Tongue scraping is as basic as toothbrushing in Ayurveda. It’s a MUST, really. Tongue scrapping was my introduction to Ayurveda’s daily routines over twelve years ago and it has changed my health as it has become a cornerstone of my morning rituals.
Why the emphasis? To start, in western science, dentists point to post-nasal drip as the cause of bad breath. The post-nasal drip coats the back of the tongue with mucus that is rich in dying, bad bacteria, resulting in volatile sulfur compounds that create bad breath. The white coating on the tongues is what in Ayurveda we call ama (or toxins). Any toxin that has that sticky and heavy quality, causing dysfunction in the body, is ama.
In Ayurveda, our tongue represents our entire gastrointestinal tract and what is going on there. As the body processes the ama and puts it back into the gastrointestinal tract for elimination, it also spits ama out onto the tongue. So scraping the tongue daily is like cleaning the lint from your dryer before you use it.
So for sure with tongue scraping you’ll be eliminating a big cause of bad breath. But bad breath is only one benefit of scraping your tongue. Doing so will support your entire body by helping maintain a healthy bacterial environment in the mouth and by stimulating the cleansing of the entire gastrointestinal tract.
It is also a great way to stay in touch with your health. By cleaning your tongue daily, you will quickly get into the habit of taking note of the coating on your tongue. You will notice a thicker coat after a heavy meal, sickness, or after eating a lot of dairy products the night before. Your tongue becomes a mirror to your digestive health.
If a tongue scraper is not right next to your toothbrush and floss and it is not already part of your daily routine, now is the time to start. You can get your at any health food store or good pharmacy.
