Oil pulling, Ayurveda practice Gwyneth Paltrow swears by, tongue scraping and other daily rules to live by from Indian traditional medicine

Here’s something you may not be doing in the morning that you may want to build into your daily routine: scraping your tongue after brushing your teeth. It not only sharpens the taste buds to help you experience subtle nuances of flavour, but also removes toxic build-up from the tongue, says Divya Alter, a New York-based nutritional consultant and Ayurvedic educator, co-founder of Ayurvedic culinary school Bhagavat Life, and Ayurvedic restaurant Divya’s Kitchen in Manhattan, and author of What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen. “It’s also a great way to freshen your breath,” she says. According to a study published by the World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, the Ayurvedic recommendation of tongue scraping is often overlooked. It recommends using curved tongue scrapers, made of metals such as copper, tin, or brass, and to use a back-to-front action, rinsing the scraper between strokes. Ayurveda, or traditional Indian medicine, offers a holistic approach to maintaining good health, by stressing the importance of a healthy daily regimen – known as dinacharya. From waking up at a prescribed time, to oil pulling – swishing oil around the mouth to remove bacteria – to getting a good night’s sleep, dinacharya covers a range of everyday activities that help establish balance and promote health by helping the body stay connected to the rhythms of nature. RK Anushruti is a food writer and nutrition consultant based in Mumbai, India, who specialises in Ayurvedic cooking. Author of the website divinetaste.com, she says that oil pulling helps detoxify the mouth, by eliminating harmful bacteria, viruses and toxins. American actress and influencer Gwyneth Paltrow swears by it. “Oil pulling has tremendous benefits: it helps in controlling allergies and even sinusitis,” Anushruti says. It is best done on an empty stomach after waking up in the morning; swish a tablespoon of sesame oil or coconut oil around in the mouth for up to 20 minutes. After disposing of the oil properly, rinse the mouth with warm water and salt before brushing the teeth. After oil pulling, Anushruti’s list of most important dinacharya practices is to maintain consistent waking and sleeping times, to eat a balanced diet and have your meals at regular times, and to practise basic yoga or take up walking. Yoga breathing and meditation techniques that calm your emotional state Alter says getting to bed before 10pm is another crucial rule in dinacharya. Having a regular bedtime with enough sleep supports the liver and kidneys’ natural detox cycle, helps achieve better rest to wake up refreshed, and prevents the liver from overheating, which can lead to digestive disorders. She advises against skipping or delaying meals, and to always eat a healthy meal when hungry. Not having regular meals aggravates acidity and mood, and can cause chronically weak digestion that may lead to long-term imbalances. Ayurveda prescribes a balanced diet that includes the six rasas, or tastes, to maintain overall good health. They are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Anushruti shares some examples: ● Sweet includes fresh ripe fruits, jaggery – a coarse dark brown sugar made from the sap of palm trees, rice, wheat, sweet potatoes, nuts, and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon. ● Sour includes citrus fruits, tamarind, vinegar, wine, fermented foods and strawberries. ● Salty includes all kinds of salts and sea vegetables. ● Bitter includes bitter melon, turmeric, fenugreek, cumin and coffee. ● Pungent includes chillies, ginger, cloves, black pepper, horseradish, wasabi, asafoetida, cloves, mustard seeds and cayenne pepper. ● Astringent includes green leafy vegetables, cabbage, buckwheat, apples, pears, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach. Anushruti recommends the dish known as kitchadi, made with yellow lentils, rice and spices, with a side dish of vegetables. “Highly revered in Ayurveda, it is nourishing, easy to digest and balances metabolism,” she says. Other key dinacharya practices based in Ayurveda concern how to cook and eat food, and when to eat it. The experts provided this list of eight don’ts: 1. Don’t drink iced water and drinks or eat frozen foods. This is one of the worst habits for digestion as it weakens the digestive fire and shrinks some physical channels – leading to blockages in the digestive system. It is best to drink water or drinks at room temperature or warm. 2. Don’t eat while standing or walking. This weakens digestion and food will not be properly digested. 3. Don’t cook in aluminium pots. The aluminium may leach into the food. 4. Don’t use a microwave oven. It kills the prana, or life force, in the food. 5. Don’t eat leftovers. They’re hard to digest and can lead to chronic digestive problems. 6. Don’t heat honey. It should be consumed raw or at room temperature. When heated, it produces toxins in the body. 7. Don’t burn or char food. 8. Don’t eat raw fruit with other foods. Raw fruit is best eaten on an empty stomach. The duo also suggest three important cooking dos: 1. Cook with good quality, non-toxic cookware: stainless steel, cast iron, clay, stone, glass. 2. Cook most dishes covered, at low heat. 3. Use seasonal ingredients and spices such as ginger, turmeric and cumin, as they promote good digestion. For a happier, more balanced life and closer relationships, Alter offers this advice: “Let the loving energy charge the food you prepare, so that the people who eat it will feel nurtured and healed.” Visit SCMP cooking for more great recipes.