Home Remedy for a Brown Tongue
A brown tongue does not literally mean that your whole tongue is turning brown. It is not the tongue that is turning brown but the coating on top of the tongue. The brown coating is usually caused by burns on the tongue from hot food and beverages. Smoking can also cause a brown tongue. A brown tongue is not much cause for alarm, but you'll want it remedied for aesthetic reasons. It is also often associated with bad breath.
Eat Yogurt
The live culture of healthy bacteria can help eliminate the bacteria causing the brown tongue. Yogurt contains four types of strains of good bacteria, namely L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, S. thermophilus and bifidobacteria. These four beneficial bacteria will help combat the bad bacteria in the mouth. Yogurt also is rich in calcium, potassium, protein and several B vitamins.
Yogurt also contains lactobacillus that is good for the digestive system. It helps the body to absorb more nutrients and at the same time helps to strengthen the body’s immune system. To get the maximum health benefits from yogurt, it is best to eat fresh yogurt. Frozen yogurt does not contain as much good bacteria and nutrients as the fresh yogurt.
- The live culture of healthy bacteria can help eliminate the bacteria causing the brown tongue.
- Yogurt also contains lactobacillus that is good for the digestive system.
Brush and Scrape
The Effects of Chewing Gum on the Tongue
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The easiest remedy for a brown tongue is simply brushing and scraping it. You must brush after every meal to remove any food remnants that may cause a brown tongue. After brushing your teeth, make it a habit to also brush your tongue. This will slowly remove the brown coating.
A tongue scraper can remove even more of the coating on the tongue. Use the tongue scraper regularly after brushing your teeth. Scraping the tongue can also help to eliminate bad breath associated with a brown tongue. It effectively removes any food remnants that may stick to the tongue.
- The easiest remedy for a brown tongue is simply brushing and scraping it.
- It effectively removes any food remnants that may stick to the tongue.
Saliva
You may have noticed that if you do not talk for some time your breath becomes stale. This is because bacteria have started to grow inside the mouth. Keeping the saliva flowing inside the mouth will prevent the growth of bacteria that can cause a brown tongue. To stimulate saliva flow, you can chew gum. If you are health-conscious, then you can chew sugar-free gum.
Eating anything sour can also help stimulate the flow of saliva. You can eat unripe mangoes, oranges or any citrus fruits, for that matter. The citric acid in these fruits helps to stimulate the salivary glands to produce more saliva. The flow of saliva will wash away the bacteria in the mouth.
- You may have noticed that if you do not talk for some time your breath becomes stale.
- Keeping the saliva flowing inside the mouth will prevent the growth of bacteria that can cause a brown tongue.
Related Articles
References
- Kim AM, Keenan BT, Jackson N, et al. Tongue fat and its relationship to obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep. 2014;37(10):1639–1648. Published 2014 Oct 1. doi:10.5665/sleep.4072
- Bartlett JA, van der Voort Maarschalk K. Understanding the oral mucosal absorption and resulting clinical pharmacokinetics of asenapine. AAPS PharmSciTech. 2012;13(4):1110–1115. doi:10.1208/s12249-012-9839-7
- National Organization for Rare Diseases. Tongue Cancer.
- Dotiwala AK, Samra NS. Anatomy, head and neck, tongue. [Updated 2019 Feb 8]. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2019 Jan.
- Moore KL and AF Dalley. Clinically Oriented Anatomy. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 4th edition, 1999, pp. 940-947.
- Stone M, et al. Structure and variability in human tongue muscle anatomy. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Eng Imaging Vis. 2018;6(5):499–507. Published online 2016 Apr 8. doi:10.1080/21681163.2016.1162752
Writer Bio
Jerry Garner has been writing semi-professionally for more than 15 years. The body of Garner's work includes informative articles, news and current events and historical essays. He is an avid sports fan and frequently writes about outdoor activities online.