Ayurvedic Tongue Scraping – is brushing teeth not enough?

*This is a REPOST of the blog from August 13, 2012

Did you scrape your tongue this morning?

Good news. Another ancient health practice has recently been accepted and promoted by modern experts

Have you been to buy a toothbrush lately, and noticed many companies marketing a tongue cleaner on the back of their brushes? Promoted as a way to rid yourself of bacteria that accumulates on the surface of your tongue, they actually have a lot of merit.

Bacteria is a prime cause of bad breath as well as being generally associated with poor oral hygiene. The idea of scraping one’s tongue (traditionally done on arising in the morning), has actually been around for thousands of years. More than simply removing bacteria however, the ancient Ayurvedic texts expound the virtues of scraping one’s tongue, to eliminate the buildup of the ‘ama’ (impurities) that can deposit on the surface of your tongue, as your body cleansers and detoxifies throughout the night.

Ama is improperly processed food (impurities) that can accumulate in your body and interfere with its optimal functioning. Basically, the white coating on the top of your tongue in the morning is ama. Importantly, being an impurity (not just bacteria), it is far from ideal to leave it there…or worse swallow it throughout the day. By scraping your tongue each morning (before brushing or flossing), you rid yourself of these harmful toxins, eliminate a major cause of bad breath, heighten your sense of taste (which is significantly inhibited when your tongue is coated) and optimise your internal health through the prevention of ingesting such impurities.

TIPS:

1. Go out and buy yourself a’ tongue scraper’… Yes, they actually have especially made instruments for scraping your tongue!!!

2. Rather than the ones on the back of a toothbrush (these are better than nothing but less than ideal), try and get a good quality one from a health food shop, or if you can, an Indian/Asian shopper/grocer etc.

3. If you can’t find a proper tongue scraper, use a desert spoon. Caution: If using a spoon, be careful not to use the same spoon when munching down your cornflakes!!!

4. Ideally, rinse your mouth out once or twice with warm water after you scrape.

LAUGH OF THE WEEK:

A woman goes to the dentist as she has a swollen tongue that’s pressing painfully on her back teeth. As the male dentist leans over to begin working on her, she grabs his privates. The dentist says, Madam, I believe you’ve got a hold of my privates. The woman replies, Yes, and we’re going to be careful not to hurt each other, aren’t we?