So what exactly is oil pulling? It's an ancient Ayurvedic method for detox and rejuvenation. You take a tablespoon of oil (coconut, sesame, or olive seem to be the most common) and swish it around in your mouth for 20 minutes - like you would do with mouthwash, but for much longer - before spitting it into the toilet or garbage (not the sink - it can clog the drain). It's said to have myriad health benefits, including whitening your teeth, improving oral hygiene, and helping with digestive issues. Although there haven't really been comprehensive studies to prove any of this. (Also, it's called oil pulling because it's supposed to pull the toxins out of you. I'd prefer if they just called it oil swishing because that's basically what it is.)
(Slightly off topic, but I totally think oils of all kind are great. I used to wash my face with a combo if olive, tea tree and castor oil - I might actually go back to that, since my face was super moisturized when I was doing it - and I use argon oil as a daily facial moisturizer. My foundation is also argon oil foundation, which I amazing. I just slather it on like tinted moisturizer, put a little concealer under my eyes and I'm good to go. Plus, I'm (half) Italian, so I use olive oil a lot in cooking. I'm very pro-oil, for all facets of life.)
So, when I was at my dad's house last weekend, I swirled some olive oil around in my mouth while I took a shower on both Saturday and Sunday. And it surprisingly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Granted, I only did it for maybe 7 minutes each time, instead of the prescribed 20 ( it just doesn't usually take me a long time to shower unless I have to shave). But I didn't gag or accidentally swallow it. (I did accidentally spit some out when I was putting face moisturizer on...) And it didn't taste horrible. At first it actually didn't really taste like much. As I went on, it started to get a much stronger olive oily flavor. I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen or if it was just a cheap brand of olive oil. Maybe that's why people use coconut oil - it probably tastes better.
What really intrigued me is that the oil looks nothing like it did going in when you spit it out (which I did in the toilet so as not to clog the drain). Going in it just looks like olive oil. Coming out it was kind of milky yellow. I guess that's what happens when you agitate oil for that long?
I've kept up the practice this week during my morning showers. So, did it do anything? I have no idea. My teeth aren't any whiter and I don't suddenly feel amazing. But it's only been a few days, so I wasn't really expecting any of that. I'm going to do it (or try to remember to do it) for the next month and then reevaluate it's usefulness.
The next thing I want to try? Cold showers. They're supposed to help improve your blood circulation, energy, and mood, among other benefits. And, many people use it as kind of a rallying call to work toward their dreams - if they can do something as uncomfortable as purposely taking a cold shower in the morning, they can do anything. I like my warm, warm showers, so this one might be tough - and might take some working up to. And I might gasp and scream like a little girl the first time I try, so I might not want to combine that with oil pulling. That could be a disgusting mess.
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