Ama and Agni

How fun for you! isn't learning and asking questions cool??? :) A much better "cool" than the cynical dis-interest that is often called "cool." LOL!

The large bumps at the back are quite normal, and this is why we stick to the "easily visible" part of the tongue for our tongue diagnoses.

The white coating is NOT necessarily candida (or "thrush) and should not be totally associated with candida. What it should be associated with is Ama, or undigested food particles. Ama is the cause, or at least a major factor, of all degenerative diseases. A tiny bit of coating is okay (but not ideal) because you should have papillea (sp?), which are tiny protruberences on the tongue that are actually rather feathery and will attract and hang onto certain mucus foods. But thicker coatings mean that the majority of the digestive tract is coated. The reason it is coated is you ate something that overwhelmed your digestive power/fire, or "agni" so that digestion was incomplete.

The power of your digestion is decided by your stomach acids, pancreatic enzymes, and bile from liver, in addition to the overall condition of the epethileam tissues that make up the alimentary canal. For instance, a stomach with an incorrect shape because it is not supported by core strength in the abs will find it harder to exit foods properly and this causes digestive upsets.

Certain foods easily overwhelm Agni and must be eaten in small amounts. Dairy, red meat if not aged well, raw whole veggies, are a few examples. Rancid oils, anything hydrogenated like margarine, refined white flour, are also very very difficult. Then people will have certain proclivities - what is easy for one person is not for another.

The FAQ has an Increasing the Power of Digestion post that teaches you how to work with your digestion so you can eat anything without aging yourself and causing pain.

The "Pungent therapy" post teaches what to do when the tongue is coated. Often all you have to do is drink ginger tea, a cleansing dirnk, and make your meals smaller and spicier for a day or so. If the coat has been there for years, then thorough intestinal cleansing and diet management is called for so you can clean the Ama out from every cell, joint, organ, and tissue.

Make sense? :)