The expansive, rising quality of sweet and pungent-flavoured foods is reccomended by the classics as a means of creating a personal spring within.

For this effect one can use a little concentrated sweetener with pungent herbs such as honey.

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Energetically warming herbs and spices can help us spark a little fire in the body by improving digestion, boosting circulation, moving out congestion, and more. Not only that, they’re readily available in our pantries, lending themselves to some tasty medicine.

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Generally, pungent herbs offer warming {even hot}, drying, and moving qualities. Therefore, we use them when the body is cold, damp, and stuck or stagnant. We rely on them heavily in winter when the season itself mimics these conditions.

Certain body types or constitutions also lean toward this energetic pattern. In Ayurveda, the “kapha” dosha tends to be more heavyset and sluggish. These people might have a lot of mucus and congestion, often experiencing depression when they’re out of balance. Pungent herbs help light the fire!

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Pungent herbs are less appropriate for someone who is already constitutionally hot, fiery, or dry {unless you balance them in a formula with cooling and moistening herbs}. For example, someone with hot flashes, an acute ulcer, or heartburn related to too much stomach acid will often find ginger and cayenne irritating.

It’s interesting to note, though, that even though the summer seems like a bad time for spicy food, most of these spicy ingredients actually come from hot climates. In this areas, the pungent herbs help to disperse and move the heat out and induce sweating. 

 

 

Basil

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fennel

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marjoram

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rosemary

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caraway

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dill

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bay leaf

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