Monthly Archives: December 2013

Natural Medicine Cabinet: Mouth and Teeth Health

I first heard about oil pulling when I was pregnant. It intrigued me and I didn’t really get it but I figured I would give it a go at some point. I just posted a blog of all of coconut oil’s great uses so here is another one to add to the list. 🙂

Growing up my parents took us to a dentist that we all referred to as “Dr. Dagger.” I don’t know if I’ve ever had a solid trust in dentists because they would tell me I needed things when I had no pain or issues and the one time I did have a pain it was dismissed as nothing until a few months passed and it ended up as an abscess and emergency root canal. Several years later another dentist told me that same tooth was still infected and needed a re-root canal to clear the infection. And I discovered my teeth always needed serious cleanings after my pregnancy even though my oral health care routine didn’t change much. I even bought the fancy tooth brush with a promise that would be the solution to my problems. It didn’t seem to be and now the next thing to purchase was a tooth pik. Arg! An article about oil pulling came across my news feed and her story really seemed to make sense to me. This article I read awhile back that says oil pulling is an Ayurvedic tradition and has been around for quite some time and touts oil pulling as a way to break up congestion and help with sinus problems as well (further digging shows at least anecdotally that for sinus relief you need to oil pull 2-3 times a day). So this is really the beginning of my oil pulling journey, day 2 to be exact.

What do you do?

Grab a tablespoon or so of coconut oil and put it in your mouth. Its cold out now so most likely it will be solid and take a few minutes to melt in your mouth. (this feels a little weird and slightly gross but once it melts its no big deal). Once the oil becomes liquid swish it around in your mouth for 15-20 minutes first thing in the morning. I know! This sounds like a huge time commitment. Here’s what I do, get out of bed pop coconut oil in my mouth and then go about my normal morning routine of getting dressed, making breakfast etc. By the time the eggs are done cooking its been at least 15 minutes. Make sure to spit your coconut oil into the trash and not the drain. Rinse your mouth a few times and then drink some lemon cucumber water.

oil pulling in action 🙂

Here’s what I noticed so far. My teeth look really white (someone noticed on day 1) and there are spaces between my teeth like how they look after a cleaning except without the gum soreness. I can’t ditch the toothpaste and floss so I’m compromising. My plan is to oil pull and brush in the morning and brush and floss in the evening. I will let you know how my next cleaning goes.

Do you oil pull? What benefits have you noticed? I’m curious!

Recipe for Gentle Detox for After Thanksgiving

I posted a picture of this detox on the facebook page over the weekend. I’m going to start this blog with a disclaimer. In Chinese Medicine we almost never recommend a “detox” because it is too harsh on your body and can actually knock your body out of balance in the opposite direction. If your thanksgiving meal was mostly white this is a great way to gently nourish your digestion and clean your system out. I like starting this on Monday because most likely after thanksgiving you have slowly started to go back to eating your normal diet so its not quite as much of a shock to the system.

What you need:

2 lemons

1/2 cucumber

10 mint leaves or 1 drop of peppermint essential oil (preferable young living) I used essential oil because that’s what I had on hand

3 quarts of water

Directions:

Slice lemons and cucumber and drop into water. Add mint, You can gentle muddle the mint leaves to release the essential oils. Let sit so ingredients can infuse the water overnight. Drink first thing upon waking and before breakfast. This helps to bring your body into an alkaline state and revs up digestion. In Chinese Medicine cold and raw foods are almost never recommended except for maybe in the summer time. Drink this room temperature or add a little hot water to your infused water so that it is warm, this also helps with digestion. Peppermint is considered a cooling herb so if you tend to run cold you might considered leaving the peppermint out or switching with some fresh grated ginger, which is a warming herb. WARNING: you might experience an extra trip to the bathroom 🙂 You might also find that you crave drinking more water this way.

This is a great routine to get in the habit of in general, don’t just wait to do when you overindulge.

Let me know what you think! My husband and I loved it. I’m feeling a little more energized this morning 🙂

*** If you are a nursing mama you might choose to omit the peppermint as it has been known to decrease milk supply.