Sweet Taste (Madhura)
Qualities of Sweet Taste
Madhura is the Sanskrt term for appealing, sweet or pleasant. Sweet products are rich in carbohydrates, vitamins and antioxidants.
Sweet taste is composed of prithvi (earth) and jala (water).
Sweet taste is sheetha (cold), guru (heavy) and snigdha (oily, unctous).
Sweet taste balances pitta and vata and aggravates kapha.
Naturally Sweet Foods
Naturally sweet foods nourish the body, act as revitalizers, and calm our sense organs because they counter excess vata. Sweet taste provides the feeling of satisfaction, cheerfulness, love, compassion, and by calming the senses, they ground us. Most madhura rasa foods are considered as sattvic components of the diet, if they are properly made to keep their essence. They promote stability, strength and lusture in the body, also they increase the anabolic activity and thus promote the nourishment of dhatus, the body tissues.
Added Sugar
On the other hand, excess consumption of simple sugars and added sugars causes undesirable effects on health. Overconsumption of non-natural sweets may cause weight gain, obesity, loss of appetite, laziness, heaviness in body, indigestion, excessive sleep, respiratory troubles as cough and cold, vomiting. These conditions are due to increase in kapha dosha in body combined with dousing of digestive fires, which ultimately impairs the digestion processes and metabolism in the body.
Find naturally sweet foods here:
