"Hold your tongue out, that's it, open wider now." I am sitting in a cubicle at the Chinese medicine clinic in Kordin and I am having my tongue examined by a top Chinese doctor, who is explaining that "it's all in the tongue, really."

"In Chinese medicine we consider the tongue to be the map of the body," said Ronglian Ma, Director of the Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine according to ancient Chinese medicine. He explained that different areas of the tongue reflect the health condition of the different organs: "Depending on the shape, the colour and the coating, the tongue can tell us what's wrong with the body."

Each area of the tongue is connected to specific internal organs: the sides of the tongue reflect the condition of the liver; the tip of the tongue, the heart; the centre, the spleen and the back, the kidneys.

Prof Ma said that a normal tongue coating is thin and white. "The tongue coating often indicates the state of the stomach and is a good indication for colds and digestive problems," he said.

The normal tongue shape is not too thick or thin, and the tongue body should be smooth with no cracks. "Changes in the tongue shape usually show illness involving blood, or qi – the energy," he said. And a healthy tongue should be light red in colour, showing that the person's vital energy is strong. "The colour reflects the health of the internal organs and blood circulation," he said.

The tongue also has a special relationship with the heart: "It is the window of the heart," Prof Ma assured, explaining that the tongue has tasting and speaking functions, which depend upon the heart to pump blood. "For example a dark-red tongue or even tongue sores may reveal blocked heart blood," he said. Alas, according to Chinese medicine, there is no way that tongue therapy can cure heartache.

Prof Ma believes that it would help if every morning when looking in the mirror we examined at our tongue, as that would tell is what is going on with our body, and "spare us all the guessing".

So, the diagnosis? From a quick peak at my tongue Prof Ma derived that the thinness and the teeth marks on the side indicated lack of sleep (true) and tiredness (true) and occasional headaches (true). He proceeded to press the base of my neck, which made me wince in pain. But reader, cat got my tongue, for I slept like a baby last night.

Prof Ma will be holding a public lecture entitled Keeping Healthy Through Observing the Mouth today at 7p.m. at the China Cultural Centre in Valletta. For more information email maltaccc@gmail.com or phone 2122 5055.