While “oil pulling” may sound vaguely like a dirty joke, it’s actually based on an ancient Ayurvedic method of detoxification. It’s easy, quick, gentler and less…invasive than many other detox methods: your colon and bowels have nothing to do with it (other than the discomfort you would probably experience if you swallowed the pulled oil).
I first heard about oil pulling some months ago in “First” magazine, which often covers alternative health issues and remedies. I was intrigued and made a mental note to try it out, and then forgot about it until I came across this post by Elizabeth at Living the Nourished Life.
To do it, you simply place a small amount of unrefined oil (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and cold-pressed sunflower or sesame seed oil are the most typical) in your mouth before a meal and slowly swish it around your mouth for 10 to 20 minutes. The idea is that the oil “pulls” toxins and impurities out through your gums and into the oil, so you should never swallow the oil (plus, swallowing it would probably upset your stomach, as I said above). The oil becomes thin, foamy, and eventually white; you spit it out and rinse your mouth well (you could also brush your teeth afterward).
Supporters of oil pulling give an impressive list of the illnesses and health conditions it treats, including headaches, sinus problems, skin problems (here is a discussion on a keratosis pilaris community board), dental problems, and more. I can’t personally attest to the truth of most of those claims, but I’ve heard story after story of people who swear it helped them greatly. Just do a search for “oil pulling” and you’ll find plenty of examples.
I started oil pulling in about mid-January. Based on the comments I saw at the Nourished Life post, I decided to go with extra virgin olive oil. I’m not going to lie–the first time I put the oil in my mouth, I dry-heaved a little. The taste was…not good. I had also started with 1 tablespoon oil, which didn’t seem like much at first; but the longer you oil pull, the thinner the oil becomes and it seems to magically gain volume in your mouth. I barely made it 5 minutes before I had to spit a little of it out because I simply couldn’t hold it in my mouth anymore.
After the first time, though, I got used to the taste and it doesn’t bother me anymore. I only use about 2 teaspoons, and try to distract myself while I’m swishing the oil around: read a book, load the dishwasher, play a video game, etc. I don’t exactly follow the rules (I do like to put the “wicked” in “wholesome,” after all *grin*) because I usually do it at night before brushing my teeth and going to bed, and my stomach is still pretty full from dinner. I’m usually running around doing dinner prep in the morning, but I’m going to try to remember to start oil pulling in the morning instead to maximize the benefits. I floss, oil pull, then brush my teeth.
I don’t have any horrible or troublesome chronic diseases for it to cure, but I have noticed a slight whitening of my teeth and they do feel cleaner after oil pulling and brushing than they ever did with brushing alone. I do see a recent comment on the Nourished Life post says that the beta carotene in olive oil can cause tooth yellowing in some people after long term use, so I may switch to coconut oil.
ETA: I have experienced another benefit from oil pulling that I totally forgot to mention originally (silly to have forgotten it, as it’s probably the most important benefit for me). Last October, I had a small filling done in my upper back molar. Ever since then, it’s been so sensitive that I literally couldn’t eat anything solid on that side of my mouth. For a variety of reasons, I did not return to the dentist in the hopes he could fix it–mostly, I was hoping it would go away on its own. However, it hurt just as much in January as it did in October. But lately I have begun to notice a lessening of the sensitivity, and I can now chew very soft foods on that side again. I’m quite sure that this improvement is due to the oil pulling.
Skeptics scoff at the very idea of it, of course. But given what we now know about how gum disease can directly lead to heart disease, as well as many other illnesses and ailments, I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all. Gum tissue is very thin and absorbs all sorts of things easily; is it really that hard to believe that toxins could be pulled back out through them? Obviously I’m not a physician, but that really doesn’t mean anything–it wasn’t too far in the past that doctors were telling pregnant women to smoke! My point is just that we never have and probably never will be able to fully understand all the mysteries of the human body, medical degree or no.
The skeptics also like to sneeringly trot out the old placebo-effect argument as well to explain the success stories. All I can say is…so what? If someone is cured of conditions which threatened their quality of life or even their life itself, who cares whether it was cured by something like oil pulling or by the power of their own mind? It’s not like it’s an expensive, painful, risky, or complicated thing to do. Any healthy kitchen should already have at least one of the oils commonly used for oil pulling, so all it costs to try it is a few teaspoons of oil and the footsteps it takes to get to it. Of course, aside from a few people who have noticed results almost immediately, it will probably take some time to see results–but then, so do conventional medicinal prescriptions.
Oil pulling could change your life for the better, or make no difference at all. But it doesn’t hurt to try!
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