Tongue Diagnosis and The Right Supplements

I always look at my clients tongues. It says much about their digestion and overall health. For this post I want to talk about one of the more common supplement mistakes I see people make, and how to avoid it with some simple tongue analysis.

Tongue with excess pitta in stomach

Look at the tongue in image above. Does it look normal, or do you see signs of poor health?

The first thing I notice is the tip. It is a much darker red than the rest of tongue. To keep things simple, the middle of the tongue relates to the stomach and back lower digestive system. The dark red color shows the girl likely has heat in her stomach.

I often use concepts from Ayurveda medicine for tongue diagnosis. Red area or spots on the tongue typically show pitta. This is excessive heat or activity. So we can already see that there is a pitta imbalance and location in the stomach.

For some people, pitta may show as redness all over the tongue. Other case may have red spots, which can point to infection or inflamed tissue.

Since this is from a child, the disturbance is not yet too bad. It is just showing on the front part of the tongue. At this point, dietary changes may be all she needs to correct the problem.

The back of her tongue seems to have some red spots. This can be inflammation in the kidneys, bladder or intestines. Notice the grey coating on the latter back of tongue. This typically points to congestion in the lower GI system.

So we can see just based on this tongue analysis the girl has a pitta imbalance, effecting probably the stomach and stagnation in the lower GI system.

Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis - more specific than "leaky gut"

Natural experts in the west often refer to toxins in the gut, which can get absorbed and cause symptoms as “leaky gut.” This is actually not a new concept at all. In Ayurvedic medicine they have a term called ama. This is toxins from undigested food that sits in the gut, leaks into the body, and causes illness.

This is really the same concept as “leaky gut syndrome.” We can say the girl has toxins in her gut, or ama. It doesn’t matter.

One advantage that ayurveda dose have, is typing individuals according to constitution instead of just telling everyone to do the same thing.

From a Western “leaky gut” perspective either oregano oil, or a concentrated garlic supplement to kill the bad guys like Candida, that feed off of toxins (ama) makes sense. As far as supplements for the digestive system, oregano oil is probably the most common self prescribed supplement I see people using after probiotics.

This model is not as holistic as people like to think. Treating “leaky gut,” is not treating the whole person.

People with excessive heat in their digestive systems, as can be seen in their bright red tongues do not benefit from fistfuls of hot, caustic herbs. It may kill off some Candida, but in the long run it does not correct the environment that allowed those bad guys to grow. Seeing hot, pitta types consuming excessive amounts of hot, burning herbs for their digestive issues is one of the most common supplement mistakes I see people make.

Using tongue analysis and some basic concepts from Ayurveda we can shift from treating leaky gut, to treating the person. Dietary changes and herbs that correct the pitta imbalance will go a lot further to restore health than a one size fits all leaky gut protocol.

Tongue diagnosis shows constitutional differences

This above photo shows two tongues side by side.

The tongue on the left is damp and enlarged. In ayurveda terms this is kapha.

The right one is covered with red dots, showing heat and inflammation. A crack in developing down the middle, which is dryness. In Ayurveda terms we see pitta (heat, inflammation) and vata (dryness) on the tongue. In this we can see how tongue diagnosis helps guide natural treatment towards the whole person.

These two women may look the same. However, constitutionally they are different. Foods or herbs that work well for one of them, may not be that good for the other.

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019

VedaPulse and Heart Rate Variability

VedaPulse and Heart Rate Variability

Vedapulse is a tools that measures heart rate variability and converts that information into a functional assessment of the patient’s health. In order to understand how this works some basic concepts about the heart and nervous system need to be understood.

Heart rate is controlled by input from the nervous system. Every second the nervous system senses what is going on through the body and adjust heart rate accordingly. Therefore, a healthy heart rate is one that shows some variability. This is a sign that the nervous system and heart are able to adapt to stress.

Heart rate variability is the difference in time from one heart beat to the next. When healthy it shows some variation in the length of each beat but not so much that it would be considered an an arrhythmia.

The nervous system is divided into two parts:

Somatic nervous system is what we consciously control.
Autonomic nervous system are things which happening automatically, without us thinking. Examples are the heart rate, breathing, digestion and immune system. This is the part of the nervous which Vedapulse can measure.

