You want to know why Ayurveda is so cool to me? Because it recognizes the importance of how food should taste. Good, clean, fresh food should taste spectacular. It doesn’t need to be drenched in sauce, salt, or sugar.

Whenever I think of the 6 Tastes in Ayurveda, I immediately think of the Wine Tasting Wheel. If you’ve ever been to a wine tasting or wine class at a restaurant with a real Sommelier, there is a similar Ayurvedic approach to food.

Original image at http://adamswineguide.com

If you familiarize yourself with the 6 Rasas, or Tastes: Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Pungent, and Astringent, you can begin to notice them in your food. It is recommended that we have at least a small amount of each of the 6 Tastes at every meal. Some of the flavors listed on the Wine Wheel carry over into the cocktail world, where mixologists will often describe cocktails as having flowery, medicinal, herbaceous, or tropical notes. Unfortunately, emphasis on flavor seems uppity to some. That’s too bad. Eating fresh food is one of life’s simplest pleasures. Learn about flavor, the 6 Tastes, and the food that you eat. Your health depends on it and your body, including your tastebuds, will thank you for it.