Why scraping your tongue every day is a must.
At Ayurveda we take great interest in the tongue. We spend a lot of time looking at people’s tongues, which can say a lot about your present state of health, and can be a reflection of your internal organs and your level of toxicity. Every morning get up and scrap your tongue first thing to get the night slop off it. After that look again if it is pink you are doing great — If not it is sign that your system is overloaded.
This tongue coating is a sign of ama, which translates as toxins inside the digestive system. This coating, which is a mixture of bacteria, fungi and dead cells, can be clear, thick, white, yellow, brown or even greenish. We all have some coating, but the colour and amount is an important sign to your overall health. If you need more convincing, here are fi ve good reasons to
scrap your tongue daily.
• Eliminates bad breath — the cocktail of gunk on the tongue affects your breath. You will be more kissable for sure if you adopt this daily habit.
• Enhances the sense of taste — removing build up from the surface of the tongue will better expose your taste buds. Food tastes better
• Slows the growth of plaque and improves oral hygiene — leads to healthier teeth and gums assisting in tooth decay, gum infections, and gum recession. Your dentist will thank you.
• Improves digestion and immunity— the mouth is the first base of digestion. Swirling food around in a bacterial pool will not help in enhancing immune health. When coming down with a sore throat my suggestion is that we scrap the tongue more frequently so we can rid our mouths of unwanted toxins and give the body a chance to fight the infection.
• Gently stimulates the internal organs — your whole body is mapped on the tongue, just like your hands and feet (except, interestingly enough, not the reproductive organs). Scrapping your tongue stimulates and massages those corresponding organs as a form of acupressure.
WHAT THEN IS A TONGUE SCRAPPER AND HOW DO WE USE IT?
This is what it looks like, commonly made from copper or stainless steel. I tend to encourage copper due to its natural plaque and anti-bacterial actions.
This is what you do:
• Hold tongue scrapper firmly by both hands.
• Open your mouth and extend the tongue as far as possible.
• Using the fl at centre part of the scraper gently scrap from back to front using one long stroke.
• Rinse and repeat 5–6 times.
• Wash tongue scrapper well in hot water.
When you first get started be gentle, and don’t scrape if there are ulcers, open scars, or bumps on the tongue. You will be amazed how much stuff comes off your tongue in the morning and how great it feels to have a clean and fresh mouth.
Tongue Scrapper, for daily oral hygiene.
Click here to view and buy now.
Words: Perry Macdonald
(Dip Naturopathy – ND, Dip Ayurvedic Medicine)
Article by Verve Magazine