Diamonds & Pebbles: Oiling Pulling? Wtf?

So a few weeks ago I had a bad cold, and as you do, you Google how to get better in twenty-four hours (don’t lie, I know you do too when you’re not feeling well), which even though you know is impossible to recover in such a short time, you suddenly feel like you could stumble upon a miracle. In my quick research I came across “oil pulling”, something I’d never heard of before, and that even though it sounded a little weird, piqued my interest – but then again it is always the weird sounding things that grab your attention. Anyway, fast forward to last week, my bad cold had gone, I had all but forgotten about oil pulling, when I came across an article on Byrdie about someone’s experience with it. Naturally after reading the article and remembering some of the things I had read about oil pulling when I ill, I knew I had to try it for myself to see what it was all about.

Now, for those of you who have no idea what oil pulling is, it’s basically when you swish oil in your mouth. It helps keep your immune system strong, strengthens gums, whitens teeth, and is generally just good for maintaining a healthy body.

From what I read in the Byrdie article you’re supposed to swish for twenty minutes – that’s right, you really did read TWENTY – which in itself sounds extreme, but on the bright side, you only need to gargle three times a week. The effects of the oil kick in pretty fast as after a week you can already expect to see some changes.