“Oil pulling is one of the most remarkable methods of detoxification and healing I have ever experienced… It helped me overcome a chronic skin problem that [I was previously] unable to cure.”
- Dr. Bruce Fife, naturopath doctor, nutritionist, and master detoxer
When I first heard that quote, I had two thoughts:
- What the heck is oil pulling?
- Whatever it is, I gotta check it out!
For those of you who are in the dark like I was, oil pulling is an ancient detoxification art that started in India as oil gargling thousands of years ago.
In 1992, Dr. F. Karach, MD introduced oil pulling in the US and used it in his medical practice with great success.
I started this practice a while ago and wow, it made a big difference. I literally no longer feel the need to brush my teeth. I know this may sound weird but that’s how well oil pulling cleans my mouth! Furthermore, my sinuses have never been clearer, my headaches have disappeared, and I feel that it is really helping my body detoxify.
I recommend it for anyone that has canker sores, teeth abscesses, sinus issues, etc. I’m still trying to convince my hubby, who is still a bit skeptical, to get onboard.
Why not try doing it for a week and see if you notice the difference?
How oil pulling works
It’s easy. Just take a tablespoon of raw vegetable oil and swish it around in your mouth for five minutes. Doing so activates enzymes that have a powerful detoxifying affect on our entire system; they literally pull toxins, bacteria, fungus, and other nasty bugs from the mouth and the entire body, helping to cleanse our blood. Since our mouths are a focal point for bacteria and microorganisms that mix with our saliva and eventually reach our bloodstream, you can see how wiping these bad guys out with oil pulling makes a profound impact on our bodies.
According to long-time devotees, oil pulling has the power to alleviate migraine headaches, asthma, diabetes, bronchitis, diseased teeth, chronic blood disorders such as leukemia, arthritis, eczema, heart and kidney disease, meningitis, hormonal disorders, etc.
How to do oil pulling
Pull toxins from your blood and freshen your breath in five easy steps.
- Find a high-quality vegetable oil. Most people use cold-pressed sunflower or sesame oils. I prefer using raw coconut oil since it is one of the healthiest oils in the world and helps boost the thyroid.
- Right after you wake up, drink a glass or two of water to start your saliva flow and then take about 1 tablespoon of oil into your mouth. Swish it around for as long as you can. Start with 5 minutes and gradually increase to 15 to 20 minutes. I plop it into my mouth and swish away as I make my breakfast and pack my lunch.
- Do not swallow the oil – it’s loaded with toxins! (But don’t beat yourself up if you accidentally do.) It is vital to spit out this oil after 15-20 minutes of swishing. Spit it out in the trash (not the sink as it can clog pipes) because this is the safest, cleanest and best way to eliminate used oil.
- Be sure to wash out your mouth thoroughly to help clean out any lingering bacteria or toxins.
- Ta da! You’re done. Now go about your day knowing that you’ve done a great thing for your overall healing.
If you’re already healthy, a once a day oil pulling will help keep you that way. If you have more acute conditions, gradually build up to oil pulling 3 times a day before each meal.
Who out there has tried oil pulling? Please share your experience with us!
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/article%20oil%20pulling.htm
http://www.oilpulling.com/
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
You are glowing!
Quite an appealing way to detoxify! I did not know about it and certainly am eager to try so as of yesterday did I start.
Thank you for sharing.
I am swishing right now, think i took a too big spoon
Hug to Griffin
A bientot
Thanks Edwige! Let me know how you like it
. Hugs to you and Xavier!
I’m seriously considering doing this. It’s the easiest and least crazy way to detox (that i’ve heard of) and I need my sinuses and eczema cleared up!
Erma recently posted Kate & Andy Spade
I know! It’s pretty low maintenance and has been around for thousands of years. Let me know how it goes and if you notice any changes.
I tried it with coconut oil today and I’m going to keep up with it for awhile! Thank you for the tip!
Oh good! Let me know what you think after doing it for awhile…
just came upon your blog through your you tube video of your little ones birth. amazing how your birthing experience mirrored mine with my first. mine was 24 hrs, natural, midwife, tub, etc. VERY similar! my hubby and i are trying to decide if we want to have a third so i watched some videos to see if they would help me decide either yea or nay.
