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Anyone do oil pulling?


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If you don't know what that is, you probably got nothing for me. :D

 

I started oil pulling this week. Anyone out there done this? Care to share about your experience? Would love to hear anything you have to share. If I'm wasting my time, I'd appreciate hearing your opinion. If you've had some success with various things, I'd appreciate hear about that, too.

 

:bigear:

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I've not been regular with the dentist for years and have to go in for super-cleanings next week (two sessions because there's too much for one session). Wouldn't it be loverly if the oil pulling made my dentist say, "Wow, did we mess up on this analysis? This can't be the same mouth." :D

 

From what I read, oil pulling isn't just for dental health, but for detoxing and whole-body health. Like you, there can't be any harm in it so I'll keep doing it for awhile. It's hard to hold out for 20 minutes. Does it take you that long to get to the white/thin stage?

Edited by milovaný
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I've been thinking about trying it, since I keep coming across references to the many health benefits. Now that it's been mentioned on the WTM boards, I absolutely must try it. ;)

 

One of my favorite alternative health sites, earthclinic.com, has a page dedicated to oil pulling with lots of feedback (good and bad) from people who have tried this method. Here's the page: http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html

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I did it for a few months several years ago. Not long-term, but still, it felt like forever.

 

It was hard to hold out for that 20 minutes, and never got easier. I also did not enjoy doing it first thing in the morning - eek. Anything before coffee is not fun.

 

BTW, I used sunflower oil, as we had allergies to the other alternatives. So my experience may differ a bit.

 

My teeth have always been good (knock on wood), so I didn't seem much change there. I felt that it was helpful, but have nothing concrete to back up my feeling.

 

I was using it for whole body detox, while on a hefty medication regimen. I was also using detox foot pads! LOL, when one is desperate, we'll try anything, right? ...Tangent there, sorry... I did think the detox worked. But again, I was using more than one detox method (dry brushing, oil pulling, epsom salt baths, foot pads, supplements, goodness, the list goes on...). It's hard to lay the results at the foot of any particular technique.

 

On a different note, I had a strange experience while on IV Rocephin... Hardened plaque on my teeth, in between cleanings, would literally fall off. It was the strangest experience. Only happened for the 5 months I was on Rocephin, but it was interesting while it lasted! Some of that time period overlapped with the oil pulling, so that may have been connected, on some level, but I think that it started prior to the oil pulling. It's been a few years, so it's hard to remember.

 

Good luck. Keep us posted. I may want to pull out the oil again, if you have good results.

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It was hard to hold out for that 20 minutes, and never got easier.

 

:iagree: I made it all of 3 days before I just couldn't stand it any more. If I am going to detox we do a juice fast for a few weeks. This time around we are doing 30 days of paleo/primal to detox. I also enjoy Epsom salt baths.

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One of my favorite alternative health sites, earthclinic.com, has a page dedicated to oil pulling with lots of feedback (good and bad) from people who have tried this method. Here's the page: http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html

 

Thank you for this link! I appreciate reading the testimonies of others. So many people comment on their teeth getting whiter -- I've had naturally yellowish teeth for a long time (no coffee, no wine, nothing else regularly that would stain teeth), so that would be a great benefit.

 

:iagree: I made it all of 3 days before I just couldn't stand it any more.

 

It does take some concentrated effort. I have found that reading the above link while swishing made the time go faster. :tongue_smilie:I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be doing the tiny little swallows at the back of my throat (not swallowing the oil, just the natural reflex of swallowing, but that helps me.

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I've been oil pulling for about 3 weeks, though this week has been off and on, it is hard to get it done on an empty stomach.

 

I really thought this article was helpful http://www.jonbarron.org/article/oil-pulling-detoxing -I liked the scientific slant to it without the hype.

 

I'm using coconut oil, the first 4 days it made me dry-heave when I went to spit it out, but now I'm fine. I found that not putting too much in your mouth is key, and also that I can make 15 minutes by washing my face and putting on my face makeup while I'm swishing. My teeth do look whiter, but I also started brushing with non-flouride toothpaste and rinsing a couple times a week with either warm salt water or a perioxide/water mix after the pulling.

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From what I read, oil pulling isn't just for dental health, but for detoxing and whole-body health. Like you, there can't be any harm in it so I'll keep doing it for awhile. It's hard to hold out for 20 minutes. Does it take you that long to get to the white/thick stage?

