Have you ever heard of Oil Pulling? I have too, but why did it take me so long to jump on the wagon?!
I heard about Oil Pulling from one of my girlfriends a few years ago. Yes this is old news I know. I didn’t think anything about it and wasn’t too concerned on trying it out, until now. As the years went on, I continued my once a year tradition of whitening my teeth with Crest White Strips, Mouthwash, and Optic White or Crest 3D White tooth paste. For those of you who don’t know me, I operate two ways…. either procrastinate forever or go crazy OCD, there’s never an in between… I do this EVERY year, and my teeth have gotten so sensitive!
I started this journey with Marc to live a healthier lifestyle in any way we possibly can, and we’ve been testing out a few different diets that have worked for us. We learned some new tips and tricks for adapting a healthier lifestyle and our bodies are actually loving it all. As per my previous post on my blog, our bodies were completely inflamed from all the crap we used to eat! I’m always open to trying out new things, especially if it’s beneficial to our bodies in a natural way.
They say that 80% of our immune system is located in our GI tract, which would make sense, but no one ever talks about the other 20%!! Try Oil Pulling for 20 minutes a day, and you’ll not only have better oral health but this will give you better overall health. Now that Marc and I know the essentials of healthy living, why not add this in and see what happens right?
Before I get to the good stuff about pulling oil, you’ll need to know a little history about Fanny …
Sinusitis Sufferer
I’ve been a sufferer of chronic sinusitis for years and years. It happened as soon as I was 18 and moved out. I thought it was allergies that have gone bonkers, or mold in the apartment, but it was all checked and no one could find a reason. I was up all night, constantly, so inflamed and unable to breath that I would call into work, sick. I tried everything; Neti pot, humidifier, air purifier, but nothing helped. A lot of the time I would get up a few times a night to do lunges or squats so that my sinuses would start clearing up from the mini “cardio” sessions. This would allow me to sleep for an hour or two before my face started pounding again! None of the doctors knew what to do with me- the ENT just wanted to give me nose spray and yearly surgeries to clear it up. The instructions on this nose spray was to spray twice in each nostril 3 times a day….Did I mention I have to use this for the rest of my life? It comes with a whole list of side effects, if It matters at all. So I opted out. No thank you! Seriously… I even said to her that I’m not going to spray this drug filled bottle up my nose 3 times a day,the ENT basically told me if I don’t then I wont ever get better. Obvious doctor comments. Game on Doctor!
Now, I have to say that my sinuses have also drastically changed due to the change in my diet. The acidic tomato sauces, creamy dairy, fried chicken, and fulfilling pastas…Yum… but now that’s all gone. When I drink wine or eat something with dairy, the next day I regret it ever even happened because I’m not able to breathe out of my nose! BUT I found out more about Oil Pulling! This all happened because my jaw was starting to hurt the other night. Here comes Fanny again with another problem. Besides going to the dentist to get a cleaning, I googled some DIY oral health concoction, and realized Marc just bought me a whole tub of Coconut Oil again from Costco…It dawned on me… Oil Pulling.. but can you do it with coconut oil? The articles that I have read on Ayurveda( one of the world’s oldest holistic (whole-body) healing systems) and Ayurvedic Medicine states to pull with Sesame Oil however Coconut Oil has strong antibacterial properties and many people use this as well. I know a few dental hygienists that say that any oil other than coconut oil will stain your teeth, not sure if this is true or not, so if anyone could shed light on it, that would be fantastic!
I figured I already use coconut oil for my conditioner and my skin, on a daily basis. It’s basically good for everything as I mentioned in my Coconut Oil Blog Post, so why not use it for my teeth?
Why am I Oil Pulling? The recorded benefits looked great and I needed something for A) My minor toothache, B) for whiter teeth in lieu of crest white strips and C yes there is a C – to cure my sinusitis! Even on Day 2, besides my toothache being gone, I also feel less puffy in my sinuses and well… let’s not forget about my pleasantly fresh breath!
