10 Health Benefits of Oil Pulling

The health benefits of oil pulling are numerous and quite astounding! Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic practice used to help improve oral health and detoxification. It involves the use of pure oils in order to pull harmful bacteria, fungus, and other organisms out of the mouth, teeth, gums and throat.

So how do you oil pull? It isn’t that hard at all – all you need is some coconut oil or sesame seed oil, and you swish it around your mouth for a short time each day in order to improve oral health. Oil can cut through plaque and remove toxins safely and effectively without harming the teeth or gums.

The health benefits of oil pulling are quite astounding! Many people online have documented their success and health benefits they have received from oil pulling.

Here is a list of 10 amazing benefits of oil pulling to help improve overall health:

Reduces Bad Breath (Halitosis)

Often caused by the by-product of chemicals and gases produced by bacteria in the mouth, halitosis can be an embarrassing social condition. If you get rid of the bacteria in your mouth through oil pulling, you can reduce bad breath! In fact, a study found that in a group of 20 adolescents, oil pulling therapy significantly reduced all markers for bad breath, and was just as effective as synthetic drug-store mouthwash!

Prevents Diseases of the Gums & Mouth

Like cavities, gingivitis and bleeding gums. Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums, and occurs when the immune system starts attacking bacteria in the plaque. Seeing as how coconut oil is an anti-inflammatory, it is extremely useful in this case. Cavities are also caused by build-up of harmful bacteria, which can easily be alleviated by oil pulling.

Can Help Treat TMJ & Jaw Soreness

Oil pulling helps strengthen the jaw, and so it can help alleviate TMJ and other soreness in the jaw area. At first, your jaw may be sore from the swishing, but over a course of time, your jaw will get stronger, and the pain will eventually diminish!

Whitens Teeth

Ditch the chemical-laden white strips! Oil pull instead! Did you know that conventional white strips for the teeth contain bleach, fluoride, tar, aspartame, aluminum and benzene? It is a toxic nightmare just waiting to happen. Almost every account of oil pulling has proven that it can help whiten teeth instantly! After two weeks, you will notice a much brighter, whiter smile, healthier gums and a nice pink tongue.

Improves Skin Conditions

When you eliminate toxins from the body, your skin will dramatically improve. Almost every account of oil-pulling I have found online has reported that their skin problems went away after just two weeks of pulling with oil. Conditions improved range from acne to eczema, psoriasis, and a variety of other dermatitis-related issues.

Alleviates Headaches & Migraines

A build-up of toxins in the body can lead to headaches and migraines. The standard theory that tension headaches are caused by widening of blood vessels, and migraines are caused by constriction of the blood vessels may hold truth, but recent evidence now shows that the major cause of both tension headaches and migraines is the retention of toxins or other tissue irritants in the nervous system. Oil pulling helps to eliminate bacteria and toxins from the body, so it has been documented in a variety of cases to help alleviate and even eliminate tension headaches and migraines!

Full-Body Detox

Overall, oil pulling is a great way to achieve full-body detox. Our mouth is the home to many bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and the toxins they produce as a by-product. Their toxic waste solidifies in our body and can lead to a variety of different conditions. When our immune system becomes overloaded with excessive stress, poor diet and environmental toxins, then these organisms and their toxic wastes actually spread throughout the body causing disease and illness as a result of chronic inflammation. Oil pulling will help target these foreign invaders at the site of entry (the mouth), and will avoid them from further entering the body, and thus allow the body to completely detox. The benefits are astounding!

Supports Normal Kidney & Liver Function

By removing toxins from their initial site (the mouth), oil pulling helps alleviate the stress on the liver and kidneys to help filter these toxins if they were to further enter the body. Give your liver and kidneys, our two major detox organs, a break, and start oil pulling today!

Improves Hormone Imbalances

Oil pulling is a great way to aid in the correction of hormone imbalances, regulating menstrual cycles and reducing symptoms of PMS. By improving the functioning of our immune system via toxin removal in the mouth, we also improve the ability of our hormones to function naturally. Having a compromised immune system can throw a woman’s menstrual cycle off balance, and so oil pulling can help regulate our hormones.

Helps Alleviate Asthma & Congestion

A variety of documented cases online have shown that oil-pulling has helped individuals completely eliminate their asthma symptoms and helps clear up bronchitis and congestion. These are largely the result of an inflammatory response in the body, which oil pulling can help lessen or reduce completely.

How to Oil Pull:

Traditionally, sesame seed oil is used to oil pull – I believe the main reason this is, is because sesame seed oil was one of the most common healing oils back when this practice began. Now that we have access to virgin cold-pressed coconut oil, which is an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and basically anti-everything, I would suggest using coconut oil as a means to oil pull.

Since coconut oil is solid at room temp, you might want to lightly warm up coconut oil in a little saucer, but make sure you don’t heat it too high so you don’t destroy the healing enzymes in the oil. On the other hand, you can just put the coconut oil solid in your mouth, and it will eventually melt because the temperature of your mouth will be warm enough to melt it into a liquid.

I would also recommend doing this in the morning, after you wake up, and after you have drank 1 litre of warm lemon water to help flush out toxins from the nights cleansing & fasting process.

Directions:

1. Scoop 1-2 tsp. of coconut oil into the mouth. I suggest closer to 2 tsp. Let the coconut oil melt in the mouth before you start swishing in step 2.

2. Swish oil in mouth for 20 minutes. This 20 minutes is a magic number – it is long enough to break through plaque and bacteria, but not long enough to allow re-absorption of the toxins back into your saliva glands and mouth.

3. Spit out oil into a trash can. Do not spit this out into your drain! You can clog your drains by doing so. Also, do not swallow the oil or you will literally be swallowing an oil-full load of toxins.

4. Rinse with warm water. Warm water feels better than cold water, and helps to clean the mouth better.

5. Brush your teeth well! Brush your teeth with an all-natural fluoride-free toothpaste to ensure all bacteria is killed.

Sources:
http://wellnessmama.com/7866/oil-pulling-for-oral-health/
http://www.naturalnews.com/043016_oil_pulling_body_detoxification_ayurvedic_medicine.html