What Does Traditional Chinese Medicine Observe in the Tongue? Nine Body Types and Valuable Tongue Diagnosis Charts!Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emphasizes the principle of syndrome differentiation and treatment. Different body types have different health maintenance methods—there are 9 body types in TCM. Do you know which body type you belong to? Do you know how to adjust your diet for the best results? Let’s take a mirror and identify our body type together.What is Body Type?Body type refers to the relatively stable individual characteristics formed during the life process under the synergistic effect of innate endowment and acquired influences, which help individuals adapt to natural and social environments.The standard for “Classification and Determination of TCM Body Types” issued by the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine on March 26, 2009, states that the most authoritative classification of basic TCM body types includes 9 types: 1 balanced body type and 8 imbalanced body types. People with different body types have different dietary and supplementation methods.Identifying Body Type through Tongue Coating1. Balanced Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Light red tongue, thin white coating 
2. Qi Deficiency Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Light red tongue, enlarged tongue body, teeth marks on the edges
3. Yang Deficiency Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Pale tongue, enlarged tongue body, teeth marks on the edges, moist tongue coating
4. Yin Deficiency Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Red tongue, little saliva, little coating
5. Phlegm-Damp Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Enlarged tongue body, white greasy coating
6. Damp-Heat Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Red tongue, yellow greasy coating
7. Blood Stasis Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Dark or purple lips, dark tongue with spots, patches of stasis, varicose veins under the tongue
8. Qi Stagnation Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Light red or dark tongue, thin white or dry coating, white greasy coating
9. Special Constitution Body TypeTongue Coating Symptoms: Various forms, may show deep cracks, geographic tongue
Nine Body Types and Dietary Therapy MethodsBalanced Body Type—Maintain balance with dietary therapy champion: Ginger. Ginger is a dispersing food that can help communicate between the exterior and interior. It is recommended to drink a cup of red date ginger tea every morning.Qi Deficiency Body Type—Tonify Qi and strengthen the spleen dietary therapy champion: Sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins and can enhance energy. The best way to consume them is steamed, and you can add variations like cheese-baked sweet potatoes.Yang Deficiency Body Type—Warm and tonify Qi and blood dietary therapy champion: Lamb. Lamb is rich in protein and is believed in TCM to tonify the kidneys and warm the interior to dispel cold. Those with Yang deficiency can drink lamb and tofu soup once a week.Yin Deficiency Body Type—Nourish kidney Yin dietary therapy champion: Soft-shelled turtle. Soft-shelled turtle can tonify Yang and nourish Yin deficiency. You can make goji berry and soft-shelled turtle soup and drink it twice a month.Blood Stasis Body Type—Invigorate blood and resolve stasis dietary therapy champion: Hawthorn. Hawthorn aids digestion and invigorates blood circulation. You can often eat snacks made with hawthorn, such as hawthorn and pear shreds.Phlegm-Damp Body Type—Balance spleen and stomach dietary therapy champion: White radish. It can clear heat, generate fluids, and cool the blood. Those with phlegm-damp constitution can often make radish shreds pancakes as a staple food.Damp-Heat Body Type—Eliminate damp-heat dietary therapy champion: Coix seed. The “Compendium of Materia Medica” states: “Coix seed strengthens the spleen, benefits the stomach, clears heat, and eliminates dampness.” Those with damp-heat constitution can make coix seed and sesame soup and drink it every night before bed.Qi Stagnation Body Type—Awaken the spirit and relieve stagnation dietary therapy champion: Donkey meat. The “Rihua Zibencao” states: “Donkey meat relieves irritability and stops mania!” Donkey meat is an excellent choice for improving Qi stagnation and can be eaten once a week with fermented black soybeans.Special Constitution Body Type—Tonify Qi and secure the exterior dietary therapy champion: Honey. Honey can tonify Qi, secure the exterior, and promote metabolism. You can make honey walnut meat as a daily snack.
