Healthy Habits: Tongue Scraping

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I don’t know exactly when I learned about tongue scraping, I’m guessing when I first started learning about Ayurveda, around 2013 when I was training as a health coach. But I do know when I ordered my tongue scrapers off of Amazon–November 8, 2018! And the funniest part of that is that I lost them, never used them, and then just found them when we moved in January! Since then a lot has changed in my life, but one of the few things that have truly been consistent in my life is perpetual problems at the dentist. Ever since childhood, it has been a struggle. Then the dentist said it was too much sugar, now they blame it on the natural PH of my mouth, and being a coffee drinker. I’ve always been good about brushing well twice a day, and I am pretty good with flossing. I am not perfect, but I’m probably better than a large chunk of the population. I do know that there is still room for improvement, so I have taken it upon myself to uplevel the best I can because I’m fed up with it. It’s not only expensive, but I also wonder about the potential harm being done to my own healthy ecosystem by adding in fillings (thank goodness, all of the mercury ones are gone!) and also by needing root canals. The things I chose to address first are:

1. Start using an electric toothbrush (one with a “soft” setting that won’t upset my enamel further. I had been using the basic ones with just an on and off switch). The one I’m using here.

2. Start water flossing! Here is my flosser (so pretty!).

3. Switch toothpaste (my dentist had recommended Sensodyne—barf. But I learned about remineralization toothpaste, which is also sensitive and also will help restore my enamel, so I went with this one.

4. Try tongue scraping (this is mine!)

This is not a post on oral hygiene, but it was a key driver to inspire me to take up this habit!

Tongue Scraping From a western perspective

I recently was introduced to the Instagram account @askthedentist. I’ve personally done a deep dive into oral hygiene, but this is not the post for that- but it helped reaffirm the benefits of tongue scraping (vs just brushing your tongue, which just pushes bacteria around). It not only prevents cavities and bad breath but also prevents your body from reabsorbing the toxins it has already naturally expelled through the tongue. To read more of the benefits, Dr. Burhenne (@askthedentist) has a great article on it.

Tongue scraping From an Ayurvedic Perspective

I’m not 100% into all things Ayurveda, but I’m into a lot of the wellness habits derived from it. (My dosha is Pitta. I haven’t over-resonated with this aspect of myself, but from a coaching perspective, it’s really helped me understand my clients’ needs better. If you are wondering what your dosha is you can take a quiz here!) But it is a holistic system, where health and wellness depend on a delicate balance of mind, body, and spirit.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, the tongue is a key to understanding your bodily health. If you go to an Ayurvedic practitioner, they will ask you to NOT tongue scrape before coming so they can “read” your tongue for imbalances, etc.

The following are excerpts from a Chopra.com article on tongue scraping (I just couldn’t say it better myself!):

Also, many of the beneficial phytonutrients and “body signaling molecules” that your food contains are first interpreted by the mind-body upon contact with receptors on the tongue. Ayurveda acknowledges this intercommunication that is necessary for a properly functioning system. With this in mind, you would want to improve this communication between your food and your body by removing any coating that is interfering with that connection. Also, many herbs possess beneficial effects felt from the initial contact with receptors on the tongue. Hence, you need a clear tongue to receive this healthy information and relay signals to the rest of the body.

In the Charaka Samhita, an early Ayurvedic medical text, it says that by cleaning the tongue, “(this) removes foul smell, tastelessness … and by taking out dirt coated on the tongue, teeth and mouth brings relish immediately.”

Basically, it helps strengthen the connection between the body and food, with bad breath, tasting more fully, and removes toxins and bacteria build-up!

From a mind/spirit perspective, the Ayurvedic belief is that people who use tongue scrapers are more expressive and thoughtful, better public speakers, and more sincere and authoritative conversationalists. These are definitely things I want to work on, so I’m open to see any changes there.

Other Thoughts

I’ve also read that tongue scraping can help eliminate food cravings. If you have a particularly salty savory meal, you naturally will crave something sweet to balance it. If you scrape after the meal, theoretically, it clears your taste buds, so you won’t crave the sweet to balance it. I haven’t been scraping after meals, so I can’t speak to this in my own experience, but it is noted as a benefit from some sources.

How to Tongue Scrape

So I only started tongue scraping a few months ago. And since then, I’ve read lots of different takes on how often/when to tongue scrape. This is how I do it:

1. I do it first thing in the morning, before drinking water so I don’t reabsorb the toxins expelled by the tongue during the night. I don’t do it every day, probably about 5x/week.

