About Sour

Elements: Fire, Earth
Balanced by 'Astringent', 'Cold'.
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When something spoils or goes rotten it becomes sour. Sour taste in Ayurveda generally refers to fermented foods as in, "The milk has gone sour," or acidic food. Sour foods include yogurt, wine, beer, miso, and pickles. Generally these sours spoil the blood. Fortunately, nature provides us with healthy sours as well including acidic fruits like citrus and subacidic fruits like peaches.

Sour and Secretions

Sour pacifies Vata. Sours are secretagogues. They moisten and refresh a dry palate, encouraging secretions throughout the GI tract. Examples include salivary secretions that improve taste and gastric secretions in the stomach that improve digestion, and a moist colon facilitating smoother, looser bowel movements.

Sour Spoils the Blood

Sour ferments are hot and spoil the blood, aggravating Pitta. Since all ferments are pre-digested by bacteria they are readily absorbed through the GI tract. Sours thus increase the blood. In Chinese medicine they "generate" the liver. Since ferments are already digested, they contain metabolic by-products or "bacteria poop." It is the bioavailability of nutrients, combined with irritating metabolic by-products, that heat up metabolism in all tissues (dhatu agni), stimulate the liver and cause the blood to spoil. Sour increases flabbiness of tissues and decreases strength of the sense organs.

Sour Increases Desire

Intellectuals love wine because it dilates blood vessels and focuses the mind. When our desires aren't satisfied it could lead to 'sour grapes' as in the case of Aesop's fable, "The Fox and the Grapes." Grapes are supposed to be sweet. Nobody likes eating grapes that have turned sour. In sour grapes, our heart rejects the object of our desire.

Sour Fruits

Sour fruits are more sattvic than ferments. They refresh and cleanse the palate. Think of a lemon sorbet between courses at a fine french restaurant. Generally sour fruits heat digestion but not the blood. Sour fruits come in two categories - acidic and subacidic. Acidic fruits include citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges. Subacidic fruits include peaches, apricots, cherries, apples. Subacidic fruits are the most sattvic of all sours.

Sour and Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine, sour taste is considered cooling because sour taste includes astringent taste. Pomegranates and cranberries are special medicines in Ayurveda because they are examples of sours with strong astringency. These sours focus dispersed energy bringing the spirit back to the heart. They are also valuable digestive tonics because the 1) sourness aids digestion, 2) the cool quality soothes inflammation, and 3) astringency restores tone to distended tissues.

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