HeyMonicaB: A Blooming Resource on Ayurveda

Did you check out nutrition 1, 2, & 3 yet? Not totally prerequisites, but definitely worth checking out.

In Ayurveda there are 6 tastes and it’s having a balance of these tastes in our diet that creates harmony in the body and mind. Each taste has contains certain elements (space, air, fire, water, earth), so depending on what you are made of, there are tastes that will be more balancing for you than others.

For example, if you are a vata person (made of air and ether) in general sweet, salty and sour foods will be your best bet because they are grounding and warming (earth and water and fire elements). If a vata person tends to eat too many raw veggies, salads, or dry foods (air and ether elements) there are not enough grounding elements to the food, which will increase vata causing constipation and/or an unsettled mind.

See the chart for more detail on which foods increase or decrease each dosha. Remember, what ever dosha(s) we are naturally, we want to choose foods that decrease that dosha. Increasing could cause the dosha(s) to aggravate and overflow into a state of disease. So for a rule of thumb, choose the tastes that decrease. Also! If you are balanced, you will crave foods that balance you. If you are imbalanced, you will crave the foods that continue to imbalance you.

Your next question probably is, “How do I know which foods are which tastes?!” I will tell you. This is an overview – there are entire books written on this (a great one!), so for now I will stick to bite size chunks for easy digestion ;)

Sweet: carbohydrates/grains, rice, bread, sweet fruit, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, milk, oils, meats, nuts
Sour: citrus fruits, yogurt, alcohol, vinegar, sour cheeses, tomato, raspberries, strawberries
Salty: all salts; sea, black, rock
Pungent: garlic, onion, ginger, wasabi, black pepper, cloves, cayenne pepper, horseradish, salsa, jalapenos
Bitter: coffee, rhubarb, tumeric, most green and yellow veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, leafy greens, cabbage
Astringent: fruit peels, unripe banana, leafy greens, blueberries, cranberries, beans, legumes, peas, green tea