How to determine your own body constitution?
1. Normal Constitution: Rongze complexion, rong lips, abundant energy, good diet and sleep, normal urination and bowel movements, pale red tongue, and moderate pulse. Seldom gets sick, has strong resistance, tolerates cold and heat well, does not require tonics, and can be treated with dietary therapy or mild, gentle tonics.
2. Yin-Cold Constitution: Belongs to the cold (excess) type. Usually has cold limbs and no sweating, prefers warmth and dislikes cold, often experiences abdominal pain and diarrhea, joint soreness, a bland taste in the mouth without thirst, clear and long urination, pale tongue with a white coating, and a tight or deep and slow pulse. Prone to rheumatic joint pain, susceptible to cold pathogens, dislikes cold and damp climates. Should warm the yang and dispel cold. Should eat warm and hot foods such as lamb, ginger, and cinnamon.
3. Yang-Deficiency Constitution: Belongs to the deficient-cold type. Limbs are often not warm, dislikes cold and prefers warmth, listless, prefers to eat hot food, sleeps more, has loose stools, clear and long urination, a swollen and tender tongue with tooth marks on the edges, a moist coating, and a deep, slow, and weak pulse. Diseases tend to transform from cold, prone to phlegm-fluid accumulation, swelling, diarrhea, impotence, etc., susceptible to cold pathogens and dampness. Tolerates summer but not winter, should use products that warm the yang and tonify deficiency.
4. Yin-Deficiency Constitution: Belongs to the deficient-heat type. The body is often thin and emaciated, vexed with a flushed cheek, hot palms and soles, especially in the afternoon, dry mouth and throat, dry and gritty eyes, dizziness and tinnitus, poor sleep, dry stools, a red tongue with little and dry coating, and a thready and rapid pulse. Prone to yin-deficiency and dry-heat conditions, dislikes dry-heat pathogens, tolerates winter but not summer. Should nourish yin and tonify deficiency, using sweet and cold herbs to reduce heat. Such as lily bulb, goji berry, ophiopogon root, sea cucumber, and American ginseng.
5. Yang-Heat Constitution: Belongs to the excess-heat type. The complexion is often red and flushed, dislikes heat and prefers cold, vexed and thirsty with excessive sweating, prefers cold food, easily develops high fevers when sick, yellow urine and constipation, a red tongue with a yellow coating, and a rapid and forceful pulse. Diseases tend to transform from heat, prone to sores and ulcers, dislikes heat, tolerates winter but not summer. Should eat bitter foods or drinks to clear heat, such as bitter melon, Kuding tea, and lotus seed core.
6. Qi-Deficiency Constitution: Belongs to the deficient type. Pale complexion, shortness of breath and reluctance to speak, easily sweats, poor appetite, easily fatigued, pale red tongue, a swollen tongue body, and a deficient and slow pulse. Prone to colds, prolonged illness after getting sick, internal organ prolapse, and cannot tolerate wind, cold, or summer heat pathogens. Should eat Chinese yam, lotus seed, or ginseng, astragalus root, and polygonatum root.
7. Blood-Deficiency Constitution: Sallow or pale complexion, lips and nails without luster, dizziness and blurred vision, palpitations and anxiety, insomnia and forgetfulness, or numbness in the limbs, pale tongue and a weak pulse. Should tonify qi and generate blood. Use Angelica sinensis, prepared Rehmannia root, and longan flesh.
8. Blood-Stasis Constitution: The complexion is often dark and dull, lips are dark or purple, the area around the eyes is dark, the skin is rough and dry like a scab, or there are masses, stabbing pain in a fixed location, a dark purple tongue with ecchymosis, a thready and choppy pulse or an irregular pulse. Prone to bleeding, masses, stroke, chest biang (coronary heart disease), etc. Should activate blood and resolve stasis. Use hawthorn, peach seed, etc.
9. Phlegm-Dampness Constitution: Overweight with a large abdomen, greasy facial skin, excessive and sticky sweat, slightly puffy eyelids, a feeling of oppression in the chest and epigastrium, heavy and tired body, drowsiness, likes to eat rich, sweet, and greasy foods, loose stools, a swollen tongue with tooth marks, a white and greasy coating, and a soft and slippery pulse. Prone to xiaoke (diabetes), stroke (cerebrovascular accident), chest biang, etc. Poor adaptation to humid environments and the rainy season. Should remove dampness and resolve phlegm. Should take coix seed, Poria red bean, red adzuki bean, winter melon peel, lotus leaf, lotus stem, etc.
10. Damp-Heat Constitution: Oily and shiny face, prone to acne and pimples, heavy and tired body, sluggish and sticky stools, in men, a damp scrotum, in women, yellow and foul-smelling leucorrhea, a red tongue with a yellow and greasy coating, and a slippery and rapid pulse. Prone to acne, jaundice, strangury, and heat conditions. Poor adaptation to high temperatures and hot and humid climates. Dietary therapy is the same as for the phlegm-dampness constitution, avoid spicy and stimulating foods.
11. Qi-Stagnation Constitution: Depressed mood, a feeling of fullness and distension in the chest and hypochondria, migratory pain, frequent sighing, belching and hiccups, a feeling of a foreign body in the throat, or breast tenderness and menstrual pain. Prone to depression, anxiety, insomnia, plum-pit qi, and fright. Poor adaptation to mental stimulation, should regulate the mindset, should take qi-regulating products, such as rose, Buddha's hand, radish, etc., to promote the smooth flow of qi. Not suitable for tonics.