Ayurvedic Herbalism: Food Energies

♦ Home

Part I: Ayurveda

♦ Introduction & History

♦ Indian Cosmology

♦ The Human Body

♦ Health & Sickness

Part II: Ayurvedic Herbalism

♦ Humans & Plants

♦ Food Energies

♦ Plant Classification

♦ Herbal Preparations

♦ Herbal Usage

♦ Common Herbs

Part III: Future of Ayurveda

♦ Limits to Ayurveda

♦ Ayurveda-Western Medicine Comparison

♦ Ayurveda as CAM

♦ Conclusion

Food Energies

When trying to discover the medicinal properties of herbs, western herbalism and conventional medicine does a chemical analysis to find the key compound responsible for the medicinal property of the herbs. In Ayurveda, the medicinal properties of herbs (and food, in general) are discovered by experiencing or observing the physical effects that herbs have on the human body. The physical effects, also known as the energetics or energies, of the herbs are classified into four groups by the order of their perception by the human body: rasa (taste), virya (heat), vipaka (post-digestive effect), and prabhava (unique action).

Rasa (taste)

Rasa is the physical taste of the herb. It is ranked first because it is the initial perception of the herb’s properties by our senses of smell and taste. In Ayurveda, taste is an important indication of the herb’s unique medicinal properties and is not without significance as in western herbalism (1). So, knowing the taste of the herb will provide information on the healing powers of the herb. There are six tastes with six unique effects on the body in Ayurveda (2) (3):

Sour is made up of earth and fire and so increases Pitta and Kapha while reducing Vata. Sour herbs stimulate the metabolic and digestive actions of the body. It increases circulation, appetite, salivation, and nourishes all the organs of the body except the reproductive organs. It also stimulates the sensory and motor functions, mind, and heart.

Excess of sour taste can cause teeth irritation, thirst, buildup of toxins, loss of strength, fever, itching, burning sensations in wounds and inflammations, and general looseness.

Sweet is made up of earth and water. It increases Kapha while reducing Pitta and Vata. It builds bodily tissue and repairs degraded organs and tissues. It restores the strength of the weak, injured, or ill. It gives pleasure and comfort to the heart and increases longevity. It relieves thirst, burning sensations, and poison. It is good for the skin and hair.

Excess of sweet taste can cause disease caused by excess fat and carbohydrates such as obesity, diabetes and tumors. It can also cause lethargy, laziness, weak digestion, loss of feeling, and swelling of glands.

Salty is made up of water and fire. It increases Pitta and Kapha while reducing Vata. It works to open up channels in the body and cleanse it of stagnant substances and toxins. Salty taste is moistening and heavy. So, it increases digestion, bowel movements, salivation, and sweating. It relives stiffness and restores fluidity to the body.

Excess of salty taste can cause thirst, skin diseases, blood stagnation, fainting, and wearing down of muscles. It causes wrinkling, graying of hair, and aggravates existing inflammations.

Pungent is made up of fire and air. It increases Vata and Pitta and reduces Kapha. It stimulates digestion, cleansing of blood, circulation and respiration. It cleanses away oily, sweaty, and sticky wastes from the body. It increases hunger, secretion from eyes, nose and mouth, and a general burning sensation.

Excess of pungent taste can cause thirst, irritated reproductive organs, pain in the waist and back, weariness, and burning pains. It can also cause fainting, dizziness, and loss of strength.

Bitter is made up of air and space. It increases Vata while reducing Pitta and Kapha. It is detoxifying, antibacterial, and antiparasitical. It promotes the drying of bodily tissues and tightness of the skin and muscles. It relieves fainting, burning sensation, itching, and inflammations. It purifies the stomach, the intestines, kidneys, and liver.

Excess can cause wearing away of tissues, roughness in movement of joints, loss of mass, dizziness, and general dryness.

Astringent is made up of air and earth. It increases Vata while reducing Pitta and Kapha. It is similar to Bitter in quality, but it heals heal rather than cleanse. It heals all kinds of wounds from ulcers, sores, muscle tears and open wounds. It is also drying like Bitter so it stops diarrhea and bleeding. It is absorbing of bodily fluids.

Excess can cause constipation, undigested food to remain in body, flatulence, pain in the heart, obstructed circulation, weakened vitality, and general roughness and dryness.

Virya (pre-digestive energy)

Virya is the heating or cooling energy of the herb. It is the second perception the body makes after having tasted the herb through ingestion. Virya is the heating or cooling effect the herb has on the body before it is digested in the stomach and intestines.

Heating energy herbs stimulate digestion, warmth, sweating but can also cause dizziness, thirst, fatigue, and inflammation.

Cooling herbs promote calming, tissue firmness, slower digestion, and general refreshing of the body. Cooling herbs can also cause excessive dryness, roughness, and heaviness in the body (4).

Virya is related to the herbs’ taste. Sweet, bitter, and astringent herbs are cooling and reduce Pitta. Pungent, salty, and sour herbs are heating and increase Pitta.

