Why we need the six tastes of food

The taste of food offers more than the pleasure of eating – it has a lot to do with how its digested and absorbed.

Traditional cultures have a full range of tastes in foods.

Sugar and sweet taste have become a part of the Westernized food experience, even to the extreme of using substitute sugars like artificial sweeteners and concentrated sweeteners like agave and stevia.

Diet changes are often needed and re-training the taste buds is a powerfully supporting part of it. Its truly satisfying to lose the desire for sweetness and quite amazing how much sweetness is detectable in foods and spices.

The Six Tastes of Food

The six tastes are sweet, salt, bitter, sour, pungent, astringent. They have strong positive effects on our response to food, especially the secretion of gastric juices and digestive enzymes.

Sweet

Builds tissues, calms nerves. Found in fruit, grains, natural sugars, milk.

Sour

Cleanses tissues, increases absorption of minerals. Found in sour fruits, yogurt, fermented foods.

Salt

Improves taste of food, lubricates tissues, stimulates digestion. Natural salts, sea vegetables.

Bitter

Detoxifies and lightens tissues. Stimulates bile, gastrin and pancreatic enzymes. Found in bitter leafy greens, herbs and spices.

Pungent

Stimulates digestion and metabolism. Chili peppers, garlic, herbs and spices.

Astringent

Absorbs water, tightens tissues, dries fats. Found in legumes, raw fruits and vegetables, herbs.

Let’s go shopping

How to do it? Experiment! It’s never been so easy – we can easily find new foods, spices, herbs and salad greens from all over the world.

Wonderful foods and flavours.