Here’s another shout out to oral hygiene.

I have to thank my parents for instilling this habit in me as a child. Of all of the cultural norms I ascribe to because of them, the stainless steel tongue cleaner is the one that plays the biggest impact on my current daily life. While I don’t conduct Hindu prayers, or speak in Gujarati, or eat Indian food in my on a home daily basis, I use this little gem every single day–twice a day in fact.

Everyone of all cultures should use a tongue cleaner.

Brush teeth. Swipe from back to front with this little gadget a couple of times to uniformly take off any funk lingering on the tongue surface. Rinse.

This process leaves your mouth squeaky clean and your breath fresh.

My husband who had never laid eye on a tongue cleaner until he met me has picked up on this daily habit and totally agrees that using a tongue cleaner is a life long necessity. Once while traveling we left or tongue cleaners at home by accident. We felt gross. We got a weird plastic replacement from a drug store and it did not compete. Since then, I have been hoarding extras, asking friends and family to bring them back from India for me. I make sure I have one in all my toiletry bags (work, gym, overnight) and have extras to boot.

Fret not, however, if you too want to do your breath a favor.  A simple google search will yield any number of holistic websites who are willing to sell you one. I can’t vouch for any so make sure to check merchant reviews first.