TONGUE SCAPING 101
Did you know that tongue scraping has several advantages:
- Can remove toxins
- Help with bad breath
- Improve digestion
- Restore your taste
Its essential for kids to do it, too! and it is never too soon or too late to begin this healthy habit.
A lot can be told about a person’s health by examining their tongue (remember the old adage “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?”). A healthy tongue should be a soft pink with either no coating or a very slight white coating. It’s appearance should be fairly uniform and it should be soft to touch.
If you notice a heavy coating on the tongue and stinky breath, this can be an indicator of underlying digestive issues or a viral or bacterial exposure (a cold) is brewing.
A cracked, fissured, or dry tongue is an indication of dehydration, dryness of the mucous membranes, and constipation. This goes for lips, too! Water, water, water!
A tongue bright red borders can indicate the presence of too much inflammation, acidity or heat in our GI tracts. Loose stools may be present as well. A tongue that is bright red all over indicate nutritional deficiencies or sometimes an even more serious condition.
If you see scalloped edges, this can be a sign of sleep disordered-breathing or that your child may not be absorbing their food effectively.
Mindful eating and chewing is key here to aid in efficient absorption of nutrients.
HOW TO DO:
It is easy! At Tiny Tooth we prefer stainless steel scrapers, but there are bamboo and plastic versions available, too. Simply place on the back on tongue as far as you can comfortably and gently scrape forward. You won’t believe the stuff you see coming off. GROSS. Rinse and repeat. Again, this is removing bacterial build-up, food particle remnants, and toxins. And try to make it fun! Kids love gross things so show them the “bad guys” they are removing from their bodies. It is never too late to get them thinking about whole-body health. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