Oil Pulling: Unlock Natural Oral Health & Detox Benefits

I just recently started oil pulling with sesame oil and I have experienced a sore throat. Is this normal?

Has anyone tried oil pulling with palm oil? I've been doing it for a couple days now mixed with coconut oils. Has anyone else tried Palm oil of any kind?

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

Has anybody tried oil pulling for hormonal issues? I've been dealing with hormonal problems and gigantic uterine fibroids for years. I have too much estrogen or too little progesteron. Probably candida problem as well. I've been oil pulling for two month. I missed a day or two here and there, but not much. Started with extra virgin/virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil, then extra virgin olive oil, now coconut oil again. It definitely helps with my hormonal issues, and my fibroids, which is why I don't want to stop, but ever since I've started oil pulling, I've been having some serious flu-like symptoms. On and off, mostly on. Mainly sinus problems (that seem to be candida related) and bad fatigue. I'm pretty sure this is healing crisis, but how much longer is this supposed to last? It just would be easier not to give up knowing how much longer to hold on.

Edith: It is obvious you need to do some additional detox remedies and cleanses. For starters ---ACV, Iodine, Turpentine, Borax, and herbs like Garlic and Oregano.

Thank you for your advice! I did one thorough colon-liver cleanse 2 months before starting oil pulling. I'm aware how amazing cleanses are, unfortunately I find them very time and money consuming. I'm already using apple cider vinegar and all kinds of herbs that are good for the sinuses and are antifungal. I'm also using colloidal silver nose spray and xylitol-grapefruit seed extract-saline nose spray to treat my sinus infection. Taking cayenne pepper capsules helps with the fatigue. I've just checked out turpentine and borax, never knew they were so beneficial. I knew about iodine, I just somehow never got to try it. I will give these a try, thank you for the tip!

@ Perla:

You say you pull in the morning, and that's fine, but most of the bacterial growth happens overnight, and so that's when I pull, in the evening, just before bed, I may scrape my tongue as well, but I only OP for 20 seconds and spit, then I repeat two more times. I have chronic gum issues, so my 1st spit is red, then second pink, and the third runs clear and I leave it on my teeth so that the natural antimicrobial feature of the coconut oil can give some protection overnight. Best Wishes

Fantastic! Did you start off doing the oil pulling 3 times per day, or did you gradually increase? Can you please share how long you oil pull each time? I've heard 20 minutes is needed for full effects. Thanks!

Can I swallow the mucus that forms in my throat as I oil pull? I have to spit out the oil several times to clear my throat as I pull for 20 minutes. This gets expensive with virgin coconut oil.

The mucus is draining from my sinuses, not part of the oil in my mouth. Is it as toxic as the oil?

i just got (5 days ago) my teeth all pulled and have temporary dentures in, my gums are swollen. Is it ok to use coconut oil pulling now, will it help with the swelling and healing or not? Don't want to cause issues if not recomended to do ...

If it were me, I wouldn't oil pull until the swelling was gone and everything was completely healed. I'd wait a month or so.

All of the sucking and swishing of oil pulling could cause further trauma to the area. Maybe just gently swish a bit of coconut oil for a minute?

Why risk anything for the sake of missing a few weeks of oil pulling? It's not worth it.

Debbie (Ontario, CA)---

When dealing with abscesses as in my case, I usually get chamomile tea to heal. So for the mouth, pain and open wounds, , gently keep the chamomile in the mouth, replenishing with more warm tea. This should help with healing. Do several times for a few minutes.

You will be well.

Namaste, Om

It might be worth noting that although coconut trees grow in India, traditional Ayurvedic oil pulling involves sesame or sunflower oil. And it might be worth noting that the person who first promoted (so far as I know) OP with coconut oil also has an interest in a coconut growers? association of some kind. I don't remember the name of either, but he has published various books on coconut oil. Always ask what the guy is selling. Always ask who might benefit. It is possible that in India sesame oil and sunflower oil are more readily available or less expensive, so are available to more people. Could someone comment on why coconut oil is not used for Ayurvedic oil pulling?

