I found this study on oil pulling [www.johcd.org]

Here are some excerpts:

The oil pulling procedure
Take 10-15 ml of refined sunflower oil using a tea spoon,
approximately 6 gms or till the mouth is half filled. Sip, suck
and pull the oil through the teeth. Lift your chin a bit, close
eyes and start swishing liquid from left to right, front to back
and vice versa. Concentrate and imagine liquid moving inside
the mouth. Swish approximately 8-10 minutes or till you feel
a fullness in your mouth. At the end the oil should be milky
white, thin and frothy. Spit the liquid.

Conclusion
Within the limits of the present study, it can be concluded that
Oil Pulling has the ability to reduce plaque and gingivitis. It
emerges from this study that an individual is able to maintain
low levels of plaque and gingivitis even if he is performing
Oil Pulling, just for 45 days.

Hi Karennd,I did oil pulling for 3 months and now I'll come back,but I've heard that it is good for pulling toxins out of your body,and also with parasites and many other things. I felt very good and my teeth were very smooth,but I didn't noted any whitening or anything else on my teeth.

So, you are going to try it again? Do you think it pulled toxins out of your body?

ttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2003/02/10/stories/2003021000160400.htm

Hi karennd,you are going to like this article.

Oil gargle a day...
Bharat Savur

Oil gargling helps get rid of many health problems and also purifies the taste-buds and the entire system.




If somebody told me, "Wash your mouth with oil," I'd wonder what kind of insult I was being dished out. Not Suresh. A lonely Indian in Frankfurt, his teeth were rattling in his mouth sending shooting pains through his jaw and head, when he bumped into my brother-in-law Vijay. Nothing less than wholesale extraction, the dentist had told Suresh, the rot was too deep.

However, six months later, Vijay reports in amazement, there was Suresh grinning like a Cheshire cat, all 32 teeth intact. No extraction! He exclaimed gleefully. Just that he'd consulted an alternative therapist who prescribed sunflower oil as a mouthwash.

If you have no clue of what this oil therapy is all about, join the gang who thought Listerine was the last word. And listen to Dr F. Karsch, the brain behind this bite. "Rinse the teeth and gums very thoroughly with a tablespoon of any vegetable oil. Do it slowly for 15-20 minutes up to three times a day on an empty stomach," he advises.

Initially, the oil swishes viscously in the mouth, but, as our digestive juices dilute it, it becomes thin and milk-white in colour. Then, we spit it out and brush our teeth.

When Dr Karsch examined the gargled milk-white oil under a microscope with 600 magnification, he saw live organisms swimming in it. It's poisonous, so never swallow it, he warns. These poisons are bacteria-embryos, which, if not eliminated, cause diseases. Apparently, Dr Karsch cured his own chronic blood disease and 15-year-old arthritis.

The first sign of improvement is in the teeth-they become firm and white, he says. Other healing indications: fresh, relaxed feeling on waking up, disappearing dark pouches below the eyes, anew appetite and energy, better memory and deep sleep.

Dr Karsch swears by the mouth oil-wash for anything from organ-disorders, skin-diseases, menstrual problems, paralysis to every ache and it is in the human anatomy. You can gargle even when you have fever, he says, adding, it takes anything from two days to a year to cure a disease.

And if these claims sound exaggerated, he told a conference of Ukrainian cancer specialists, try out the process yourself.

Interestingly, Ayurveda advises oil gargling "to purify the taste-buds and the entire system", as explained by Dr Deepak Chopra in Perfect Health. According to this life science, the tongue is mapped by organ-locations — that is, each section of the tongue is connected to the kidneys, lungs, spleen, liver, heart, pancreas, small intestines, stomach, colon, and spine.

Thus, an oil-mouth-massage soothes and stimulates the key meridians where taste meets organ. Simultaneously, as in any skin-massage, the inner skin and lining of the mouth, palate and tongue become warm and supple and the lubrication prevents dryness (the vatic effect).

In modern dietetics too, dryness is discussed. For example, lack of Vitamin A (retinal) causes the outer lining of the eyeball to dry and wrinkle, and affects vision.

And as any dietician would tell you, all oils contain 960 micrograms of vitamin A per 10 gm (the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A per adult is 600 micrograms). So, it's possible that oil gargling helps in reaching the required retinal to the eyeballs and keeps them elastic and smooth.

Likewise, the Ayurvedic `purification of taste-buds' also has its equivalent in dietetics as `antioxidants'. Oxidation literally means `the putrefaction of body-tissues'.

