Ayurveda Nutrition

What are the 6 tastes in Ayurveda and how can learning about these taste help curb our cravings?

Although this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as learning and understanding the science and knowledge of Ayurvedic nutrition… it really is a good place to start!  

Open your mind, ears and eyes, for a whole new way to see and experience food…ESPECIALLY if cravings tend to sabotage your healthy eating goals on a regular basis.

Let’s begin with this week’s intention and affirmation

Daily Intention; “Today, I feed my body good, wholesome food”

Daily Affirmations; “My body deserves to be fed good, wholesome food” & “I deserve to feel good”

Why start with the intention and affirmations?

Because…

• We need to WANT to feed our body good, wholesome food!
• We need to be willing to change some habits if we currently are not feeding our body well – or maybe we just simply do not know how to feed our body properly but are willing to learn.
• We need to be curious and be willing to look at ourselves and food in a different way – maybe we think we are feeding our body good food yet… we are still not feeling good.
• We need to make friends with our body and know that it deserves to be fed well.
• We need to check in with ourselves to make sure we know we deserve to feel good and WANT to feel good.

If these needs are not in alignment with your needs – then most likely Ayurveda nutrition and the 6 tastes won’t interest you and that is okay! 

In all of my years of training and coaching others on achieving success in their wellness goals it always amazed me how many people didn’t actually believe they could or even deserved to feel better – in this belief, we sabotage ourselves in so many ways. I have also encountered many people who do not really want to feel better and often this is because they have gotten so used to feeling a certain way – that change of any kind seems foreign. They are willing to stay stuck in the shell of their aching, hurting, tired and stressed body – continuing to make choices that contribute to their physical pain – all because the journey to wellness seems daunting and scary or they refuse to give up their favorite foods or habits…again, this is okay. We are not all here on the same journey to well-being. 

I honor and respect everyone and I honor and respect everyone’s choices. I accept and respect that not everyone’s needs are in alignment with the intention and affirmations above.   

This is why starting with the intention and affirmations are important – if they align with what you want and how you want to feel…

then keep on reading!

Ayurveda and the 6 taste

The 6 tastes are a simple way to ensure we are getting a balanced diet.

The 6 tastes are intended to balance our appetite by stimulating our sense of taste in just a way that leaves us feeling satisfied after we have eaten a meal.

When we do not eat a meal that has all of the 6 taste included, our body will often seek out more to eat to achieve satisfaction. The brain recognizes that something is missing and will continue to send signals to the body to eat more. We then may choose to continue to eat more (often unconsciously) trying to find that one thing that will make us feel satisfied.

The 6 tastes are designed to be the right mix of what it is our body is seeking to feel satisfied and balanced.

Cravings can be a thing of the past if you take some time to learn and understand these tastes and open your mind and taste buds to experimenting with them.

There is of course a complete Ayurvedic science behind finding the right balance for each of us – but learning about these tastes is a great start and a great way for each of us to bring some awareness into our current eating patterns and habits. Learning the 6 tastes and the benefits they hold for all of us AND how our body feels when we eat them will essentially lead us to finding our balance and empower us to make better choices.

What are the 6 tastes?

Sweet; Sour; Salty; Pungent; Bitter; Astringent

1. SWEET – these foods are our carbohydrates, proteins and fats. We need this taste for energy!

• Since sweet foods can range from candy to pasta – note that refined sugar like candy is NOT encouraged to choose, instead choose sweet foods that are balancing and nutritious.
• Choose fresh sweet fruits (peaches, pears, bananas, mangoes)
• Choose sweet veggies (artichokes, squash, yams, sweet potatoes)
• Choose fresh or organic dairy products.
• Choose good sources of monounsaturated fats ; olive oil, peanut oil, avocadoes and most nuts.
• All meats are in the sweet category. If you choose to eat meat – choose quality meats that have come from a reputable farm known for treating their animals with care. Meat quality starts at the farm level.
• Choose grains such as quinoa, rice, millet, and wheat berries.
• Limit or avoid consuming foods made with flour and partially hydrogenated oils such as breads, crackers, chips, and cookies.

