That sounds disgusting.
And so far it has been.
Confession: I hate brushing my teeth.
Don't worry, unlike when I was in 2nd grade and created a game to see if vigorously rubbing my teeth with a washcloth could trick my mom into thinking I brushed my teeth (answer = yes!), I actually do brush my teeth these days. I am a responsible adult after all. I brush 2x a day as recommended. Sometimes I floss. But I still don't like it and I have noticed that as I get older my teeth don't look as great as they used to. Years of red wine and coca-cola consumption probably haven't helped. But whitening products really irritate my mouth, regular toothpastes have some weird stuff in them, and natural toothpastes don't give me the clean feel I want.
What is oil pulling you may ponder?
It's where instead of brushing and flossing your teeth you swish oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes. I've done reiki, brennan energy healing, ear candling, past life meditations, and washed my hair for 2 weeks in very expensive dirt - why not try some oil pulling for a week?
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| Since I'm currently a tightwad, this is the oil I'm stuck with for awhile. Blarg! |
Right now I'm swishing coconut oil around in my mouth, although at this point, 18 minutes in, it feels more like coconut flavored spit. It does make me want to gag. Coconut oil is the present oil darling in health land - grabbing it's health baton from olive oil, canola oil, safflower oil and all the other oil fads that have come before it. But no matter how much everyone is going on and on about coconut products - you simply can't ignore the fact that coconut oil is pure, unadulterated saturated fat. The kind that yes, in moderation, may be o.k. but still will absolutely clog your arteries. Since I don't particularly care for the flavor of coconut why can't I just swish melted butter around my mouth?
Spit.
Oops, I just remembered you can't spit it down the drain because coconut oil will clog it right up. You have to spit in a trash can. Oh well, something to try for tomorrow.
So the rules for oil pulling as I understand them are:
1. Take 2 tsp (more or less) of coconut oil and let it melt in your mouth. Ed. note: This is where I really wanted to gag. 2 tsp was too much for me so I spit a lot out. Then I felt like I didn't have enough. So tomorrow I will try for 1 tsp. I also had to work very hard to not spit it out the whole time. Or swallow it.
2. Swish around good and strong for 20 minutes. Ed. note: I did this while taking a shower thinking it would keep my mind off things. It did, kinda, but I still had 8 minutes of swishing to go when I got out.
3. Spit in trash can. Ed note: Remember this for tomorrow!
4. Instantly go eat something to get the taste of coconut out of your mouth. Ed note: This might just be me.
I will keep you posted and look around to see if you can do this with other, less nauseating, less artery clogging oils. I will also keep you posted to see if my teeth seem stronger and whiter (reported perks). One immediate benefit I noticed is that my usually chapped-like-I spent-a-day-on-the Alps-lips do feel very soft for once in my life.
