Oil Pulling: Helpful to Us or Much Ado About Nothing?

[wmonique2]

Hello Friends,

Have you tried it? I am considering it but don't know if I can keep oil for 20 minutes in my mouth. Chime in!

Thanks,

Monique

[Gabes-Apg]

I have done oil pulling.

I find brushing teeth and gums with zinc liquid and using lingual CoQ10 works way better, is easier and quicker.

if you do a search there has been a few previous discussions about oil pulling

[wmonique2]

Thanks Gabes. I have done some research...does the liquid zinc and lingual CoQ10 achieve the same results in terms of detoxifying body etc... I am not too sure about any of the claims, to be honest.


Monique

[Gabes-Apg]

zinc is very key for detoxing - removes heavy metals and toxins from the whole body.

google, zinc gum health lots of good articles.

http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/Zinc/2071

It is important in normal growth and development, the maintenance of body tissues, sexual function, the immune system, and detoxification of chemicals and metabolic irritants. Carbohydrate metabolism is influenced by zinc, and zinc is needed in the synthesis of DNA, which aids our body's healing process. Zinc is often helpful in reducing healing time after surgery or burns

mayo clinic summary on CoQ10
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplem ... b-20059019

doing both of these not only helps gums/oral health, it has multitude of other benefits.
takes 2 mins each morning to brush gums and teeth with zinc liquid.

[Maryse]

Hello Monique,

I tried oil pulling but it made me feel like throwing up. I use an organic blend that I spread on my floss and it's been great. It's called "Healthy Mouth blend" by Ora Wellness (check ingredients for sensitivity). I've also heard - for those of us who can have coconut - that adding some coconut oil to the toothbrush works wonders.

All the best!

[tex]

Hi Monique,

I'm just thinking out loud here, but the people who originated this idea are probably not scientists, and actually don't have the foggiest idea what it actually does. The epithelial surfaces (such as the skin and the lining of the digestive tract, including the mouth) are wonderful, complex organs. They are designed to allow certain things to pass through, under certain circumstances, but the effect is not necessarily omnidirectinal.

For example, when we place oil, or water, or whatever, on our skin, what will happen? Some will evaporate, and some will soak in, depending on the volatility, viscosity, and a few other properties of the liquid. But will anything come out of the skin? Not likely.

What happens when we soak in bath water saturated with Epsom salts. Will anything come out of our pores? Maybe — but one thing is always for sure. More soaks in than exudes out. We will soak up a lot of the Epsom salts, and virtually anything else that is in the water, but exactly what comes out (if anything) is pretty much unknown, and while it may be the subject of speculation, I doubt that any scientific studies have been made to actually determine what (if anything) might come out.

Our skin readily soaks up most oils, and those oils enter our body transdermally. The epithelial lining of the mouth is extremely similar to the skin, except for the mucosal layer. Based on what happens on the skin, we can be pretty sure that virtually any liquids in contact with the lining of the mouth will be absorbed (we know for a fact that sublingual vitamin supplements are rapidly absorbed this way).

So we can be pretty sure that much of that oil that you hold in your mouth for 20 minutes (or whatever) will be absorbed into your body (into your bloodstream). But will anything inside the body actually come out, to be absorbed by the oil? Why would it? There's nothing magical about vegetable oils. I'm not aware of any exceptional affinity that toxins in general have for vegetable oils.

I'm well aware of all the claims about how much better advocates of oil-pulling insist they feel after "doing their thing", but that's almost surely due to a "high" induced by the absorption of the oil.

But I'm strictly thinking out loud here. And you have to remember that I'm biased —I don't put anything in my mouth that I don't want to be either absorbed or ingested. IMO, it would save a lot of time if, instead of holding a significant quantity of oil in the mouth for 15 or 20 minutes, a fraction of that amount were simply swallowed, instead. The result will be the same, for all practical purposes, and you can save 15 or 20 minutes this way. But as always, YMMV.

Love,
Tex

[C.U.B. girl]

Bleah. I tried it to see if it was worth all the hype, but I could never get past five minutes. All that oil and spit sloshing around in there just made me want to Decided it wasn't worth it; there are a lot of other less nauseous ways to detox….

[wmonique2]

Thanks, Tex, Gabes, Cindy...

Tex, thanks for that expansive explanation...makes sense, as usual :)

Yes, indeed there are other ways to have dental hygiene without having to hold oil in your mouth for 20 minutes. Also, I read some people get nauseated from the experience. That is, for me at least, a huge deterrent. Nausea is a big issue for me and the last thing I want is to trigger it.

Love,

Monique

[tex]

Also, I read some people get nauseated from the experience.

That's probably because the various parts of the digestive system communicate among themselves through the enteric nervous system, so that they can coordinate their digestive activities. For example, when the mouth senses food, it immediately sends chemical and ENS signals to the stomach, so that the parietal cells can ramp up the production of gastric acid to help digest the food that is only a few swallows away.

And if the mouth is filled with oil for 20 minutes, can you just imagine what type of signal it relays to the stomach? . . . Probably something like — Hey! . . . get ready! There may be a hell of an oil spill headed your way!

And what would the response be? Probably something like — Huh!



Love,
Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

Keep in mind, our bodies can do very effective detoxification, so long as inflammation is at a minimum and we have the right minerals and nutrients for the detox process to occur properly.

[CathyMe.]

I tried it too and just about vomited! Nasty business and completely gross IMHO!

[wmonique2]

Very funny, Tex!!!!