Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Oil Pulling: Day One

What is oil pulling?
One of the oldest folk remedies around is oil pulling. The purpose? To take the toxins, bacteria, germs, and other bad stuff from the mouth and into the oil. 



Put a tablespoon of your choice of organic unrefined oil in your mouth and swish it around for 20 minutes. I used raw coconut oil is because it has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and enzymatic properties. This provides the added benefit of killing any unwanted bacteria that may be residing in the mouth.  Do not gargle and do not swallow the oil or you will put all those toxins right back in your body. When the 20 minutes are up, spit the mouthful into the trash, NOT the sink. Coconut oil hardens as it cools and will clog your pipes. After spitting out the mouthful of oil, brush and floss as usual. 

What are the benefits?
Oil pulling literally "pulls" out bacteria, toxins and parasites that live in your mouth or lymph system and cleanses the blood. It can also pull mucus from your throat and sinuses, which is great news considering we are diving nose first into allergy season. Oil putting is not only a great detox, but it will whiten your teeth and strengthen your gums as it removes plaque. 

When should you oil pull?
Oil pulling can be done at any time of the day, but for a more thorough detox, its best to do this in the morning, before eating or drinking. You will probably start to notice small differences right away but it might take a week before you see any big changes.

My experience - Day One
I had read some testimonials about people getting headaches while oil pulling, gagging, or even throwing up! So you can imagine why I braced myself for the worst as I put my first tablespoon of coconut oil in my mouth. It definitely took me a few seconds to adjust to the consistency as the oil melted from a solid to a liquid, but after a minute or two it really wasn't that bad. 15 minutes into the swishing the mouthful started to feel hot and taste bad (most likely the toxins) but there was no gagging of any kind. After I spit it out into the trash, I rinsed with water and then brushed my teeth as normal. 
I don't feel any less congested, but my throat doesn't hurt anymore from post nasal drip. And my mouth? Has never felt cleaner! I will definitely be doing this again.


Please let me know if you have tried oil pulling and what your experience was!

4 comments:

  1. 20 freakin minutes??????

    Coconut oil? Yeah I am not putting suntan oil in my mouth (lol inside joke)

    Eeeeewwww parasites? I did not need to know this! I thought this was a nice happy happy joy joy blog, now I learn that there are parasites in my happy little mouth!

    Oh I just don't know!!!! What other kind of oil can you use and did you say how often you can or should do this? That is if you survive the first time.

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    1. Haha sorry to rain on your happy happy joy joy parade.

      You could use any organic unrefined oil, such as almond, or sesame, but coconut oil appears to be far more superior. Coconut oil has antibacterial and anti-viral activity that makes the whole pulling process much more effective.

      You can oil pull up to three times a day, it's just like brushing your teeth or using mouth wash.

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  2. Yeah I'm thinking I'll pass on this one too lol. I can't gargle salt water so I seriously doubt if be able to swish oil for 1 minute let alone 20.

    More power to ya though, I hope it ends up doing what you want it to.

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    Replies
    1. I know! When I first heard about this, I was like ew! No way! But months later I forced myself to try it. It is not as bad as it sounds. Gargling salt water is much worse

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