Benefits of Tongue Scraping
I did an interview with Susie over at Happy Healthy Endo and it was published last week on her blog. I mentioned a bit about tongue scraping as a great daily detox and this perked interest with some fellow endo sisters, prompting a new blog post today 🙂
About a year ago I picked up a U shaped, stainless steel tongue scraper and have been using it in the morning before I brush my teeth. Stainless steel has antibacterial properties, so this is the best material to choose. While I do this as recommended (first thing in the morning on an empty stomach) it can also be done throughout the day.
Check out the many benefits to tongue scraping:Â
- Clears toxins and bacteria from your mouth
- Helps frequent sore throats and/or sinus infections
- Promotes fresh breath
- Eliminates food particles from your mouth
- Clears up taste buds so food tastes better
- Promotes digestive health
- Prevents cravings
At the IIN gathering a couple of weeks ago, Joshua Rosenthal talked about his experience with tongue scraping. He said that your tongue has a memory of sorts so when you eat something, like sugar for example, remnants of this stay on your tongue and cause cravings. By scraping your tongue several times a day, he found that all his cravings stopped. Interesting.
A Mirror to the Inside
I first learned about tongue scrapping when I started studying Ayurveda. In Ayurveda your tongue is said to be a mirror to the inside. By observing your tongue, you can observe the health of your internal organs.
Check out this chart I found that outlines the correlations of your tongue and organs. Discoloration, indentions or sensitivity of a particular area indicates a disorder in your corresponding organ.
The front third correlates with your lungs, heart, chest and the neck. If there is a small depression in the center (the heart area), then this correlates with intense grief, sadness or depression.
The central third connects to your liver, spleen, stomach and pancreas. The rear third relates to the small intestine and colon. If the back of your tongue is covered with a coating this indicates built up toxins in your colon. These toxins in your mouth impede proper digestion.
By scraping your tongue, you stimulate, massage and cleanse your associated organs and deep tissues. You also eliminate accumulated toxins in your mouth and stimulate digestive capacity. This is because scraping stimulates your salivary glands, which aid in digestion.
Makes me wonder if this practice is good to do prior to each meal?
On the Positive Side?
Tongue scraping is super simple to do — stick out your tongue then drag the U shaped piece from the back of your tongue forward. Do this 7-10 times, depending on how much gunk is on your tongue, and rinse in between. I do it until it comes clean 🙂
By incorporating tongue scraping each day, you can take note of your internal state of balance. A healthy tongue is pink and has no coating. I’ve yet to discover what this looks like in real life, Lol.
My tongue tends to have a coating on it, some days worse than others. When your tongue is super white, then this is a big signal that there is an imbalance in your body, likely causing inflammation and digestive woes.
I’ve read that this coating relates to Candida overgrowth in your body, which many believe to be a contributor to endometriosis. Candida is feed by sugar and stress! — among other things like the birth control pill, antibiotics and moldy foods like peanuts (Oh for the love of peanut butter).
If you find a white fuzzy tongue each morning, then I’d recommend looking into the different Candida diets out there.
For years I brushed my tongue with my toothbrush. This is just how I learned to do it. Come to find out that this method means bacteria that collect on the tongue find a new home in my moist toothbrush, to be transferred back to the mouth next time. Tongue scraping is a cleaner, more effective method.
After compiling all this info, I am contemplating doing this more throughout the day. I can use all the digestive help I can get — especially considering I have a crack right now along the center back thirds of my tongue — stomach, intestines, pancreas.
Have you checked your tongue lately? Or better yet, scraped it clean? Why not try it out…. 🙂
With much love,
Aubree.
