What Does Your Tongue Say About Your Health?

What Does Your Tongue Tell You About Your Health?

The tongue has been considered an important assessment organ for thousands of years. It is rich in vascular, or fluid, supplies; contains the taste receptor cells; and is nourished by both the nervous and circulatory systems. Many trained experts with nothing more than your tongue and a good eye, can diagnose many diseases. What does your tongue look like and what does it tell you about your health?

The tongue produces saliva, which contains water, electrolytes, mucus, and enzymes. The salivary chemicals can alter the appearance of the tongue in relation to organic imbalances. Taken together, these uniques attributes of the tongue help a trained practitioner make a contributory diagnosis using the tongue.

The first thing you must know is that traditional chinese medicine works on the principle good health is achieved by the proper balance of blood, fluids and energy (known as Qi - pronounced chee) flowing through the whole body. Illness results when any of these fall out of balance or proportion with the others.
Chinese medicine also uses the principles of Yin and Yang, two of the body's forms of life energies. Keeping these two in balance is also part of the daily therapeutic principles.

Everyone's life energies ebb and flow back and forth depending on the multitudes of forces which we are bombarded with on a continuous basis. Your diet, exercise, stress levels, work environment, your physical health and even the choices you make each day during the daily circumstances all vary the balance of emotions, health and well-being on a minute by minute basis. Keeping a good balance therefore through your daily environment yields proper health.