Sweet Taste

Elements: Earth + Water

Qualities: Oily, cooling, heavy

Action: Anabolic

Dosha effect: Pacifies Vata and Pitta; aggravates Kapha in excess

Examples: Sugar, milk, rice, wheat, dates, maple syrup, licorice

The sweet taste increases the vital essence of life. When used moderately, it is wholesome to the body, promoting the growth of plasma, blood, muscles, fat, bones, marrow and reproductive fluids. Proper use gives strength and longevity. It encourages the senses, improves complexion, promotes healthy skin and hair and a good voice. Sweet taste can relieve thirst, burning sensations and be invigorating. It can bring about stability and heal emaciation.

In excess: Sweet foods especially aggravate kapha and cause cold, cough, congestion, heaviness, loss of appetite, laziness and obesity. They may also cause abnormal muscle growth, lymphatic congestion, tumors, edema and diabetes.

The word madhura means pleasant, charming, beautiful, agreeable, and melodious, as well as sweet. Earth and Water are the elements that make up sweet taste, giving it qualities of heavy, cooling, and oily. Sweet pacifies both vata and pitta but increases kapha. It is strongly present in sugar, honey, dates, maple syrup, and licorice, and more mildly in milk, rice, and wheat.

Used moderately, sweet is wholesome and anabolic, promoting growth of all seven dhatus — plasma, blood, muscles, fat, bones, marrow, and reproductive fluids. It gives strength and longevity, encourages the senses, improves complexion, promotes healthy skin and hair, and cultivates a melodious voice. Sweet relieves thirst and burning sensations, nourishes body tissues, helps heal emaciation, and has a sustained cooling effect. It enhances the vital essence of life, ojas, and brings stability, vigor, and vitality.

Psychologically, sweet in moderation enhances love and compassion, with a natural affinity toward joy, happiness, and bliss. This is why sweet is the taste of holy prasada, which signifies compassion, love, and wholesomeness.

Despite its many virtues, excessive sweet can produce disorders involving any of the doshas. Sweet foods especially aggravate kapha, causing cold, cough, congestion, heaviness, loss of appetite, laziness, and obesity. They may also cause abnormal muscle growth, lymphatic congestion, tumors, edema, and diabetes.

Sugar or any extreme sweet creates thirst because it enhances kapha and clogs the water channels of the body (ambu vaha srotas). Over-intake increases the need for sleep and can make a person sluggish. Healing capacity diminishes because sweet is the best medium for bacteria, fungi, and parasites to grow. Excess sweet can adversely affect the heart, brain, kidneys, and pancreas, leading to diabetes, nephrotic syndrome, or high triglycerides. Too much sweet makes blood viscous, leading to high cholesterol and arteriosclerotic changes. Sweet in moderation is nectar, but sweet in excess is poison. Psychologically, excess sweet creates attachment, greed, and possessiveness, and is addictive.