6 Tastes of Ayurvedic Nutrition

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a holistic system of health and well-being originating in India more than 5000 years ago. The translation from Sanskrit is "the science or the knowledge of life". Ayurveda takes a balanced approach to health and uses mostly nutrition, lifestyle changes and natural treatments. Ayurvedic nutrition comes from nature and guided by our instincts enables us to eat a balanced diet naturally.

Eating for Balance

Ayurveda places a deeper importance on taste and considers it a therapeutic aid to a higher state of health. Ayurveda recognizes 6 tastes; sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. A balanced diet includes an appropriate quantity of each of these six tastes corresponding to each person's constitution, current state of health and the environment. Examples of food that correlate to each of these 6 tastes include the following eats:

1. Sweet - rice, wheat, bananas, honey, milk, sweet potatoes, coconut, lentils, pumpkin seeds

2. Sour - yogurt, citrus fruits, tomatoes, vinegar, cheese, soy sauce and fermented foods and drinks

3. Salty - sea vegetables, fish, sea salt, miso, foods with added salt (nuts, popcorn)

4. Bitter - leafy greens, fennel, sesame seeds, lemon rind, olives, zucchini, dark chocolate

5. Pungent - onion, garlic, ginger, black pepper, mustard, radishes, spicy food in general

6. Astringent - carrots, apples, blueberries, broccoli, chick peas, potatoes, beans, buckwheat

Ayurveda recommends including all six tastes at each meal to satisfy nutritional requirements and to satiate the appetite.