Oil Pulling

On July 28th, I mentioned that I was going to try Oil Pulling. I did try it. I didn’t really notice a difference in anything mouth or throat related. However, my dh said would question me every once in a while, “Did you do your oil pulling today?” It was always on days when I DIDN’T use the oil. He said that my breath smelled different. So I kept at it. My first experience was not pretty.

Oil is gross. Even oil that doesn’t have an oily flavor is gross. I have a pretty strong gag reflex. The first couple of times I used too much oil, even though it was the suggested amount of about a tablespoon. For me, a measuring spoon tablespoon is too much. It gets too far back in my throat and causes me to gag and then I have to spit it out and that defeats the purpose, in my opinion.

The next couple of times I used just a tablespoon spoon (like what you’d put on the table), so it measures less and I can handle it better. So, what do you do? (You can read at Earth Clinic, but I’ll tell you here too.) You take a tablespoon of oil (different oils give different results; I am currently using Olive Oil, because that’s what’s in the house, but I started with Safflower Oil and it’s an easier “flavor” to start with, in my opinion.) and you just hold it in your mouth. No swishing. No gargling. Earth Clinic suggests:

INSTRUCTIONS:

First thing in the morning, before brushing your teeth, eating or drinking, take 1 TBSP of either sesame or sunflower oil. Put the oil in your mouth, tilt your chin up and slowly swish, suck, chomp and pull through the teeth. Do this for at least 10 minutes. 15 – 20 minutes is better. You want the oil to become a thin, white foam when you finally spit it out. If it’s still yellow, you haven’t done it long enough.

You can do this 2 more times during the day if you want to detox faster. Make sure you do it on an empty stomach, however. Spit it out in the toilet when your mouth is full and rinse your mouth out well.

Follow by drinking 2 – 3 glasses of water.

There are further warnings and notes here. The oil, when you are done should be white and foamy. Ten minutes is hard to do, especially with a house full of little ones that need Mommy to speak with them in the morning. I don’t think I’ve ever made it to 20 minutes. One trick I used was to get my mouthful of oil and hop in the shower, do my hair and makeup, get dressed, and then spit and brush. That got me the closest to 20 minutes.

I had quit oil pulling because my teeth had started to hurt so badly and then I had them pulled. I didn’t want the oil pulling to pull out my clots and result in dry sockets, so I hadn’t been pulling for almost a month. (I don’t know that the oil would have pulled out the clots but I certainly didn’t want to chance it!) I did notice a difference in my health; I started getting the colds and such that the rest of my family were getting. My mouth is much less sore now and so I started again. Just two days in now.

Yesterday was kinda whatever, but today I coughed up some icky-ness. I’ll spare you the details, but WOW! I never would have cleared that from my throat without the oil. J coughs up stuff all the time and actually has been unsuccessful with oil pulling because it works too well for him; it brings out so much that he’s coughing and gagging even more than usual. (Which says to me he needs to do it more, so he can get that icky-ness OUT!)

There is anecdotal evidence on Earth Clinic that suggests specific results from different oils:

Sesame Oil: helps with back pain, periodontal disease, bleeding gums, loose teeth.
Sunflower Oil: brightens teeth, clears up hives, bad breath, dry skin, clears acne.
Olive Oil: clears sinusitis, new energy, clears eczema, tooth pain, cracked heels.

So, in reading a little more to write this post, I found some more tips and hints to try; I can’t wait to see what kinds of things this “cures” for me.

Some more links:
http://www.oilpulling.org/
http://www.oilpulling.org/opuniversalremedy.pdf
http://www.oilpulling.org/PULLING%20OIL_karacharticle.pdf
http://www.colonzone.org/oil-pulling.php
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/article%20oil%20pulling.htm
http://www.naturalnews.com/026669_oil_pulling_blood_health.html

Striving to learn and live God’s purposes,