banana, and certain cooked vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and beets.

This decreases the aggravated vata and pitta and increases kapha if taken in excess. It is suggested in ayurveda to eat sweets first as the moist, oily and heavy qualities slows down the digestion. The source being carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Sour- The sour taste wakes people up and ensures their thoughts and emotions become clear. Sour food stimulates and boosts digestion, helps circulation and elimination, strengthens the heart, maintains acidity, sharpens the senses, and helps to extract the iron from food. Sour food balances vata or its suitable for vata prakruti but it aggravates pitta and kapha.

Sour taste is commonly found in citrus fruits like lemon and oranges, yoghurt, cheese and sour creams and fermented foods like wine and vinegar. The source being organic acids, ascorbic acid, citric acid and acetic acid.

Salty-The salty taste provides solidity and structure to people, improves digestion, liquefies

the mucous, maintains mineral balance, aids in elimination of waste and calms the nerves. It

also improves the radiance of the skin and promotes overall growth in the body.

Salt is best for vata type of persons and if taken in excess it effects pitta and kapha. Salt is mainly found in minerals and not in plants, such as sea salt, rock salt, sea vegetables like sea weed and kelp. The source being mineral salt.

Pungent- The pungent taste is the hottest of all six tastes. The pungent taste in food

stimulates our digestion, boosts food intake and makes sure our waste products are burnt.

Pungent food ensures that we think quickly and clears the sinuses, promotes sweating, aids

circulation, improves metabolism and relieves muscle pain.

It balances Kapha and to certain extent vata but not advised for pitta prakruti persons. The pungent taste is found in certain vegetables such as chili peppers, garlic and onions, and in spices like black pepper, ginger and cayenne. The source being essential oils.

Bitter- Bitter is a dehydrating taste, thus increasing the strength and vigor in an individual.

Though the bitter taste is often not an appealing one, it stimulates the appetite and helps to

bring out the flavor of other tastes. It is a powerful detoxification agent, and has antibiotic,

anti-parasitic and antiseptic qualities.

It is also helpful in reducing the weight, skin rashes, burning sensation and nausea. Bitter is cooling and lightest and is best for pitta and also

benefits kapha. Bitter taste is found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, green cabbage,

bitter guard, herbs and spices like fenugreek and turmeric, coffee, tea, and certain fruits such

as grapefruit, olives and bitter melon. The source being alkaloids.

Astringent-Astringent taste is classified more in relation to its effect on the tongue than its

actual taste. It has a very cooling effect on the body so pitta is benefited and its light property

helps kapha.

Astringent taste is found in legumes like beans and lentils, fruits such as cranberries, pomegranate, pears, vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and turnip. Grains such as rye and quinoa, spices such as turmeric, coffee and tea. The source being Tannins.

One should incorporate all these six tastes in each meal, which keeps one balanced and satisfy each of the major dietary building blocks. This can thus avoid food cravings and over consumption of certain foods.