Herbal Remedies, Nutrition
Sweet Flavor Benefits Your Health
Oct
All food has at least two flavors and there are five different tastes. The five flavors are:
| SWEET | SALTY | SOUR | BITTER | PUNGENT |
SWEET foods and herbs have cool, neutral, or warm energetic properties and support various body systems.
Foods with a SWEET taste are understood to support the stomach, spleen, lungs, large intestine, kidneys, and urinary bladder according to traditional perspectives.
SWEET flavor is also believed to benefit the lungs, large intestine, kidneys, and urinary bladder, establishing flavor-organ links.
Food and herbs which are SWEET in taste:
- Attunes us for all the seasons
- Energizes yet relaxes the body, nerves, and brain
- Strengthens the spleen-pancreas and soothes the liver
- Moistens dry conditions of the lungs and slows an overactive heart and mind.
- Very important for those who are nervous and scattered
According to the Five Element and Traditional Chinese Medicine
| Taste | Sweet |
| Organ | Stomach and Spleen |
| Element | Earth |
| Season | Late Summer and when digestion is strongest or weakest. |
| Virtue | Reciprocity; mutual benefits, giving and receiving |
| Emotions: | Digestion in harmony (Stomach/Spleen/pancreas) enjoys life, singing, dreams is focused and grounded. Digestion imbalanced worries too much, appearance is sloppy, forgetful, weepy. |
“The Spleen belongs to Earth, which pertains to the Centre; its influence manifests for 18 days at the end of each of the four seasons, and it does not pertain to any season on its own.” The Foundation of Chinese Medicine by Giovanni
Sweet is subdivided into:
- Full sweet from complex carbohydrates, protein and fat (more strengthening)
- Empty sweet from fruit and vegetables (more cleansing)
SWEET FLAVOR FOOD AND HERBS
| Almond (sweet) | Chicken (sweet) | Lettuce (sweet/bitter) | Potato (sweet) |
| Apple (sweet/sour) | Cherry (sweet/sour) | Mango (sweet/sour) | Raspberry (sweet/sour) |
| Avocado (sweet) | Corn (sweet) | Maple syrup (sweet) | Rice syrup (sweet) |
| Asparagus (sweet/bitter) | Date (sweet) | Milk (sweet) | Sesame seed (sweet) |
| Banana (sweet) | Duck (sweet/salty) | Mushroom (sweet) | Spinach (sweet) |
| Barley (sweet/salty) | Eggplant (sweet) | Olive (sweet/salty) | Squash (sweet) |
| Beans (sweet) | Eggs (sweet) | Oyster (sweet) | Strawberry (sweet/sour) |
| Beef (sweet) | Fig (sweet) | Papaya (sweet/bitter) | Sunflower seed (sweet) |
| Beet (sweet) | Grains (sweet) | Peanut (sweet) | Sweet potato (sweet) |
| Buckwheat (sweet) | Grapes (sweet) | Peas (sweet) | Swiss chard (sweet/bitter) |
| Butter (sweet) | Honey (sweet) | Pears (sweet/sour) | Tomato (sweet/sour) |
| Cabbage (sweet/pungent) | Kale (sweet-bitter) | Plum (sweet/sour) | Walnut (sweet) |
| Carrot (sweet) | Lamb ( sweet) | Pork (sweet/salty) | Water melon (sweet) |