Have you ever heard of coconut oil pulling before? Maybe you have or currently use coconut oil for other things such as cooking and/or baking OR maybe, just maybe, you have heard of the quote "I got 99 problems and coconut oil helped 98 of them,"...no? Okay, that's okay because now you have heard it and right now you can learn about one of the many amazing benefits of coconut oil, called oil pulling.
Oil pulling has been around for a looong time, but in the past several years coconut oil has been declared a superfood and has blown up in popularity. Okay so, what is oil pulling? It is when you take an amount of coconut oil (for the purpose of this post) and swish it around in your mouth like you would mouthwash.
Why the heck would you do that?
Coconut oil pulling, especially first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth or drinking anything, is beneficial for many reasons. These are just a few:
+ Removes bad bacteria
+ Removes toxins
+ Freshens breath
+ Whitens teeth
+ Protects and builds enamel
+ Diminishes and/or stops cavaties
Of course there are many more benefits and some have been scientifically tested while others are just benefits that some people have seen and reported. I personally have oil pulled on and off for years and I absolutely love it. I love the way it makes my mouth feel and I know it does whiten teeth because it naturally whitens mine!
How Do You Oil Pull?
As mentioned above, it is most beneficial to begin to oil pull first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth or drinking any liquids. This is because after you sleep there is more bad bacteria lurking in your mouth making it a great time to remove them, toxins, as well as freshen your breath.
Step-By-Step:
Take 1 tbsp. coconut oil and put it in your mouth.
Begin swishing it around (if it was hard then the temperature of your mouth will soften it, you just have to keep swishing!!).
If you are first starting out swish for as long as you can, but it may begin to hurt your jaw so a minimum of 5 minutes is great. Work your way up to 20 minutes.
While you are swishing head to my YouTube channel and watch my videos on all things health, wellness, yoga & meditation OR listen to a podcast I am on here.
After you have done a minimum of 5 minutes of swishing the oil in your mouth (aka oil pulling - you're doing it!!) spit out the oil into your compost or garbage bin and NOT down the sink as it will clog it.
Rinse your mouth out with some water and spit that water into your compost or garbage bin as well.
Drink some water and then brush your teeth.
There you have it! That is how you oil pull. Now, I recommend you don't just try it once. Try coconut oil pulling several times, even in a row to begin to notice the amazing benefits. You can watch a video I made on my YouTube channel about coconut oil pulling here or you can watch it down below.
Have an amazing rest of your day and stay tuned for my weekly blog posts every Monday & Wednesday.
Holistically Humble,
Katie xoxo
Comments