COMPLEX AND PURE FORMS OF THE SIX TASTES
| Taste |
Pure Form |
Complex |
| Sweet |
sugar |
complex carbohydrates
rice, grains, meats |
| Salty |
table salt |
seaweed |
| Pungent |
cayenne pepper
garlic |
mild spices such a
cardamom, fennel |
| Sour |
alcohol |
sour food such as
buttermilk, yogurt, pickles |
| Bitter |
pure bitter gentian |
mild bitter
dandelion, aloe vera juice |
| Astringent |
strong tannins oak bark |
mild astringents red raspberry leaf |
QUALITIES OF THE SIX TASTES
HEAVY FOODS : high proteins, milk, wheat, avocados, breads, nuts, meats, beans
LIGHT AND DRY FOODS : broccoli, spices, eggplants, spinach, barley, cayenne and other peppers, nutmeg, ginger. (The light and dry qualities are usually found together in foods)
OILY : not only oily to the touch but unctuous and internally lubricating. For those with dry skin . This is an important dietary consideration in winter when the air is dry; ghee (clarified butter), oils, nuts, milk, asparagus, carrots, rice. Oily and heavy food qualities are often found in combination in "body building foods."
COLD : cold after tasting them such as ice cream, cheese, milk, grapes, juicy fruits, sugar, wheat, lentils, artichokes, cucumbers, zucchini
HOT : not necessarily meaning pungent, spicy food or food right off the stove although this is indicated. Hot quality is also to be found during the digestive process. Carrots, cloves, hing (a spice from India), mustard seeds, corn, seafood, turmeric are all considered hot either to the taste or post digestively in the stomach.
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