Tongue Scraper Ayurvedic
The ancient Ayurvedic recommendation of tongue scraping is one that is often overlooked. There are many benefits to this daily practice as far as oral health, and overall physical, mental, and spiritual health. Since the oral cavity is one of the main gateways between your mind/body and the environment, maintaining the health of this connection is critical to general well-being.
In the Charaka Samhita, an early Ayurvedic text, it says that by cleaning the tongue, “(this) removes foul smell, tastelessness … and by taking out dirt coated on the tongue, teeth and mouth brings relish immediately.” No doubt, people who clean their tongue on a daily basis can validate the invigorating effects this practice has. In fact, by removing the coating and stimulating the tongue this helps to balance the heavy and dulling qualities of Kapha dosha in your physiology.
Scraping the tongue daily removes any build-up on the tongue, which, if left untreated, can lead to bad breath and may house a significant number of bacteria. This simple practice is a direct way of removing Ama from your physiology. In Ayurveda, Ama refers to any accumulation of toxic residue in the mind-body. This can result from improper eating, poor digestion, or a reflection of an imbalance somewhere in the gastrointestinal system.
In addition, from an Ayurvedic perspective, by removing this coating you improve your ability to taste your food, which makes it more satisfying. By increasing your taste reception, not only do you eat less, you also eliminate the need to add more sugar, salt, or excessive spice to the food to make it more flavorful. Many of the beneficial phytonutrients and “body signals” that your food contains are first interpreted by the mind-body upon contact with receptors on the tongue. You want to improve this communication between your food and your body by removing any coating that is interfering with that connection. Also, many herbs have their beneficial effects from the initial contact with receptors on the tongue. Hence, you need a clear tongue to receive this healthy information.
Keratin Balance
Western medicine is also beginning to acknowledge coating on the tongue as a sign of poor health. According to the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP), a coated or hairy tongue is a sign of imbalance of keratin on the tongue. Under normal circumstances, the amount of keratin produced, and the amount that is “knocked off” by eating, is balanced. When the diet is too soft or the oral cavity is irritated in some way keratin can accumulate. When bacteria grow on this layer of keratin, it can lead to discoloration of the coating, which many people notice.
