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Oil pulling seems to be beneficial to teeth, gums, and even the respiratory system as it “pulls” up mucous. It’s also purported to pull toxins through your saliva glands. I’ve been doing it for about a week, and my teeth got whiter (an added bonus) and I always draw a little phlegm (I’m not at all sick now). My sister is getting over a cold, and she’s drawing loads of phlegm. The benefit of skin brushing is that the skin is your biggest organ and one of your body’s ways to get rid of toxins by sweating. When you brush your skin, you clear it of debris and toxins released, thus improving the detox process. Added bonus, super soft smooth skin.
I’ve never tried oil pulling…but I adore skin brushing…ahh it feels so nice and makes my skin nice and smooth :) It is good for your lymph nodes and circulation, supposed to be good for cellulite as well!
My mouth, teeth and gums really benefitted from oil pulling. My teeth aaalways felt clean and got whiter also. I was really surprised by the differance that I felt.
But I’ve never tried skin brushing, do you need a special brush or anything??
how do you do “oil pulling” i’ve never heard of it.. and how long do you spend skin brushing? I do it everyday but only for a few minutes pre-shower
i just went to oilpulling.com and they have a great description right on the front page.
also, i think i’ll buy a skin brush today.
thanks everyone for the heads up!
I got a good brush at Target for under $10…make sure it has natural bristles…read more here http://heathermars.blogspot.com/2007/11/benefits-of-skin-brushing.html
What oils are you all using for the OP? I tried sesame but of course it was not raw.
Thanks for the info Heather
I just went on that site and it seems interesting. Kminty – it’s just swishing oil around in your mouth, use seseme or sunflower, for about 20 minutes before breakfast, don’t swallow.
In preparation for the Master Cleanse I am starting tomorrow, I also just started skin brushing. I did it for the first time this morning before I showered. My skin already feels great and I didn’t even need to use lotion post-shower today.
There’s a thread on that here:
http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/read.php?2,88470
I’ve done oil pulling. Here’s what I wrote on rawfoodsupport.com:
I love it. If I wake up congested or achy, 20 minutes of oil pulling gets rid of it. It also gets rid of aches and pains. I use cured sesame oil (sesame oil I’ve heated to the boiling point of water, once, and then cooled).
Oil pulling is an Ayurvedic practice. Ayurveda recommends curing sesame and olive oils before using them. Boiling it makes it less sticky. The viscosity and heaviness is gone from the oil and it’s able to penetrate the tissues better. You just have to do it once and then the oil is ‘cured’.
To cure the oil, place it in a pot and sprinkle 1-2 drops of water in it. Turn the heat on medium. Stand there watching the pot because it takes very little time for it to get to the boiling point, and if it boils too long, it can explode (it’s very rare but it can happen). Anyhow, when it reaches the boiling point, it doesn’t bubble like water but the drops of water in it will crackle and pop and you’ll see little striations or currents in the oil move. Wait just 10 seconds or so once the water crackles and then turn off the heat and let it cool on the stove before removing the pot from the stove and
storing the oil.
Curing the oil makes it much nicer for massage, too. It becomes silky and thinner. Uncured raw sesame oil makes a sticky gunky mess. The cured stuff is wonderful.
I want to try oil pulling. the only sesame oil that I can find is toasted sesame oil. Is that okay to use?
I do both and can’t imagine life without them! The oil pulling has whitened my teeth, made my skin smoother, made my dry heels disappear, took away the bumps on my upper arms, made me fall asleep fast and wake up easier…the list could go on and on! www.earthclinic.com has a lot of great information also. I switch between sesame, sunflower, and coconut. Cold-pressed unrefined is the best. The skin brushing is something I just started but I’m hooked! The tingling sensation is addictive!
I do both too, I like using Safflower oil when doing OP. After I like to use a tongue scraper.
When I brush my skin I rarely use any soaps except when I brush the bottom of my feet which seems to help remove heavy metals out of them.
I just keep some different flavors of Dr.Bonners Soaps (love peppermint)
sgmom2,
I wouldn’t uses toasted sesame oil, but I’m no expert. Sesame, sunflower, coconut are fine, and I believe olive oil is too. It’s great stuff.
I just bought some organic sunflower oil and it is very light tasting. I definatly prefer it to the seseme I was using before. The hardest part I think is getting past the first 5 minutes when the taste starts to disappear, but the sunflower is so light it doesn’t even have much of a flavor. Got a skin brush too and will start that tonight.