TASTE THE MEDICINE
A lesson I’ll never forget from Japan and something my grandmother always used to say: “taste the medicine.”
Over the years we have lost our true sense of taste. With fast-fatty-foods, fizzy-pops, salty-pre-made-meals and sugary-snacks as the norm, our ability to connect with medicinal plants has been disrupted on a sensory level.
If today you decided to embark on herbalism, there is no shortage of research or intellectual study to choose from. It’s easy to quickly be overwhelmed with information. There is often an emphasis to deep-dive into phytology, energetics, pharmacology, the Ayurvedic system, clinical studies, plant identification, nutrition, and so on.
But if we were to strip it all the way down to the basics, it’s taste that teaches us first-hand about the medicinal properties of a plant. In this post, we will delve into flavour and how it relates to specific parts of the body. Typically, depending on which study of herbalism you choose, there can be anywhere from four to 12 tastes. Today, I will go into the five basic tastes.
THE FIVE BASIC TASTES
BITTER
Taste holds universal patterns in herbalism. You could be anywhere in the world tasting a plant for the first time and if she tasted say, bitter, you would instinctively know she is an excellent digestive aid known to increase nutrient absorption. Bitter plants include dandelion root, mugwort, citrus peel, chicory and raw cocoa.
SWEET
Sweet-tasting plants. Ever wonder why you crave sugar? Ancestrally, sugar indicated deep nourishment in the form of carbohydrates and protein. Interestingly, it is rare for any sweet-tasting natural substances to be poisonous. Which is why it is the only inherently pleasing taste.
When we taste sugar from shiitake mushrooms, licorice, fennel, and carrot, our bodies can use it as the building blocks for strengthening the immune system and tissues.
SOUR
In traditional Chinese medicine, spring is the time to nourish and care for the liver, and the sour taste is associated with stimulating this organ. Wild berries such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and hawthorn berries will target the liver while increasing bile production and blood flow.
SALTY
Salty tasting plants correspond to the deepest organs of the body, the kidneys. Kelp, alfalfa, oat straw, red clover, cleavers, and horsetail can penetrate and nourish the kidneys. Please note these salty tasting plant allies do not deposit excessive amounts of salt (sodium chloride) which can be harmful to the body, but rather are rich in minerals supporting fluid balance.
HEAT
Spicy hot plants around the globe are universally known to support the cardiovascular system and are the best antiviral allies around. Have you tasted cayenne, lemon balm, rosemary, oregano, or thyme recently? Next time, close your eyes, chew and really take note of the heat they bring from the inside out and the magic it does to your system. Starting with the sensory information you can then add intellectual knowledge to fully understand the power of medicinal plants.