In Traditional Chinese Medicine, everyone has their own body constitution—and knowing yours helps you understand how to use TCM to be your healthiest.
What are body constitutions?
Body constitutions concepts have been validated by different populations. It is a relatively stable status of your body as a combination of inherited, environmental, diet, lifestyle, and emotional factors that all make up how you react to certain foods and herbs and how susceptible you are to different external diseases and conditions. At any given time, it’s likely you’re a mix of compositions, with one dominant one—but that mix and dominant composition can change over time.
How to know your body constitution type
Each body constitution has its own tell-tale characteristics. Read through the constitution descriptions below and make a note of which sound familiar to you.
What are the TCM body constitution types?
Body: Flabby muscles, teeth marks in the tongue, weak voice, pale face
Personality: Introverted or timid
Health issues: Found yourself difficult physically when walking 3 floors of stairs.
Catch cold or flu easily and take a long time to recover from illnesses
Sensitive to: Environmental changes
Body: Flabby muscles, pale and bulky tongue, cold hands and feet
Personality: Introverted and quiet
Health issues: Susceptible to puffiness, diarrhea, poor sleep, and excess throat secretions with white secretions. Always feeling coldness in the limbs even in summer time
Sensitive to: Windy, cold, and humid environments, cold foods, and noise
Body: Thin, warm palms and soles, dry mouth and nose
Personality: Outgoing and impatient
Health issues: Susceptible to dry stools, constipation, dry cough, fatigue, and insomnia, hot flush or night sweating
Sensitive to: Hot and dry environments
Body: Overweight, oily face, thick white tongue coating, productive white sputum
Personality: Mild temperament and patient
Health issues: Susceptible to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease
Sensitive to: Humid and rainy environments
Body: Normal or thin physique, oily face, acne, and yellow and greasy thick tongue coating
Personality: Irritable and short-tempered
Health issues: Susceptible to skin issues (e.g. eczema), urinary difficulties, and easily fatigue
Sensitive to: Humid and hot environments
Body: Dull complexion, dark under-eye circles, bruising, rough skin, and varicose veins
Personality: Impatient and forgetful
Health issues: Susceptible to bleeding, abnormal growths
Sensitive to: Cold environments
Body: Thin physique, purple tongue, stabbing pain in the ribs area, frequent bloating sensation in the abdominal areas
Personality: Depressed, nervous, anxious, suspicious of others, or timid
Health issues: Susceptible to insomnia, depression, anxiety disorders, and breast lumps
Sensitive to: Rainy environments
Body: Overweight, oily face, thick tongue coating, sensitivity during seasonal changes
Personality: Mild temperament and patient
Health issues: Susceptible to allergies, eczema, allergies
Sensitive to: Drugs, smells, allergens, foods, seasonal changes
If nothing sounds familiar, you might have a neutral, well-balanced constitution—an ideal and everyone wants to pursue this status of bliss. This is our goal to work on as only 33% of the population can pursue their status contentment over a period of time.
Normal (Healthy)
Body: You look great with good appetite, energy, bowel movement and sleep
Personality: You look calm, happy, fluctuation of emotions are kept to a minimum.
What can you do once you know your type?
Once you know your body constitution type at any given point in your life, you can make sure you’re supporting your health with healing foods, acupressure, herbal remedies, and lifestyle tips specific to your type. Remember, TCM isn’t one-size-fits-all—not just for different people, but for different points in your own life. Avoiding dairy and exercising regularly may make the biggest health impact for you today, but next year it could be focusing on sleep and avoiding pungent foods. When you know your body, you know how to heal it.
Want to know your constitution? Take our quiz to find out!
