andrea tells you about oil pulling

Also, the miracles of MCT.

First of all, oil pulling has nothing to do with poor sad little pelicans suffocating under a layer of crude thanks to maleficent petroleum companies. (But if you didn't watch Rachel Maddow yesterday, be sure to check out her evisceration of BP's feel-good "save da birdies" spot. I'm sure it must be online. Oh, here, servicey. Do we like Rachel Maddow? Of course we do. She's awesome.)

What oil pulling actually is, is an ancient Ayurvedic technique that is--I wouldn't say trendy, but--it's a thing. I came across it accidentally on the internet. Well, duh. Anyway, one would think I would have PTSD about the whole Ayurvedic business, because my boss at the Evil Massage Place was really into it, having studied at the Chopra Center, but one cannot slur a whole ancient tradition just because some less than honest and forthcoming people are into it. So I have an open mind. And oil pulling is this: one swishes a mouthful of oil around one's mouth and through one's teeth vigorously for ten to fifteen minutes (!) and then spits it out. Why? Because it is very good for one's gums and teeth, reversing gum disease and whitening one's teeth and killing all the bacteria in there and getting all the debris out that one can't get at no matter how conscientiously one brushes and flosses. Apparently it makes one's hygienist extremely happy with one, or so internet chit chat would indicate. One small problem is what to do with the spat-out oil. Spitting a mouthful of oil into one's sink every single day would probably make one's plumber very happy too! And what kind of oil do people use for this? Well, several are popular because they have particularly antibacterial properties. Safflower, sunflower, and especially, coconut oil.

Which leads me to MCT oil. Do you know what that is? My son did. In fact, he kinda gave me the "duh" face when I asked if he'd heard of it. "Yeah. Medium chain trigycerides." Duh. Everyone knows that. What those do, apparently, is rev up the metabolism and increase fat burning in the body. They help with ketosis. And that is how I heard of them. D has heard of them because he orders his omega 3s from bodybuilder.com, and the gym rats are all into the MCT oil. And if you don't have the "pure" extracted MCT available, what contains a good load of it? Coconut oil. Besides pulling it through their teeth, people put it in their coffee, cook all their meals in it, and drink it by the spoonful. Uh, only a tablespoonful a day at first, because it you aren't adapted to it, too much is gonna lead to nausea and some probable time in the bathroom.

So, I wanted to try the MCTs before I ever heard of the oil pulling. I asked D to let me know when he was going to order from bodybuilder, so I could buy some with his order and save on shipping. Well, he didn't. And so I wandered into the Vitamin Shoppe the other day and asked if they sold it. They were out or something. But they did have coconut oil. In capsules. Since I wasn't sure I was going to be able to suck it down in my coffee anyway, I said what the hell and bought a bottle. Of course once I got them home and did the math, I figured out that I'd have to take twelve a day to make a tablespoon. Rip.off. But I've been taking them since Sunday and, if they're not doing anything else, they are keeping me regular! Then today I managed to find actual coconut oil (which is actually solid at room tempurature) at Shaws.

So I will be oil pulling! What can it hurt?

xoxo