I own a natural baby stores in kansas….sounds like we would have lots in common 
. I look forward to trying the oil pulling. thanks for being a natural mama and i look forward to following your blog 
Hi Kendra,
Thanks for stopping by! I’m on the fence too on how many kids I want. I always thought 3 but 1 is a handful! LOL! How was your 2nd birth? I hope a lot easier. We paid our dues! What kind of products does your natural baby store sell? Wish we had more shops like that around here. The inventory must come in handy too
You look great, and have such a nice blog! I was wondering about this oil pulling..How often should we do oil pulling? I’ve read somewhere earlier that you should use 20 minutes twice a day, but I think that’s to much. I just tried it for the first time, and I couldn’t take more than ten minutes:) Maybe I can do more with more experience later. Do you know if it will loose some effect if I eat before I do it? Thanks
Hi Mona,
Thank you!
I would do oil pulling first thing every morning on an empty stomach. Sure, we could do it 3 times a day but I think it’s about consistency and doing it once a day is realistic. It’s more effective with no food but better doing it than not at all.
Cheers.
Hello, I am trying to ctnaoct someone who might be able to arrange for this film to be shown at the National Association for Multicultural Education conference to be held Nov. 2-5 in Chicago. I am in charge of the film festival portion of the conference and think Dark Girls would be an excellent fit with our conference. If you are not familiar with NAME you can visit our website listed above. The film would be seen by many of the 1,000 educators who attend our conference each year. Please email me and let me know how we can arrange this. Thanks! Robin Brenneman, Region 5 Director for NAME.
i tried this while I was had morning sickness…didn’t work out so well for me! hahaha Hopefully after baby?
I am pregnant and have severe nasal and chest congestion due to sinutitus and a cold. Is it safe to do this during preg (20 weeks). Doc says its heading to bronchitus and
Already infected so prescribed antibiotic, amoXcillin. I really dnt want to take it but I dnt want to harm the baby by developing severe bronchitus and having to take stronger meds. Will this help if I can do it?
hi, is it safe to do while breastfeeding?
I am also curious. Have you heard if oil pulling is safe to do while breastfeeding?
Hmmmm….. If it were me, I would wait until the baby is 6 months or older or when the breast milk isn’t the main source of nutrients. Then, I would just do once a day.
Gotcha! I really appreciate the reply! Thanks!
I am a lactation consultant. I can’t think of a reason it would be bad during breastfeeding because you spit out the oil. Any toxins leave your body with the oil. It’s not like pulling toxins into your blood stream which of course feeds your breasts. Rowena
Thanks! I guess I’ll have to wait.
Just wanted to let you know that oil swishing with coconut oil eliminated my 5 year old son’s toothaches. When we slack off, he starts having pain again!
Nice! Thanks for sharing.
This is probably a dumb question, but do you still need to brush your teeth? If so, is it better to do it before or after?
Not a dumb question at all, Cristina!
I usually rinse my mouth quite a bit. Then I eat breakfast. Then I brush. You can brush right after but I’d be sure to rinse your mouth well and good to prevent transferring the bacteria to your toothbrush.
I’ve been oil pulling for about six weeks. One benefit from OP I’ve received are clearer sinuses. In the first couple weeks of OP I sometimes had to spit out the oil early because of phlegm that would accumulate in the back of my throat. After a couple weeks I no longer had the phlegm and consequently, I could breathe better when sleeping so snoring issues have greatly improved. My mouth is very clean feeling and teeth are whiter and gums fEel healthier. While I had no loose teeth before OP, my teeth do feel “tighter” in my gums. Secure. Lastly, since beginning OP I have not had one canker sore. I can’t remember ever going that long without getting one.
Hi, I use OP ever now and then but I’m a great advocate of coconut oil, water, and milk.
now there’s a motivator for a bloke!
