What does the universe taste like?

One of the special features of this system is the recognition of plants and their qualities based on “Rasa”, the flavour: sweet, sour, salty, hot, bitter and tart. Each of these flavours is determined by two of the five elements – ether, air, fire, water or earth. The effects (karma) can be read from this context.

Practical examples may help to explain this system presented here in a very abbreviated form. However, medicinal plants and foods can often combine several nuances of flavour. There are also exceptions to the system. Such are medicinal plants that do not show their effect in their flavour – they are described in Ayurveda with their prabhava (special effect). These few examples are just a suggestion to take a closer look at good flavour and Ayurveda.

Ayurveda provides lots of advice on how to achieve a calming effect on our:

• Vata with salty, sour and sweet
• Pitta with bitter, tart and sweet
• Kapha with hot, bitter and tart

or how to stimulate our:

• Vata with hot, bitter and tart
• Pitta with spicy, sour and salty
• Kapha with sweet, sour and salty

A balanced Ayurvedic meal always contains all six flavours. In an Ayurvedic diet, the food is put together in such a way that the dysfunctional doshas are brought back into balance. In the case of a Vata disorder, for example, the digestive fire is stimulated with salty and sour foods. For example, a slice of ginger with a pinch of salt. A warm cereal porridge with a little maple syrup is suitable as a sweet component. Because every person is different, every Ayurvedic diet is always individual.

Source: Birgit Heyn (Die Zeit – Volume 2001)