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Tongue Scraping - A Healthy Habit

By Donna Miller

The first time I ever engaged in tongue scraping pretty much sealed the deal, I knew there was no going back. I was going to do this every day for the rest of my life.

Now, if you don't know what tongue scraping is, or why you might be even remotely interested in it, let me ask you something. Would you be willing eat something for breakfast every day that you knew was loaded with bacteria? And I'm not talking about the beneficial, gut-friendly bacteria that you find in healthy fermented foods like yogurt. I'm talking about the kind of bacteria that smells bad, and makes you sick.

So, back to my question. Smelly bacteria for breakfast? Umm, not so appetizing? Actually, my answer to the question would have been something along the lines of, "oh gross, no way!". If you too answered firmly in the negative, you might want to get into the habit of scraping your tongue.

Tongue scraping involves using a long, thin, flat piece of metal, which is bent in the shape of a 'U', to scrape the surface of your tongue. It doesn't hurt at all. You scrape firmly, but gently by dragging the scraper from the back of your tongue to the front. The effect is similar to using a rake to scrape the cut grass off of a lawn. Only in the case of your tongue, what you scrape off is bacteria. Probably hundreds of thousands of them. So many in fact, that you can see them, even though you would need a microscope to see each individual bacteria.

You know how everyone has bad smelling 'morning breath'? Well, it's mostly caused by these bacteria that are hanging out on your tongue. So when you use a tongue scraper (also called a tongue cleaner), you literally scrape the bacteria up and dispose of them by rinsing them down the sink. Because if you don't, guess what? They go right down the hatch with your morning coffee, or juice or whatever you have for breakfast. Yuck.

So isn't brushing your teeth in the mornings before you eat enough? No. It's great if you do that, because the bacteria are also on your teeth, so you are washing those bacteria away. But even if you brush your tongue with your toothbrush, it's hard to do as good a job as you can with a tongue scraper. Besides, if you see what's coming off your tongue every morning it provides really powerful incentive to do it again tomorrow morning.

So where do you get a tongue scraper? I got mine from a local health food shop. But I was lucky, because they are usually hard to find. The last one I had to get from a friend who was traveling back to China. I found some on Amazon, and here's a link to the one that looks the most like mine. The style I've got works really well, and I can't recommend any of the other styles simply because I've not tried them.

Tongue scrapers are really inexpensive, and the ones I've had have lasted for years. I got my first one over 20 years ago, and I'm now on my third. I hang mine in the holder right next to my toothbrush. I even bring it with me when I go backpacking.

If you think you might like to start the day with your tongue feeling fresh and clean instead of furry and stale, try a tongue scraper.

Donna Miller enjoys creating delicious, healthy vegetarian food and posts many of her vegetarian, vegan and raw vegan recipes, as well as informative articles to her website The Healthy Eating Site.

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Hi Donna - This is a great article. I totally agree with you and I've been using the plastic ones you can get on Amazon for years. They are actually better than the metal ones in my opinion. In fact, I discovered something else for amazing oral health myself and your intel has inspired me to write about it. I'll link to your article when I'm done. Liz

Hi Elizabeth, it's a great surprise to get a response from someone else who's been doing tongue scraping! I look forward to reading your article. I'm finding out that oral health is much more important to overall health than we ever though. I've only ever used the metal ones, I never even seen the plastic. What do you like better about the plastic ones?

Yeeeooow! I had never thought of my tongue as filthy and loaded with bacteria. It's off to the health food shop for me.

Hi June, good on you! Let me know your reaction the first time you do it

Mine was something along the lines of "Yeeeeoooow gross! That's stuff is sitting on my tongue every morning and getting washed down with my coffee? Eeewww". So yeah, that was enough to get me into the habit of doing it daily. Now I won't eat or drink anything in the morning until I scrape my tongue and brush my teeth.

Hmm, something I don't suppose many of us think about. I like the idea that an actual tongue scraper is in production - cheap too.

odls Jun 1, 2010 06:46

Hi Donna - I have used this design for a while now (http://www.amazon.com/The-Tounge-Cleaner-W2070-Tongue/dp/B000WM1DZW/). I started out with a metal one that I bought whilst on holiday in India, but apart from being too sharp, it caused me problems whilst travelling on planes if I forgot and put it in my hand luggage. (Shows you how ignorant the staff were as they thought it looked sinister and likely to be part of bomb making equipment - we can be sure their oral health was pretty dire!). With the plastic ones you don't get any trouble.

They are cheap, and great to give as gifts to friends too as stocking fillers at Christmas.

Oh my gosh, a tongue scraper as a dangerous weapon! LOL. I'll check that one out. Actually I will be ordering from Amazon soon, I'll get one to try out, thanks for providing that link. I'll just put that URL here again, as a link for anyone else who wants to try one.

Plastic Tongue Scraper

Great idea using them for stocking fillers!

I've heard of this before Donna. I'm gonna see if I can find me one these tongue scraper thingies....

Hey James, great! Be sure to comment back with your first reactions to what you scrape off! Elizabeth has recommended one type too, see the link above. I've never tried one of the plastic ones, but I'm going to order the one she recommends and give it a try.

Ah - sorry Donna. Still getting used to this Qondio thingy. Didn't even notice those pseudo URL tags. Know for next time.

no problem. Took me a while to find them too

I was under the impression that if your tongue had a coating on it, it was a sign that your liver was out of sorts!

adge747 Jun 3, 2010 04:52

My tongue scraper is not as fancy as that one, as mine is plastic, but I do us a Tung brush as well, and just bought a new one for my upcoming trip.

Hi Janet, wow another person who uses a tongue scraper, how cool! I've never used a Tung brush, but I do brush my tongue with my normal tooth brush. How is the Tung brush different than a normal toothbrush?

It sounds cool! I bet it feels great too

Probably a great idea. Nevermind popping mints and gum into your mouth. Stop the cause in the first place. Thanks.

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