Each and every taste is related to specific emotions. For example, the chocolate dessert, it gives positive emotions of happiness, contentment, cheerfulness, love and satisfaction when eaten guiltfree, stress free and in an appropriate quantity occasionally. Don't forget to take care of yourself!
Now lets talk about Sweets/desserts in Ayurvedic Nutrition.
Ayurveda believes that sweet taste has properties like nourishing, grounding, cooling and calming. It also builds and strengthens the tissues, so great for both body and mind. It comprises the elements of water and earth, good for vata and pitta balancing, increases kapha leading to imbalances like diabetes, obesity etc.
Ayurveda says a balanced diet should include all 6 tastes in each meal.
A well balanced taste is required in our daily life for overall health and wellbeing. Excess of any taste will lead to imbalances to our health. Eating varieties of flavors with all 6 tastes in each meal will also help you if you are craving for sweets or binge eating, as your taste buds are satisfied. It can be simply done by adding a pinch of rock salt(salt), few drops of lemon (sour), turmeric (bitter) and ginger (pungent). The ideal amounts of each taste will vary according to the individual constitution, imbalances and season.
Did you know that Ayurveda recommends eating desserts at the first?
Find out why⬇️
Foods that are sweet activate the taste buds, encourage saliva secretion and initiate the digestion process. Eating it at the beginning of a meal will help you absorb vitamins and nutrients better because of the anatomy and physiology of digestion. If you eat sweets at the end of a meal, it suppresses the digestive fire and causes fermentation and indigestion.
In fact, Ayurveda recommends an order of taste based on actions of doshas (first Kapha➡️Pitta➡️Vata to make the best of your meal in terms of digestion and nutrition absorption.
First start with sweet➡️sour➡️salty ➡️pungent➡️bitter➡️astringent.
Note :
By sweets - Ayurveda means - natural and unprocessed.
Example: Dates, honey, jaggery, maple syrup, coconut, dairy products(milk, ghee), root vegetables(carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin), spices(cinnamon), grains(wheat, rice, corn), legumes(lentils, mung beans), nuts(almonds, cashew) and sweet fruits.
