The weird sign on your tongue that shows you 'shouldn't be drinking coffee'

A doctor has warned of a surprising sign on your tongue which shows you ‘shouldn’t be drinking coffee’.

The nation seems to be divided over whether coffee or tea is the right choice of beverage in the morning. But for many, a strong coffee is the only way they can feel truly awake before they head out of the door for the day.

However, one doctor on TikTok has issued a warning over the caffeinated hot drink... and it's all to do with your tongue.

Dr Anis Khalaf posted a video to his 457k followers on his account, @acupuncturefit, explaining how to check for the strange sign which means you should be putting down the beverage.

In the now-viral video, he said: “If you want to know the answer, you're gonna wanna stick out your tongue. You can go to a mirror and do a small test to find out.

“If you have a lot of cracks in your tongue with a thick yellow coating, you probably shouldn't be drinking coffee.”

Dr Khalaf claimed that it is partly down to a potential ‘imbalance in the body’, in which drinking coffee can worsen over time.

And whilst he didn’t provide too much detail as to why this happens, he referred to the ‘yin deficiency’ which features in Chinese medicine.

He explained: “This is a yin deficiency with heat and dampness which basically means a fluid or cold deficiency with heat taking over.”

And if, much like us, you’re still puzzled by what the ‘yin deficiency’ actually is, Dr Lawrence Cunningham, a GP at The UK Care Guide has explained a little further.

He explained that it is an imbalance within the body, where the ‘nourishing aspects’ deplete, leading to restlessness, heart sensations, and other uncomfortable symptoms.

And I think we can all agree we’ve experienced a bit of all those things after drinking a strong coffee.

As it is an ‘inherently warming’ beverage, whilst it can certainly enhance the symptoms, he claimed it isn’t actually always the cause of the yellowing tongue.

Talking to The Sun, he added: “In my experience, a thick yellow coating on the tongue generally indicates an imbalance in the body's digestive system rather than a specific aversion to coffee.

"This coating can be attributed to a range of factors such as poor oral hygiene, dehydration, or the presence of bacteria and yeast.

“While coffee itself isn’t usually the direct cause, it can exacerbate the conditions that lead to such a coating.”