What Is Oil Pulling?

Oil pulling is the latest trend to take the wellness community by storm. However it’s not new it’s very old. It dates back 5,000 years it comes from Ayurveda’s morning routine. Ayurveda literal means science of life. It comes from yoga’s past. I have practiced the Ayurvedic morning routine for years, yet oil pulling has taken off like it’s brand new.

One of my former yoga students and friends. Told me she was oil pulling and I had no idea what she was talking about, but she had glowing reviews for it. I asked her to explain it to me after lunch one day and I told her it came from Ayurveda and she had no idea what I meant. Generally we don’t talk about Ayurveda often with our yoga students. We discuss it and advise our yoga teacher training students to try it. I have taught teacher training for almost 10 years and I started the ayurvedaic morning routine prior to me going to teacher training. I was an advanced yoga student. I practice a lot of the routine a lot of it makes a lot of sense, but you don’t understand why until you are an advanced student. To look at it as a lay person it seems odd.

You can google oil pulling and pull up all sorts of testimonies, and dentist agreeing that it works. Oil pulling, Dinacharya (Ayurvedic morning routine) is taking raw organic coconut oil and swishing it around your mouth for 20 minutes. The oil is antimicroboal it gets into the tissues of the mouth and the gums. Recent clinical studies have proven oil pulling decreases plaque indexes in the mouth and reduce halitosis. There are many testimonies that their gums don’t bleed anymore and their teeth are whiter. The oil removes bacteria, and reduces inflammation. The dental community has been saying for years theres a correlation between inflammation in the gums and the heart.

Ayurveda recognizes the body as one system If you have inflammation in any part of the body you will have it in other parts of the body. What I can say about oil pulling is to try it. In Ayruveda you brush the teeth and scrape the tongue. If you have ever gone to acupuncture your body is related to how your tongue looks. So scrape your tongue.

Also never spit the oil down your drain, I don’t think anywhere I looked did it give that recommendation. It can clog your drain. If you have ever used coconut oil you know it’s either a solid or a liquid depending on the temperature of the room it’s stored in. It will be the same in your drain. So spit it into a bathroom cup and throw it away.

Start with half a tablespoon of oil and and gradually increase to a tablespoon of oil. Try it for a week and see if you like it. Try it for five minutes and gradually increase the time seven minutes, ten minutes, I think any time is better than none. Then brush your teeth and scrape your tongue. You can buy a tongue scraper at any health food store.

Here’s to dental health.