Oil pulling?

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Lecrae

Guest
#1
#1
Have you ever heard of oil pulling? (Oil Pulling for Oral Health). Supposedly, it's where you swish an oil (such as coconut, sesame seed, or sunflower seed oil) in your mouth for 15-20 minutes (WITHOUT swallowing it, since it contains toxins). Basically, it's a mouthwash (but better). It's supposed to improve overall health as well as oral health. If you know anything about this, do you know if it's legit or not? Everything that I googled seems pretty legit so far, so I was wondering if any of you have heard of it or have even tried it yourself in the past.
 
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EmmyEm

Guest
#2
#2
You could just try it. It won't hurt anyway :)
 
Angela53510

Angela53510

Senior Member
#3
Jan 24, 2011
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A friend of mine did it, and she said it was the worst thing she has ever done in her life, her teeth hurt for weeks, and they also were discoloured by it. My advice is to stay away from it.
 
RedTent

RedTent

Banned
#4
Oct 31, 2011
8,200
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#4
My dentist used Vitamin E on my gums after deep cleaning my teeth. Now, I rub vitamin E oil on my gums after brushing.
 
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AmandaKay

Guest
#5
#5
I've been oil pulling using coconut oil for 2 months now. I started because I was experiencing sharp pain in one of my teeth while brushing and couldn't even chew on the right side of my mouth. It seemed crazy and impossible but I was willing to try anything to avoid dental fees that would deplete me. Pulling 3 times a day at first I was relieved enough to brush and eat normally after a few days, and experienced steady improvement to where I only have a mild sensitivity to cold in that same spot today. I pull only once a day every morning now.. gradually decreased to twice then once daily. Also started taking vitamin d tablets at the same time. I don't know about all the claims out there but I do believe it does the best job to clean, and then proper nutrition will allow the teeth to heal, over time.
 
KimberlyQ

KimberlyQ

Junior Member
#6
Mar 26, 2014
2
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#6
Curious if you tried it!

I started doing it a few weeks ago and I did notice my teeth getting whiter and certain pains diminishing. I'm still waiting to see if I see any differences outside of my mouth since I hear it's supposed to help with skin and other things too.

I did have one friend that said she got really sick after doing it - almost as though the pulling released some bacteria/toxins/virus and it attacked her immune system. But I, like you, have heard and found mostly successful results from doing it.
 
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nelsonr

Guest
#7
#7
Hello Friends

I have used Anointing oil, often are dedicated to use in health and healing. This was an essential element in the ordination of a Cohen and used in a church setting.
 
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christymiller0912

Guest
#8
#8
Hi! I started oil pulling not too long ago. As far as claims go, I'm pretty sure it does clean the teeth pretty well, but I am unsure if it does anything else. I plan to keep doing it to see how it goes. You can just try it and see how it goes for you. Good luck!:)
 
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Wandering_Here

Guest
#9
#9
I am trying oil pulling for the first time, I've been doing it for a week now. I've heard it can improve general health, but if it only cleans my teeth, I'll still be happy :)
 
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Lecrae

Guest
#10
#10
I tried it for many months (even switching oils) since my original post and it had no benefits at all that I could find so I stopped doing it.
 
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Wandering_Here

Guest
#11
#11
Sorry to hear that Lecrae. I bought one jar of coconut oil and if I don't see results by the end of it, I won't buy more. I have two friends who have said they've seen results with the oil pulling, so that made me want to try it.
 
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Spark

Guest
#12
#12
I have heard of it. Not ever done it before.
 
