Oil Pulling- Help your teeth, your joints and your gut!

Picture this scene. Its 6 a.m. You wake up tousle headed, out of bed and head straight for the bathroom. First thing you do is pour out a tablespoon of coconut oil and put it into your mouth. The swish swish swish sound starts off while you attend to your other ablutions. Swish swish swish and the water for tea gets put on the gas. Cups, tiffin boxes, uniforms, clothes, morning lists all laid out…you look at the clock at its approximately 20 minutes since you started the swish swish swish.

You go to the bathroom, spit out the oil, brush your teeth as usual and continue with the rest of your morning routine.

What you just did was oil pulling!. Yes that’s it!

This ancient practice is fabulous for dental health. And as a collateral impact, it does wonders for your joints, your skin, hair and gut health!

The science behind it is this. Swilling any good grade oil in the morning removes dental pus cells. Instead of them going into your intestines and blood stream, its trapped by the swilling of oil in your mouth. 20 minutes later, these bad bacteria and dental pus cells go down the drain and not into your body. This improves gut health, digestion and nutrition absorption.

Micro molecules of the good oil get absorbed into your body. And guess what this does to your skin?!

Here is my experience of oil pulling.

• Within 1-2 weeks, my skin took on a glow and suppleness that I had not anticipated.
• About 3 weeks into the practice, my teeth felt so smooth. As I ran my tongue over my teeth, there was an unexpected smoothness. The plaque build up of years had dropped off. Teeth were whiter than ever before. Bid bad breath goodbye if you suffer from it. I am not going to admit I had it 😊. You will also notice your gum health improve.
• After another month or so, I noticed a drop in my joint pains and general inflammation. It was a slow process but that had been the original objective.

There will always be the nerds who want the minute details, so for their benefit, here are some specifics.

• Use any good grade cold pressed oil. If you prefer olive oil or sesame oil, that’s fine too. Extra virgin oils are not necessary.
• Yes, you breathe through your nose while you swill the oil
• No, you wont gag and die. If you feel the gag reflex as you start your experimenting with oil pulling, stop at 5 min and slowly build up the time you are able to tolerate it.
• No, please don’t watch your toes, the sky, everything in the room while you swill the oil in your mouth. You wont last long! Keep busy and before you know it, the 20 min will pass by.
• Spit out the oil after 20 min or so. Keeping at it for longer than that reabsorbs the pus cells into your body and that’s not good for you.
• If you live in cold places, pl spit the oil into a bin. No, I will not pay for your blocked drain cleaning 😊
• And YES, you have to be regular at it
• And yes, these are life practices. You can’t say you exercised intensively for a month in 1990 and its supposed to carry you through life.

Good health is for free and for you to experience if you have knowledge of simple life practices.

Now, as Nature Nudge – crafters of fresh fermented probiotic drinks and foods, why are we choosing to write this article?

Oil pulling improves your gut health. Dental and gut health are linked. You give good bacteria a greater chance to survive in your body when you have good dental hygiene.

And we make probiotic drinks and foods which are full of good bacteria. Helping you and our gut bacteria buddies is a win win!

Do apply these practices to your life and don’t be lazy about it 😊