2. SOUR – the sour taste awakens our appetite and supports our digestive system & metabolism.

• Choose lemons, oranges, pineapples, grapefruit, tomatoes
• Choose fermented foods in moderation.
• Limit your consumption of pickles, green olives & salad dressings.

3. SALTY – in the right dose salt aids in digestion, adds flavor to our food (increasing our appetite & metabolism) and lubricates our tissues. We all need salt. It allows our body to hold onto important fluid. Too much salt though attributes to high blood pressure so knowing this taste is essential but needs to be consumed in moderation.

• The salty taste is in fish, soy sauce, tamari, seaweed, salty meats and is found in celery and of course table salt.

4. PUNGENT – spicy, hot or pungent taste stimulates our digestive fire and aids in detoxifying the body. The natural chemicals in hot spices are also antibacterial.

• Pungent taste is found in chili peppers, onions, garlic, radishes, and mustard.
• Use pungent spices in your cooking – pepper, ginger, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint – to name a few!

5. BITTER – bitter is better! We all need to add more bitter into our diets. Bitter foods are anti-inflammatory and medicinal – rich in phytonutrients & flavonoids these foods help our body fight infections & diseases.

• Choose green and yellow vegetables
• Use bitter spices in your cooking – cilantro, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, licorice, saffron, sage, chamomile and turmeric – to name a few!
• Many medicinal herbs are bitter as well – Echinacea, aloe, and black cohosh to name a few.

6. ASTRINGENT – astringent foods have a healing and releasing effect on our body. These foods enhance healings of our wounds and contain the fiber our body needs to release waste.

• Choose beans, lentils, mung beans, legumes and peas (soaking beans in water with a bay leaf helps alleviate gas and bloating often associated with eating beans)
• Choose tart fruits such as apples, cranberries, and pomegranates
• Choose asparagus, cucumbers, spinach, celery, and mushrooms
• Green tea, black tea and coffee

The key here is balance

When one is not aware of the affect from the food they are eating – a typical diet is usually heavy on the sweet, sour and salty side, creating imbalances in our weight, our energy and leaves us susceptible to cravings. Eventually these imbalances in our body can lead to physical discomfort, pain, illness and  imbalances in our mind – so focusing on bringing the other 3 tastes into your daily meals will be beneficial.

Many of us need to increase our pungent, bitter and astringent tastes and limit our sweet, sour and salty taste, remembering here that the key is balance – just as not incorporating all 6 tastes into our meals can lead us into imbalances causing cravings – too much of any one taste can and will throw us out of balance as well. (Example; too much sweet taste can lead to weight gain. Too much pungent taste can lead to heart burn) so moderation and balance is the name of the game here.

ALL TASTES are required though – so do not avoid any one taste

Play with these foods in your diets and in your meals. Look for color in your meals – specifically the colors of the rainbow. Be curious, try new spices, teas, foods and recipes, and maybe even take an Ayurveda course.

Notice how you feel when you eat a meal with all the tastes included. Eat the meal slowly, see if you can taste all the flavors and then notice how you feel when you are finished eating.

Your body is deserving of good, wholesome food and finding balance in our choice making can be a fun way to experiment with the different tastes and flavors to feed our body right.

Feeling good and having more energy and less craving are just a few benefits of seeing and experimenting with food and the tastes in this way.

Give it a try! If nothing else – you will get closer to understanding your body.

Our bodies are miraculous and incredibly intelligent – it is time we tuned into that intelligence and these 6 taste can help us all do that.

REMEMBER – YOU ARE WORTH IT.

 Make 2023 your year for transformation and change.

We all deserve to be feel good. Our body’s all deserve to be fed good food!

If you are interested in Ayurveda classes – there are a lot of options available that may suit your lifestyle – live on-line classes, recordings, in-person classes or private Ayurveda coaching sessions with Leslie.  

Contact Leslie to find out which option is best for you at

Call or text at 780 722-3442 or email leslie@wellnessdefined.ca

Now…let’s tap this in…