Copper has been used for centuries as a bacteria-resistant metal and new research on the health benefits of copper make a copper tongue cleaner a better choice for your daily oral health.
Studies have shown that undesirable bacteria that reside in the oral cavity and cause coating on the tongue, is reduced with daily tongue scraping.
Western medicine has recently acknowledged that coating on the tongue is a sign of poor health. According to the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP), a coated 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. A healthy diet that consists of plant roughage and fibre, and where food is not overcooked or processed, will help maintain this balance. So it’s a really good idea to get healthy “textured” food in your diet, such as fibre from fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, as well as nuts and seeds.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, by removing this coating you will improve your ability to taste your food. Apart from making your meals more satisfying to eat, 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 tasty.
Many of the phytonutrient compounds that your food contains are first interpreted by the mind-body upon contact with receptors on the tongue. Improving this communication between your food and your body by removing any coating that is interfering with that connection is very important. From my perspective as a herbalist, it is well known that herbs offer and maintain their beneficial effects from the initial contact with receptors on the tongue. Therefore, having a clear tongue to receive this healthy information is extremely beneficial to your overall wellbeing.
You should scrape your tongue using your copper tongue cleaner, first thing in the morning. The tongue should be gently scraped from back to front for 7 to 14 strokes. The scraper may be rinsed off between strokes if there is a lot of accumulation. Some people report stimulation of the gag reflex during scraping, which may indicate that the scraping is too aggressive. If this occurs with gentle scraping, begin slightly more forward on the tongue to avoid the gagging reflex.
