OP

The other day my sister introduced me to the concept of Oil Pulling (OP). She said “Have you heard about Oil Pulling? I started OP since a few days and I feel good. It is supposed to have many advantages such as removing toxins from your body, cleaning the teeth, increasing metabolism, among others.”

Having said that, my sister went on to explain the method. You must do OP on an empty stomach that means, as soon as you wake up in the morning, even before you brush your teeth.
1-Put 1 tablespoon of cold pressed oil (like sunflower oil, olive oil or sesame oil) in your mouth.
2-Swish the oil around you mouth and also pull through your teeth (not forgetting the ones at the back of the mouth). CAUTION: Do this for a maximum time of 20 minutes. If you do this longer, the toxins are absorbed back into the system.
3-Spit the whitish liquid (it becomes whitish because of the toxins) in the toilet and not the sink because of the toxins.
4-Rinse your mouth out with a glass of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of baking powder. This mixture thoroughly cleanses your mouth of the toxins. You can in addition rinse with plain water.
5-Finally, brush your teeth.

If you want to quicken the cleansing of the system, you can repeat this process more than once a day but only on an empty stomach (which means you should not have eaten 6 hours prior to doing OP).

Of course I was interested by the sound of this simple process. And curiosity got the better of me. I looked up the Internet to read more. Here are some of the sites I found:

• About OP: http://www.oilpulling.com/


• Reactions to people who have started or are all excited about starting OP: http://www.43things.com/things/view/1223234

I also checked my cupboards to see if I had all ingredients to start the procedure. All stocked up and ready to roll!

Next morning saw me up and about in abounding enthusiasm. At first, I started swishing the oil with utter gusto...and then slower... "don't forget the back of the mouth" she had said. I pulled the oil through my front teeth, then between teeth at the sides of my mouth, and then the back teeth. I checked the time, it was 5 minutes since I started OP. Back to more swishing...

I remembered my sister saying "put the oil in your mouth and go about your tasks because it takes SOME time." So, I made my rinsing mixture of water and baking soda, boiled some milk, organized breakfast. And checked the time. It was only 12 minutes since I started. Because I was on the verge of swallowing the mixture and being my first day at OP, I strode off to rinse out my mouth.

Oh yes! I had a good feeling in and around my oral cavity. Teeth felt muuuch cleaner like the sound that emanates when rubber shoe soles scrape across a slightly wet floor. kkkllleeeaannn... Maybe it was the coaxing and cajoling of oil around the gums and teeth.

I did not reveal, till now, one of the sites I came across while researching OP. Well, like the pro sites there was a strong contender for the con side as well.

Lisa Barger on OP: http://www.lisabarger.com/oil_pulling_debunked.html

Looking back, I have done OP for about 2 months now and have more energy at the end of each day despite keeping my 1-year old occupied all day, and I even sleep better. I have not been doing OP continually everyday to see progressive results, but I do this most days and sometimes have had a break of a few days before continuing. Personally, I think its a simple routine to follow for the results that I experience.