Stress Management

How The Six Tastes Affect The Doshas

The table above, summarizing how the six tastes affect the doshas, is very useful in coming up with proper diet in case of imbalances in our doshas or vikruti. For example, a woman who is a few days away from her monthly period, will feel bloated from fluid retention. This is also accompanied by mood change and depression (we call this PMS). Ayurvedically speaking, these all mean that the Kapha is out of whack, an excess of Kapha in the system prior to menstruation period.

Looking at the table above we can see that in order to reduce Kapha, we need to eat Pungent (onions, radishes, garlic, ginger, cumin etc.), Bitter (green leafy vegetables such as spinach, bitter greens , turmeric) and astringent foods (such as lentils, broccoli, cabbage etc.). Most of the people tend to eat sweet foods (candy bar) or salty food (such as potato chips, salted nuts etc.). This obviously will make things worse.

Similarly, for a person who feels very angry or irritated (signs of Pitta imbalance), foods that are sweet, bitter or astringent will be helpful. Herbs can also be used instead of food. Refer to the table for the appropriate herbs.

Related Topic: Concept of Tri-Dosha

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