8 Tips to Improve Your Digestion with Tongue Exercises

Kat H Author

Do you have digestive problems and a dry mouth? The two might be linked! Read my top 8 tips to increase your saliva. Includes a video with exercises!

Digestion starts in our mouth: not just when we put food in our mouth but even before, that is, when we smell or see food we love, sometimes even when we just imagine certain foods! Try this: imagine a lemon. Imagine cutting it in half and that zesty smell filling the room. Now imagine licking the lemon. Can you feel the saliva increasing in your mouth? Yes? Great, this is your body getting ready for food, not just lemons but ideally all foods we eat.

Why do we need saliva?

Our body needs to break down our food into small parts so that it can be absorbed by us. Chewing our food is one way of making it smaller. However, to be absorbable it needs to be broken down chemically by enzymes. Saliva contains enzymes that begin to break down our food, especially starches and fats. There are many more enzymes and processes that happen in our stomach and digestive tract but the earlier we start to break down our food, the less likely it is that our gut will struggle later on. Partly digested foods can may make us feel bloated, full of gas or constipated.

Now, saliva does a lot more: Saliva also makes food more tasty and it helps us swallow. Dry food just doesn’t go down easily! A dry mouth may also cause sloughing or ulceration of the gums and saliva also protects our teeth. Incidentally, halitosis, bad breath, might also be caused by a dry mouth.

So, we produce saliva when we smell, see or even imagine tasty food. We also produce it when we chew. Chewing well breaks down our food into smaller parts, increases saliva production and also mixes our food with saliva. Remember that advice to chew every bite 30 times? That’s what that is about… In my clinic I see many clients who report that chewing often relieves them of their dry mouth and also of digestive health issues. Chewing is actually an art that many of us have forgotten and need to relearn. Watch the video at the end of this blog for a short chewing lesson.

You chew well and eat slowly but you still suffer from a dry mouth?

In my clinic I see a lot of xerostomia, the medical term for a dry mouth. Hormonal changes, say during menopause, pregnancy or even at certain times in your cycle, can affect saliva production. Stress can also be a cause as we are not meant to eat when we are running away from danger. Other causes can be illnesses, such as diabetes, treatment for cancer or autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or Sjogren’s syndrome as well as certain medications. So if you are on any medications, check the leaflet and have a chat with your pharmacist, dentist or medical practitioner. In my clinic I also notice that anyone with a respiratory illness might suffer from a dry mouth, especially if they are breathing through the mouth rather than the nose. This also applies to anyone who has to speak a lot, say teachers or anyone in sales.

8 Ways to increase saliva production

1. There are specially formulated products for xerostomia, such as gels, mouth rinses and toothpastes that can help with the symptoms. However, they alone may not be sufficient. So try the following natural strategies first or in addition to these products:

2. chew your food well as it stimulates saliva production and mixes saliva with your food – and try to enjoy it! Think of that lemon: the anticipation of flavour and taste can help us to produce more saliva naturally.

3. Exercise your Mouth and Tongue to increase saliva:

a. Suck an imaginary sweet. Imaginary is best as sugar isn’t good for your saliva.

b. Chew. You can chew sugar-free gum or just pretend that you are chewing something.

c. Move your tongue, for example, lick your the back and front of your teeth, your gums and inner cheek muscles or try the "tongue circle" exercise in this video:

Face Yoga can only support your digestion as part of a healthy lifestyle which includes exercise, stress relief and diet: 

4. Combat stress with meditation, journaling or breathing exercises. For the latter, just make sure that your breathe through your nose as a dry mouth can be caused by mouth breathing.

5. Sip water regularly throughout the day. This is beneficial in general, not just for your dry mouth.

6. Avoid certain foods and drinks, such as alcohol, caffeine (not just coffee, tea or coke but also chocolate) and sugar. Also make sure that your mouthwash doesn’t contain any alcohol.

7. Try some sialagogue, that is saliva producing, herbs. Some of these can easily be added to your everyday foods, such as ginger or cayenne pepper.

8. Treating the underlying causes, such as the illnesses or hormonal changes described above, might help. Medical doctors, medical herbalists, nutritional therapists or functional medicine practitioners might all be able to help you address those underlying causes.

This article does not replace medical advice. See your doctor or dentist to check the underlying cause for your dry mouth, especially if you have developed a digestive issue, such as bloating, constipation or gas.

About me, Kat Hesse, Movement Therapist and Medical Herbalist

As a medical herbalist I have been extensively trained in digestive and women’s health. I apply this knowledge in my work as a movement therapist to develop tailor-made health and wellbeing programmes for individuals and groups. I am a qualified Yoga, Chi Gong, Pilates, somatic movement, Feldenkrais and Face Yoga teacher and combine these with mindfulness. I am also trained in numerous movement practices for rehabilitation, including for digestive and intimate, pelvic floor health as well as for bones and lymphatic flow. I also have a certificate in psychosexual counselling.

But that's not all. I also have personal experience of xerostomia. As a cancer survivor, I developed a dry mouth from the treatment. I didn’t even notice that my mouth had become dry: the fist sign was receding gums. I also developed some bloating. Face Yoga and Feldenkrais supported my saliva production and my digestion has returned to full health.

If you are interested in working with me, please contact me. I teach weekly short face yoga classes for general health and wellbeing or you can work with me privately for your digestive health issues.

Categories: digestive health, womens intimate health