I will be referring to oil pulling with coconut oil as that is the oil I choose to use but you can also use sesame oil, olive oil etc.
I use cold pressed, virgin, organic coconut oil personally.
And I would like to point out that I am by no means an expert in this field. The information I have is purely from things I have read online. And I am talking about my own personal experience. Other people may have different methods. This is what works best for me and my advice is to give things a try and change things about to make it work for you.
Oil pulling is one of the best ways to remove bacteria and promote healthy teeth and gums!
Not only that but it is also supposed to help to improve the immune system as a whole.
It is said that oil pulling removes toxins from the body.
So, it improves oral health, bad breath, bleeding gums, prevents cavities, soothes cracked lips, whitens teeth, eases dry throat, prevents heart disease and many more things besides.
A quick Google will bring up extensive lists of the health benefits of oil pulling.
I read that oil pulling should be done first thing in the morning before food or drink. A tablespoon of oil should then be squished gentle back and forth in the mouth for around 20 minutes, then the oil should be spat out into the dustbin rather than the toilet or sink.
Next thing to do is to rinse the mouth out with warm water or warm salt water. The teeth are then cleaned as normal.
Sounds simple but let me assure you that 1 whole tablespoon of oil is A LOT! Way more than I could comfortably handle in any case. lol
In fact, I found 1 whole teaspoon a bit too much. Maybe I just have a very small mouth! ;-)
So, this is how I do my oil pulling.
First of all, try to do your oil pulling on an empty stomach.
I am happy to use just over half a teaspoon of coconut oil. (Virgin cold pressed is best). I can cope with putting it into my mouth as a sold because it does melt quite quickly, however, some people prefer to melt the oil first.
Some days I will add a drop or two of lemon essential oil onto the spoon with the coconut oil. This just adds a little bit of a zing to it and lemon has excellent antibacterial properties too.
The zesty lemon can also help stop the gag reflex as it seems to make it taste a little less oily.
I then start to slowly squish the oil about in my mouth. Do not powerfully squish the oil back and forth as you would do with a mouthwash because believe me, 20 minutes of slow squishing can make your jaw ache like mad so I doubt I could do vigorous squishing for more than a minute or two!
I try to keep busy while I am oil pulling. I will potter about tidying up or will sit and browse the internet or whatever else I can think of to take my mind off of the fact I have a mouth full of oil.
The first time I tried I think I only managed about 5 minutes! I was a little disappointed as I planned on doing the whole 20 minutes. But it is easier said than done!!
After I spat the oil out, I rinsed my mouth with warm water, cleaned and flossed my teeth.
Day two I managed something like 8 minutes. Day three was about the same.
Day four I done a whole 15 minutes or thereabouts and now I can do my twenty minutes quite easily.
Also, try to choose a time when you won't be disturbed by people in the house!
It's very hard to answer questions or have conversations with a mouth full of oil. lol
Anyway, in my opinion, my mouth feels cleaner for longer when I brush my teeth after oil pulling.
My health was good before starting the process so I cannot report any improvement in that area but the way I see most things in life, if it cannot do harm and has been reported to do good, within reason, I will give it a go.
If you have any comments, questions, experiences that you would like to share, please contact me and I will do my best to help.