My Holistic Lifestyle: Oil Pulling

Mar 31

Many of you have asked about the simple day-to-day healthy hacks that I implement into my routine so I wanted to start a new series “My Holistic Lifestyle” to share these simple practices and their benefits. My hope is that some of these practices resonate with you so you’ll work on implementing them into your own routine. Others, you might want to take a pass…for now. 😉 And that is okay too! Just keep an open mind and don’t knock it before you try it!

If you’d had asked me a few years ago if I’d try something like oil pulling I would have easily responded with a resounding “NO!” But the more I learned about its benefits and truly how simple and cost-effective this method is my interests were piqued.

So let me back up, oil pulling is a technique where you take an oil, usually a solid form of unrefined coconut oil, and swish it around in your mouth for anywhere from 3-20 minutes. Start with a 3-minute goal and continue to add on from there. My average is about 15 minutes. When you’re done swishing, spit it out in the garbage - not down the sink! You can do this any time of the day, but I find that it is easiest to incorporate it in the morning, first thing! When I am doing my morning routine, I simply swish! Think about all the tasks you complete each morning:

Make your bed
Quiet time/journaling
Making lunches
Making breakfast
Tidying up
Folding Laundry
Going for a walk

Why in the world would you incorporate this practice? Oil pulling has profound benefits for overall health. It can:

Help reduce tooth decay
Improve Bad breath
Help with detoxification
Decrease your risk of gingivitis. (Did you know that gingivitis is linked as an indicator of heart disease?)
Decrease bleeding gums
Decrease inflamed gums
Whiten teeth
Improve digestion. Yep! Digestion begins in the mouth. When you smell food your mouth begins to salivate releasing juices into your stomach and preparing your body for digestion.
Strengthen jaw muscles

If you think about it, there is really no reason NOT to try it. It’s so much better than flossing and mouthwash, which contains sugar and chemicals. The best part is that it is cost-effective. A jar of organic unrefined coconut oil will last you at least 6 months.

So give it a try and let me know if you do! I’ll be cheering you on!