The autonomic nervous system is further divided into two parts:

Sympathetic nervous system. Stimulates body for intense physical activity. Helps us response to acute stress. The so called "fight or flight" response that we have in emergency situations is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system.
Para-sympathetic nervous system. Opposed the sympathetic nervous system. The phrase "rest and digest," is used to describe it’s actions. It decreases the heart rate, improves digestion and allows the body to repair itself.

Vedapulse works by measuring electrical impulses that come from each heart beat. It shows the pulse wave associated with each heart beat, as well as patterns in heart rate variability from one beat to the next.

The following chart shows healthy heart rate variability. The highest bar in the middle show that about half of the heart beats fall into a narrow range of length. Then there are some heartbeats of faster lenght and others which are shorter.

On the other hand, this chart shows an issue with heart rate variability. About 90% of the heartbeats are all about the same which shows lack of ability for the body to adapt to stress.

Further information is gathered by measurement of frequencies of each heartbeat. Without getting into too much unnecessary detail, some frequencies are associated with sympathetic nervous system activity and others with para-sympathetic. This allows Vedapulse to give a lot of information about the state of nervous system health.

All this by itself makes Vedapulse an excellent tool which I would run on almost all clients. But the software is able to go further and convert heart rate variability into a pulse diagnosis according to the methods of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. This gives much more information about the state of each organ system, which ones are depleted or functioning with excess tension.

The following chart shows the Chinese Medicine interpretation.

Since adding Vedapulse to my practice I’ve found it to be a helpful tool on most clients. It takes pulse diagnosis from being a subjective interpretation based upon what the practitioner feels, to an objective, measurable diagnosis. Depending upon the client it can be useful in many different ways. Just looking at the heart rate variability aspect can point to issues in cardiovascular system from a conventional perspective.

As an herbalist Vedapulse helps show my clients why I make certain decisions. Traditional herbal medicine is not about matching up the right herbs with specific diseases. It is about choosing the best herbs for the patient. This is based upon concepts such as organ affinity, temperature, and if an herb is exciting or calming.

Vedapulse allows me a way to show clients in an objective way how all of this is affecting their body. It also gives an objective way to follow up later and see what changes have taken place.

Go to the page for more on Traditional Herbal Medicine

July 1, 2018October 10, 2019

Kratom: Asian Herb For Addiction and Pain

This is the first post I made about kratom. Since writing this short article I have done much more research on kratom and seen it help people in practice. Because of the ways I have seen this herb help people, and additional information about it’s history and safety, I have expanded my practice to include kratom consultations and sales. I am leaving this first post up unchanged, but will be adding many more pages with detailed and updated information on this amazing herb.

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is an herb from southeast Asia with a long history of being used for pain. The past few years it has gained notoriety as a substitute for opioids.

Safety concerns and proper use of Kratom

While it is true that most medicinal herbs are relatively safe compared to drugs, herbs are complex medicinals that should not assumed to be safe just because it’s natural.

With most medicinal herbs form Europe and North America we have knowledge to draw on from hundreds (if not thousands) of years. This allows us to understand the safety of such herbs, and how best to use them medicinally.

From an herbalist perspective, this information is invaluable. For example agrimony isn’t simply an herb that can used for PMS, it’s for people with tension who hide their stress. Lady’s Mantle is another Western herb that may be used in similar cases, but has a specific indication “prominent blue veins” and also may seen anxiety and insomnia. both of these herbs may be used in similar cases, but have specific descriptions based on hundreds of years of observation. As as herbalist this means the right herb can be selected for the right person (as supposed to simply giving every woman the same thing for PMS).

Kratom has not been historically used in Western herbalism (nor Ayurvedic or Chinese medicine as I can find in my research). When people me about herbs from other parts of the world I often just have to say I do not know as it’s not in my herbal medicine books so what we are left to go by is information from the Internet. Typically I dismiss such herbs because I’d rather go with herbs which I am familiar with and have a long track record, rather than something being promoted over the Internet with claims I am unable to verify.

Kratom is different for two reasons:

By now it’s been widely used enough in the West so we know it has a strong effect on pain
It has something to offer which other Western herbs do not

The information available about using Kratom is very general. Small amounts are stimulating. Larger doses can help with pain and sleep. Specific indications and actions beyond that are not very much known. There are some various strains which are supposed to vary in terms of opioid like and pain killing effect.

What I can say from cases I have seen personally is it may have a very strong pain killing effect, and help with insomnia as well. I have recommended it to clients (in select cases when I felt it could be far more useful than other herbs) with some good results.

As far as detailed information on safety and purported dangers I will refer readers to the following website:

For more information about Kratom go to the American Kratom Association

The following article from Huffington Post may also be enlightening about alleged dangers of Kratom:

FDA Releases Kratom Death Data, Undermines Its Own Claims About Drug’s Deadly Harms

June 24, 2018July 16, 2018

Herbal Materia Medica Book Review – The Earthwise Herbal

Saul Marcus, ND
New York City
Naturopathic Doctor

Herbal Materia Medica Book Review – The Earthwise Herbal

A Herbal Materia Medica for Practioners

Matthew Wood’s two book set; A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants and A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants are more than just another herbal materia medica. As a naturopathic doctor, these are my go to books for herbal medicine.

These books describe herbs according to traditional use and observation. The medicinal properties of each herb are unmatched compared to any other source I’m ever read.

Often books (and websites) only tell you what herb to give for each condition. They don’t teach about the unique qualities of each herb so you know what one to give a particular patient. Herbal medicine can so easily be transformed from a form on holistic health, into “green allopathy.”

Matthew Wood avoids all of this. The introductory chapters teach how to think like an herbalist. By this I mean prescribing herbs according to and individual characteristics. Using yarrow as an example, it’s described for its use in moving internal heat out with specific indications in terms of tongue analysis. Plus psychological aspects.

Similar herbs can easily be compared. For the lymphatic system cleavers is cooling, Calendula is warming, Blue Flag for hard nodules cysts, Poke Root for larger water filled cysts, and more. This is only scratching the surface of the detail given to each herb. Descriptions can be cross-referenced to find the best one for an individual person.

The specifics on each herbs is what makes the Earthwise Herbal such an outstanding materia medica. This is for people who want to prescribe with precision.

Traditional Herbalism and Empiricism

In herbal medicine “experts,” often try to wow their audience with unproven theory. Usually this involves various chemicals, hormones, neurotransmitters or whatever else, along with “active ingredients” and “mechanisms of action,” to make things sound “scientific.” This may make everything sound scientific. But that is it.

As a clinician I am not interested in bio-chemical speculation. I want to know the specific actions of the herbs I am using. Herbs are complex medicines that typically can not be reduced to “active ingredient.” As an herbalist I care about what does an herb do? What are the overall effects on an actual person? Who will it help? How do I use this herb for individualized treatment?

In the Earthwise Herbal, elaborate descriptions of various “active ingredients” and unproven biochemical theory are absent. Instead we get descriptions based on real world observations. This approach based on empiricism may not come full with references to the latest scientific studies. However, when it comes to treating someone in the real world I want to know what works based on real world experience.

Specific Herbal Prescriptions

The Earthwise Herbal books sit on the desk in my office and are typically the first reference books I go to when with clients. This review can not do these books justice. These are not just the best books I’ve read on herbal medicine, but among the very best books about natural health in general.

Prescribing herbs according to specific indications allows me to get better results with clients while doing less. At times just a few herbs can be used for specific actions, instead of telling clients to take handful of pills from generic type products.

Sometimes just one or two herbs in small doses work better than larger protocols. And it’s not about finding some new, or special herbs. Shortly after buying the Earthwise Herbal books I have a women come in with “fibromyalgia.” She was a perfect match of Wood’s description for poke root. So I gave her that as a single herb, and iodine. I saw this client only one more time after that. In a few weeks almost all her symptoms where gone. This was an usually strong response, but shows the possibilities of being specific with treatment instead of telling clients to take handfuls of supplements.

For a case with a strong response to just two herbs for chronic fatigue syndrome go to this page.

In my office I have dozens of herbal in pill forms and over 150 herbal tinctures. I can easily create complex herbal formulas for clients if I wish. For example, if I needed a tincture for liver function, I could mix six herbs or more which are typically good for the liver together. Maybe it would look impressive to give a client such a complicated formula?

However, what I find if more complicated, but more effective is to step away from the “kitchen sink” approach and only give what is needed. Typically my herbal formulas have only two or three herbs. Sometimes it’s just one. But what I am giving is specific to each person, and I find this approach works far better.

Such a detailed herbal materia medica is essential to practicing with specific prescriptions.

For more information on how I use herbs with clients go to my page on traditional herbalism and holistic health .

For anyone who wants to understand how to practice herbalism I can not recommend these books enough.

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