What is Oil Pulling?
Oil pulling is really a fantastic method used in Ayurveda to treat all sorts of ailments. Most commonly, it is used to help improve overall dental hygeine related to bacteria and toothaches, as well as improve skin conditions, headaches, hormonal imbalances, and more.
It is a more recent discovery here in the US but is really gaining popularity among holistic groups. The main idea is that “like” cleans “like”. Just like you would clean your engine with cleaner oil, or you might use oil to clean out your digestive tract, oil can also be used to clean out your mouth without harming the teeth or gums.
When you are “pulling” you are essentially swishing very high quality vegetable oil around in your mouth for about 20 minutes (on an empty stomach), allowing the oil to pull the bacteria and toxins out of your gums and tissue. It’s really fantastic and many people have reported incredible benefits. My experience has also been very positive and is actually the motivation to share with you, now.
My teeth are white, strong, and have healed since I’ve been oil pulling.
In fact, I haven’t been to the dentist in years. I know, I know, that’s bad. I’ve always had healthy teeth and gums and so I just sort of stopped going to the dentist because I felt I didn’t need to. I avoided the dentist mainly because I hate the whole make-an-appointment-months-in-advance-then-spend-half-a-day-trying-to-get-to-the-appointment thing.
Oops.
Then, last year I started to get this tooth ache … a first-time experience for me. It started out dull and then progressively got worse until I got to the point where I would only chew food on the left side of my mouth … which is strange to me considering my diet and hygeine.
At about that point I had decided to add oil pulling into my routine for completely unrelated reasons. However, what I noticed was nothing short of a miracle. Within weeks the tooth ache was completely gone. It vanished, as if I’ve never had any sensitivities at all! I felt like it was a miracle, considering the amount of pain I had been in before. Afterward, I did a little bit of research to see if it was a result of the oil pulling and realized this is actually a very common way to treat tooth aches and works wonders!
YES!
So let me break it down for you …
Here’s my morning routine:
- Wake-up and drink a HUGE glass of water
- Pour 1 T of pure, cold pressed virgin coconut oil into an espresso cup (hehe)
- Take the oil in my mouth and swish it around, sucking it through my teeth and around my gums
- I do this for almost 20 minutes while I do other morning routines I would be doing anyway
- At the end I spit the oil out into the trash, rinse with water, brush lightly with my toothbrush (no toothpaste yet) and then rinse with hydrogen peroxide
- I later follow up with a regular brushing with some homemade toothpaste .. I’ll be doing a post on that soon!
Have you ever tried oil pulling? Let me know in the comments!!
xo
I do oil pulling too! Except I do it on an empty stomach. You should probably spit it out in the garbage though, so you don't clog your pipes.
What great advice! I never really thought about the pipes.. And I do this first thing in the morning for the exact reason of doing it on an empty stomach. That is a great thing to point out, we don't want anyone doing it after eating!! I'll add that in .. thanks!
I haven't tried it yet, but you should NOT spit out the oil in the sink, because it clogs the pipes! I see it's already been said in other comments, but I think it's good to emphasize! No oil should ever be thrown in the sink, cause clogging means enviromental hazards in the long run, when it reaches the watercourse. Always spit in a paper towel, and throw it in the trash! Much love��
Thank you!! I never thought about it too much but thank you … I will definitely spit into the trash, now!