Geographic tongue is an inflammatory condition of the tongue affecting approximately 2% of the population. It is characterized by discolored regions of taste buds or sometimes even cracks in the tongue (which do not go all the way through). The condition is usually chronic and frequently manifests after eating any of a range of exacerbating foods, or during times of stress, illness, or hormonal surges (particularly in women just before menstruating). It is also known as “Benign migratory glossitis,” “Benign migratory stomatitis,” “Glossitis areata exfoliativa,” “Glossitis areata migrans,” “Lingua geographica,” “Stomatitis areata migrans,” and “Transitory benign plaques of the tongue.”
Basically, Geographic Tongue is nothing but a sensor on the tongue that lets us know that the colon and stomach are greatly taxed and toxic. The root cause of the disease originates at the colon by way of the stomach, however, we also can and must treat the tongue as well, because the tongue becomes inflamed due to inflammation of the stomach and colon, but mostly the stomach, hence the term “Stomatitis” (Stomatitis areata migrans).
Causes and Risk Factors
Geographic Tongue is the result of a poor diet (an overly acidic one) that leads to disease in the body so as with all disease, there must be an understanding of the disease (causes) followed by remedy in the form of modified diet and supplemental therapy (herbal therapy).
Causes can include:
- Genetics or family history
- Fissured tongue
- Oral contraceptive use
- Diabetes
- Allergies
- Compromised immune system
- Stress
- History of skin disorders
Symptoms
Symptoms of Geographic Tongue are:
- Smooth, red patches on the tongue surface
- Change in location of the patches
- Discomfort, pain or increased redness while eating
Healing Options
There are several ways to heal Geographic Tongue naturally:
- Don’t smoke
- Don’t drink alcoholic beverages
- Avoid eating hot or spicy foods
- Avoid eating food at high temperatures (let food cool a bit before eating)
- Avoid salty or acidic foods
- Avoid dental products (toothpaste) with tartar-control additives, whitening agents and/or lots of flavoring.
Dietary Intervention
The diet must be modified to a strictly raw foods vegan diet. An acidic diet is modified by an alkaline diet. This is very key to remedy in healing from all degenerative disease. Alkaline foods mostly consist of vegetables (green ones mainly) and fruits (including so-called acidic ones but in the case of geographic tongue you want to avoid citrus fruit which could exacerbate the condition or problem).
We have plenty of articles on proper diet modification on our website in our “Articles” section, What is: Raw Foods? and Acidic-vs Acid Forming Please read them to learn more about proper diet modification.
If you have a juicer, drink plenty of vegetable juice (daily). Vegetable juice is very therapeutic as well as nutritional.
The best water to drink in healing from any degenerative disease including Geographic Tongue is alkaline water. Alkaline water is very therapeutic. So start drinking plenty of alkaline water (6-8 glasses per day). We also have an article on alkaline water located in our “Articles” section.
Adding liquid chlorophyll to each glass of drinking is also very helping due to its alkaline nature. Dherbs.com also highly recommends that a sessions of colonics be performed (as well as enemas). The colon must be targeted for healing in Geographical Tongue.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
