Why Oil Pulling is a Load of Crap

Your teeth are very important! Everyone wants to find the best way to whiten their teeth, and a lot of time is spent brushing, flossing, and rinsing your teeth. There are many natural teeth whiteners that can help you to make those pearly whites sparkle, among them coconut oil.

Oil pulling is the latest fad, and it has become one of the most popular ways to deal with oral health problems. It has become popular in recent months, but you may find that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be…

What is Oil Pulling?

Supposedly, oil pulling has been around for thousands of years, and was used by the ancient people of India. It is supposed to be a remedy to help improve your oral health, and many people have begun to try it after celebrities have endorsed it.

Essentially, oil pulling is swishing coconut oil around inside your mouth. You take a tablespoon or so of organic pressed coconut or sesame seed oil, and you swish it around for 20 minutes before spitting it out. When you swish it around, the oil mixes with your saliva and supposedly provides amazing health benefits.

“Benefits” of Oil Pulling

There are supposed to be a number of benefits that you can obtain by doing this oil pulling treatment:

1. You will whiten your teeth.
2. It can help to reduce the risk of gum infection and inflammation.
3. You will eliminate the plaque in your mouth, or at least reduce the risk of plaque forming.
4. It can pull bacteria from around your teeth, and kill them off–thereby eliminating infections.
5. It is supposed to be able to help clear up your skin and eliminate blemishes.
6. It can reduce your headaches.
7. It will leave your sinuses clear.

Of course, these are all the remedies reported by those who promote it, but is it really true?

What You Don’t Know

Supposedly, the remedy comes from Ancient Ayurvedic remedies, and has been around for centuries. Well, according to one source, there is no mention of the oil pulling remedy in the writings of Ayurveda. There is mention of oil gargling, but no swishing it around in your mouth to improve your teeth.

One of the studies that many oil-pulling promoters place is this one, run by an Indian research team. However, it didn’t use coconut oil, but instead turned to sesame oil as its oil of choice. Sesame oil contains a lot of antioxidants, while coconut oil does not. If sesame oil is effective, coconut oil may not offer the same benefits.

There have been a few more studies published on the oil pulling concept:

• Another Indian study found that it can deal with halitosis
• It can reduce gingivitis, according to this study
• A fourth study done in India found that it can help to reduce streptococcus bacteria

However, all of these studies have been done using sesame seed oil instead of coconut oil. There is little evidence to provide solid proof that oil pulling using coconut oil is definitely going to work. Without that proof, it’s pretty clear that oil pulling is little more than a fad that will soon fade.

Coconut oil makes a great butter, but the truth is that it’s not really as healthy as you think for your teeth. There may be some benefits to using it, but without any research to back up its claims, it’s really not going to be worth your time and effort to use oil pulling!