What is Oil Pulling

Oil Pulling is an ancient ayurvedic kriya which is used for deep cleaning your mouth for keeping it disease free. It is also a process of detoxification and helps in maintaining a good oral hygiene.

It is a natural alternative to using chemical based mouth washes which have harmful effects over the long term and may cause altered taste sensation.

According to Ayurveda, It mainly involves two kriyas Or processes :

Gandusha :This involves filling your mouth with oil and holding it for around 10 to 15 minutes.

Kavala :This process involves filling the mouth with a relatively smaller quantity of oil and swishing it for 3 to 4 minutes and then spitting it out.

When to do Oil Pulling?

Oil pulling is usually done early in the morning on an empty stomach. This action supposedly draws out toxins in your body, primarily to improve oral health but also to improve your overall health.

Which Oils can be used for Oil pulling

Oils that are used for oil pulling should be cold pressed oils which are pure, natural and chemical free. Avoid using refined oils which are easily available in the market.

Refined oils are stripped off it’s Micronutrients during it’s manufacturing process and are less effective if used for oil pulling. Refined oils also contain harmful chemicals which may cause harm to your mouth so ensure that you use a natural chemical free oil. 

Oil Pulling can be done using the below oils

Coconut Oil :The fatty acids in coconut oil possess antibacterial properties which are good for oral health. Coconut Oil is also antimicrobial and anti inflammatory in nature. The antiseptic properties of coconut oil makes it a even more effective.

Sesame Oil: Sesame oil possesses anti inflammatory and antifungal properties and works very effectively against bacteria. Sesame oil is believed to help fight anxiety  and boost mood. 

Sunflower Oil :Effectively works against plaque and other bacteria in the mouth.

Oil pulling can be done with any of the above three oils but according to Ayurveda Sesame Oil is recommended to reduce dryness of mouth and to reduce inflammation.

How does Oil pulling work?

The way oil pulling works is simple — when you swish the oil around your mouth, the bacteria get swept away and dissolve in the liquid oil. It effectively pulls out the bacteria and any toxins in the mouth.

Benefits of Oil Pulling :

Kills harmful bacteria in your mouth

Our mouth consists of good as well as bad bacteria which cause tooth decay, bleeding gums and other problems. Oil pulling helps in getting rid of these bad bacteria.

Helps reduce bad breath

Oil pulling effectively works on the bad breath causing bacteria and gives is fresh breath that lasts long.

Helps prevent cavities

Regular oil pulling kills the tooth decay causing micro organisms and prevents cavities.

Improves gum health and reduces inflammation. Healthy gums are an indication of good oral hygiene. Inflammation in the mouth may lead to bleeding gums causing bad breath. Oil pulling helps in maintaining gum health. 

Natural remedy to whiten teeth

Oil pulling helps in whitening of the teeth as it deep cleans the mouth and teeth removing all the plaque effectively.

Detoxification

Oil pulling helps in detoxification by destroying the harmful bacteria and preventing it from entering the stomach which may cause health complications. Thus maintains the overall well being of an individual.

4 simple steps to do oil pulling:

Step 1 :First thing in the morning before consumption of any food or water measure one tablespoon of oil, such as coconut, sesame and pour it the mouth. 

Step 2 :Swish it around in your mouth for 15–20 minutes, being careful not to swallow any. Move it around your mouth and through your teeth.

Step 3 :Towards the end you may notice the mixture in your mouth starts be coming thicker as toxins are pulled out from you body.

Step 4 :Then spit the oil into a trash can once you’re done. Avoid spitting it into the sink or toilet, as this can cause a buildup of oil, which may lead to clogging. Rinse your mouth well using water before eating or drinking anything.

How often can you do Oil Pulling?

In the beginning you can start with swishing for just 5 minutes and then increase the duration until you’re able to do it for a full 15–20 minutes. You can do oil pulling 3 to 4 times a week.

You can do it daily first thing in the morning too. The purpose of oil pulling is get rid of toxins that are soluble in oil which in turn would help in healing wide range of diseases. 

Can you eat & drink water after oil pulling?

Yes you can immediately drink water and water after  oil pulling. Just brush and rinse normally before drinking water.

Oil pulling is a natural technique to get rid of bacteria which may cause tooth decay and bad breath. If you are allergic with a particular oil then do not use that oil for oil pulling. You may try some other alternative. 

(more…)

So lets check the 9 steps for a healthy lifestyle :

1.Balanced Diet

What are Cold Pressed Oils..?

