Is oil pulling good for oral health? I am using Parachute coconut oil. Please advise. This is in reference to this article There was this nice article by that on Oil Pulling. Please check: BREAKING MYTHS ON OIL PULLING ? Oil pulling is a technique that involves swishing 1 - 2 tablespoon of oil in the mouth on an empty stomach. This is to be done first thing in the morning for 10 - 20 minutes, making sure that no oil is swallowed. The most commonly used oil is coconut oil, due to its antiseptic properties. This action supposedly draws out toxins from the oral cavity to improve oral hygiene. Yes, it is important to maintain oral hygiene on a regular basis which is why we brush our teeth everyday, rinse the mouth after eating and prevent collection of food in between the teeth. Most important for oral hygiene is the nature of food we put into our mouths. Whether they are whole, fresh, raw and natural, or whether they are fragmented, refined, fried, sugary or machine made, which bacteria in our teeth adore! When it comes to oil pulling, for maintaining oral health, the fact remains that we are coating our mouth with an immiscible (unmixable) liquid. This blocks the porous cell wall in the mouth, preventing the natural exchange of nourishment and removal of toxicity. With oil pulling, this toxicity actually gets trapped within the cell leading to damage. Cleaning of toxins is an automatic, internal function done by the body. When the body is given time, space and energy, it cleans all its toxic debris by itself. Like we don?t do anything for the body to breathe or pump blood, there is no need to externally activate the cleansing process. When cleaning is activated externally, in isolation, in the oral cavity, cells in other parts of the body also get activated. This activation can lead to inflammation, ulceration, induration in either the oral cavity or another part of the body. A domino effect is created. The swishing movement works towards creating a pumping action. This opens up the lymphatic channels which is why the toxins move out. This is short term. Once the channels open, they need material to clean toxin which oil does not provide. Though short term superficial action of cleaning occurs in the mouth, long term the teeth become weak. The fact remains, that Nature does not provide us fat in its isolated form as oil. Nature has provided fat in the form of absorbable fatty acids which are in the form of Nuts. While Nuts are provided by Nature, oil is a refined by-product of Nuts. It is a myth that oil pulling is done using a natural product. Secondly, the fact that not a single drop of oil should reach the stomach is enough reason to believe it is not based on Natural principles. Thirdly, oil makes the medium of the oral cavity, acidic. In acid, germs breed. The oral cavity is full of natural microbial flora, which are necessary and required to break down food. In an acidic medium this good microbial flora changes into so called bad germs. Lastly, ever tried swishing oil for 10 to 20 minutes? Non stop? In that time you could be drinking fresh coconut water, or chewing on a juicy Mango, to ensure a naturally alkaline oral environment!