13 Things Your Tongue Is Trying to Tell You About Your Health

Your tongue can tell a lot about your health. There’s a whole method of health diagnosis based on how the tongue looks: its form, size, texture, and color.

Bright Side publishes this simple graphic that will help to identify health problems according to tongue color.

It’s better to examine your tongue in the morning in natural light before brushing your teeth. It’s recommended to not strain your tongue as it may affect the result. The color of the coating can vary under the influence of food, beverages, medicines, or smoking. Therefore, to get the right result, examine your tongue an hour or more after any exposure.

The color of the tongue

The color of the coating

The color of the coating may differ from the color of the tongue. A thin white coating, which can be easily brushed off, is considered normal. The thickness of the coating is proportional to the seriousness of the problem to which it points.

Remember that the visual method of diagnosis doesn’t always give a result that’s 100% accurate. The tongue can be injured by aggressive food, bacteria can get into a wound and cause temporary irritation — all this doesn’t indicate internal diseases.

If you’re concerned about the color of your tongue, don’t rush to start self-medication because the disease can be contrived. Seek expert advice. Only they can make a final diagnosis.