Tongue Scraping & Why You Should Do It

There are very few things worse than standing close to someone with bad breath. There are still a few people I remember solely based on how their breath smelled when they leaned in to talk to me. I even have vivid memories from my childhood of children that I played with on the playground who I quickly did not want to continue being around all because of the odor their mouth protruded in my direction. Do I sound like a judgmental bish who thinks their sh*t (meaning breath) doesn’t stink? Yes. But I am fully aware my breath, on many occasions, does smell. I went through 2020…I wore a mask…I am very aware. This is when I decided to make tongue scraping part of my daily routine.

Funny enough, when I think back to my teenage years, I used a tongue scraper all the time. I didn’t really know why, but I saw one at the store and started using it…then quickly forgot about it when I moved on the the teeth whitening based on my Walgreens shopping sprees. Well turns out my teenage impulse-purchasing self was really on to something! Tongue scraping goes back to ancient times and Ayurvedic practices. If you’ve ever been to an Eastern medicine doctor of some sort, they often look at your tongue since different parts of the tongue reflect the health of your lungs, heart, and other vital organs. Oral bacteria and our tongues shows us what is going on in our gastrointestinal tract…and it ain’t always good. If you’re seeing a white coating on your tongue, Ayurveda says that this is toxins forming on the tongue, interfering with our organs. The less healthy and nutrient dense the food you’re eating is, the more likely you’ll have a more obvious white coating on the tongue. Pretty cool to think that our bodies are actually showing us what’s going on inside! You can even test this! Check out your tongue on the days you are eating the most nutrient dense, home cooked foods vs the days that you eat out for multiple meals and have some beers and snacks with friends. Your tongue WILL look different because what’s going on in your body is different!

By scraping your tongue and pairing it with your normal brushing and flossing routine, you’re getting a number of benefits:

Clearing toxins and bacteria that promote bad breath therefore improving your breath

Activating your vital organs

Improving digestion by activating enzymes in your saliva

Improving your sense of taste (I’m all about anything that makes food taste EVEN better)

It may even improve your immune system since bad bacteria on your tongue can suppress your defense system

Now if you’re wondering what kind of tongue scraper to use, I got you. A copper tongue scraper is your best route since it’s anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. Toxins hate copper. Kind of how I hated when children close-talked to me on the playground in grade school.

And if you don’t know how to tongue scrape, it’s quite easy. I have full faith in you that you could easily figure this out without my instruction. But here we are:

Place the u-shaped tongue scraper to the back of your tongue and scrape the tongue from back to front. Repeat this 5-10 times, rinsing the scraper after each pass. You may gag. This was impossible for me to do while pregnant.

After you scrap your tongue, brush and floss like normal. You aren’t flossing? COME ON, MAN! Get it together. You’re an adult.

Do this first thing in the morning and right before bed!

That’s it! By simply scraping your tongue, your helping your body thrive! Yes, you still have to do all the things like eating well, sleeping well, drinking enough water, reducing stress, and the other plethora of things on your daily habit to-do list, but this simple step may get you even closer to enlightenment. That was a joke. You’ll still be a cynical as always. But at least you won’t have bad breath when you’re talking much too close for anyone’s comfort.