Cold pressed oils are oils that are made using wood pressing technique at a low temperature of 35 deg celcius. Cold pressed oils made using wood pressing are called as wood pressed oils.

The machinery used for extracting oil is known as wooden churner or Ghani or kolhu or Chekku.

Wood pressed oils are a type of cold pressed oils but they are the best Or number one quality in cold pressed oils..

Let’s understand what are cold pressed oils and how they are different from refined oils.

Wood pressed oils (Cold Pressed Oils) are made using the ancient technique of wood pressing. In this method there is a wooden drum and a wood pestle.

Cold Pressed Oils can also be made on metal expeller machines. But in this blog we are mainly focusing on wood pressed oils.

Oil seeds (Groundnuts, sesame, almonds etc) are put in the wooden drum and pressed using a wooden pestle.

The drum rotates at a very slow speed of 14 rpm so the seeds are pressed at an ambient temperature of 37 deg Celcius.

Also since both drum and pestle are made of wood, it does not allow the temperature to rise.

Hence the oil that is extracted is truly cold pressed.

In ancient times, oil seeds used to be put in the drum and seeds were pressed by rotation of pestle using a bull. The pestle used to be tied to the bull and the bull used to move around the drum thus pressing the seeds to extract oil.

Today the bull is replaced by a electric motor but the principle remains the same as the drum rotates slowly at 14 rpm.

As the oils extracted using wooden churner are truly cold pressed and no heat is applied in the process, the nutrients in oil remain intact and hence these oils are very healthy to consume.

After oils are extracted they are filtered naturally using a sieve and left for settlement in a container for 4 to 5 days. Post this they are ready to consume.

Cold Pressed Oil

Remember that this process is completely natural and no chemicals or preservatives added during the process making these oils extremely beneficial for health.

Appearance wise cold pressed oils look dull and viscous. They have slight sedimentation at the bottom. They don’t look shiny. They do not have consistent colour. Each batch of oil may differ in colour as they are natural.

What are Refined Oils and how are they different from Cold Pressed Oils

The attractive oils that you see at the super markets which are shiny and cost cheap are nothing but refined oils.

Refined oils are made using solvent extraction process in which the oil is subjected to heating,

Refined oil manufacturing involves addition of acids, treating with solvents and alkali, heating the oil at higher temperatures and bleaching the oil to make them look attractive. Just by reading the above words you get an idea of how harmful this oil must be. Imagine seeing this process of refined oil manufacturing.

Also the important aspect of refined oils is that they are adulterated by mixing harmful oils like palm oil, cotton seed oil in equal quantity to make them cost effective. Palm oil contains high content saturated fats which causes the LDL or bad cholesterol to rise leading to heart diseases.

People buy refined oils as they cost cheaper. But you should understand why they are cheap. They are sold cheap since they are adulterated and contain harmful fillers.

On the contrary wood pressed or cold pressed oils are bit costly (I would not say they are costly but rightly priced) as they are pure and have no fillers. Just to understand why wood pressed oils are costly lets take an example of peanut oil.

For making one litre of peanut oil we need 2.5kg of peanuts so the cost of peanut oil is more then refined peanut oil.

But any thing that comes cheap is not always beneficial for health so switching to cold pressed oils is a better option to avoid  health problems in the long run.

Lets Check what are the benefits of Cold Pressed Oils

Nutrient Rich

As cold pressed oils are made at lower temperatures and not subjected to heat hence they are rich in nutrients. As compared to this refined oils are subjected to higher temperatures while extraction which takes away all it’s nutrients.

Natural Oils

Cold pressed oils are natural oils and have no chemicals  and preservatives added to them so they are completely natural. On the contrary refined oils are subjected to heating, bleaching, distillation, and hydrogenation hence making them extremely unhealthy.

Adulteration

Cold pressed oils are pure and have nothing mixed in them. Like sunflower oil will contain only oil made from sunflower seeds. Refined oils contain other oils like argemone oil cotton seed oil or oil mixed with them. Consumption of refined oil causes rise in level of trans fat in the body leading to heart ailments.

So next time whenever you see these shiny oils aka refined oils in the market, do not get attracted by them and stop their use immediately.

If you feel cold pressed oils are costly just think of the high hospital bills one needs to pay in the future due to the harm caused by these refined oils.

As they say COLD PRESSED OILS ARE NOT COSTLY, HOSPITAL BILLS ARE.

Hope this blog has helped you understand what are wood pressed oils and how they are different from refined oils. In further blogs we shall dive more deep into wood pressed oils.