Maciocia on taste properties

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The following is taken from The Foundations of by Giovanni

Maciocia, p. 33.

 

" The sour taste generates fluids and Yin. It is astringent and can control

perspiration and diarrhoea. " (My note: Some authorities separate sour into

two categories - sour and astringent. I refer to this property of

controlling excessive perspiration, diarrhea, etc. as " plugging leaks " . One

reason to use a sour herb is in some cases of excessive perspiration due to

Qi Deficiency or Yin Deficiency, the perspiring may be weakening the person

too much. In extreme cases you may want to include a sour herb with the

property that it will stop the excessive sweating quicker than just a Qi

tonic herb alone. An example of an herb which is classified as an

Astringent herb is the ROOTS of Ephedrae, aka Ma Huang Gen. I put roots in

all caps because the leaves of Ephedrae, aka Ma Huang, have the exact

opposite property. Ma Huang (the leaves and twigs of the plant) will make

you sweat and is classified as an herb to Warm the Exterior. Ma Huang Gen -

the root of the plant - will stop sweating. These are two herbs you don't

want to get mixed up. Same plant, but opposite properties depending on if

the part below ground or above ground is used.)

 

" The bitter taste clears Heat, sedates and hardens. It clears Damp-Heat and

it subdues rebellious Qi. " (Note to those new to TCM: One of the things

that can go wrong with Qi flow is it " Rebels " - starts to asend when it

should be descending. Each of the meridians has a proper direction of Qi

flow. When it should ascend but descends instead, this is call " Sinking " .

Sometimes herbs are included in a formula just to affect the direction of

the flow of Qi.)

 

" The sweet taste tonifies, balances and moderates. It is used to tonify

deficiency and to stop pain. " (My note: Licorice root, aka Radix (root of)

Glycyrrhizae, aka Gan Cao, is classified as a Qi tonic herb. " Tonic " means

it increases something, in this case Qi. (Just like Yang tonic herbs

supplement Yang, Yin tonic herbs increase Yin, and Blood tonic herbs build

proper Blood.) Licorice has a sweet taste. It's a very distinct sweet

taste, and once you've tasted it, you won't forget it. Some people call

licorice root " wood candy " . BTW, practically all the herbs which are

classified as Qi tonic herbs have a sweet taste (though not all

sweet-tasting herbs are classifed as Qi tonics). Some of the Qi tonic herbs

will have another taste in addition to sweet.)

 

" The pungent taste scatters, and is used to expel pathogenic factors. "

(Pungent is another word for " spicy " or " acrid " .)

 

Maciocia also points out that sometimes " the 'taste' of a food or herb is

not always related to its actual flavour: for example lamb is classified as

'bitter', and so is apple. The 'taste' of a food or herb is therefore more

like its intrinsic quality, rahter than its actual flavour, although in most

cases the two will coincide. "

 

Victoria

 

 

 

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