About: Oil Pulling

I mentioned a few products I particularly love with coconut recently in this post, I thought coconut oil in particular deserved a little more focus and much like the oil itself, oil pulling is becoming quite a "thing." I recently started doing it a few months ago and thought I'd shed some light on the method and benefits behind it.

What is oil pulling? 
Oil pulling is essentially a similar concept to using mouth wash. The main exception being you substitute mouth wash for coconut oil and you're swishing it around for longer than you would with mouth wash too.

How do you do it? 
It's a little unpleasant the first time you do it, and using a mild flavoured oil will definitely help - coconut is great because it tastes mild and is naturally slightly anti-bacterial. I take a teaspoon sized amount (shown above) and you chew it up until it's a liquid. If you're in a very hot climate your oil may already be in its liquid state. Once you're chewing it up and gently swishing it around (you don't need to do it quite as vigorously as you would with Listerine...) check the time - you ideally want to be oil pulling for 10 - 20 minutes. I do this process every third day usually - I like to clean my teeth first, floss and then oil pull. I feel like the oil gets to do the best job and have greater access to your teeth when they're already clean. Afterwards, brush again to get any excess oil off your teeth.

A few things to note - don't spit the oil down the drain, once it cools again it'll solidify can block the drain. Either spit it into the garden or a paper towel and bin it. Also, don't swallow the oil - by the time it's been doing its thing for 20 minutes there's a lot of gunk in there you don't want in your stomach.

What are the benefits? 
The benefits are numerous - for a start it helps remove bacteria in your mouth. You know when you cook with oil and the oil absorbs the colour/essence of whatever you're cooking in it? It's the same when you oil pull - the coconut will absorb toxins and bacteria in your mouth (which, as mentioned above is why you shouldn't swallow it!). This results in a cleaner feeling mouth and fresher breath - I never have a dry feeling mouth in the mornings when I do this regularly and my teeth keep that "smooth" feel post-brush for longer. You'll notice the colour of the oil has changed when you spit it out - quite revolting but you can see it's working.
Another huge benefit is it very gently whitens your teeth - because it removes surface stains (like coffee and red wine...). It won't whiten them drastically like bleaching would but this is a good option for those of you with sensitive teeth, thin enamel or don't want to splash out on an expensive treatment. I've found my teeth feel less sensitive too and my gums feel a lot healthier and less sensitive too.

Do you oil pull? Is it something you'd try?

Claire x