As most who have followed me for anytime know, I am always on a quest to replace, substitute or find something I can use in lieu of any - item, tool or food that I won’t be able to get or have access to when the poo-hits-the-fan, and this holds true for health and medicinal items as well.

It’s a given, prevention is better than a cure but who has the time for all this prevention stuff, right?  But, prevention just screams of sacrifice or more work than we care to do. If we can’t buy it to do it for us, we don’t want anything to do with it or …if it’s not fast and painless, forget about it.

What I’ve learned by living pretty close to off the-grid is that it forces you to “make do” with what you have on hand - something we all to practice - for if and, when the poo ever hits the fan.

I’m not a “greenie-naturey” type of person (no disrespect or offense to those of you who are), but I know that when the poo hits the fan we will have to rely on the things in our gardens, herbs and spices and, our food stores and pantries as major sources for anything and everything that ails us, which all leads up to the point of this blog.

I was chewing on a piece of soft buttery garlic crust from my homemade Friday-night pizza one … well Friday night, when I felt this oddness on one of my back molars. I spit the bite of crust out on the kitchen counter (I know ewwww)  and raced to the bathroom mirror, to learn I had broken a porcelain crown – a piece of it at least - the front portion … yep the part exposed to the outside was gone – with the back portion securely in place. Panicked, I dug through my partially eating pizza bite in hopes of retrieving the missing piece of crown (go with me – I was desperate here!)  Denied - I had eaten it. And, no, I didn’t consider waiting for the alternative …don’t even go there (no pun intended.)

My first thought …”It’s Friday night and I have two long days before I could even hope to see the light of a dentist’s office … that is, if I could even get an appointment on Monday. My mind began to race “what would I do if this had occurred in a poo-hits-the-fan scenario where there was no dentist?”  I do this a lot by the way - the what-if’s.

Immediately I got on my computer to search the internet to for something I could do in the meantime to prevent any bacteria build up … and secretly hoping for some sort of miracle tooth regrowth, just sayin’. 

While in my search; as also happens a lot, I got a little sidetracked from my initial search of something to keep my teeth free of bacteria until I could get to a dentist when I stumbled upon …oil pulling.  I know this is going to sound kinda oxymoron-ish. How can you pull oil?  Well intrigue set in and I began to research further. 

Oil pulling is apparently nothing new, really nothing new; in fact it is an old Ayurvedic medicinal practice that evolved in India thousands of years ago. This intrigued me. If the Avurvedic did this … and people are still doing it, it must be natural and healthy.

As most know, just about all the medicines out there today, originally began as natural ingredients. Then colors, chemicals and additives began to be added and who knows what we’re using now.
 
So what is oil pulling?  (Caveat: This is going to sound really weird – I mean really weird.)  By taking a tablespoon of vegetable based oil; such as sun flower oil, sesame seed oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, et cetera and swishing it in your mouth for 20 minutes, the oil acts as a detoxifier. As you work the oil around your teeth and gums while swishing, it “pulls” out bacteria and other debris from your body. The reason for the 20 minutes is, it is long enough to break down the plaque and bacteria but not long enough for the body to reabsorb the toxins and bacteria - or so I understand. 

Now, I know you are probably thinking, “20 minutes!”  I did too. But if you “pull” when taking a shower or checking your emails, I promise the time is over before you even notice. Yes I tried it - that very next morning - with coconut oil (which is not oil at first but hold it under your tognue and it will be.) I was shocked. My teeth, which I’m a little anal about, felt really clean. Like dental visit cleaning, clean.  While you are “pulling” the oil will become thicker. When you finally spit it out (NOT in the sink or toilet by the way … we are talking oil here), it will become kinda white and foamy – if not you didn’t swish long enough.  I then rinsed my mouth out with warm salt water and brush my teeth with baking soda and peroxide.  I personally have found that mornings are good for me because you are supposed to do oil pulling on an empty stomach. Some actually do it up to three times a day.

Let’s face it, our mouths are the gateway to all kinds of bacteria and toxins; including candida that causes gum disease and tooth decay and contributes to many other health problems, so it would only make sense to rid bacteria from the same place (remember I was initially looking for options to keep my teeth bacteria free.)

When doing your own research; which I always encourage you doing, you will find that oil-pulling is tied to some remarkable “cures” after detoxing your body of toxins  Here are just a few of oil-pulling benefits:

 Migraine headache relief
 Correcting hormone imbalances
 Reducing inflammation of arthritis
 May help with gastro-enteritis
 Aids in the reduction of eczema
 May reduce symptoms of bronchitis
 Helps support normal kidney function
 May help reduce sinus congestion
 Some people report improved vision
 Helps reduce insomnia
 Reduced hangover after alcohol consumption
 Aids in reducing pain
 Reduces the symptoms of allergies
 Helps detoxify the body of harmful metals and organisms
 (Oilpulling.com)

Fortunately, I’m pretty healthy and can’t report on being able to leap any tall building in a single bound or anything like that since my initial oil-pulling experience, but I will tell you my skin is softer, my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes are thicker and I have the pinkest tongue in the whole world *grin* okay maybe not in the world, but it’s pretty healthy looking.  And why is that a big deal? Well, have you noticed how when you have a doctor visit he/she asks you to stick out your tongue?  Well, it’s because the tongue actually reflects all the diseases of the body can reveal a lot about your overall state of health.

So why am I even talking about oil-pulling? Well, I think that this could be a very inexpensive way to keep your mouth clean when the poo-hits-the-fan. We may no longer have access to store bought toothpaste, but it is amazing what a tablespoon of vegetable oil, some baking soda and peroxide could do to keep your mouth germ free and therefore our bodies healthier by ridding all those nasty toxins. 

Oh, and when I finally got to see a dentist, he was amazed at how clean and healthy my teeth, gums and tongue were (I didn’t tell him my little secret.)

Just sayin'

 - Survivor Jane

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