I stumbled upon a great pinterest find on making your own coconut oil pulling squares infused with essential oils.  So  a quick stop to Michaels to get a silicone candy mold and some grabbing my coconut oil and my thieves essential oil and I’m in business for my DIY—It was so easy — basically, I mixed 5 drops of thieves in coconut oil—pour in to the silicone mold and then pop in the freezer.

When I first read about this I thought the idea was nuts.  My good friend Dr. Christopher Nagy told me a little about it (visit his SITE here).  It sounded a little quirky but I quickly did some investigation.

What is oil pulling?

The roots trace back thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine to oil gargling.  The concept is to purify the taste buds and organ systems (Deepak Chopra /Perfect Health).  Life science explains that the tongue is mapped by organs and locations similar to the hands, head, and feet (reflexology).  It also stimulates cranial nerve 10–The VAGUS nerve.  This in turn strengthens the senses, heart rate, digestion and facial muscles.

It was introduced in 1992 by Dr. F. Karach when he examined organisms swimming under a microscope after gargling with oil.  He then moved on to investigate detoxification effects.

The Concept: 

Basically, you swish coconut, olive ,or sunflower oil in your mouth for about 10-15 minutes daily and then spit it out.  The oil pulls mucous, bacteria, and toxins from the mucosal tissue.  Swishing the oil with the saliva activates the enzymes that draw the toxins from the blood.  The oil should be thin and white by the time you are done.

It’s similar to the oil in your car engine.  The oils picks up the grime and leaves the engine clean.

The Benefits:

Oil pulling has been known to help many key diseases including allergies, digestion, headaches, memory issues etc.  It has a powerful detoxifying effect and can rid the body of the waste of many common bacteria we harbor including Candida and Streptococcus.

Does it work?

At this point, I don’t know.  I haven’t done it as consistently as I would like but I do notice that my mouth feels fresher, my teeth are whiter and my digestion is more efficient.  It certainly isn’t hurting me in any way and doesn’t take time from my day as I do it in the shower in the am.

Worth a try?  Why not?

This book is a good resource for more information if you are interested!!!

So what ways of detoxifying have you heard of lately—Post them in the comments so we can all learn!