I have a yeast rash that pops its head up ever now and then. Instead of taking tablets that state “liver damage” as a side effect I put 3 table spoons of coconut oil in my bath. This just gets everywhere! I soak in it for 30 minutes then rub the oil in. My skin is amazing all over, moisturises my hair, skin etc…
And if you like smooth skin then give it a go.
A few of my mates who have eczema us this and get relief from it.
I know it’s not very bloke like to admit this but it’s great.
And women love stroking my skin
I started doing it for the first time few minutes ago.. will do it on a regular basis. thanks for sharing…
This is awesome! Im all about the all natural thing but didn’t know about oil pulling! I love coconut oil and juice. I use coconut oil for everything including my homemade hair conditional and it’s great! Thanks for the information. For those that are into natural products, please check my website out http://www.seacretdirect.com/coco . Thanks!
Ahaa, its nice dialogue on the topic of this paragraph at this
place at this blog, I have read all that, so at
this time me also commenting here.
Choose Your Baby’s Gender recently posted Choose Your Baby’s Gender
Would olive oil work? Id feel a lil better using this instead of vegetable oil
I’ve seen and tried a number of different methods of detoxing, but oil pulling is new to me. It is an entirely unique technique which seems counter-intutitive. Thanks for the demo, I will do some reading on oil pulling just to see what else I can learn about it.
How many days does it take to detoxify oneself? I’m wondering if this is supposed to become a daily habit or whether it is used periodically.
i think you are supposed to incorporate it into your daily routine. first it will detoxify your body, after consistant use, it will heal/prevent cavities, strengthen your gums, and whiten your teeth. i would do it everyday if you are going to do it at all!
Correct me if I am wrong but I feel the amount (1 tbls) isn’t a very important detail… I’m a small woman, so I just scooped out a bit (maybe half a teaspoon) of coconut oil and by 20 mins my mouth is full with saliva too and I know I wouldn’t be able to go more than a min or two if I could even fit a full tablespoon in my mouth in the first place… Maybe using less would help some that are struggling : ) Things feel great and I’m excited to notice the benefits, happy swishing ya’ll!
Maybe this is a dumb question – what is meant by “raw?” I have some organic coconut oil that I plann to try, but not sure if that is the same thing you are talking about. Can you clarify the term?
Raw means the oil is cold processed or pressed and not as filtered and is usually organic. Since the oil has not been heated or treated with chemicals like the highly processed oils such as canola. So less breakdown of the integrity and quality of the oil and no bad free radicals that can damage your bodies cells. Spectrum sells an organic raw sesame oil and there are plenty of raw unrefined coconut oils but these will be solid at room temp so you would want to scoop a tablespoon full and melt in your mouth with your body temp. It will still work and ever so good for you
Some coconut oil is processed at low temperatures (under 100 or so degrees) which keeps all of the naturally occurring enzymes intact. This is what’s considered “raw.”
I’ve been doing OP on and off for 3 years. I’ve had a lot of heavy metal to detox and so at times when the oil pulls something particularly nasty out my throat has reacted. I’ve used raw and organic sesame oil and switched off at times to fractionated (liquified) coconut oil. I don’t get canker sores and the OP has also healed tooth aches along with clearing up my sinuses and whitening my teeth. ( but not as dramatically as the teeth whiteners do) one thing I’ve read is to avoid doing the OP until you have removed and replaced all the metal dental amalgam fillings. I did do this though not with any knowledge that I was supposed to do so, it was just that I learned about the OP just after when I was recovering from 3 months of the dental work process. The blogger, Mommypotomous has more info and more on this.
Alyse, Can you please provide more information about the OP and Dental Amalgam fillings. THANKS!
I think that will take some practice. I could only do it 2 minutes without feeling like I was going to gag.
Why would you want to start by drinking water first thing in the morning before doing the oil pulling? Wouldn’t that be swallowing the toxins you have accumulated overnight that you are trying to rid yourself of.
hi! just starting to learn about OP and gathering information. thought you might be interested to know that coconut oil is not recommended for OP. cold-pressed sunflower or sesame oils are best. i can understand why you would use coconut, since it is so packed with nutrients, but it is still not recommended. don’t know enough, personally, to have an informed opinion, but the ‘experts’ in ayurveda practice say no to coconut and yes to sesame or sunflower.
