A Simple, Morning Practice Essential for Digestive Health
When it comes to our overall health, digestion is a primary aspect of our wellbeing. We often think of gut health for issues like our hormones, mind set/focus, mood, weight issues, sleep, and more which we treat with probiotics, digestive enzymes, herbs/teas, supplements, foods, and other remedies.
But one part of our digestion that we sometimes overlook is oral health. Oral health includes the state of our teeth, gums, tongue, jaw, lips, and cheeks. It involves the beginning structures of the digestive system that support our ability to intake and digest food. When we don’t take our oral health into considerations when working on our digestion, we are missing an important and essential aspect to the process.
When I was suffering with digestive issues, I started in the gut—like most people. I added fiber, probiotics, digestive blends and herbs to my supplement routine. I cut out “inflammatory foods” and increased my intake of whole foods that were supposed to support the gut, motility, and assimilation of nutrients. I experimented with my diet to try and find ways to heal and sooth my gut.
And after a year of trial and error, going to different doctors, naturopaths, and specialists, I still didn’t have relief. I was getting discouraged and thought that I was doomed to have bloating, gas, and constipation for the rest of my life.
But then, I heard about Ayurveda in a wellness podcast by spiritual and holistic coach, Sahara Rose. After getting introduced to the philosophy on the podcast, I found myself feeling drawn to the concepts and wanting to learn more about it. So, I dove in, read books, and visited an Ayurvedic practitioner to help me get to the root cause of my digestive issues.
I learned about the three different dosha types, or energy types that make up a person’s body and mind. I learned about the signs and symptoms of imbalances and the practices to bring your doshas back into balance. I was drawn to this eastern, ancient philosophy and trusted the system’s recommendations to restore my gut health, and ultimately my wellbeing.
While I was learning about the system, I was noticed how intuitive it was…. and how the recommendations just made sense. To bring things back into balance, you have to counterbalance it with the “opposite.” But, the hard part wasn’t knowing what to do necessarily, rather doing it. The mind likes habits and attaches to behaviors, so changing them is challenging…. for example, tell someone who runs everyday, to stop running. Tell someone who stays up too late, to go to bed early. They meet resistance. They have conditioned themselves to rely and depend on x,y,z. So even when the body’s need balancing, the mind wants control and consistency. Breaking away from the habits that created the imbalance in the first place is the hard part.
But, I found something in Ayurveda to be easy, simple, and practical to add into my routine…. something that made sense, and something that supported my digestive wellbeing.
It was oral care. And because digestion starts in the mouth, proper attention and care to our oral health directly impacts our digestion. In Ayurveda and in several other holistic and integrative practices, tongue scrapping and oil pulling are essential self care practices that help reduce the load of bacteria and inflammation on the gut.
Tongue scraping is the practice of using a metal or copper tool to “scrape” bacteria and toxins off the surface of your tongue. This is performed first thing in the morning after a night’s sleep when the tongue has accumulated “junk” during sleep. Scraping your tongue pulls these toxins off so they don’t get swallowed and absorbed into your digestive tract. It cleans your taste buds and helps restore the tongue’s cells. Scraping your tongue also gives you information about your health and conditions you may be experiencing based on it'‘s texture, color, and amount present on the surface of your tongue.
To scrape your tongue, use a tongue scraper and stand in front of the mirror. Open your mouth and hold the ends of the scraper. Place the curve of the scraper at the back of your tongue and press down and drag towards the front. Repeat this dragging/scraping motion 10 x. Notice the film on the scraper as you pull. Make note of the color and texture and rinse the scraper.
In addition to scraping your tongue, Ayurveda recommends oil pulling following tongue scraping. Oil pulling is the practice of swishing oil in your mouth for about five minutes to “pull” bacteria out before spitting/discarding the dirtied oil. This is followed by a water swish and spit to ensure excess particles are removed from the mouth. Coconut oil, sesame oil, or olive oil can be used for oil pulling.
To oil pull, scoop out a tablespoon of oil. Place it in your mouth and swish for ~5 minutes. Swish side to side, front to back, and around your teeth. Then, spit it out in the trash. Try to avoid spitting it in the sink as the oil may cause blockage in the drain. Then, rinse your mouth with clean, filtered water and spit.
These two oral care practices are effective in removing bacteria from the mouth so it doesn’t get swallowed and absorbed in our blood stream and organs. Overall, they reduce the inflammation and stress load on the body so that it can detox from other stressors and toxins we have in our body.
For me, these simple daily morning practices have been essential for my gut healing journey. Not only do they help minimize stress on my gut, they keep my mouth feeling clean and fresh, reducing bad breath and other unwanted oral funk!
I would suggest tongue scraping and oil pulling for anyone looking to improve their overall wellness, not just digestion! Simply because these practices are easy to add into your morning routine and non-invasive. All you need is to purchase a tongue scraper (copper or metal work best) and have some quality oil (coconut, sesame seed, or olive oil) to start.
So if you’re working on healing your gut or just looking to optimize your health, don’t overall oral care. Try these two simple and effective practices to add to your morning routine and let me know what you think.
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