| From The River Of Heaven |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| NATURE'S MEDICINE : AYURVEDA | |
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| The Six Tastes Ayurveda recognizes six tastes in food and herbs. These are sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent. Each is composed of two elements. Sweet is composed of earth and water; salty of water and fire; sour of earth and fire; pungent of fire and air; bitter of air and ether; and astringent of earth and air. Sweet is sweet or pleasant in taste as in most foods; sugars, starches, carbohydrates, dairy, nuts, meat. It is strengthening and nourishing and has a tonic, demulcent and laxative effect. Salty is as in table salt. It has a stimulant, demulcent, laxative and sedative effect. Sour is as in sour fruit, pickles or vinegar. It has a stimulant, expectorant and laxative effect. Pungent is as in spices like pepper, mustard, ginger or cinnamon. Its properties are stimulant, diaphoretic, decongestant, analgesic and diuretic. Bitter is as in bitters like gentian, golden seal. Its action is cleansing, detoxifying, alterative and diuretic.
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