Hi, I have been doing OP daily for last 25 days and have recently had quite bad acne, then chapped lips and now I have a nasty rash on my neck which is like eczema, none of which I normally suffer with! Should I continue with the OP?? And if so, how long can I expect to suffer these symptoms before they improve?
nelly, i am quite new to op as well but in my research, I found that it may be certain blood types in which certain oils may not be recommended…As this practice of OP has its origins in Ayurveda, it might be better to chose your oil based less on blood type, and more on your predominant Ayurvedic constitution:
Vata, Pitta, or Kapha. You can take a quiz to find it out here:
http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/constitutions/index.html
And get some info on which oils are best for your dosha here:
http://www.chopra.com/kapha
You might find a better fit using this method.”
I have some real kidney problem and high blood pressure the doctor say, but I don’t feel sick or anything. Will this coconut oil take care of my problems.
It’s not a cure-all, so consult your doctor about other ways to manage your health. But oil pulling can’t hurt!
I have used coconut oil for pulling and loved the benefits.one of my favorite benefits is when you workout or sweating in the sun your skin becomes very soft from the oils penetrating your skin
I’ve only been able to find expeller pressed organic sesame oil at Whole Foods. Where can I get cold pressed sesame oil? Thanks
i just did this for the first time. i had never heard about this health remedy before today while perusing the internet for tooth whitening info!! I used one tablespoon of organic refined coconut oil and OP’d for 12 mins. My chronic sinisitis and congestion started to clear up within ten minutes of spitting out and rinsing. AMAZING! the mucus is going away also! holy cow! who’d of thunk it?! I plan to do this every day twice a day if necessary.
Hi great blog well done so im trying to understand if oil pulling is safe while pregnant?
So…. I can’t fit a table spoon of oil in my mouth, I tried and either I swallow some or I spit some out, will it still work if I take more like a heaping tea spoon instead?
Sure! Whatever is comfortable for your mouth. My mouth is big
I am wondering what is the difference between “Refined” or “Unrefined” Coconut Oil, and if it matters of oil pulling.
I think both would work just fine. Unrefined might have an advantage as there’s more antioxidants in it.
Refined means Processed Which Is Not As Good For You
When someone has a mouth full of silver fillings can they still do oil pulling?
I’m also wondering the same thing.
I was waiting to see your answer about mercury or amalgam(?) fillings . . . didn’t see an answer. I would like to try this, but don’t want my fillings falling out!
I have some amalgam fillings and one gold crown. Will OP affect them? Several people have asked about the fillings but no answer has been given.
hey yea what about those fillings and OP?
I began oil pulling about a week ago. I use coconut oil and doing it first thing in the morning for 20 minutes. I have to get over the initial part of getting the coconut oil from its solid state to liquid but after that, its a cinch and my mouth feels so much better now! My gums already looks better and so do my teeth *I don’t get the film on my teeth overnight like I used to*
Appreciate it for expressing that effortlessly all of us you truly acknowledge what you are conversing roughly! Bookmarked. Remember to in addition seek advice from my web site Implies). We’re able to employ a backlink trade contract in between us all
Cancer is a deadly disease that needs to be stopped from taking innocent lives. A disease that pays no respect to AGE nor FINANCIAL STATUS should not be allowed to reign instead it should be fight and eradicated.
After the introduction of chemotherapy and radiotherapy the war against this deadly disease started but the probability that this war can be won using the methods above is not hundred percent certain.
I was once a prisoner of cancer who used the methods above to begin the fight for my freedom which i got for sometime until the cancer returned with great determination to take my life and i was also determined not to allow it to take my life so i decided to sort for other solutions.
I met with my doctor who told me about cannabis oil and she also told me about a friend of her’s who treats patients with it, she gave me his Email address( contacthospital_eastern.george@yahoo.com )and asked me to contact him. I contacted him and met him in person, i told him about my situation and asked him what i needed to do.
He advised me, told me the quantity of oil i needed and how to use it. I followed his instructions and now i have finally gained my freedom.
{ 9 trackbacks }