Oil Pulling

I am always keen to try something new in the name of a healthier me. In the past I have bought myself an ionic foot bath, tried pilates, been to a health retreat and I have a vibradisc. When someone posted about oil pulling on facebook last night I wanted to know what they were talking about. After my google search, I decided to try it.

Oil pulling claims the following: “total cures of head-aches, bronchitis, tooth pain, thrombosis, eczema, ulcers and diseases of stomach, intestines, heart, blood, kidney, liver, lungs and women’s diseases. It heals diseases of nerves, paralysis, and encephalitis. It prevents the growth of malignant tumors, cuts and heals them. Chronic sleeplessness is cured.”

Oilpulling Method Step by Step from www.oilpulling.com with corrections.

Step1:

First thing in the morning on an empty stomach and before drinking any liquids (including water), pour exactly one tablespoon of sunflower or sesame oil (or whatever oil you have chosen) into your mouth. We don't recommend doing this process at any other time. Children can also do this with less quantity of oil provided they have control and practice not to swallow the oil.

Step 2:
Swish the oil around in your mouth without swallowing it. Move it around in your mouth and through your teeth, as if it was mouthwash (don't tilt your head back to gargle though). You'll find that the oil will start to get watery as your saliva mixes with it. Keep swishing. If your jaw muscles get sore while swishing, you're putting too much into it. Relax your jaw muscles and use your tongue to help move the liquid around the inside of your mouth. When you do this correctly, you'll feel very comfortable. Pretty soon.

There is no right way or wrong way to swish and pull oil. Don't focus on doing it right. Do it with very natural movement. Do this gently, not vigorously, in a relaxed way for about 20 minutes.
If you have the unbearable urge to swallow and If it becomes too unpleasant, spit out and try again. It can be a bit unpleasant at first when you’re not used to it, but soon won’t be bothersome at all, just like brushing your teeth.

When the oil has become saturated with the toxins it has pulled out, it may become whitish and a thinner, milky consistency, depending on the type of oil used. Each time you oil pull, it can take a different amount of time to get to that point, so 20 minutes is a general rule of thumb, but you can experiment with this.

If you spit out before 20 minutes. start again, the process is to make the oil swish enough time in your mouth so that it becomes a white thick substance which is a indication of process completion.

Step3:

As the end of the oil pulling session approaches, Spit the oil out, then rinse the mouth with warm salt water (just use normal table salt). Salt water rinsing isn’t absolutely necessary, but is very helpful as an antimicrobial and to soothe any inflammation and proven to be effective in rinsing out any toxins which may be left out in the mouth.

You can do oil pulling every morning if you like, or several times a week. Because the oil pulling method can be detoxifying, you might want to take a break sometimes. One immediate benefit everyone gets is, whiter teeth, clean mouth . There’s no rule about frequency - judge according to your own experience.

Understand that this process works better in the morning. Don't try to do this any time of the day. If for some reason it is absolutely not possible for you to pratice this method in the morning, you can do this on an empty stomach at any time of the day. An empty stomach means the food is digested completely. Ideally after three or four hours of you taking any food.

So this morning I had a tablespoon of EVOO, my first impulse was to gag, but witnin a few seconds as I furiosly swished, the oil did mix with my saliva and became watery. I set my phone's timer to 20 minutes and started gettiing ready for the day. At one point my jaw did start to get sore, so I relaxed my swishing. My gag reflex did respond again though and I had to spit the mixture out. I managed to last 8 minutes, but it felt longer.

Once I spat the mixture out I really did think I was going to vomit, but after my husband yelled at me for retching in the kitchen sink, I gargled with salty water and felt fine.

The thing is, my mouth felt amazing after the oil pulling, the cleanest it has ever felt. It felt so amazing I nearly forgot to brush my teeth. The amazing mouth feel stayed with me all day and I swear my teeth looked whiter, until I had a glass of red tonight.

Tomorrow I'm trying seame oil and if that doesn't work I will try coconut oil. I think that I will be more determined to keep the oil in for 20 minutes now that I know how amazing it makes my mouth feel after the fact.