And oil-soluble vitamins, A, C, D, and E are antioxidants that protect and prevent the decaying process and help maintain the integral functioning of cell membranes. That's why, many people are ingesting vitamin E pills to stem `aging' (oxidation).

Our staple Indian diet comprising of unseasoned cereals and pulses (the proverbial rice and dal or wheat and dal) meets our daily EFA requirements. EFA are essential fatty acids that have vitamin-like functions in the body — they help maintain the structure and productivity of cells.

Eating oil-cooking food only adds non-essential 100 per cent fat to our body. Whereas, gargling with oil keeps away excess fat-deposits, yet contributes towards purifying cells with its army of five to nine EFAs — palmitic, stearic, arachidic, bethenic, lignoseric, palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic.

According to radical healer Dr R. Ballantyne, who has studied Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, the tongue "is an indicator of what is going on in the body." A fiery red tongue depicts an irritated digestion; a pale shade, low digestion; and a purple tongue, a liver burdened with toxics.

While scraping the tongue with a U-shaped metal cleaner, and lighter, fat free food to detoxify the tongue and system are advised, I wonder if Dr Karsch's oil-massage would put the finishing cleansing-while-nourishing-and-healing touches to our taster.

Meanwhile, Vijay reports that his 80-plus parents-in-law have benefited — glowing faces and a feeling of well-being — after six months of oil-gargling. While science needs to probe into this phenomenon, the anecdotal data is compelling. Besides, it's a great way to exercise drooping cheek-muscles.


The writer is the co-author of the book, Fitness for Life.

Response can be sent to life@thehindu.co.in

Cool, I did like that article!

Ok, what is refined oil? Is that just the regular oil you find anywhere as in not cold pressed?

Phil.

--------------------------------------------------

"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it" (Chinese Proverb)

I have sesame oil that is labelled: Unrefined, Cold-pressed (it's Orphee brand).

I don't like reading instructions without explanations, so I wish they'd say WHY to use one oil over the other, or it just seems whimsical.

Here's the original website:
[www.oilpulling.com]
And forum -
[curezone.com]

Aqua, it's mostly based on experiences and preferences I think. When I've done it I found sesame oil to work the best because it's thicker and takes effort. Sunflower or Safflower oil was just too thin and flimsy for me and it would get gross too fast, it also didn't take much effort to swish it around. With sesame, I also liked the feeling..felt like mouth exercise. lol.

What about olive oil? I am interested in trying this.

You can use any oil as long as you do it 3 to 5 minuts on an empt stomach. Olive oil is fine.

what is up with them saying it has to be "refined"?


i did it with unfiltered olive oil and it felt great

then i wondered.. hmmm....

but then dispelled that notion after 4 seconds

i'm going ahead with my unfiltered olive oil again

i have been doing this with canola oil, because there is a huge jug of it here.

i read some terrible things about canola oil though. but i figure i am not eating it, just swishing it around in my mouth. it does get really frothy.

~karrie

Question for low-fat raw-ers--

Are you comfortable with oil-pulling? Do you think that spitting it out is enough, it doesn't get absorbed? It looks like this is the case but I want to be sure.

I am not 811 but I rarely consume oil/refined fat. It doesn't make me feel good and I gain weight real fast with it; it is a refined food. So any opinions, even if you are not low-fat, would be appreciated.

I love oil pulling 1st thing in the morning with sesame oil, mouth feels super fresh and I can feel it works on much deeper levels then just that.

[www.youtube.com]

What do you do after you spit? Brush your teeth? Rinse your mouth out with water? Nothing?

Also, is there an oil that's considered best to work with for optimal results?

DEFINITELY rinse and brush. the stuff you spit out is NASTY. sesame or sunflower oil are most widely used, i think, they each taste a little different, some prefer one taste or the other. also some people do oil pulling with olive oil or coconut oil...

you want to try to work up to 15-20 minutes. i could only do 5 minutes at first, so i would do it two times. everytime i would have a thought like "oh my gosh, i have a gullet full of saliva, oil, and toxic bacteria" i would lose it entirely and have to spit it out and start over. then i figured out a trick... i start it right before i check my email in the morning, or just before i hop into the shower. doing something ELSE while you are oil pulling at first takes your mind off of it.

Great tips Maui! I'm definitely going to give this a shot!



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

I gave oil pulling a shot the other day. It's a bit hard to get over the texture, but I did notice how fresh my usually foul breath stayed - about an hour - which beats regular old toothpaste. Interesting! Will keep experimenting with this!

Another plus - my husband hates mint with a passon. I always used to joke if they made a toothpaste of steak or something he'd kiss me more - LOL - he did give me a nice romantic kiss after oil-pulling. That was kind of a bonus!


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!