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Your lips will pucker when you taste tamarind, which always reminds me of cola, perhaps because of the color.
Tamarind is a sweet, sour and hot laxative that will soften stools. It is a popular remedy for constipation.
Tamarind is hot and can provoke rashes. Paradoxically, tamarind poultice has been used for fevers, most likely as sour taste brings blood flow close to the skin. This blood moving property also increases wound secretions,and can be used to clean out wounds of slough and impurities.
The folk wisdom of India says to avoid tamarind and green mangos whenever you catch a cold. Tamarind is instead used as a digestive on hot summer days. This use of tamarind in summer serves a similar purpose to lemonade in summer - it dilates blood vessels to aid release of summer heat.
Its sourness makes tamarind a useful sialogogue for a dry mouth. It wakes you up, brings you back into focus.
About Tamarind
Tamarind is a tropical fruit in the pea family, widely used in chutneys, sauces, soup stocks, and desserts. It is indigenous to Africa but widely cultivated in India for thousands of years, and now in all tropical regions. It's name is derived from the Arabic 'tamar hindi' which translates to Indian date.
Buying & Preparation
Thai tamarind is sweeter whereas other varieties are more sour in nature. You can purchase it as a paste, or in a fancy box for a unique dinner party gift.
Cooking Tamarind
Tamarind's sourness makes it perfect for sauces, garnishes, and condiments. The Indian equivalent of ketchup, it's a bit sweet, and a bit sour. Drizzle tamarind sauce and thinned yogurt on your favorite Indian snacks, or on spicy potato chips.
Tamarind is sour and pasty. It is brown in color.
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Find out by taking this free, easy quiz.
You'll learn your body type, and whether 'Tamarind' is a good fit.
Complete the basic quiz in 1 minute, or go deeper with additional quizzes
at your own leisure to learn more about your body.
AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT
Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances.
With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you.
Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature.
By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health.
See How it Works.
Ayurveda assesses metabolic imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating them weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which biocharacteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct metabolic imbalances before you get sick.
Every biocharacteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite biocharacteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
Ayurveda is a metabolic theory of medicine that explains individual health, tendencies, and disease patterns through the concept of doshas, which can be understood as your metabolic patterns and tendencies.
Each dosha reflects a distinct metabolic nature and describes strengths & weaknesses in bodily function, and how these affect energy levels, digestion, susceptibility to disease, and many other tendencies.
Your metabolic nature not only affects your physical characteristics, but also influences your mental thought patterns, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Ayurveda balances these metabolic strengths & weaknesses to support your body's vitality and prevent recurrent disease cycles. This support is a critical aid, especially in chronic or incurable disease conditions.
The 3 metabolic body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Through dosha, Ayurveda empowers people to identify metabolic imbalances early, break repetitive patterns of disease, and cultivate habits that support long-term vitality and well-being.
Ultimately, these metabolic patterns also provide a framework for understanding yourself, including body, mind, and spiritual tendencies.
Ayurveda & Greek Medicine were the dominant form of medicine along the Silk Road from England to China and South Asia.
They work by assessing your metabolic type, patterns, and nature.
Greek medicine recognizes 4 metabolic temperaments, Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic.
Cold and dry with a slow, variable or erratic metabolism. Colicky, tense. Withdrawn, pensive, anxious, and hesitant. Analytical, intelligent, detail oriented and creative. Prone to ojas depletion, dehydration, an overactive nervous system, and depression.
Has a hot and dry metabolic nature. Enthusiastic, vibrant and bright. In excess burns up fluids and ojas, irritable. Corresponds to high bilirubin in the blood that irritates and heats up the body and liver.
Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Tamarind
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
STRONG SIALOGOGUE
A sialogogue increases saliva. Sour foods are often great sialogogues, and increase output of all exocrine glands. Salty taste is very moistening as well. Bitter, pungent and sweettastes also increase salivary output but to a
lesser degree. Astringents.
STRONG STOOL-SOFTENER
Softens hard and difficult to eliminate stool. Stool softeners are the safest and most gentle type of laxative. Examples include warm milk with ghee.
Expectorants help you eliminate mucus from the lungs. These herbs often work by increasing the quantity of mucus, or thinning the mucus. Expectorants are indicated when phlegm congests the lower respiratory tract.
Inositol is an alcohol sugar made naturally in the human body from glucose. It is lipotropic (aiding fat metabilism in the liver). It affects a variety of hormones, neurotransmitters, steroid, growth factors and water.
In each study below, students from the
Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda ate the selected food for 3 days and reported the effects.
See other studies of food & herbs at Joyful Belly.
