In looking up natural remedies for keratosis pilaris for a friend I saw the subject of oil pulling come up. Curious, I googled around and found that it’s the kind of holistic treatment that I like- minimal possibility of side effects, inexpensive, not time consuming.
What is oil pulling?
It’s essentially swishing oil around in your mouth to pull out toxins from your body, which clears up many chronic conditions. Because of my love of coconut oil, I tried that. I was a little squeamish to actually put the whole recommended tablespoon of oil in my mouth so I just used a teaspoon, chewing to melt the coconut oil. It’s kind of weird to get used to, but doable. Then I swished for about 5 minutes, spit, and brushed. My mouth feels cleaner afterward, and I notice a little more phlegm running down the back of my throat (a sign of cleansing, I think) after. If I could remember to consistently do this daily or even every other day, perhaps I’d know if it cleared up keratosis pilaris for me or not ~grin~.
The theories
With holistic methods (or anything, actually) I’m always interested in knowing the reasoning behind the treatment. There are a few different theories behind why oil pulling works, here are the ones I came across that seem plausible.
- Oil has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, which cleans out the mouth naturally. Because everything in our bodies is tied together, a clean healthy mouth supports a clean healthy body. A chronic condition may be a symptom of another underlying problem, such as buildup of toxins within the mouth/digestive system.
- The oil actually is pulling toxins out of the body through the mucous membranes in the mouth.
- Chronic conditions are a oil deficiency, and the essential fatty acids are being absorbed sublingually, correcting the deficiency.
Some of the chronic conditions that may be helped by oil pulling:
- Keratosis pilaris (those little bumps commonly on the back of the arms)
- Eczema
- Migraine headaches
- Insomnia
- Discolored teeth
- Gingivitis
- Acne
If you think about it, these conditions are most likely a symptom of an underlying problem. As with a lot of holistic treatments that address the root of a problem, you’re likely to get worse before you get better. I noticed that I got more phlegm in my throat after oil pulling at first. Presumably this is from toxins being released.
There seem to be differing opinions on how long to ‘pull’ (I don’t know why it’s not called swishing) for, from pulling for no longer than 3-4 minutes so as not to re-absorb the toxins that were pulled out, to pulling for 20 minutes to fully benefit from the treatment. I decided 5 minutes seemed doable, so that’s what I started with.
While you may feel silly doing it (my children find this highly amusing), doing this daily for a couple weeks or so doesn’t seem to have many downsides if it clears up a lingering chronic condition without side effects.
More cheap-and-easy natural remedies:
Garlic Ear Oil for Earaches
Tea Tree Oil for Mastitis
Plain Water for Pink Eye
An elimination diet for a breastfeeding mother to clear up baby’s rash (okay… perhaps not completely easy!)
Have you tried oil pulling before?
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I have never heard of oil pulling before tonight. But in terms of how it might work, it is remarkably similar to a well-known daoist yogic technique which does essentially exactly the same thing except without the oil and at the end the saliva is swallowed since it is regarded as super-charged.
I suspect there is something in the saliva that is also working here, perhaps even a form of auto-feedback mechanism as the tongue and saliva mutually react upon each other and the content of the saliva changes accordingly.
In any case, there is a close parallel with a different tradition.
That’s it, between yours and Elizabeth’s posts I am gonna try this today!! I really hope it works on the whitening thing as I have dark spots on my two front teeth that I have never had before!! I have noticed just from sipping tea every morning with a lot of coconut oil in it that it fights off issues in my mouth such as swollen gums or say an ulcer – I used to get chronic sinus infections and now if I feel even the hint of inflammation in my gums – I go for the coconut oil!!!
I’ve always wanted to try this but have been afraid that it will cause my gold crown at the back of my jaw fall out. Advice, anyone?
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