I don't understand why anyone would use canola oil. There is no canola plant. Canola oil is highly refined rapeseed oil. As it comes from the plant it is highly beneficial to health, but in processing it has long exposure to heat, light, and air, all of which degrade it, so that it is unhealthful before it even arrives at the supermarket. Just search on YouTube canola oil how it's made. On various oils (not for OP but on oils in general) see raypeatdotcom (several articles).

Thank you for all the useful information on Earth Clinic.

I've been oil pulling for over 7 months, every day, with no obvious benefits... I'm planning to keep doing it because I may have built up a lot of toxins in my body having many teeth root canal-ed. I have several sensitive teeth, and I have not noticed any differences either.

I started to drink Sole (Rock salt water). I'm wondering which is more effective - Oil pull first thing the morning and then Sole water, or the other way around.

Oil pulling is to draw toxins out, but Sole is much more than that. If you know which I should start first in the morning, please let me know. Also I would like to know how long I should wait to eat breakfast after drinking Sole.

Thanks, Yuko

Hi Yuko... oil pulling
I have been oil pulling for almost a month now and have seen a significant difference in my teeth and gums... I can actually see the plague that came off of my teeth..My gums look better and I do believe toxins are coming out of my body as some days I have flu like symptoms and a rash... I love it because yes again I can see the plague off of my teeth.....and they are whiter..

I am using organic safflower oil

I have had terrible problems with teeth and gums since childhood. As an adult it is too expensive to get all the repair work done. So I heard about the oil pulling and thought why not, it can only help. I have been cooking with the high quality organic coconut oil for a year now, so I have some on hand. I tried a tsp this morning because I was afraid it would make me want to gag. But I was surprised it didn't..it did the "pulling" while showering. Which was kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy..had to concentrate. So I will do this each morning now to see how it works. It certainly isn't going to hurt anything.

Aloha -

Just posted a question yesterday about how to tell whether a bottle of DMSO is the real thing, despite what they write on the label. But this seems real important too, so I'm writing my second question again as a separate post. [I had just found an older post from some months ago about using DMSO in oil-pulling, so this would definitely be a factor in that too].

I had written: "I had also dropped some in my mouth with iodine, as Walter Last suggested on is website for possible deep tooth problems (may have a problem with a root canal from over a year ago, which never fully stopped hurting). But then I thought about the 3 fillings I have left, made up of the old style mercury amalgam. Not to mention whatever material it is that filled the root canal.What's the probability that the DMSO would leach the mercury and other materials quickly and directly into my blood (even across the blood-brain barrier)? And more so than would happen anyways without using it?"

While trying to assess whether the DMSO I just received is really what it says it is, I have to question why I occasionally get a brief metallic taste in my mouth, rather than any garlicky or sulfur sort of taste. I get a quick spurt of it, not at the time I take or apply the DMSO, but throughout the day, having used it in the morning.

Maybe it could be from impurities in the DMSO itself? Though it claims to be of pharmaceutical grade 99.9% and up. (It was distributed by a building/materials company, though which claims to have been distributing this for 30 years).

Or maybe it could be from impurities being booted out of my own body, which were caught up somewhere in my system?

Or else, maybe from my amalgam fillings?

If the last possibility were the case... must decide whether it would be better not to use the DMSO at all and switch to MSM only - though I want to continue experimenting with it, with my stubborn tennis elbow (which started in September last year) and many other increasing malfunctions.

Of course, the best thing to do would be to replace the last 3 amalgam fillings I have, but I cannot afford to do that yet.

Is there anyone else with silver fillings who is getting this effect? I'd love to ask this to Walter Last (who wrote this: http://www.health-science-spirit.com/msm.html , along with many other great articles worth reading on that site), but he no longer takes questions.

