Today I want to write about the connection between flavors and our digestive system and how different flavors can be used to facilitate digestion.

In Chinese medicine, each food (grains, legumes, vegetables, animal products, etc.) is divided according to its dominant flavor.

The recommended flavor is determined by the person's medical diagnosis. Of course, there are different digestive problems (sensitive bowel, colitis, heartburn, etc.) and also different symptoms (diarrhea, bloating, etc.), but in most digestive problems, the recommended flavor will be sweet.

Before you get excited... the sweet taste that the Chinese talk about is definitely not our sweet taste. According to Chinese medicine, it is very important not to eat sweet food as we know it (chocolate, cakes, ice cream, honey/silan/artificial sweeteners in large quantities).

Sweet foods that the Chinese do recommend would be:

White rice, buckwheat, spelt, beef, chicken, carrots, zucchini, spinach, banana, grapes, cherries, strawberries.

The sweet taste will help relieve symptoms such as: abdominal bloating, abdominal discomfort, loose stools, weakness, and fatigue.

The bitter taste is also effective in treating digestive problems. It will help when there is a feeling of heaviness in the stomach or in the body in general, an urge to defecate, mucus in the stool, fogginess in the head (not all of these signs must be present, just some of them). In such cases, there will usually also be a relatively thick coating on the tongue.

Foods that combine sweet and bitter tastes together are: white basmati rice, oatmeal, lettuce, arugula, cucumbers, papaya.

Foods that are only bitter would be parsley, green onions, grapefruit, infusions of rosemary, thyme, and chamomile.

In conclusion... Of course we will eat different combinations of flavors and foods, but it is interesting to notice if there is a dominant flavor of the food we eat and how it affects us.