2. I gently scrape around 7 times. (I’ve read the right amount is 5-7 or 7-14 times. I feel like 7 is the magic number!) I rinse off the scraper in between.

3. The key is not scraping too hard, or going too far back that you gag.

4. That’s it! Drink some water!

I’ve read that some people scrape after meals, but I’m a little apprehensive about overdoing it. Someone told me tongue scraping can lead to loss of taste buds, and from what I can find online I can’t find data to back that up– but I just haven’t wanted to risk it. Perhaps scraping too hard can do that? From the Ayurvedic perspective, you only do it in the morning, so that’s what I’m sticking to.

My Experience

In the past few months, I have noticed the days that I don’t tongue scrape my breath is less than pleasant (thank you mask-wearing for drawing this to my attention!). I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference in my taste buds or cravings (but hey, I’m pregnant. Lol). But I wasn’t doing it for those reasons anyway. Maybe I have been more expressive? Not sure! 😂 But I’m going to keep doing it because, in general, I think it is making a difference in my oral hygiene. It is a fast, easy new part of my routine. Why wouldn’t I continue with it?

What do you think about tongue scraping? Ready to give it a shot? Is it already apart of your routine? Let me know in the comments or on IG! -AHS

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Resources/Further reading

https://kripalu.org/resources/health-benefits-tongue-scraping-and-how-do-it

https://chopra.com/articles/the-benefits-of-tongue-scraping

https://askthedentist.com/tongue-scraping-6-reasons

Institute for Integrative Nutrition Education Handout

Celery Juice

16oz of the good stuff!

What is the celery juice fad? Why is everyone doing it?

The “global celery juice movement” has been popularized by the Medical Medium (MM). If you haven’t heard of him, there is lot to process there. As a medium, he receives all of his information from the “spirit of compassion” on the other side. Let me tell you, I am all into the woowoo. I don’t doubt that people can communicate with other planes, spirits, or even with God. But whenever there is too much celebrity involved (he has a whole half page of testimonials only from celebrities), I just get a little skeptical. I haven’t read any of his books, but I did read one of his diets when my step-dad was really sick and no one knew what was wrong with him for almost 2 years (he tried the diet for 3 weeks it didn’t help). While I have reservations about the Medical Medium himself, he touts the power of fruits and vegetables, and in that we are 100% aligned. I will cover the basics in this post, but to get a full understanding on all things celery juice from the main source, I recommend reading Celery Juice 101.

The basics

What to do:

Drink 8-16oz of fresh celery juice every morning before eating or drinking anything else. Wait 15-30 minutes before eating breakfast.

Use organic celery, and rinse it. I also cut off the ends. If using conventional celery, wash with clear fragrance-free dish soap. Juice it in a juicer, or blend and then filter through a cheese cloth. Drink up.

Working your way up to 16oz is advised, because it can have a cleansing effect (which is your body eliminating toxins). If you prepare in advance, it will only keep for 24 hours. Seal it in a mason jar with a lid.

What not to do:

If you do any of the following it will take away from the “medicinal properties”, per MM:

• Make more than 24 hours worth in advance. It won’t keep.

• Add anything else (ice, or other fruits or vegetables)

• Drink with the fiber (like if you blended it and then skipped the filtering)

My experience

The process:

I drank the celery juice for about 6 days in total non-consecutively.

It was also recommended to me to use a blender and use a cheese cloth instead of a juicer. I never bought the cheese cloth so I just kept using my juicer. I love my juicer but it needs to be cleaned almost immediately after use– time consuming and annoying. Because of that I didn’t do it every morning.

I did add ice sometimes, it made it super delicious to me (that was before I knew it was a no no!). A couple of times when I made it for me and hubby, I added other things (apple and cucumber) to make it more palatable. It was super yummy we both couldn’t get enough of it–but I did notice that it didn’t feel quite as awesome as when I drank it plain.

How I felt:

I felt very clear and light when I drank the juice in the am. It also made me crave healthier things throughout the day. During this time, I had some dental work done and my gums were sore. Unintentionally, I realized that the juice was totally soothing on my gums.

It really did “cleanse,” even with just 8oz- so starting slow was important. I did work my way up to the 16oz and didn’t notice a huge difference.