 

It got easier with every day. I seriously doubted I could do this for even 10 minutes. I walked around, did the dishes, whatever and it became easier. Keep at it.

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I tried it for about a week. I didn't notice any effects at all so I stopped. I thought it was icky and I felt kind of silly doing it. If you are looking to get your teeth whiter, one thing that has worked for me is painting my teeth with lemon juice and baking soda, let it sit for 5 minutes then brush. I've also seen recommendations for also using crushed strawberries and baking soda. Something about the combination helps to bleach stains off teeth.

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one thing that has worked for me is painting my teeth with lemon juice and baking soda, let it sit for 5 minutes then brush. I've also seen recommendations for also using crushed strawberries and baking soda. Something about the combination helps to bleach stains off teeth.

 

I thought lemon juice pitted teeth? I have heard that baking soda/hydrogen peroxide paste keeps plaque from forming (1x a week) but you already have a lot...

Edited by Susan C.
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If you are looking to get your teeth whiter...

 

That's not at all my main purpose (it'd just be a nice benefit). My gums are in poor shape right now, so I'm hoping to see that improve. There are some other things mentioned at the sites that I also deal with, so any benefits in those areas would also be greatly appreciated. :001_smile:

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I really thought this article was helpful http://www.jonbarron.org/article/oil-pulling-detoxing -I liked the scientific slant to it without the hype.

 

Thanks for posting this. It's very good.

 

I'm using coconut oil

 

Do you have to heat it, then, to get it in liquid form? If I had to do that, I'd probably not get the pulling done as much. I have a bottle of sesame oil in my master bathroom so I can just do it before leaving the bedroom.

Edited by milovaný
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Do you have to heat it, then, to get it in liquid form? If I had to do that, I'd probably not get the pulling done as much. I have a bottle of sesame oil in my master bathroom so I can just do it before leaving the bedroom.

The first time I tried, I used coconut oil without melting it first. That totally gagged me.

 

Melting it first made it much more tolerable.

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Thanks for posting this. It's very good.

 

 

 

Do you have to heat it, then, to get it in liquid form? If I had to do that, I'd probably not get the pulling done as much. I have a bottle of sesame oil in my master bathroom so I can just do it before leaving the bedroom.

 

No, I don't heat the coconut oil. I keep the coconut oil in my pantry, so it is the consistency of soft butter already, once you put it in your hand or mouth, it melts really fast by your body temp.

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No, I don't heat the coconut oil. I keep the coconut oil in my pantry, so it is the consistency of soft butter already, once you put it in your hand or mouth, it melts really fast by your body temp.

 

I'm doing fine with sesame oil. Like the flavor I think.

 

Question: Can this replace flossing? The way oil pulling works as described in the article you linked (going in to the pockets between teeth and gums where the bacteria resides, and flushing it out)) makes me think it can. That'd be so cool. For some reason I don't take the time to floss, but do take the time to swish oil.

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So, I went in for my teeth cleaning today. I didn't get any kind of amazed/astonished reaction :tongue_smilie:, but the hygienist DID say she was surprised it'd been 20 or so years since my last cleaning because my pockets and what not didn't seem as bad as she'd expect with that length of time. Not very conclusive, I know, but hey, it's something. :001_smile:

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Well, thanks to this thread, I just HAD to try it! :tongue_smilie: I do like it, and will continue. I don't use as much as called for, though. I have a small mouth! And I'm still working my way up to 20 minutes. I usually go about 10-15 so far.

 

 

Cool! Did you read the article linked above (several posts in to the thread, the one about how it's not "pulling" toxins from the body, but cleaning out the gum pockets of bacteria?) That really helped me want to keep going with it.

Edited by milovaný
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I tried it for a couple of weeks and then fell off the wagon. When I tried sesame oil I gagged big time. Switched to sunflower oil which I tolerated better. The longest I made it was 12 minutes.

 

I would like to try again and see if I can stick it out longer and reap some benefits.

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I did! The gum pocket cleaning is one of the biggest reasons I'm doing it!

 

Do you think it can replace flossing? I mean, they're meant to accomplish the same thing, and the oil swishing sounds (and feels!) pretty effective. Somewhere I read "better than a water pik, which I thought was also a flossing alternative). I've had to pull little bits of things through my clenched lips that came out from between the teeth from the swishing.

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