TEMPERATURE/CIRCULATION
How did Tamarind affect your temperature?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
1
12
23
1
Much colder
Slightly colder
Same
Slightly warmer
Much warmer
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your sweat quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
4
24
9
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your appetite/hunger?
15
12
9
6
3
0
3
12
12
9
1
Much less hungry
Slightly less hungry
Same
Slightly hungrier
Much hungrier
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your digestion speed?
20
16
12
8
4
0
2
15
14
5
1
Much faster
Slightly faster
Same
Slightly slower
Much slower
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
TOXINS
How did Tamarind affect the amount of gas & bloating?
25
20
15
10
5
0
3
7
19
7
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your stool smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
1
27
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
Tongue: How did Tamarind affect the thickness & size of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
8
17
10
1
Much smaller
Slightly less
Same
Slightly larger coating
Much larger
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect the color of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
6
12
1
3
15
Yellower
Browner
Grayer
Whiter
No Change
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your urine smell?
35
28
21
14
7
0
0
1
31
5
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect the amount of bubbles in your urine?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
3
32
2
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Many more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your sweat smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
2
3
24
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
HYDRATION
How did Tamarind affect your urine frequency/quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
4
23
8
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
NERVOUS-SYSTEM
How did Tamarind affect your energy levels?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
4
14
17
1
Much less energy
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more energy
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your muscle tension?
20
16
12
8
4
0
0
7
18
11
1
Much less tension
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more tension
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your anxiety?
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
7
21
8
1
Much less anxiety
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more anxiety
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
DIGESTION
How did Tamarind affect your appetite/hunger?
15
12
9
6
3
0
3
12
12
9
1
Much less hungry
Slightly less hungry
Same
Slightly hungrier
Much hungrier
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your digestion speed?
20
16
12
8
4
0
2
15
14
5
1
Much faster
Slightly faster
Same
Slightly slower
Much slower
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect the amount of gas & bloating?
25
20
15
10
5
0
3
7
19
7
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
TONGUE
Tongue: How did Tamarind affect the thickness & size of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
8
17
10
1
Much smaller
Slightly less
Same
Slightly larger coating
Much larger
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect the color of your tongue coating?
20
16
12
8
4
0
6
12
1
3
15
Yellower
Browner
Grayer
Whiter
No Change
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
STOOL
How did Tamarind affect your stool frequency/quantity?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
3
16
13
4
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your stool color?
30
24
18
12
6
0
4
0
4
4
25
More yellow
More gray
More green
More orange
Same
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your stool lightness?
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
10
19
6
1
Much lighter
Slightly lighter
Same
Slightly darker
Much darker
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your stool smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
1
27
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your stool consistency?
20
16
12
8
4
0
6
14
13
4
0
Much softer
Slightly softer
Same
Slightly harder
Much harder
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
URINE
How did Tamarind affect your urine clarity?
28
23
18
13
8
3
8
25
4
More cloudy
Same
More clear
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your urine smell?
35
28
21
14
7
0
0
1
31
5
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your urine lightness?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
2
26
7
2
Much lighter
Slightly lighter
Same
Slightly Darker
Much Darker
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your urine frequency/quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
1
4
23
8
1
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect the amount of bubbles in your urine?
40
32
24
16
8
0
0
3
32
2
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Many more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
SWEAT
How did Tamarind affect your sweat smell?
30
24
18
12
6
0
2
3
24
8
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your sweat quantity?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
4
24
9
0
Much less
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
SYSTEMIC
How did Tamarind affect your temperature?
30
24
18
12
6
0
0
1
12
23
1
Much colder
Slightly colder
Same
Slightly warmer
Much warmer
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your energy levels?
20
16
12
8
4
0
1
4
14
17
1
Much less energy
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more energy
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your muscle tension?
20
16
12
8
4
0
0
7
18
11
1
Much less tension
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more tension
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
How did Tamarind affect your anxiety?
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
7
21
8
1
Much less anxiety
Slightly less
Same
Slightly more anxiety
Much more
Total Responses: 37 Study ID:26 (2020-10-28 - 2020-11-24)
Tamarind may be beneficial for these symptoms.
The suitability of any food for a condition is highly dependent on the individual.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. Food digests with ease when
right for your body type (dosha). Healthy digestion is seen as the cornerstone of well-being in
Ayurveda. Healthy digestion generally prevents illness. If you do get sick, a strong digestive fire
reduces the severity of illness and increases your resilience. It also improves your mood. Once
you begin eating Ayurvedically, you will feel refreshed, vital and strong.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
His wife and family of 7 kids live in Asheville, NC.
“Sour generally pacifies Vata and Vata pacification is especially needed during the fall / early winter which is Vata time of year. This time of year Vata is naturally elevated in everyone."
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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