I tried oil pulling!

  Lately there have been a lot of articles floating around the "Internets" about oil pulling. I became very interested in the subject when my dad told me that he knows about this practice and he'd heard a lot of people talking about its benefits in the past.

  If you have never heard about oil pulling, the technique sounds pretty much like this: choose an oil you want (they say coconut or sesame are the best, but olive oil or sunflower oil work just the same) and you have to swish around in your mouth a tablespoon of it for about 10-15 minutes when you wake up in the morning, before eating or drinking water or anything. It has been said that it reduces tartar build up, cavities, bad breath, bleeding gums, throat dryness and a lot of other conditions that aren't even related to your mouth because it removes all the toxins accumulated over night :P 

  When I first tried it I couldn't swish it around for more than 5 minutes, but with each day that passed it was getting easier and easier to reach 10 minutes. I watch stuff on YouTube, check my e-mail or read a blog to make the time go by faster. I've only been doing this for about a week and a half and I'm slowly getting to 15 minutes. I, personally, think that 15 minutes is too much and I would only do it for 10 minutes because if you do it for too long, the bacteria could be absorbed again from the oil and you surely don't want that. No matter what you do, don't swallow or inhale the oil or the toxins will go back into your body. The taste of the oil isn't bad at all, i mean, you can't feel it, it's not gross or anything. I currently alternate between olive and sunflower oil and I would like to try the sesame oil next.

  If you read more articles about this you will see that there were some studies made and there really can be some improvements in your oral health, but all in all, even if I feel my teeth cleaner and maybe a bit whiter, I honestly don't know if I could do this everyday for the rest of my life and I don't know if it's worth it. At the moment I still have braces on so I can't do a lot of stuff to whiten and clean my teeth thoroughly so this was ok to try for now, but when my braces will be taken off I will probably use other products and techniques :P 

  What are your opinions about oil pulling? Did you try it or would you be willing to do it? I would love to hear your comments about this, as it's something new for me and I haven't had the chance to discuss it with many people. 

  [Sorry for the long rambly post, the next one will be full of pictures, as I'm going on holiday in a couple of days and I'll be driving through 5 countries ^^]