I’ve been wanting to commit to doing oil pulling for at least six months now, and thought, why not do it with all of you and we share our progress together? Thus, the oil pulling challenge was born!
So, what the heck is oil pulling?
It is an ancient, traditional folk remedy and Ayurvedic technique to remove toxins from the body through the mouth (Ayurvedic is traditional medicine from the Indian subcontinent). You swish a raw oil (cold-pressed) around the mouth for 15-20 minutes and then spit it out. The mouth is a bacteria haven so it makes total sense that pulling toxins from there will boost your overall health. It’s the same principle as the Oil Cleansing for cleaning the skin, that like dissolves like, and the oil will cut through plaque and draw out toxins. There are many reported health benefits when used on a regular basis, like:
- Banishes bad breath
- Heals gingivitis
- Helps with skin conditions like rashes, eczema, psoriasis, acne and more (all of which are caused by toxins in the body)
- Whitens teeth
- Reduces oral plaque
- Helps with asthma and allergies
- Helps with food allergies
- Helps with migraines and headaches
How Do You Do It?
It’s pretty simple, besides the whole not-swallowing thing.
- Spoonful of Oil – Just take a small spoonful of any cold-pressed, raw organic oil like coconut, sesame or olive. I usually use about a teaspoon.
- Swish It – around your mouth for 15-20 minutes. At first, this will be very hard, so give yourself some grace. It might take a week or two to work up to 20 minutes.
- Do not swallow! As it swishes, it draws the bacteria and toxins from your mouth and into the oil, which is why you must try very hard to not swallow! I don’t swish for the entire time, as my jaw gets tired, but do it every few minutes. Again, this is really hard to control until it becomes a habit. Try it for a week or more and it will get easier.
- Spit It Out – Then, when you’re finished spit it out in the trash or a cup, but do not put down the drain (especially coconut oil as it will harden back up and clog those suckers up).
- Rinse Well
- Clean Well – brush your teeth afterwards with a fluoride-free toothpaste (don’t want to re-introduce toxins with a fluoride one!)
Tips to make it easier – do it while you’re doing something else – showering, reading the morning newspaper, during the morning commute or a car ride, watching TV, playing games on your iPad, etc. That way you’re not going crazy thinking about how long it is and how you don’t want to swallow.
Coconut Oil is Best
Eastern cultures have long-since known a secret that those of us Western cowboys are starting to get – coconut oil rocks, dude. Like totally. Of course, it grows well over there and is native, which it isn’t here, so we get a pass. It contains a magical ingredient I’ve written about before called lauric acid, a medium chain saturated fatty acids (MCFAs) that is converted in the body into a compound called monolaurin, an antiviral and antibacterial that destroys a wide variety of disease causing organisms. So, coconut oil does more than sesame or olive oils by killing germs while at the same time, drawing them out of the body.
The Challenge
Do it once a day for 15-20 minutes or twice a day for 10-15 minutes for a week , commenting here or on any of my social media (use this hashtag so I can find your comment – #OilPullingChallenge) with your progress. If you’re having trouble doing it, we want to know that, too! I’ll be honest and comment in this post right along with you.
Many grocery stores carry coconut oil, but I buy mine by the gallon from Tropical Traditions. It’s organic, cold-pressed, raw and unrefined!
Follow the Challenge
To see each new post, make sure you’ve signed up on the sidebar to the right for “Each New Post.”
- Day 1 (tip to use peppermint oil here)
- Day 2 (common struggles discussed)
- Day 3 (tip to keep from gagging)
- Day 4 (how it helps with allergies & even PMS symptoms!)
- Day 5 (teeth are much whiter)
- Day 6 (healed a toothache and a sore throat)
- Day 7 (detoxing & die-off symptoms)
Each month they feature a different herb and include the ingredients and containers you can use to make different products with that featured herb. For instance, the box and magazine I received was all about the rose flower. It contained:
I was very impressed with the information provided in the magazine – it is easy to read and straightforward, yet still very descriptive and informative. It also includes a page that profiles the herb of the month with interesting facts like this one: “Rose hips have the highest level of Vitamin C than any other native plant in North America. The high Vitamin C content also means it is full of antioxidants which make it a wonderful health tonic and why it is so coveted for skin care applications.”
Safety Note: As with anything you would give your baby to ingest, please check with your pediatrician first to be sure it’s something that is safe for your baby. I am not a doctor and I make no promises or medical claims. Herbal medicine has less side effects than chemical medicine, but it is still medicine and should be taken safely.
