ExclusiveAncient Indian practice as effective for oral health as commercial mouthwash

Epoch Insights with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brannan. In the 1950s and up to the mid-60s, one of the most popular television shows in America was The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Known as America's favorite family, this popular television show went through a series of sponsors. But for their main years, they would generally have only one or two sponsors for several seasons, and they would alternate between the two. One of the main sponsors they had was Listerine. Throughout the series, they didn't just have commercials. They made it part of the act. The opening of each show, you would see either the mother, the father, or one of the two boys, perhaps several family members, talking about a product like it's a scene from the show. Several times, we see Harriet claiming and proudly announcing that Listerine is one of the best ways to prevent and cure colds. Gargle three times a day to stay healthy. Your dentist recommends it, etc. And when it would zoom in on the label, it's interesting to make a quick note of what the ingredients are. We see things like menthol, thymol. They look like basically herbal extracts as well as a lot of alcohol. If you look on a bottle of the original Listerine mouthwash that you can buy in the store today, you'll see that the label reads very differently. You'll see things like caramel coloring, several preservatives and flavorings, a yellow food dye, all things that were certainly not in it when Ozzie and Harriet were pushing it, although they claim to still be using the original formula. Clearly that's not the case from what the label says. Yet many people nowadays are wondering whether there were even some dangers to that original mouthwash. It's true that people have been swishing something around in their mouths for years, yet Listerine was originally developed as an antiseptic, specifically used for killing germs, due to its high alcohol content and those powerful antiseptic herbs, if you will, as well as extracts from those herbs. But the practice of using that several times a day, every day of the week, became very common due to Listerine's aggressive ads in mainly the early 20th century. Some people have said Listerine didn't cure bad breath, it invented it. That the concern about having minty fresh breath was actually created by that company because they made it the point of, like, always your breath offensive and to make people concerned, and then using their product as the answer, which is a common marketing technique to be used. There have been some recent articles in the Epoch Times talking about whether mouthwash is safe. Is mouthwash ruining our health, considering the chemicals that are in some mouthwash, as well as the high alcohol content, that it could have some dangerous side effects and be linked to some cancers or diabetes. What can you do then? It's a very pleasant experience to have a clean mouth and the sensation of swishing something around to clean your teeth, freshen your breath, and maintain your oral hygiene as well as your general respiratory health. Harriet certainly had it right when she said that gargling is a good way to stay healthy. Of course, salt water is a good way to kill germs. But there is another way, actually an ancient practice that has been around for 3,000 to 5,000 years and which many people today are discovering has merits that maybe should be appreciated. This technique is called oil pulling. In the latest issue of the Epoch Times, the Mind and Body section has a long article called Oil Pulling, an ancient practice with modern health benefits. I was pleased to see this article because I'm very familiar with that practice. At least 8, maybe 10 years ago, I first read about it in a natural health book that I have. This book discusses several different types of natural wellness, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, aromatherapy, herbalism, and Ayurveda, which is the traditional Indian medicine. For thousands of years, people in India have acknowledged that using some kind of oil and pulling it through your teeth back and forth has a lot of benefits beyond just freshening your breath. If you put some kind of an herbal rinse in your mouth, just like drinking certain things, it will freshen your breath. But the idea is that the oil has binding properties, so it not only freshens your breath if you put some extra oils in it, but it grabs onto germs and bacteria which are in your mouth. Now, this isn't something you just do for 15 seconds and spit out. Real oil pulling should be done at least 10 minutes and up to 20 minutes. It can actually be a very relaxing process which has many benefits besides just freshening your breath. Benefits listed are prevents dental caries, improves oral hygiene, decreases oral microbial count, inhibits adhesion of plaque and oral surfaces, reduces gingivitis and halitosis, strengthens oral cavity muscles and jaws, whitens teeth, and improves general health. The part about strengthening oral cavity muscles and jaws is an interesting one, and it actually could have a cosmetic effect. There are certain types of gum, not just ones for bubble-blowing purposes or just for fun, but certain kinds, like mastic gum, that are particularly used for the purpose of chiseling your jawline and helping with aging as well as maybe a little extra weight because if you think about it, these are muscles in our face, and it can be hard to exercise them properly. Some people do face yoga or rollerballs, and there are many different techniques, yet exercising those muscles can give you a more chiseled jawline at any age. And aggressive swishing of oil for 20 minutes every day could have a very positive effect on the appearance of your face as well as all these other things which are very important to your health. Now, the first at least half of the article is dedicated to just talking about the link between oral health and dental health and the rest of your body. It talks about heart disease, pulmonary disease, pneumonia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even mental health. All of these serious problems can be caused by poor oral hygiene because that's bacteria, and it doesn't just stay in your mouth. The mouth is the entryway to not only your whole digestive system, and we all know that the gut is the basis of the health of our whole body, and everything has to go through your mouth before