It's ok - stick your tongue out! It may be an indicator of how well (or sick) you are.
I'm a fan of the BBC America show called You Are What You Eat, which tackles severe weight problems in the UK and is lead by holistic nutritionist Gillian McKeith.
McKeith holds nothing back as she enters the homes of the often morbidly obese and examines everything from the contents of their fridge to their bowel movements. Yes, she actually has them go in a plastic container and the contents are send to a lab for analysis.
McKeith is also a firm believer that the state of one's tongue is a very good indicator of overall health.
She examines the tongues of her clients and believes that sore tongues, tongues with a line down the middle, cracked or discolored tongues and tongues with a bright red tip can mean weak digestion, poor nutrition, or livers and spleens that are not functioning properly.
She believes poor nutrition is the culprit for most of the bodies malfunctions or weaknesses and sets her clients on a course of often raw, fresh, very colorful foods, that are high in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber, as well as lean proteins, calcium and iron. Her clients do lose a huge amount of weight over a couple of months, and most stay with their new lifestyle and see vast overall improvement.
For more on her programs, click here www.gillianmckeith.info
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Do you believe your tongue can be a sign of how healthy (or not) you are? What does your tongue look like?
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I'm not sure if I believe in "tongue reading." I've also heard of nutritionists examining people's eyes to find out how healthy they are and what vitamins they're lacking. Not sure if I believe that either. In any case, you've made me curious. So I did just look in the mirror and noticed that my tongue is red (guess that's a good color for a tongue?), and I do have a short line down the middle (wonder what that means...).
I find the idea of tongue reading fascinating. Other tests are necessary but what a great stepping stone. Tongue reading is apparently a pretty common practice in Chinese Medicine. In fact, one respected European practioner even posted a gallery of tongues and the possible health readings online ...
Those who believe in examining the tongue as a key to illness look for color, shape and coating as well as the different areas of the tongue.
Take a look for yourself both at the photos and in the mirror. What do you see?
I would believe that there are signs on the tongue that represent our body's health, just like there are signs that our teeth and gums show, or our fingernails, or our skin or hair. I would love to see a professional who is diagnosing people by examining their tongues and see how many of those people say "Yes, that's right."
Susan, I am imagining that you have people standing in front of the mirror sticking their tongues at themselves all over the world!
Because, of course, I just did the exact same thing, lol. Mine is pink and has a short little curved indentation/crack in the middle. Now I want to know what that means!