Oh, by the way, I did put the roll-on bottle of DMSO in the fridge last night and it did freeze solid. But a dropper-full of it in a glass, from the larger bottle, did not solidify at all in the same fridge at the same time. Could there be other chemical compositions which would freeze at 65 F too?

Thanks again. Many great remedies to you all...

1. Oil pulling is best done first thing before brushing your teeth or drinking anything.

2.it is best to do it for 20 minutes.

3. Spit it out in the garbage.

4. Rinse with warm water , brush your teeth and drink water afterwards.

5. Do research on this, don't just listen to chat sites.

How long can you use oil pulling before you see or get result for pulmonary fibrosis?

I have a question about oil pulling. The benefits sound great and I really want to do this, but I can only hold a teaspoon of oil in my mouth for 1-2 minutes and then I start gagging and retching. I'm so glad I followed the advice to do this on an empty stomach! For the first week I used olive oil because that is what I had in the house, but then I bought some organic unrefined sesame oil and still I gag and retch. I've now tried 12 times and can't get beyond 2 minutes. I busy myself with with getting ready for the day to take my mind off the swishing, but that has not helped. So my question is, how can I overcome gagging and retching? Please advise.

Liz, don't try too hard: 1. Two minutes is also useful! 2. You can also do it with plain ol' water!

Hi, I have been married for 9 years and been trying for a child. I have been reading a lot of article on oil pulling.

My main questions is oil pulling safe for planning a pregnancy and for someone who is pregnant. What I know is oil pulling is a detox program. I would like to try but I'm having the fear of using it. Thank you.

Dear Harjit,

Personally, I would be comfortable oil pulling when not pregnant. You can stop if you find out that you have conceived.

~Mama to Many~

Hi...I just started oil pulling. I'm 55 y.o. I am using grapeseed oil. Where would I purchase sesame oil or black cumin seed oil? I found the grapeseed oil fairly thick. Is this normal? Does the sesame oil you cook with differ from the sesame oil that you pull with. Appreciate your feedback...Tyvm

Lorna, from what I have read, plain ol' cooking sesame oil is fine for pulling.

I was looking around at Mercola's house this morning and happened upon an article concering pathogens in the mouth that can cause problems else where in the body and thought this might be of interest to the "Oil Pulling" crowd. And Mercola mentions some information on this also. Here is the link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/05/oral-pathogens.aspx

Ok. So I was looking over this Oil pulling issue and I don't know about it, yet. There seems to be many people reporting benefit from it. So I am going to try it. But I am going to be a bit of a risk taker. I am a grown up and have capacity so I took a small amount of 99.9 pure DMSO and swished it around in my mouth tonight and spit it out. It was quite surprising the sensation. It warmed up my mouth. DMSO is a solvent so it may stand to reason that a strong solvent may be a good "puller". I will keep researching this.

Is oil pulling safe during pregnancy?

Dear Alexa,

My understanding has been that you should avoid doing things during pregnancy that cause detox, as toxins released could get to the baby. Unfortunately, the same recommendation holds during breastfeeding, so you end up having a long time where it is not best to do things that detox the body. Of course, in some ways the body is always detoxing...elimination channels are taking out toxins and waste regularly; the idea is just that you don't want to do extra detoxing while you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Now, midwives do sometimes recommend epsom salt baths (to stop pre-term contractions) and that can be detoxing. Perhaps it is milder. Though you wouldn't want to take a super-hot bath as it can raise the temperature of the baby.

If you are looking to do general detoxing, it would be best to wait. If you have a specific issue in your mouth you are dealing with, there may be some other things that would be better to try while pregnant.

~Mama to Many~

Alexa: To improve the body's detoxification and ensure the health of the baby, substantially increase Calciferous vegetables in the diet (in the least); in the most take extracted supplements of DIM, I3C, Sulforaphane.

Cruciferous vegetables ...