Is oil pulling a cheap and organic health ritual or a bunch of nonsense?
What it’s all about
Oil pulling is an age old concept that essentially involves taking a table spoon of oil (preferably sesame or coconut) and “pulling” it through your teeth and around your mouth. The alleged health benefits are varied and include better oral health, whitening of eyes, better digestion, clearer skin as well as supposedly giving you more energy throughout the day. While coconut is less traumatic to the taste buds, sesame is thought to be more beneficial, so it was sesame I decided on and tried pulling for 20 minutes every morning for a week.
The good bits
It’s quite easy to fit 20 minutes casual pulling into your daily routine. I’ve found that equates to a shower and a blow dry plus a bit of make up, so my morning ritual wasn’t compromised. My teeth were also noticeably whiter after five days of pulling and my skin cleared up. I felt I did have considerably more energy too, although perhaps this was from the rigorous morning work out that is oil pulling and not the actual oil.
The bad bits
With ridding yourself of bad toxins, I didn’t realise you rid yourself of the good ones too. Hellooooooo sickness. It only really lasted two days and I can’t be sure it was due to the “oil pulling” but it was enough to cut short my week of testing. The internet tells me this sometimes happens and to “stick with it” but I couldn’t stomach it any more (actually no pun intended).
While it left my mouth with an all-day clean feeling and I felt my skin improved a touch, I think this sceptic will stick to Listerine and face wash.
Rating 4/10 – Benedicte Earl
Top photo from USDA Gov’s Flickr Photostream