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Toxins and Oil Pulling
Oct. 13th, 2015 08:24 pmOn my car ride to work and to home, I tend to listen to podcasts than the radio. One of the ones I listen to regularly is "What's the Tee" with RuPaul and Michelle Visage. Usually, I find myself very entertained by their antics and their guests, but during one of the shows, I find that Michelle is all about "organic" foods and dealing with "toxins." She chastises RuPaul for drinking tap water because it contains antibiotics, fluoride, etc.
Normally, I find her to be a very motherly person who preaches advice from her good and bad experiences in the entertainment industry, but when she starts on these rants, I can't help but think she's an idiot.
She's not alone. There are a lot of people who fall into this line of thinking when it comes to holistic health approaches. The word "organic" annoys me as food by definition is organic in nature. However, this "organic" refers to their growth without antibiotics, pesticides, etc. And "toxins" has grown to become this spooky catch-all for all things that make you feel bad. I have found that "toxins" are never adequately defined anywhere when someone tells you to do this procedure or eat this ground paste of flax-seed, organic olive oil, garlic, and dried salt from the Dead Sea processed by a virgin Indian woman while under a full moon.
In the episode where she gigs RuPaul for drinking tap water (which is tested regularly I might add), Visage describes her "oil pulling" regimen. This is her morning ritual. She puts a tablespoon of organic, unrefined coconut oil in her mouth, lets it melt, then swishes it through her teeth and gums for 20 minutes. She then spits it out into the garbage. She claims this removes toxins from her body by capturing them through her gums while she swishes it around.
Personally, I would love to see a study to determine what toxins this pulled oil removed from a person. My guess is that it would contain coconut oil, digested by-products of coconut oil, and whatever enzymatic elements are typically found in human saliva. It might actually help remove plaque by its physical action, but that's probably it.
I think people would feel better if they just ate healthy and worked out regularly. And you can save 20 minutes every morning by not having to pull oil through your teeth.
Normally, I find her to be a very motherly person who preaches advice from her good and bad experiences in the entertainment industry, but when she starts on these rants, I can't help but think she's an idiot.
She's not alone. There are a lot of people who fall into this line of thinking when it comes to holistic health approaches. The word "organic" annoys me as food by definition is organic in nature. However, this "organic" refers to their growth without antibiotics, pesticides, etc. And "toxins" has grown to become this spooky catch-all for all things that make you feel bad. I have found that "toxins" are never adequately defined anywhere when someone tells you to do this procedure or eat this ground paste of flax-seed, organic olive oil, garlic, and dried salt from the Dead Sea processed by a virgin Indian woman while under a full moon.
In the episode where she gigs RuPaul for drinking tap water (which is tested regularly I might add), Visage describes her "oil pulling" regimen. This is her morning ritual. She puts a tablespoon of organic, unrefined coconut oil in her mouth, lets it melt, then swishes it through her teeth and gums for 20 minutes. She then spits it out into the garbage. She claims this removes toxins from her body by capturing them through her gums while she swishes it around.
Personally, I would love to see a study to determine what toxins this pulled oil removed from a person. My guess is that it would contain coconut oil, digested by-products of coconut oil, and whatever enzymatic elements are typically found in human saliva. It might actually help remove plaque by its physical action, but that's probably it.
I think people would feel better if they just ate healthy and worked out regularly. And you can save 20 minutes every morning by not having to pull oil through your teeth.
