Amazing health benefits of bitterness |
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Have you ever wondered why almost all healing herbs and spices have a bitter taste?
Aloe vera, neem, garlic, goldenseal, ginger, wormwood, milk thistle, turmeric and many, many others.
Is it a coincidence that the bitter taste is present in all of them?
Ayurveda explains that this is not a coincidence and that the bitter taste is the most healing of all tastes – more healthy than salty, spicy, sweet, salty and sour.
In Ayurveda, bitter taste is used for treating many types of physical and mental illness.
Properties of bitter taste:
- Possesses antimicrobial properties - effective against bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites
- Prevents the accumulation of toxins in the body
- Improves digestion
- Cleanses the blood
- Stimulates appetite
- Improves liver function
- Promotes weight loss
- Improves the appearance of skin
- Reduces nausea
According to Ayurveda, a balanced meal should contain all 6 flavors. If one or several flavors constantly dominate the diet, it can lead to dosha imbalance in the body, which in its turn causes the disease.
Unfortunately, our western diet favors sweet and salty taste while the bitter taste that is so healing to the body is almost completely ignored.
In eastern cultures, bitter foods and spices are traditionally used- for example, bitter melon and spices such as turmeric, fenugreek and Roman cumin.
Balance your diet! Observe which tastes prevail in dishes you consume every day and which tastes are missing.
It is very easy to intake too much sweet in the body. Most foods today contain sugar.
Fruit has a sweet taste. Most vegetables and grains have a slightly sweet flavor. Not to mention sweets, coffee and sodas many of us consume on a daily basis.
Therefore, Ayurveda recommends daily use of spices that give food bitter taste. That will bring additional benefits: besides improving digestion, they will prevent the accumulation of toxins and the spread of viruses, parasites and bacteria.
Does that mean that I have to constantly eat bitter foods?
Of course it does not. We are talking about a balanced diet - the diet that contains all six flavors. It is not good to go overboard with any one of the six flavors - even with the bitter.
Excessive consumption of bitter foods may cause Vata disorder in the body.
Foods with bitter taste:
- bitter melon
- green leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, chard, kale etc.)
- sesame
- chicory
- grapefruit
- olive
- eggplant
- bittersweet chocolate
Herbs with bitter taste:
- milk thistle
- dandelion
- aloe vera
- chamomile
- mint
- goldenseal
- absinthe
- neem
Spices that contain bitter taste:
- turmeric
- ginger
- Roman cumin
- cinnamon
- fenugreek
- black mustard
- clove
- asafoetida
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