Ayurvedic nutrition – there are six tastes that balance the doshas:
Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.
Vata – salty, sour and sweet
Pitta – sweet, bitter and astringent
Kapha – pungent, bitter and astringent
According to Ayurveda these 6 tastes are recommended to be taken in each meal. If that is not possible then the 6 tastes can be taken throughout the day.
Dietary suggestions for the tastes are:
Sweet – sugar, honey, fruit juice, wheat bread, milk, butter, potato, apple, fresh figs cardamom, ghee, liquorice, fish, oils, beets, cucumber and plums etc..
Sour – lemons, tamarind, banana, yoghurt, vinegar, cheese, fermented foods, green grapes, pickles etc…
Salty – salts, fast foods, seaweed/foods, kelp
Pungent – eggs, black pepper, onion, radish, garlice, ginger sunflower oil asafoetida, clove pumpkin seeds, chilli etc..
Bitter – fenugreek, goldenseal, dark leaf greens, caffeine, tumeric, dandelion & gentian root etc…
Astringent – cauliflower, cinnamon, spinach, unripe banana, pomegranate, cranberries, lentils, broccoli, beans, celery and cabbage etc…