Tongue coating gives clues to the overall state of the person. An even, light, rooted coating of mucus on the tongue is healthy. A rooted coating is one that doesn’t scrape off.
The following table describes indications associated with tongue coating:
| Coating description | Association |
| Thick coating | Candida, phlegm, Kapha, mucus |
| Greasy | Phlegm, dampness, stagnation; gas, indigestion. Gallbladder. Use alteratives. |
| Yellow coating | Heat. Liver or gallbladder, look to location. Large intestine, do they have constipation, dry hard stools? Inflammation of stomach area (with red irritated surface, ulcer). (Licorice, Slippery Elm, Comfrey). Alteratives likely. |
| Light yellow/greasy and slippery, like an oil slick in streaks. | Gallbladder. Too many fats in the diet, deficient liver/gallbladder function. (Celandine). |
| Yellow brown | Heat in the interior, constipation, liver/spleen, pancreas. (Bupleurum, Oregon Grape root, Gentian, Dandelion). Putrid, septic. |
| Orange | Spleen/pancreas. (Turmeric, Gentian, Dandelion). |
| Orange dot on right frontal section | Gallbladder. Without lifting head, first thing in the morning, hold a mirror up and you can see the dot. |
| Gray coating on back third of the tongue | Sluggish bowel, constipation, smoking and excess heat. (Stop smoking, drink fluids, eat soluble fiber, exercise) Use fresh ground flax seeds, Slippery Elm, fresh fruits. |
| Black (hairy with elongation of papillae) | Radiation treatment, fungal infection. |
| Black coating on back third | Toxicity, possible degenerative condition, fungal infection, or bacterial infection, heat causing tissue death. (Echinacea, Baptisia). Can be normal in extreme age. |
| Moist mucus | Excess bile, indigestion, poor organ activity, dampness. (Wild Yam, mild Ginger tea). |
| Dry tongue, furred (like a damp cat with peaks of hair standing up) | They have secretions but they dry out. Excess heat, irritation, fever. (Slippery Elm, nervines). Check area of tongue. Check skin — is it dry? If so, the whole system is dry. Increase fluids. |
| Frothy mucus on edges | Look to lungs. Phlegm in lungs. Shallow breathing. |
| “Strawberry tongue” | Classic indication for homeopathic Belladonna, especially in children’s fevers. |
| Smooth, like glass | No assimilation. Exhausted stomach, malnutrition. (Lemon juice in water, Sweet leaf Monarda fistulosa). |
| Raised red papillae on tongue | Systemic infection. (Echinacea, Calendula). |
| Purple-red | Engorged or stagnant heart. Look for puffiness of tongue, scalloped edges. (Hawthorn, Rosehips). |
| White | Cold fluid stagnation or excess secretion. Wild Geranium. |
| Central forward area red, raw, coated | Ulcer |