Overall, it just made me feel just, good. Its hard to explain, but it definitely felt like my system was very pleased to have the green boost!

Final thoughts

Ideally, I would have done it for a longer period and sequentially, but it just didn’t work out that way. I think I would have been able to see stronger results. Without a doubt, when I drank the juice as prescribed, I felt good. Very good. And that is never something to discount. I know now that it is a great thing to do when I just need to feel good in my body.

The question I kept asking myself was how to make this a tangible apart of my daily routine. And is it worth the time. It can be a bit of a pain making it fresh every morning. Just time consuming. I recommend washing and trimming ends in advance to save some time.

Also, as a generally healthy person, I question if I need to be drinking it every day. It is supposedly very healing, and great for breastfeeding, but I just can’t imagine a world I make this juice every day. I do know that if I was suffering from an illness, I would prioritize making it.

My net takeaway: it definitely doesn’t hurt. Especially if you feel like your body needs a serious pick me up. If you can find the time to add it into your routine, I would definitely recommend it.

Have you tried celery juice? I would love to hear your thoughts! Send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook to let me know what you think. Chin chin! - AHS

Wellness Hack: Frozen Foods

Today I decided I needed to share with you my biggest wellness secret...FROZEN FOOD. Yeah, I said it. Frozen. Food. I'm not talking about old school TV dinners, I'm talking about REAL food, just frozen. 

How is this a hack, you say? Because it seriously keeps me on my game. It's an excellent tool to keep in the Shedding toolkit. Here's why: 

1. It helps you SAVE money!

If you are buying plain frozen veggies, many times they are less expensive than buying fresh! I know, it's crazy! Most of the frozen vegetables I buy are not more expensive than if I bought them fresh. Don't get me wrong, fresh is great, but not necessary for every meal! 

Also, when you have food that is at it's peak ripeness, and you know you won't have a chance to use it before it goes bad? Throw it in the freezer! Say no to food waste! 

2. You don't miss out on any nutrients

How? Doesn't freezing destroy the nutrient value? Actually, in most cases it preserves the nutrients! Most frozen foods are flash frozen at the peak of ripeness when the nutrients are prime for the eating! A lot of time food travels thousands of miles to get to its destination. During this time, many fresh fruits and veggies lose some of their prime nutrients. This is also why shopping local is best! :) Who knew frozen could even be better for you than fresh?!

3. You are always prepared! 

So if you are like me, and are never home OR if you are planning a big trip- frozen food will save you when you come home. Let's say you get back late and have to get right back into a crazy work week upon arrival? No time for the grocery store? No problem! You have all the fixins for a stir-fry or a burger in your freezer!

4. You save time! 

No chopping, washing, trimming or peeling for you! If it's frozen, it's ready to go! This turns an hour long meal prep into 30 minutes. And who doesn't love that?

Here are some of my favorite frozen foods and foods to freeze! 

• 3 minute microwavable packages of brown rice. These are my absolute favorites. I mostly use them in buddha bowls or stir-frys. Also great for soups too! 
• When I'm going on a trip I buy enough meat for 2-3 weeks and storing anything I won't use that week in the freezer. Chicken and ground turkey are my go-tos, but even bacon works! Meats defrost beautifully if they aren't in there too long! 
• Frozen shrimp- I buy cooked and uncooked. When I'm really tired it's great to have cooked shrimp ready to go for a pasta dish. 
• 2 ingredient frozen turkey burgers. So easy, so healthy. What's not to love! 
• Trader Joe's has an Organic Quinoa, Kale, Sweet potato, Carrot bowl thing that is an easy meal when you are not in the mood to cook. 
• Frozen riced cauliflower- I use this instead of brown rice to lighten the carb load when I need a lighter meal! 
• Broccoli florets- I pretty much could use these in any dish. 
• Bell peppers- Same as above. 
• Frozen berries for dessert- I love to eat these whole in the Winter. It's almost like eating ice cream. My favorites are cherries and blueberries. 
• I love throwing overripe fruit in the freezer for smoothies. You could also throw them in with cottage cheese or use them in chia puddings! 
• Spiralized veggie noodles - easy peasy ready to go! 
• Frozen shelled edamame - another #shedapproved snack

What do you guys think? Into frozen food or not about it? I'm also curious to know what else do you freeze? I am all about expanding my frozen food repertoire – I would love to hear any of your tips for me!