I’ve read a bit about oil pulling recently – it just keeps
coming up – and happen to have a substantial amount of coconut oil on hand,
thanks to the reintegration of Paleo.
Also, I’ve been looking at introducing natural detoxifiers to help undo
the damage I’ve been inflicting on my body for years. And today, I read an article saying that oil
pulling relieves psoriasis. Hello! I’ve been looking at natural help for this
very issue for a while now, to the extent, that I’m *this close* to joining the No-Poo movement. In reality, that was the cincher; I’m just
not ready to give up my shampoo yet.
What is oil pulling, you may ask (as I did just a few short weeks ago)?
Well, it’s some “ancient” technique
to detox your body by swishing unrefined, organic coconut oil around your mouth
for 20 minutes (no swallowing) and then spitting out the toxins. (You can go here, here, or here to read a
more technical and articulate articles on this practice.)
Again, I was lured in by
three things: I have a ton of coconut oil on hand. Right now.
I am currently seeking natural detoxifiers and psoriasis relief. And I can do this while typing on my
computer. While the above article
delineate the benefits of extended use, I didn’t find any that told me what to really expect my first go ‘round. And so, because I have very limited personal
boundaries (ah, internet the pseudo-anonymity you offer is so helpful), here’s
my first experience with oil pulling.
I used 1 teaspoon of unrefined,
organic coconut oil. It seemed a
reasonable amount to start with, since most articles call for between 1
teaspoon and 1 tablespoon. I scooped the
oil out, since it’s in a solid form, because we’re at 8,800 feet with 6 inches
of fresh powder, and looked at it for a few seconds. Since it would begin as a solid, I couldn’t
decide: was I supposed to just suck on it ‘till it melted? Or chew it like gum? Upon the realization that there’s no time
like the present to solve that dilemma, I popped the little ball into my mouth –
it took a moment to wedge the solid oil out of the teaspoon – and set the
timer. Then I nestled into my favorite
chair and decided to live-blog my experience.
Here ya go:
First impressions:
- 20 minutes is a long time
- Wow, that’s a lot of coconut oil.
- The texture is like chewing a lotion bar
- How do I not swallow for 20 minutes?!
After the first few
minutes:
- 20 minutes IS a long time.
- The coconut oil melts more slowly than I expected.
- The texture issue is gone because the oil has melted.
- How DO I not swallow for – oh, crap. I swallowed a little bit. Am I going to die?!
Last impressions (After 20
minutes):
- 20 minutes is a really freaking long time – I had more than enough time to write this article, take the photo, run it through Instagram, scroll Facebook, look up some more articles, use interpretive dance in an attempt to communicate to the Officer what I was doing and why I couldn’t talk to him or answer the phone, find the requisite baggie into which I would dispel the used oil, and reheat my coffee because 20 minutes is a loooong time.
- I have no idea how people do more than 1 teaspoon at a time. Good for them. My mouth was full-to-the-brim the entire time.
- My mouth definitely tastes coconutty.
- ALWAYS spit used oil into trash or plastic bag when done – it will clog your pipes if you spit it directly into the sink. I am so glad that one article mentioned this in the instructions. I totally would have used the sink.
- I think I swallowed a lot more than I realized. Oops.
Will I try this again? Yes, because I want to see what results I
will have with consistency. But I may
have to supplement with jowl exercises, because I feel like swishing for 20
minutes every day might not benefit my age-induced decreasing skin elasticity. Basically, I don’t know if saggy jowls are an
adequate trade-off for a reduction of psoriasis on my scalp. (Because, you know, there’s always the No-Poo
movement.)
How about you, reader, any
hippie-ish experience you’ve tried recently (or thought about trying)?
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