M

mar09

Senior Member
#13
Sep 17, 2014
4,927
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AmandaKay said:
I've been oil pulling using coconut oil for 2 months now. I started because I was experiencing sharp pain in one of my teeth while brushing and couldn't even chew on the right side of my mouth. It seemed crazy and impossible but I was willing to try anything to avoid dental fees that would deplete me. Pulling 3 times a day at first I was relieved enough to brush and eat normally after a few days, and experienced steady improvement to where I only have a mild sensitivity to cold in that same spot today. I pull only once a day every morning now.. gradually decreased to twice then once daily. Also started taking vitamin d tablets at the same time. I don't know about all the claims out there but I do believe it does the best job to clean, and then proper nutrition will allow the teeth to heal, over time.
Click to expand...
Perhaps its in the kind of oil used? Some 'experts'say VCO works best, while others say sesame oil. I saw an article that seems not to depend on fiction as many others that simply copied info from other sites:
http://jonbarron.org/article/oil-pulling-detoxing#.VIy3RSuUfqU
Author prefers to call it oil swishing.
 
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The_Wanderer

Banned
#14
Aug 26, 2014
392
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#14
I'd be careful about this one. I know that anything acidic will soften tooth enamel and that you shouldn't brush for about an hour after having anything acidic in your mouth, since the brushing will have a negative effect on the softened enamel. It takes about an hour for the enamel to recover its hardness. Coconut oil is high in medium-chain fatty acids, so I would think it's on the acidic side of the pH scale.
If you wait until you brush, you should be fine.
 
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Jeff_56

Banned
#15
Dec 26, 2014
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#15
oil pulling works wonderfully for some people.
 
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Jeff_56

Banned
#17
Dec 26, 2014
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#17
  1. Oil pulling: tradition cleanses your body. - Amanprana

    www.noble-house.tk/.../Oil_pulling-tradition_cleanses_your_body.html‎
    Oil pulling: tradition cleanses your body. The age-old tradition of oil pulling. The
    technique of oil pulling originated two thousand years ago. Back then, Ayurvedic
    ...
  2. Oil Pulling: Thousand Year Old Ayurvedic Tooth and Gum Treatment ...

    The JB Bardot Archivesoil-pulling-thousand-year-old-ayurvedic-tooth-and-gum-treatment-whitens-teeth-heals-arthritis-hypertension-diabetes-allergie...‎

  3. Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic therapy which has recently undergone a surge
    in interest from the general public. Some people claim that not only does it ...
  4. Oil Pulling: Thousand Year Old Ayurvedic Tooth ... - Rumor Mill News

    Oil Pulling: Thousand Year Old Ayurvedic Tooth and Gum Treatment Whitens Teeth, Heals Arthritis, Hypertension, Diabetes,

    Sep 27, 2014 ... Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic therapy which has recently undergone a surge
    in interest from the general public. Some people claim that ...
RememberTheSabbathDay said:
What is oil pulling?
Click to expand...
 
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psalm6819

Guest
#18
#18
If you have cavities be VERY careful I pulled out 2 fillings.
 
SoulWeaver

SoulWeaver

Senior Member
#19
Oct 25, 2014
4,889
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I have done this on and off for a few years without any ill effects. Some positive effects have been better breath, cleaner teeth, I'd say also better digestion and immunity.
Usually I check this kind of stuff on earthclinic.com because they dont allow advertising products, people basically give feedback on various natural medicines, did it help them or not.
I also look up pubmed.gov for some science on it...
There are passionate claims that oil pulling helps with various diseases, especially autoimmune stuff. What is scientifically proven so far is that it helps with bacteria in the mouth and infections raging there, reducing bad breath and bacteria population. What I gather from all data available is that the improvement of various diseases by oil pulling has this basis: bad bacteria in our mouths, especially in the places that the toothbrush cant reach, like in between the teeth and gum pockets, small cracks in between the filling and the tooth (maybe root canals as well?), tax the immune system so much, that other illnesses improve - sometimes dramatically - when this problem is addressed by oil pulling. It is well known that people can get ill of rotten teeth and how it can cause all kinds of health issues. Lingual lipase is secreted during oil pulling, too, which might affect the body beneficially. I also believe that there is more to this, as with all the folk wisdom, than the science has currently caught up with.

