Tongue Scraping

You may have seen me write about body brushing in the past, and how it’s part of my daily routine to help cleanse my body of toxins. Today I realized I have never shared about another way I remove toxins from my body.

I have been using a tongue scraper every single morning, for over four years, as part of my hygiene routine. For me to practice something everyday, I have to really like the results I’m getting. I tried oil pulling for about a month and let that habit fall away but tongue scraping is fast and easy, and you can visibly see the yuck leaving your body.

For those of you who have never heard of them, tongue scrapers are oral devices used for oral hygiene. They are designed to clean the bacterial build-up, fungi, food debris, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue. I have discussed before how our mouths are strongly connected to our overall health so this is just one of the proactive steps I take for good oral hygiene. I think the word scrape sounds a bit harsh to people who may not have tried it. My tongue scraper is really gentle and effective at the same time.

Our bodies can eliminate impurities (detox) through the mouth, kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin. When we expose our bodies to toxins they have to figure out how to get them out.

By scraping your tongue first thing in the morning you are avoiding reabsorbing or swallowing those toxins your body worked so hard to get rid of while you were sleeping.  Not only that, when you eat your breakfast your tongue will be clean and ready to begin digesting your food when you eat it. Digestion begins in your mouth and it only makes sense that a clean tongue would promote better digestion. Our tongue aids in mastication by helping to break down food into smaller pieces while our salivary glands release amylase to break down carbs and sugar.

How I use my Dr Tung’s Scraper:

Hold it with both hands and place the U towards the back of the tongue. Don’t go back so far that you gag yourself but far enough to scrape the toxins that have been excreted at the back. Gently pull the U forward towards the opening of your mouth. Keep scraping until all of the film has been removed. Rinse your tongue scraper as needed in between scrapes and clean it when you are finished.

No matter how you try, you will not get the same results by brushing with a toothbrush. First time tongue scrapers are usually surprised by the amount of film they remove. Try using a spoon and you will get an idea but it’s not nearly as effective. I have had the same scraper that cost me $5 over four years ago. I think it was a great investment for my health.

So there you have it! One more way to remove toxins from your body and lighten the burden from our unavoidably toxic lifestyles.

This entry was posted on July 27, 2012 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.