Bitter Taste
The bitter taste is quite familiar. More often than not, it is a flavor that is actively avoided, although some people truly enjoy it. However you feel about it, when used appropriately, the bitter taste has many benefits.
The Bitter Taste—at a Glance
| Balances: | Pitta and kapha |
| Aggravates: | Vata |
| Primary Elements: | Air and ether |
| Virya (temperature): | Cooling (the coldest of the cooling tastes) |
| Vipaka (post-digestive effect): | Pungent |
| Gunas (associated qualities): | Cold, light, dry |
| Associated Positive Emotions: | Clarity, introspection, self-awareness, healthy detachment from worldly things |
| Emotions of Excess: | Cynicism, rejection, boredom, isolation, separation, loneliness |
| Location on the Tongue: | Middle edges on the left and right sides (and a small band across the middle of the tongue, connecting these edges) |
| Affinity for Organs: | Pancreas, liver, spleen |
| Most Affected Tissues: | Plasma, blood, fat, nervous, and reproductive tissues |
| Direction of Movement: | Downward, descending (activates apana vayu) |
| Additional Actions: | Stimulates the nervous system, cholagogue (promotes healthy flow of bile) |
Examples—Substances that Illustrate the Bitter Taste
| Vegetables | Bitter melon, burdock root, leafy greens (like kale, collards, dandelion greens, or yellow dock), eggplant, jerusalem artichokes |
| Other | Sesame seeds, sesame oil, coffee, dark chocolate |
| Spices | Cumin, dill, fenugreek, saffron, turmeric |
Benefits
The bitter taste is deeply cleansing to the body because it scrapes fat and ama (natural toxins).2 It improves all other tastes, alleviates thirst, stimulates a healthy appetite, and is cleansing for the GI tract.2
It serves to clear heat, purify the blood, and cleanse and support the liver while draining excess moisture from the body.2,1 It also tones the muscles and skin, soothing occasional skin discomfort.2
The bitter taste also serves as a digestive tonic—kindling the agni (digestive fire) with its dry, light qualities.2
In Excess
If overused, the dry quality of the bitter taste can cause excessive dryness in the mouth and feelings of depletion in the tissues.2 It can also cause excess coldness, extreme dryness, and feelings of confusion, giddiness (as in being spaced out), and disorientation.2 Too much bitter taste also has the capacity to dry out ojas.1
Contraindications
The bitter taste can exacerbate the situation if there is elevated vata in the system, excess cold quality, extreme dryness or roughness, emaciation, or a serious deficiency of any kind. Bitter taste should also be minimized during pregnancy.
Exceptions
While a bitter herb, guduchi has a sweet post-digestive effect that balances some of its bitter qualities and energetics.1
More for You
Kapha and the Six Tastes
Kapha is primarily composed of the earth and water elements, which make kapha heavy, slow, cool, oily, smooth, dense, soft, stable, gross, and cloudy. Because of these characteristics, kapha is balanced by the pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes and aggravated by the sweet, sour, and salty tastes.
Pitta and the Six Tastes
Pitta is primarily composed of the fire and water elements, which make pitta light, sharp, hot, oily, liquid, spreading, and subtle. Because of these characteristics, pitta is balanced by the sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes and aggravated by the sour, salty, and pungent tastes.