getting there, as well as your respiratory system when you breathe in, it goes through your mouth. And it's not good for your lungs if there are a bunch of germs in your mouth because pretty soon they're going to get down into your throat and past your tonsils and into your lungs, and that's when you can be getting serious illnesses. That's why gargling with something like glycerine, salt water, or oil pulling can help prevent and cure a sore throat, a cold, or any other viral infection. I've found many times when I have a bit of a sore throat or I feel like I'm getting one, it can really help to do some oil pulling. Now, oil. What kind of oil are we using? As the article points out, sesame seed oil is the traditional oil used in Ayurveda, but other ones which can be used are coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil. This little window over here discusses the different benefits of particular oils. And a study has shown that coconut oil creates a significant decrease in plaque and plaque-induced dendritis. Sunflower seed oil can reduce the overall microbial burden in the mouth, and rice bran oil indicates that it has superiority in treating bad breath. Now, when I first tried oil pulling, I used sesame seed oil because that was the recommended one, and I found it was quite disgusting. I got sick to my stomach after doing it for a few minutes because it tasted so oily. This is really gross. So I quickly spit it out. But when I tried it again with coconut oil, it was better. But better still was when I used coconut oil, which is flavorless, and put in a few to several drops of grapefruit oil or peppermint oil, ginger oil. These are all essential oils. And this has two benefits. Firstly, it made it much more pleasant because, you know, we're all used to gargling with mouthwash, and it has a flavor, especially a minty one usually, and there's a sensation. I have something in my mouth, and it has a taste. But the sensation of having an oil in your mouth, even if it doesn't have an oily flavor, but without any taste, can be a bit distasteful, at least to me. So I found it was very beneficial to put some oils in it. Plus, all those oils I mentioned have different germ-killing and health side effects, so you're making it even more potent. One thing you can do with oil pulling, which isn't even mentioned in this article, is you can heat it. That was actually mentioned when I originally saw how to oil pull in my book. It said to make it not hot but warm can have other benefits, and it could also be a more pleasant sensation. If, for instance, you have some gum pain or tooth pain, I think it could be very soothing. And, of course, if you do it for a while, it will cool down. You can do your oil pulling while you're doing some morning stretching or meditation, reading, catching up on your emails in the shower, doing some other kind of facial treatment, any number of things. As long as you don't need to talk and you're not doing something so athletic that you're in danger of swallowing, you're fine. And it's definitely not a good idea to swallow it, especially if you have essential oils in it. Swallowing coconut oil isn't going to hurt you. It's a very healthful oil, in fact, but it could make you kind of sick to your stomach to swallow that much oil. It also mentions that if you inhale oil, it could be dangerous because it could cause a type of pneumonia, but that's very rare, and that's not the point. You're supposed to be gargling with it, not inhaling it. And I would imagine that any substance with which you're gargling would be dangerous if you inhaled it. Now, is there anything to oil pulling? Does it actually have all these benefits that people claim? The article begins by saying that dentists regard it as pseudoscience or quackery. Many high-profile dentists have denounced it strongly as completely unscientific. The American Dental Association does not endorse oil pulling. Nevertheless, most of the people who would be in support of oil pulling probably don't have much respect for the American Dental Association because more and more studies are showing that fluoride actually isn't the helpful tool against tooth decay that they've long said it is. While they're claiming you should always brush your teeth with fluoride, new studies are showing that it actually can decay your teeth and have very bad effects on many parts of your body. And not only is it in the water, it's in toothpaste. So as more people are turning away from fluoride, they might be interested in turning towards something like oil pulling. It's not a substitute for brushing your teeth. It's still a good idea to brush your teeth and floss and do other regular routines for oral hygiene. But it can be that added thing which can give you a brighter smile and just general better health because it has so many ancient benefits. If people have been doing it for 5,000 years, there must be a reason why. Sometimes modern science doesn't want to believe in things which people have trusted for generations, obviously because they saw firsthand that it worked. And the claim that it's just fat, which is the main argument against it, has been debunked because one study showed that coconut oil contains 92% saturated acids, approximately 50% of which is lauric acid, which has proven antibacterial and antifungal effects. And it has significant antimicrobial activity against all these different types of bacteria. So clearly, it has numerous benefits. I would recommend if you're interested in trying something different, which will be beneficial not only to your dental and oral health, but to your overall health and well-being, maybe even your mental well-being if perhaps some kind of oral imbalance is leading to anxiety, try out oil pulling. You can get coconut oil at any store, really, either in a liquid form, which is more convenient, or in a solid form. And in that case, you may have to heat it up anyway just to make it liquid. And in that case, it's already warm, ready to gargle. And I would recommend you try it out for yourself and see if it's something that might be not only beneficial, but very pleasant. Thank you for spending this time with me. I hope you enjoyed this discussion of an ancient Indian practice which has benefits and deserves to be discovered today. If you enjoyed this video, I hope you'll subscribe to our channel and like it, share it with your friends, and leave a comment letting us know what your favorite alternative medicine practices are. Thank you for watching!