Vipaka (post-digestive energy)

Vipaka is the final effect that an herb has on the body after it has been digested but has not been excreted yet. While pre-digestive virya influences predominantly the body, the post-digestive vipaka influences the mind, emotions, and soul as well as the body since it is the final release of the herb’s full powers.

All of the initial six rasas are reduced to three vipakas. They are sweet, sour, and pungent vipakas. There are only three as opposed to six because all herbs, regardless of their initial taste, only have three ways in which they affect the whole person. Vipaka has to do with the absorption of nutrients and excretion of waste products.

Sweet vipaka promotes the creation of semen, other sexual fluids, and growth of the body. Sour vipaka promotes the creation of bile and other acidic fluids which reduce semen and other sexual fluids. Sweet and also sour vipakas together make excretion of urine, feces, and intestinal gas easy and comfortable.

Pungent vipaka makes excretion of waste products difficult because it dries them. It can cause gas, constipation, and reduces semen and other sexual fluids and makes their discharge painful (5).

Prabhava (special action)

Prabhava is the single, specific power of an herb that is unique to itself and unrelated to its taste, pre-digestive energy, and post-digestive energy. It can be considered the hidden, special power of an herb. It is illogical because it does not follow the previous three classifications of energies and can even be counterintuitive to them. For example, ghee (clarified butter) is a laxative in a dose of two teaspoons but becomes constipating in a smaller dose of half a teaspoon. Another example is the herb, basic, which is a heating herb that can reduce fevers even though fevers are normally increased by heat.

Because Ayurveda is as much a spirituality as it is a science, prabhava usually includes the spiritual and psychological powers of an herb. It includes the hallucinogenic capability, magnetic capability, certain “psychic” radiation, and aura of the herbs that are not relevant to its medicinal properties (6).

This is a chart to organize the above information for easier understanding and making connections (7):

Rasa	Element	Qualities	Virya	Vipaka	Function
Sweet	Earth/water	Oily, cold, heavy	Cold	Sweet	Build body tissue
Sour	Water/fire	Oily, hot, heavy	Hot	Sour	Increase appetite
Salty	Earth/fire	Dry, hot, heavy	Hot	Sweet	Cleanse body
Pungent	Fire/air	Rough, hot, light	Hot	Pungent	Reduce fluids
Bitter	Air/space	Rough, cold, light	Cold	Pungent	Cleanse organs and skin
Astringent	Air/earth	Rough, cold, light	Cold	Pungent	Cleanse and constrict body

This is a table of common types of foods categorized by their dosha (8):

VATA Foods	PITTA Foods	KAPHA Foods
- Most leafy greens, lettuces, and cabbages - All bitter vegetables - Hollow vegetables - Dry, compact legumes - Dry, rough, stale foods	- Hot spices - Oily foods - Sour, pungent fruits and vegetables such as pickled vegetables and citrus fruits - Heating grains - Nuts	- Sweet, juicy fruits - Watery vegetables - Salty foods - Cool foods - Milky foods

This is a table of common herbs and spices categorized by their rasa (9):

Pungent	Sour	Bitter/astringent	Salty	Sweet
- Allspice - Anise - Black pepper - Cloves - Curry - Ginger - Rosemary - Thyme	- Lemon - Rose hips - Berries - Orange	- Fenugreek seed - Bitter melon - Ginseng - Mullein - Yarrow - Golden seal	-Seaweeds	- Fennel - Vanilla - Date - Licorice - Comfrey root

Using Herbal Energies to Heal and Cure Illnesses

In Ayurveda, balanced is achieved by counteracting an aggravated dosha by applying treatments of a different dosha. Relating specifically to herbs, the aim is to decrease the use of herbs with qualities similar to the person’s dosha.

Vata people are cold, dry, light, and erratic in nature. So they are healthier when they eat herbs that are moist, smooth, warm, and heavy and foods that are sweet, salty, and sour. Eating dried, cold, rough, and bitter food would cause aggravate Vata.

Pitta people are hot, oily, aggressive, and explosive in nature. So they are healthier eating sweet, bitter, and astringent herbs and foods that are cool and fresh. Eating hot, spicy, and sour foods would aggravate Pitta .

Kapha people are cool, inactive, heavy, and fluid nature. So they are healthier eating hot, bitter, astringent herbs and foods that are warm and dry. Eating sweet, sour, and salty foods would aggravate Kapha (10).

References:

1. Frawley, David and Lad, Vasant. The Yoga of Herbs. Lotus Press: Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. 2001. Pg. 23-24.
2. Ibid.
3. AllAyurveda.com. “Diet Planning: Role of Taste”. http://www.allayurveda.com/dietp_rtaste.htm. Date Unknown. (Accessed: December 1, 2006).
4. Frawley, David and Lad, Vasant. The Yoga of Herbs. Lotus Press: Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. 2001. Pg. 25-26.
5. Ibid. Pg. 27.
6. Ibid. Pg. 28.
7. Tiwari, Maya. Ayurveda: A Life of Balance. Healing Arts: Rochester, Vermont. 1995. Pg. 62.
8. Ibid. Pg. 64.
9. Ibid. Pg. 68.
10. Ibid. Pg. 57.