Tongue Analysis - Part 3

You may want to check out Part 1 and Part 2 here... So far we did see some of the basics like  few important and basic concepts, linkages between Elements, organs, feelings, taste and your constitution. We are going to spend some more time on few more basics which are either not known or neglected to a large extent.

5. Tastes and its attributes
Taste itself is an attribute of the food, now we are going to see its types which forms part of the basic knowledge.
a. Elements and tastes:
Check out the following table to understand the classification of heating / cooling tastes, Light and heavy tastes. You would notice that sweet is heavy taste and a cooling one and hence to be avoided by people who have sinus / cold disorders.

b. Time Cycle chart:

This is interesting in the sense that the qualities in the nature vary based on the month of the year and time of the day as sattvic, rajasic and tamasic since the composition of 5 elements vary based on seasons. Hence the  corresponding qualities in the body viz. Vata, Pitta and Kapha follows a time cycle chart. You would notice that all the 3 Doshas follow a 

Time Cycle Chart from Ayurvedic Tongue Analysis
- Walter Kacera

hour time cycle every day for 12 hours and repeats itself for the next 12 hours.

 6am to 10am,   6pm to 10pm - Kapha

10am to 02pm, 10pm to 02am - Pitta

2pm to 6 pm, 2am to 6am - Vata.

Getting up during vata period and eating during Pitta peak are suggested to be aligned with nature. 

According to Ayurveda, when the sun is the southern hemisphere - the rainy season, autumn and early winter brings nourishment to body and the other 6 months typically saps your energy.

So the theory so far states that there are 5 elements which results in 3 gunas in nature (Satvic, Rajasic & Tamasic). The same five elements combines to form Vata, Pitta or Kapha Doshas and constitute the living being. These Doshas are intricately linked to seasonal variations, daily rhythms and manifest as a result of the 6 tastes that we eat. Hence if we know our nature, nature's nature, nature of the food and aligning our eating habits would result in better physical and mental health.  

Lets look at how this theory can be used in practical life:

• Typically summers are hot, the air and fire component increases and hence adds a pungent quality to the environment leading to increased roughness and dryness in the body. Similarly during rainy seasons Earth and fire are higher and hence sour quality permeates.

• Typically western fast foods (fries, meat, coke and bread) lead to emotional instability, anxiety, fear, lethargy, over weight, depression and greediness. Why? These foods are typically high in Sour, Sweet and salty taste hence when taken in excess they lead to vata (produces first four problems) and kapha (produces the balance from lethargy) imbalance.

• Among ladies during PMS there is a severe mood change, depression due to fluid retention in the body which means excess Kapha in the body. If the person consumes more of pungent (onion, garlic), bitter (leafy vegetables, spinach), astringent (broccoli, cabbage, sprouted legumes) then this would alleviate the Kapha imbalance. Instead if the lady consumes more of sweet, salty foods then during every PMS cycle the people around her also would also undergo a trauma session for 4 days for sure :).

The above are some of the very basics every individual should know if they are interested in living in tune with the nature. Let me continue this in the next part with few more interesting points and then address the actual tongue analysis.

Happy reading!