By Underground Health Reporter

Your tongue is a window to your body.  It reveals how healthy you are and if you have any other infections or health problems.

The doctor may tell you to, “Stick out your tongue.” but Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) reveals more about your tongue than the doctor ever dreamed possible – or relevant.

The health and appearance of your tongue defines your physical body, according to TCM. A trained eye can read the tongue for information about a patient’s nutritional state (including potential deficiencies)…possible infections…and even likely health problems.

The Chinese have practiced reading the tongue for thousands of years and now we can use it with proven results to diagnose your health.

Tongue Analysis Tool

The researchers are University of Missouri have developed a brand new software tool to blend the traditional Chinese practice with modern technology so that tongue diagnosis

can become an even more valuable and accessible health tool for the public.

According to an article in Science Daily, the software “analyzes images based on the tongue’s color and coating to distinguish between tongues showing signs of ‘hot’ or ‘cold’. Shades of red and yellow are associated with hot, whereas a white coating on the tongue is a sign of cold.”

The hot and cold diagnosis does not refer to body temperature, but associated with symptoms of the whole body.

Tongue Diagnosis

The new tongue diagnosis software helps bridge the gap between eastern practice and western medicine. Even a smart phone tongue diagnosis application could be used as a warning to see the doctor for a health problem after taking a photo of your tongue. 

The accuracy of the tongue diagnosis software was tested on 263 gastritis patients and 43 healthy volunteers.

• All subjects had their tongues analyzed.

• The gastritis patients were classified by whether they showed infection by a certain bacteria, known as Helicobacter pylori, and by the intensity of their gastritis symptoms.

Additionally, most of the gastritis patients in the study were already classified with either hot or cold, and therefore researchers were able to confidently verify the accuracy of their software.

The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Tongue Diagnosis without Without Technology

The tongue’s shape, color, texture and movement can each identify different body function and pathology. For example,

  • A healthy tongue is pink with very little coating.
  • A red tongue usually indicates an over-reactive system, prone to agitation, fast metabolism and overheating.
  • A pale tongue usually indicates an under-reactive immune system, prone to lethargy, slow metabolism, and over-cooling.
  • A tongue coated yellow usually indicates the presence of a bacterial infection elsewhere in the body.
  • A tongue with a white coating can be a sign of a fungal infection/mucus condition that sometimes leads to thrush.

Trained professionals evaluate many other factors in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Plus, tongue’s appearance can be affected by many non-health related factors, as well, including food consumed recently, your age, the time of day, and the season of the year.

The Core of Tongue Diagnosis

Traditional Chinese Medicine relies on the concept of energy channels, or meridians, and tongue analysis is no exception. Different parts of the tongue are associated with different body systems and organs:

  • The tip of tongue corresponds with the heart.
  • The area just behind the tip of the tongue corresponds with the lungs.
  • The center of tongue corresponds with the spleen and stomach.
  • The back of tongue corresponds with the kidney, bladder, and intestines.
  • The sides of tongue (from front to back) correspond with the liver and gallbladder.

Changes in the tongue’s color, coating and appearance all indicate a corresponding organ and health problem. The Traditional Chinese Medicine is now confirmed with modern technology.

Further Related Reading:

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What Do Your Teeth Say About Your Health?

Dandelions are a Non-Toxic Cancer Therapy

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