The Color of Your Tongue -- What It Means
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Can't Find an Article?- Index of Conditions

October 28, 2009, last updated January 20, 2012

By Arthur Stevens, Contributing Columnist

If the eyes are a window to your soul, then it may be that your
tongue is a window to your health. My tongue is white, what
does this mean? My tongue is black, should I be concerned?
One of the first things we notice in our day is our tongue.  
Standing in front of our bathroom mirror, we almost always
take a quick survey of our tongue landscape.  Most mornings,
the news is good. A healthy tongue is pink with tiny bumps
called papillae.

But sometimes, the news is bad. Or at least, it's puzzling. And
that discovery leads to some of the best clues to your overall
health. The color of your tongue, in a very real sense, is a road
map to your health.  Just by examining your tongue --as when
your doctor asks you to stick out your tongue and say "ah" --  
can help you identify several possible infections, including in
some cases deadly ones.

Tongue color, then, is something you should pay close
attention to whenever you brush your teeth.

So, here is a chart of the tongue colors you might see and what
they mean:










































































































































Stop reading! Proceeding further will place you in danger of
improving your health: How to Stop Bad Breath / How to Kill
the Bacteria Between Your Teeth /Are Diet Sodas Bad forYour
Health? /Foods That Lower Your Blood Sugar /Thrush-Natural
Remedies /Sugar-The Disease Connection

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Owning a Cat Reduces Risk of Stroke 40%
Tongue Color
 Cause
 Food That
Produces Color
 What You
Should Do
Brown or Hairy
 Brown tongue or
hairy tongue is
caused by poor diet
and, most often, by
poor dental
hygiene. The area
at the back of the
tongue catches food
debris, and over
time, the debris
builds up, causing a
brown or brown hairy
appearance.
 Almost all foods can
potentially cause
brown, hairy tongue.
 Brush your tongue
gently with a soft
bristle toothbrush or
a tongue scraper.
Use baking soda on
the brush once a
week. Rinse with
hydrogen peroxide
3% solution, as
recommended to
control oral bacteria.

For your diet, eat
more vegetables
with fiber and
pineapples
White, Can Be
Rubbed Off
 If the white on your
tongue can be
rubbed off, possible
causes of white
tongue include,
candida albicans
(thrush)
 Reduce the sugar in
your diet as much as
possible. In addition
to reducing sugar
itself, reduce refined
carbohydrates such a
white flour, rice,
pasta and starchy
vegetables such as
carrots and corn.
 Follow the diet
changes and other
recommended
remedies for thrush,
including reducing
the amount of sugar
in your diet to a
bare minimum.
White, Cannot
be Rubbed Off
 If the white on your
tongue cannot be
rubbed off, the
causes can be
serious, incuding

-Epstein bar virus
-HIV and AIDs
-lupus
- dysplasia
-anti-inflammatory
drugs
-Hepatitis C
-diseases caused by
grafts

-chronic ulcerative
stomatitis
- keratosis
- erythematosus
-materials used in
dental procedures
 Not diet related
 See your doctor
Purple
 Purple tongue can
be caused, f course
by eating blue or
purple foods.
Serious causes of
ourple tongue
lesions include
Kaposi's sacrcoma,
a form of cancer,
and  
haemangiomas,
purpura.

Smoking can also
turn your lips and
tongue purple
 If food is the cause,
purple tongue can be
caused by beets,
Kool-aid or other  
colored drinks, and
candy.

Some natural
herbalists believe
that purple tonges
indicate poor
circulation or a diet
too high in sugar but
no research studies
have confirmed this
link.
 See a doctor to rule
out sarcoma and
other diseases; stop
smoking
Red
Red tongue, pink or
magenta  tongue
and geographic
tongue (patches of
red or white looking
like a map) can be
caused by:

-anemia
-pellagra

-Folic acid and
vitamin B-12
deficiency
-
Plummer-Vinson
syndrome
-Sprue
 Diets poor in iron,
folic aid and Vitamin
B-12
 If dietary in origin,
eat foods rich in iron
such as liver and
spinach or condier a
multivitamin with
iron, folic aicd and
Vitami B-12 (Read
more about anemia,
causes and
remedies)
Yellow
 Yellow tongue is
typically caused by
inflammation of the
papillae (the tiny
bumps) of the
tongue. The papillae
reease a substance
called porphyrins,
which is what turns
the tongue yellow.
Yellow tongue
usually goes away
on its own and is
harmless.
If the discoloration
bothers you, try
gently brushing your
tongue with a
solution that is 1
part hydrogen
peroxide and 5
parts water.
 Foods that make you
congested can cause
yellow tongue, such
as milk and dairy.
Other causes

-dehydrationb

-smoking

-mouth breathing

-fever
 Follow the
recomendations  for
reducing congestion

Also, rinse with
hydrogen peroxide
1% solution
Black
 Causes include
foods with bismuth,
such as Pepto
Bismol. Serious
causes include black
tongue disease.

If the black tongue
is hairy, it is caused
by same conditions
that produce brown
tongue (see above)
 black candy licorice
and products with
bismuth can turn teh
tongue black. Excess
bacteria caused by
food debris also can
turn teh tongue dark
brown or black.
 If it is caused by
bismuth products
such as Pepto
Bismol, it is
harmless and will go
away on its own.

If the black tongue
is hairy, use
hydrogen peroxide
rinse and gently
brushteh tongue
with bicarbonate of
soda
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