Review the notes below and create a meal based on how you would like to feel. Submit your favorite recipes, if you like.

A key element of Ayurveda is satisfied by foodstuffs. Here is a guide to the main six flavors, or rasas. Each flavor impacts the chemistry in the body in a different way.

The Rasas characterize all foods. These six flavors are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. The first three are appreciate by the taste buds, whereas the latter three serve the sensations they cause. The firs three serve grow of tissues and organs of the body, whereas the latter three help with elimination or degradation of waste in the body. As such, there are key differences in the purpose of each.

Classifications of Rasas:
Heat
Coolness
Humidity
Heaviness
Dryness
Lightness

Opposites In Use:
Hot flavors: pungent & sour
Cool flavors: bitter & astringent 
Wet flavors: sweet & salty
Heavy flavors: sweet & salty
Dry flavors: pungent & bitter
Light flavors: bitter & pungent

Seek flavors that guide you towards where you want to be. This is a broad strokes concept that you can use in daily life. If you are feeling dry, for example, it might serve you to have some organic trail mix.

The rule of thumb is that all things in moderation, and none in excess will serve the practitioner well.