I was on Facebook the other day and saw a post about "Oil Pulling". I had never heard of it before, so I went online and did some research on the topic. Oil pulling or oil swishing is an Indian folk remedy. What you do is take one or two teaspoons of vegetable based oil ( coconut, olive oil or some other type oil). If you are using coconut oil, which is the most recommended form of oil, you let it melt in your mouth and begin to gently move it around, and over your tongue, and through your teeth. You don't gargle with it like you would do a mouthwash because you will keep this in your mouth for twenty minutes and you will tire quickly. You just gently move it around. As it mixes with your saliva, you mouth will become full and you just have to continue for the recommended twenty minutes. When you spit it out, do so in a trash bin, as the oil will conceal again and stop up your sink if you spit it in the sink. After you spit it out, immediately rinse your mouth out with very warm salted water, several times. Brush your teeth and you're done. It is best to do this first thing in the morning. Once a day is enough, but some people practice this three times a day. You will notice how white your teeth become, how pink and healthy your gums will look and how fresh your breath is. However, there are other benefits. Oil pulling is said to help with diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Because of the anti-inflammatory properties in coconut oil it also helps with arthritis, painful joints, and sore muscles. The oil actually "pulls" toxins from the body, so make sure not to swallow any of it.
I have fibromyalgia and decided to try it this morning. I also hoped that I would benefit from whiter teeth, healthier gums and fresher breath. I put one teaspoon of coconut oil in my mouth and it reminded me immediately of Crisco. I gagged and spit it out. I kept gagging afterwards and I hoped I didn't throw up because there is nothing more disgusting that bile throw up. I took some deep breaths and attempted it again. This time I didn't put quite so much on the spoon. I put it on the tip of my tongue and held it against my front teeth. The strong smell of coconut made me nauseous and again I gagged and had to spit it out. I paced back and forth in the kitchen and began to talk to myself. "Darby, you can do this! Stop it! What's wrong with you? Just do it!" I put some more on the spoon and this time when I put it in my mouth I thought about some of the foods I love that have coconut in it. I tried to enjoy the smell as I waited for it to melt in my mouth. Once it was liquefied, I went to the bathroom and stood there, trying to breath in short breaths. I leaned forward so that there would be no danger of me swallowing the oil and I began to move it around in my mouth gently. I just kept breathing gently, trying to think of it as mouth wash and eventually my gag reflexes relaxed and I was fine. I was able to hold my head up and continue to swish the liquid around my mouth. I looked at my cell phone to see if twenty minutes had passed, and it had not. In fact it had only been ten minutes. I tried to hold on for ten more minutes, but after a couple minutes I had to spit the oil out. I then swished the warm salted water in my mouth, doing so three or four times. In my mind I could feel that there was more oil in my mouth, it had made its way down my throat and had hardened, preventing me from being able to swallow. I went to the kitchen sink where the water seemed to be hotter. I filled up a cup with the hot water and added salt and swished that new mixture around and gargled, allowing some to go down my throat. I started coughing and threw up the salty water all over the mirror! I was so disgusted, I threw up again. I brushed my teeth and gargled with Listerine.
I did notice that my teeth were very smooth when I ran my tongue across them, and they were whiter. I don't know if I will try it again tomorrow morning, but I would like to and not experience this drama I just mentioned.
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