The 5 Flavors of Foods

The 5 flavors of food include pungent (acrid), sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
- Pungent foods include green onion, chive, clove, parsley and coriander.
- Sweet foods include sugar, cherry, chestnut and banana.
- Sour foods include lemon, pear, plum and mango.
- Bitter foods include hops, lettuce, radish leaf and vinegar.
- Salty foods include salt, kelp and seaweed.

It is common for some foods to have 2 or more simultaneous flavors. The flavors of foods are important in Chinese diet, because different flavors, have their respective important effects upon the internal organs.
- Pungent foods act on lungs and large intestine.
- Sweet foods act on stomach and spleen.
- Sour foods act on liver and gall bladder.
- Bitter foods act on heart and small intestine.
- Salty foods act on kidneys and bladder.

In general, the common actions of foods in regard to their flavors are as follows
- Pungent foods can induce perspiration and promote energy circulation.
- Sweet foods can slow down the acute symptoms and neutralize the toxic effects of other foods.
- Sour foods can obstruct the movement, and are useful, therefore, in checking diarrhea and excessive perspiration.
- Bitter foods can reduce body heat, dry body fluid and induce diarrhea.
- Salty foods can soften hardness, which explain their usefulness in treating tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and other symptoms involving the hardening of muscles or glands.