Some Benefits
- Whiter teeth
- Cavity and gingivitis prevention
- Better breath
- Stronger teeth and gums Less jaw pain
- Aids with Sleep problems and sinus issues
- Alleviation of headaches, hangovers and skin issues
My experience with oil pulling so far as been pleasant, I have nothing bad to report yet. I know a lot of people have had trouble oil pulling due to gagging but it’s smooth sailing for me, knock on wood. Now, as for Marc….I’m sure he’ll give this a try once he returns from his business trip but being that his palette is so sensitive…I don’t see him doing this for very long.
This is DAY 2 of my Oil Pulling experience and since I have been posting it on social media, Ive been getting a lot of questions. So here is the low down!
Basics about Oil Pulling
Oil pulling, also known as “kavala” or “gundusha,” is an ancient Ayurvedic dental technique that involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for around 20 minutes first thing in the morning. The reason it’s so important to do this first thing in the morning is because that’s when the population of bacteria is at it’s highest, and as soon as you eat something, you swallow a lot of that bacteria. This action supposedly draws out toxins in your body, primarily to improve oral health but also to improve your overall health.
Oil Pulling involves swishing oil around in your mouth, basically using the oil as a mouth wash but do NOT gargle. This can have profound benefits not only to your oral health but for your entire body! You can add in essential oils like oregano or peppermint, this will help freshen your breath. Swish it around and try to get the oil between your teeth. Your mouth may get a little tired at first, but just relax its only 20 mins. a day and you don’t have to swish it around vigorously. Your mouth might produce a lot of saliva and it will be difficult keeping the saliva and oil in your mouth after a while. If you can’t do the full 20 minutes then work up to the time slowly. You can do so many things while you oil pull; make yourself a delicious breakfast, put your makeup on, take a shower, watch a tv show, you can even do this while getting ready for work.
Do not to swallow the oil in your mouth, it’ll contain a lot of bad bacteria and toxins, so spit it out and then rinse your mouth with salt water.
Also note: do not spit into the sink…this was my first mistake. The coconut oil hardens and may clog up your drains – luckily it didn’t for me! Spit into the trash or the toilet.
How to Oil Pull
I’ve read a few different explanations on how Oil Pulling works, and the one that stuck with me the most is that the health of our mouth really reflects the health of our entire body. So if there are any dental problems present, it can signal that there are problems in the other areas of your body. We seem to forget that we have so much bacteria in our mouth, and they eventually enter our bodies, and blood streams which can cause health problems. Any little cut from flossing or even brushing your teeth, can cause bacteria to enter. When we oil pull, we reduce the amount of bacteria in our mouth, so it’s taking strain away from our immune system, and the immune system is able to focus on other areas of the body.
Understanding Oil Pulling
I’m a visual person, so I always need to visualize things that are being explained to me. I just didn’t understand the concept of this, so now that I have researched this a little more, here is a simpler way to understand Oil Pulling. If you’ve ever mixed oil and water together, you know that they don’t mix. However, if you take an oil and pour it into another kind of oil, they will mix together. So that being said, the bacteria in our mouths are covered in Lipid ( a kind of fat or as per Google: a group of naturally occurring molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E, and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids, and others) When you oil pull, the oil is acting as a big magnet and attaching to all those micro organisms in your mouth which you’ll be able to spit out. It’s seriously a terrific feeling to be spitting out all those toxins!
I think everyone could benefit from oil pulling, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t oil pull, in my books at least. If you have bad breath, or want to whiten your teeth, or even if there is something else in your body that is wrong, this will definitely assist in your overall health.
It’s simple, It’s quick, It’s cheap, 20 mins a day, why not?
- 20 minutes a day
- Make it apart of your morning daily dental-care routine before you eat
- Do Not Swallow
- Rinse with salt water afterwards
- Oil Pull with coconut oil as it has antibacterial properties
- Oil pull at least once a day, or twice a day if you’re sick or really trying to heal yourself
- Never spit into the sink
Cheers!
Fanny
Sources:
She decided she needed to make a change in his diet and began to document it on her own website. Fanny blogs about: all natural remedies, healthy snacks, juice recipes, tips and more.
You can visit her on HealthywithFanny.com
