Pale Lips — Cold Fingers

A cold touch and pale or even bluish lips are, one could argue, not so welcoming. Conversely, there’s a sense of well-being conveyed by both a warm handshake and (among Caucasians) naturally pink lips. There are medical reasons for cold extremities (see below), but the most obvious cause is often overlooked and, no matter your ethnicity, it typically correlates with bluish lips.

My Face Reading clients who complain of cold digits inevitably have pale lips or dark lip borders. With a diet shift, their fingers warm up and, as we see in Ellen’s photos, their lips regain their original color. Incidentally, pale lips don’t always mean cold fingers. The pale color reflects interior cold which can also manifest as aches, digestive complaints, circulation issues and other maladies.

You can see additional Before and After photo sequences of people regaining rosy lips on this blog. But please, don’t just take my word for it. If your lips lack color, you can pink them up and regain warm toes with the suggestions below. But first let’s look at the biology of chilled extremities.

Cold Hands–Warm Heart

When it is cold outside, your body conserves heat by constricting the blood vessels to your extremities. That’s because, in terms of survival, it’s critical to maintain core body temperature for the heart and lungs. If your life is on the line, your twenty digits are expendable.

But if you’re one of the many people who suffer from frosty fingers even in warm weather, there’s more at play than external temperature. Other medical causes for cold extremities include: anemia, diabetes, stress, side effects of medications, autoimmune disorders (such as Raynaud syndrome), and hypothyroidism. To increase circulation, contemporary recommendations include avoiding the cold and reducing or avoiding substances that constrict blood vessels such as coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks and painkillers.

Chronically reduced circulation to any body part has consequences such as arthritis or neuralgia. You don’t want—or need—to go there.

Cold Toes and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) considers that cold extremities result from insufficient blood flow and/or warming yang energy. Following Ellen’s lead, you can turn up your vital heat and energy with diet shifts. First, favor cooked foods over raw. Second, favor foods that are warming rather than cooling.

The typical diet of my clients with wan lips and cold extremities is largely salads, packaged foods, yogurt, smoothies, and fruits with perhaps as little as one cooked meal a day. Too much of such foods and beverages douses your inner fire. To put this into perspective, consider how many cold and/or raw foods are served at a typical Asian restaurant, even during hot weather. Since the first campfire, humanity has eaten predominantly cooked foods, as they support digestion and help build overall yang, sustaining energy.

Second, to regain energy and inner warmth, favor warming foods. Spices like garlic and cinnamon are typically warming and increase circulation. Generally the denser the food, the more warming it is. Beef and carrots give more substantial energy than does lettuce and fruit. Or imagine three members of the Cucurbita family: butternut squash, zucchini and cucumbers. Of them the more dense butternut conveys the most yang or concentrated energy, while the cucumber is literally the most juicy and cooling in its effect. Energetically the zucchini lies in between the two.

Take a minute to tally all the foods you typically consume in a day and assess whether they build your overall vitality. Yes, melons and salads are welcome and refreshing foods for the heat. But remember, as fruits are predominately a simple sugar, they do not provide sustaining energy. See: Thermal Properties of Food and When Not to Eat Melon.

Regain Lip Color and Warm Toes

If you suffer from cold extremities, take a look in the mirror; I’ll wager that your lips lack color. If it’s primarily your top lip, then you’ll find relevant Five Element support at Earth Element Blogs. If it’s primarily your bottom lip that is pale, then visit Metal Element Blogs. Yes, with some dietary shifts, you can pink up your lips, warm those toes and build your energy. Why not!