Practicalities: some have experienced dental work getting loose, however, others claim that loose work will disattach and there is no problem if the fillings and crowns are well done. I'm in the second group, as for a few years I havent pulled any filling yet. I used organic coconut oil, and both refined and unrefined sunflower oil. I had no discoloration issues, in fact the teeth got a bit whiter. The reports of whiter teeth are mostly coming from those who pull with coconut oil. Traditional Indian oil of choice for this is sesame oil. Opinions are divided on whether it is better to use unrefined or refined oils. It would be best to try a few and see what gives the best result. It is important not to swallow the oil after swishing it for 10-20 minutes (not longer) because it contains toxins, and to well clean the tongue, not just the teeth afterwards.

Here are some links to scientific studies regarding oil pulling effects on oral health. They all agree that o.p. is a successful method to maintain dental hygienne and keep bacteria levels low. Skip to "CONCLUSIONS" section for quick scanning of what each study has shown.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18408265
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19336860
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21525674
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21911944
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25584309
 
M

mar09

Senior Member
#20
Sep 17, 2014
4,927
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mar09 said:
Perhaps its in the kind of oil used? Some 'experts'say VCO works best, while others say sesame oil. I saw an article that seems not to depend on fiction as many others that simply copied info from other sites:
Oil Pulling For Detoxing? No, But Helps With Gum Disease & Immunity -- Natural Health Newsletter
Author prefers to call it oil swishing.
Click to expand...
Went back to read parts of this:
...While it is true that there are many things that are old that are marvelously wise (like meditation and deep prayer), there are also many things that are very old that aren't so nice (like human sacrifice). The age of a healing technique matters not at all. All that matters is whether it works or not.

On the other hand, everything I knew about detoxing (which is quite a bit) had a problem with the concept of oil pulling as a detoxing technique. Detoxing tends to be specialized. That is to say, it takes different techniques to detox different organs. For example, you use a different technique to cleanse the liver and blood than you do for cleaning out the intestinal tract. And you use a different technique for cleaning out the kidneys than you do for removing heavy metals. Nevertheless, there are a couple of techniques that serve as general detoxifiers (saunas and cold sheet treatments2), but these make use of the entire surface area of the skin and take substantially longer than 20 minutes. I just couldn't accept the fact that oil pulling actually worked by detoxifying the body.

As for "activating enzymes," I had no idea what that even meant!

And yet, there was a substantial body of testimonials that indicated it absolutely was doing something to improve health. True there are no significant studies to support most of the claims, but let's put studies in perspective for a moment. They are not all they are cracked up to be. As I've explained many times before, studies as designed by the medical community, which are subtractive by nature, don't work well when it comes to multi-faceted, additive, alternative health programs. And for that matter, they don't work all that well when it comes to medical matters either -- frequently producing flawed and/or contradictory results. Indeed, medicine as a whole is much less scientific than you might think.


Reported benefits of oil pulling

According to an article on the Earth Clinic website3, Oil Pulling is reported to cure: "Mouth & Gum Disease; Stiff Joints; Allergies; Asthma; High Blood Sugar; Constipation; Migraines; Bronchitis; Eczema; Heart, Kidney, Lung Diseases; Leukemia; Arthritis; Meningitis; Insomnia; Menopause (hormonal issues); Cancer; AIDS; Chronic Infections; Varicose Veins; High Blood Pressure; Diabetes; Polio; Cracked Heels."
Or as Dr. Karach, one of the biggest proponents of oil pulling says, "The Oil-therapy heals totally headaches, bronchitis, tooth pain, thrombosis, eczema, ulcers, intestinal diseases, heart and kidney diseases, encephalitis and woman's diseases. Preventively the growth of malignant tumors is cut and healed. Chronic blood diseases, paralysis, diseases of nerves, stomach, lungs and liver and sleeplessness are cured."4

Now that's an impressive list. And interestingly enough, there may be some truth to it -- sort of. In fact, most of the benefits of oil pulling may actually be indirect results from the one benefit that it probably is truly responsible for: eliminating mouth and gum disease...
 
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