A guest post by Sarah Kakish.

For the past couple of weeks, I have changed up my morning routine. As if my normal routine isn’t busy enough, I decided to add oil pulling to it all!

Don’t know what oil pulling is? Ever heard of it? Well, read on.

In short, the theory behind oil pulling is that when you swoosh it around, the oil sticks to bad bacteria in your mouth and dissolves it.

Oil pulling has been around for many, many years. It was an ancient Ayurvedic technique for detoxing your body that has been rediscovered years ago.

Proponents of oil pulling claim other benefits, including strengthening of the teeth, gums, and jaw, teeth whitening, and the prevention of cavities and gingivitis, relief of sinus congestion, migraine, and headache relief, reduction in arthritic inflammation, an increase in energy, healthier skin, detox of harmful metals from the body, and a general reduction in insomnia.

I don’t know about all that from firsthand experience, but I thought I would give it a try.

Oil pulling is pretty easy to do. All you do is take a tablespoon of household cooking oil (olive, vegetable, coconut, etc) and swoosh it around your mouth for about 20 minutes.

My preference is coconut oil because it tastes the best. Coconut oil also has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties, so that can’t hurt. I usually use it to cook with.

Other oils you could use include sesame oil, sunflower oil, or even olive oil.

I’ve read that in order to achieve great results, consistency is key, so I’ll update later with a firsthand account of the results I’ve experienced over time.