What does taste have to do with herbalism?

Bitterroot
Lewisia rediviva

Humans have used the sense of taste for thousands of years as a meaningful way of communicating with plants. I am sure the average person might view this as a very primitive method of understanding plants, but once you delve into thousands of years of ancestral knowledge you begin to see the incredible amount of sophistication involved in our herbal heritage. 


Understanding the meaning of how a plant tastes leads us to better understand how that plant works and how we can best use it to help people. To a certain degree taste can also tell us the biochemistry of a plant. 

Traditionally, herbalism has been practiced all over the world as a means of restoring balance. 

While in western medicine we name diseases and treat the symptoms, traditionally ill health is looked at as a manifestation of imbalance. Is this person too hot? too cold? Are they too dry? too damp? Deficient or excessive?

Herbs are then used to help the person regain balance. They are not used to treat or cure a named disease. Rather, by bringing balance, a person’s own innate healing abilities can be restored. 


This is the difference between giving someone herbs for arthritis and giving someone herbs for excessive damp heat which is causing pain. The first example is not only illegal in the United States (as it can be construed as treating disease, something allowed only to doctors), but it is also incredibly limited in it's ability to help a person. Not all people who are diagnosed with arthritis have the same symptoms or even the same reasons for the arthritis. Personalized care will always be more effective than giving a purple pill to the general population. 


The power of herbal traditions lies not only in the plants but also in the ability of the herbalist to match those herbs to the person. 

In modern day western herbalism these philosophies are called herbal energetics; the art of matching herbs to people. In this way herbalists can address the underlying cause of an imbalance, not simply suppress  the symptoms. 


Taste is one aspect of how this art is accomplished. A person’s constitution as well as the energetics of imbalance are also incredibly important.

These are a few important understandings when delving into the theory of taste. 

• Most herbs have multiple tastes.
  
• Herbs have tastes and taste sensations.
  
• An example of a taste sensation is the astringent feeling you get after drinking strong green tea or the acrid feeling in the throat after taking cayenne.
  
• Another important thing to note is recognizing how the plant makes you feel. Sometimes after taking a small dose of a plant (nibble of root, drop of tincture) a person might feel more breath in their lungs, or may feel digestive movement (hunger, etc). Sometimes they might feel nothing at all.
  
• Different people may taste herbs differently, but it is important to establish a common language.
  
• Some herbs are classified as having a certain taste because of their actions in the body as opposed to an overt taste. An example of this is ginseng. Ginseng is classified as sweet, but when you taste it you might not taste over sweetness.
  
• We need all tastes in varying proportions to maintain health and balance.