What is Oil Pulling?
Oil pulling is an Ayurvedic dental technique that involves swishing a tablespoon of coconut, sesame, or sunflower oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for up to 20 minutes. It’s a form of detox and promotes cleansing and healing for your whole body. This simple, inexpensive practice has its roots in ancient Ayurvedic tradition and is often considered the oldest form of dental health care. The Chakra Samhita claims numerous diseases are curable using the method and should be used to maintain overall health and well-being. That may seem like a lofty assumption, but our teeth and their root systems dive far into our jaw bones, connecting them to our bodies in deeper ways than we may realize. Oil pulling helps balance microflora of the mouth, and it is said to remove toxins that have built up in the body over time.
How does Oil Pulling work?
Oil pulling works by detoxifying or cleansing the body. The oil pulls disease-causing bacteria and their toxins out from around the teeth and gums, cleaning the mouth far better than any toothbrush or mouthwash. In this way, disease-promoting toxins are removed, thus allowing the body to heal itself. As a consequence, health problems of all types improve.
What will you notice? The first thing that most people notice when they start oil pulling is an improvement in their oral health. Teeth become whiter, breath becomes fresher, removing of plaque, relieving of inflammation and the tongue and gums take on a healthy pink color. Even problems such as bleeding gums, tooth decay, and gum disease are greatly diminished or completely healed.
Instructions for Oil Pulling:
1. Put a tablespoon of oil into your mouth.
2. Start swishing it around your mouth for 15-20 minutes.
3. Spit out the pulled oil in the toilet — it should be a milky, watery substance. This means that the oil is pulled and you did it for long enough. If your mouth feels oily after, or the oil was clear, then you didn’t pull long enough.
4. Rinse out your mouth with warm salty water (sea salt), and follow up with a good brushing using toothpaste or whatever cleanser you prefer.
Always use cold-pressed, unrefined oil.
Oil pull on an empty stomach, preferably first thing in the morning.
Don’t swallow the oil because it will be filled with very toxic pathogens once pulled.
Always spit out the oil in the toilet, since the bacteria may be harmful if spat in the sink.
I recommend rinsing out your mouth with warm salty water, then following up with a thorough brushing.
ALWAYS brush your teeth immediately after oil pulling.
Try to let your toothbrush dry thoroughly before using it again
I recommend rotating oils after continued use to get the maximum benefit.
Try your best to sit still while pulling, but let’s be real — the kids won’t dress themselves.
Benefits of Oil Pulling for Digestion:
Oil pulling detoxifies and purifies the entire human body. Getting rid of waste products is a normal operation for each one of our cells, organs, and organ systems. Since most of us live busy lives in a toxic world and sometimes eat less-than-healthy foods, we walk around with a toxic load that can manifest as fatigue, insomnia, and illness. The mouth is the beginning of the beginning of the entire digestive tract, the headwaters of the digestive river that runs head to tail through each of us. Our mouths are teeming with microorganisms and toxins and act as their gateways into the bloodstream. As it is swished around your mouth, the lipids (or fatty acids) in the oil naturally extract these potentially harmful substances from your teeth, gums and saliva glands. With all of the food and drinks we consume, it’s easy for particles to become trapped in the teeth and gums, leading to potential tooth pain and other unpleasant results.
With this toxicity, we acquire compromised digestion that causes bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, skin issues, asthma, and even migraines. All of these signs, symptoms and diseases can all stem from compromised digestion, what is commonly called leaky gut. Leaky gut, also known as intestinal permeability, occurs when foreign ‘stuff’ that shouldn’t get into our blood (like bacteria, fungi, parasites, even incompletely digested food) is absorbed through the lining of our small intestine into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, our immune systems jump into action to fight ‘the invaders’, and that’s good. Yet as is common with leaky gut, the ‘under attack’ response happens every day, which causes chronic systemic inflammation, which is the underlying cause of almost every common disease, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, MS, Alzheimer’s, etc.
Oil pulling will help in improving your digestive health by activating salivary enzymes which absorb toxins such as chemical toxins, bacterial toxins and environmental toxins from the blood. Reopening our mouths’ gateways into our bloodstreams. Swishing your mouth with coconut oil deep cleanses your mouth, boosts gum health and at the same time whitens your teeth, which is beneficial for your digestive health. As we all know that the first step of digestion begins in our mouth. When the food touches the mouth, our tongues detect all the nutrients in that food and give signals to the digestive system. If your mouth is not clear, your tongue will not be able to send the signal to the stomach. So, when the food will reach the stomach, it will not be able to break it properly and absorb all the nutrients.
Oil Pulling alleviates:
Acne
Allergies
Arthritis
Asthma
Back and Neck Pain
Bad Breath
Bleeding Gums
Bronchitis
Chronic Fatigue
Colitis
Crohn’s Disease
Constipation
Dental Cavities
Dermatitis
Diabetes
Eczema
Hemorrhoids
Hypertension
Insomnia
Migraine Headaches
Mucous Congestion
Peptic Ulcers
PMS
Periodontal Disease
Sinusitis
Tooth Abscess
As everyone is an individual and has different health problems you will see different results depending on your health. The general consensus is that teeth definitely get whiter and look cleaner, gums are more pink and healthier looking and plaque and tartar build up is reduced significantly. Some have also told me that it’s helped with their bowel movements, hair has become softer and less grey, they have become less bloated and lost excess fluid, skin has become softer and has firmed up.
My personal experience:
I had a cavity on a front tooth, which felt like a cold blast of air when pressing on the area of that tooth. I heard about oil pulling approximately one month before a dentist appointment. I did my best to keep a schedule of oil pulling the first thing in the morning and then before going to sleep. During my dentist appointment, I was going to warn my dentist of my cavity because she was using her metal pick. While picking through my teeth, she distracted me with an interesting story. By the time I remembered to tell her, she completed a complete sweep through my top teeth. When I went home, I used a metal pick on my cavity spot but there was no more pain! I also use oil pulling to further detox my body for better digestion, after drinking Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.