Oral Health: Oil Pulling

I am deeming today: selfie saturday. Yes I am sure that already exists but I thought I would post a picture of myself seeing as I never get out of my gym clothes or take selfies!



 I am heading to Eastern mass for a few days to work for my parents while they are away. They own Walpole Wine & Spirits which was started by my grandfather in 1972. 

 This morning I did the second CrossFit Open WOD: 15.2 and it went okkkkk. I decided to do the workout RX’d because doing the workouts scaled feels like cheating to me. My back is pretty much healed, it doesn’t hurt when I sneeze anymore so thats an improvement! Jumping is still a little iffy. Holding the bar overhead does spur my pinched nerve to attack my right trap but after I spent a lot of time this week trying to mash out the knot that is essentailly pulling my vertebrae out of line, I decided to go for it. I should also mention that I go to my chiropractor twice a week and have been since the beginning of the year, and I also got an upper body massage this week to cover all of the bases. I put so much time and effort into getting better, I just want to be back to normal! Is my frustration justified yet? haha. Anyways, the workout sucked in a good way, the overhead squats were the hardest for me because of the lack of stability in my right arm and my legs were shot. I finished Smolov Jr. yesterday so my week of squats looked like this: 



 Needless to say, I didn’t do great (I got 84 reps) but for my own personal circumstances I am glad I did the workout RX’d and look forward to revisiting it again soon.


 

Today I thought I would share a little information about oil pulling. I heard about oil pulling a few months back in one of the many webinars that I’ve listened to and have since worked it into my daily morning routine.

 Oil pulling greatly benefits your oral health and overall health by cleansing and detoxing the mouth. Swishing the oil around in your mouth causes the bacteria and other toxins to be pulled from the gums and teeth into the oil when it can then be discarded by spitting the oil out and rinsing your mouth. Not only will it help remove the bad stuff, but it will also keep those pearly whites sparkling! 

 Are you ready to try it out for yourslef yet? If you need more convinving check out this post from the Wellness Mama. 

 Here’s what I do: 

 -When I wake up in the morning I start by drinking 8-10 ounces of water with lemon to kickstart the liver to prepare it for breakfast (this is optional) 

 -Then take about 2 tsp. of coconut oil and let it turn to liquid in your mouth

 -Swish the oil around making sure to get to your back teeth for 20-30 minutes 

 -Split into trash (not the sink- remember coconut oil turns to solid when it is cool and can clog the pipes!) 

-Rinse your mouth out with a little salt water 

 -Brush your teeth and rise again- don’t forget to brush or scrape your tongue where most of the bacteria hangs out!

-Then… dive into breakfast!

Final tip: make sure your coconut oil doesn’t go bad and start growing kittens! :)