What does your tongue say about your health?
Have you ever wondered what your tongue can tell you about your health just by looking at it?
In Ayurveda, the tongue is key in diagnosis, and an Ayurvedic practitioner can get a pretty good idea of a person’s constitution and health just by looking at it – some of you have had the pleasure of showing me your tongue for this very reason!
Image credit https://vibrationalayurveda.com/the-tongue-darshan-parksha-1. (no copyright intended)
Have a look at your tongue next time you are near a mirror. Is there a thick, white coating on it? If so, you would benefit from tongue cleaning, and can read more here
The shape of your tongue can also help you to identify your constitution:
Vata – narrow and off centre
Pitta – medium width and pointy
Kapha – wide and thick
The colour of the tongue also gives information. A healthy tongue looks clean and pink and will have very little coating. Generally, in a relatively healthy patient, there is a slight coating on the back of the tongue, which indicates toxins in the colon undigested, unabsorbed or unassimilated form.
Generally, a purple tongues indicates a vata imbalance, a rich red colour indicates a pitta imbalance and a very pale tongue indicates a dim fire and a kapha imbalance.
The colour of the coating is also significant:
Vata - dark brown/greyish/black coating
Pitta - red/orange/yellow/green coating
Kapha - whitish coating
The landscape of the tongue can reveal an even clearer picture:
Ridged edges or teeth marks around the edge of the tongue indicate malabsorption. Products like artificial sweeteners and chemicals in the diet can compromise the intestinal wall and can prevent the body from absorbing all the needed nutrition from food.
Foam on the tongue can indicate candida, a yeast-like overgrowth, which is generally fed by too much sugar in the diet.
A puffy tongue or a tongue with waves along the perimeter is indicative of stagnant lymph. Eating meals too late at night or drinking wine in the evening can create a puffy tongue.
Ulcers on the tongue can indicate a pitta imbalance and can be treated by a change in diet and medicinal herbs. Talking of such changes, this can influence taste and taste plays an important role in Ayurveda, but more on that another time.
Obviously people are individual and complex and no single sign is absolute so any diagnosis will take into consideration various other factors such as digestive function (any bloating, heart burn, acidity, acid-reflex, constipation, excess flatulence etc.) and diet and lifestyle choices, which is the reason it is important to seek help from an Ayurvedic professional such as myself, so that we can use our experience and knowledge to help you individually.
Using a tongue clearer can be a really helpful way of removing topical toxins each morning and stimulating the digestive process to prevent the build-up of new toxicity. You can invest in a tongue scraper here
Understand your tongue!
Checking your tongue each morning can be a really helpful tool in keeping track of your personal health on a daily basis. I look at my tongue each morning and throughout the day if needed, to gain an understanding of my digestive function Noticing and understanding our tongue gives us direction as to where we might need to make adjustments with our food, herbal medicines and lifestyle choices such as sleep etc.
Image credit https://vibrationalayurveda.com/the-tongue-darshan-parksha-1. (no copyright intended)
Remember Ayurveda is all about self-knowledge and self-healing, it is a preventative approach, and your tongue is just one more place to gain insight!
If you know you are out of balance and feel to heal yourself, then do reach out. Ayurveda is amazing. More information here
CCF tea
Coriander seed, cumin seed & fennel seed
Here’s a tea which can be drunk between meals to flush ama from the system, kindle agni (digestive fire) and reduce digestive disturbances such as flatulence, bloating and acidity.
CCF can also help with malabsorption so that you don’t ‘waste’ energy by eating nutrients that your body can’t absorb. This tea may also help with constipation, loose stools, UTIs, lung congestion and fluid retention.
Mix:
1tsp each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds with 1.25litres of water and
Simmer with 1.25L of water for at least 8 minutes. Strain and drink throughout the day between meals.
