Health Benefits of Sunflowers

twelve days ago i started using sunflower seed oil to find out if oil pulling might benefit my health concerns. im 65 years, 5' 10" 185 lbs. constant fatigue syndrome, muscle aches. i have stopped using junk foods and soda five years ago. still have same health problems. three days after starting oil pulling once a day, i could hardly stand up. coughed up lots of yellow mucus, also from the nose. next day felt a little better. got bad laryngitis, but no pain in throat. but kept doing oil pulling each day, two or three times twice a day. had loose bowels two or three times. on the tenth day i felt relief from body aches and strains, like i was walking around with someone else's body. this is the twelfth day, i continue to feel like a new person. i don't know what to expect next. plan to do this for the rest of my life.

I have just learned of this oil pulling remedy. I have done this for the first time today. I used garlic sunflower oil, and swished for 20 minutes. I could feel it loosening up my chest congestion that I have had since winter before last when I got pnuemonia. After I spit it out, I begin to gag really bad, and almost vomited. That was short lived and I actually felt better, and my sinuses seemed clearer. The chest congestion seemed to get worse hours later, so I swished again for just under 10 minutes the second time. I again gagged and almost vomited again, but noticed that this time my sinuses seemed to loosen up during swishing and when I cleared my sinuses I spit out traces of blood- twice. I have had chronic sinusitis since I was 14, (I'm 45 now, so a very long time). I'm sure it must have been the toxins being released, but I haven't found anything like that being reported in the study I did about OP. Has anyone ever experienced this before? Oh, and by the way, I read that the oil is suppose to turn white and foamy, but mine only liquified to clear, but never foamy, what does that mean? Any info is appreciated, as I am very interested in detoxing by anything that I dont have to swallow...Please HELP, I hate pills!

I started oil pulling one week ago using cold pressed sunflower. A part of me felt a but naive to be doing it at first - but the first few seconds I used it I knew it was bonafide and working homeopathically at different levels, as I felt an immediate subtle electrical change all over my body similar to when I am in meditation and when I first tried the ionic foot bath. I really didn't expect that. That night I slept soundly and woke up tingling all over and feeling very soothed. I am combining this treatment with the ultimate cleanse herbs and good amounts of fresh fruit. I am coughing up mucus and get runny nose often when oil pulling. My skin condition has improved. Oral Hygeine is much better. The oil when you are done is clearly toxic just by smell alone-- yuk!. First thing in the morning seems to make most sense to help clear up after the body's work over the night. It is to my mind clearly helping detoxification and not just physically. All my symptoms this week have been typical of healing reactions and I have been facing some mental/emotional states and old ways of thinking fair and square. My esoteric kind of view on this is that if we can be prepared to detox internally and go thru all of the holistic processes that come up, then perhaps this can help us heal what is a very toxic environment all around us and move into a proper application of planetary ecology.

I came across this site while looking for a natural cure for sinus troubles which have been plaguing me unusually more this season. When I first heard about oil pulling, it did sound a bit absurd but I decided to give it a go. What was I going to lose? I had organic olive oil in the house and used it. Immediately after, I felt amazingly light-hearted and joyful - this after weeks of being miserable with stiffed sinus pains. So I went out and got sunflower oil because I found the olive oil taste a bit heavy and, well, oily for me. After a month of OP these are the results: Sinus pain GONE. At first the mucus came out thickly and quickly for about five minutes after I had oil pulled. Within a week, it lessened to a maybe one or two times when I had to spit it out. I needed to have a pillow under my legs when I went to bed but two days after oil pulling, I suddenly pushed it away and don't need it any more. I have no idea why this happened and how it is related to oil pulling. But the pillow I have been using for years is now in the closet. Thirdly, I am losing weight, especially around the lower abdomen, an area that I have been trying to lose for years. My teeth look good. An ache in the upper tooth has disappeared. In short, oil pulling is great!

I have peri oral dermatitis, Gilberts Syndrome and I.C. All three are pretty much incurable (for me anyway) and i've lived with them forever. Today was day 2 of my oil pulling and something is definately working. I'm doing it just once in the morning. Yesterday i awoke feeling okay, oil pulled with sunflower oil and the second i spat it out my head felt like it was going to explode! had the headache all day. But I noticed my bladder was no longer as uncomfortable, and my skin, I think it looks a bit better..?.. Last night i had a bit of a drinking session because it was my sisters birthday and I awoke with a cracking hangover! Feeling very ill I went downstairs and sat at the dining table with the oil and after a minute or so with the oil in my mouth, I became brighter and more...WELL feeling. I even got up and started tidying! Guys, my hangover DISAPPEARED. whats going on here? I dont understand how this is working, but I am SURE it's not in my mind, I am feeling better! I will post again after a week. Cant wait to see if anything else happens....

I tried oil pulling and probably did it most days for one month. It definitely helped clear up an allergy that was causing excessive mucous in the back of my throat. However, I have to warn others that it did cause two of my newly placed fillings to come out and I had to have them replaced - so more novacaine and PAIN!!! I am sad that I cannot do this anymore because I felt that it would have helped me even more. But I thought it needed to be posted that losing your fillings is a real possibility. I believe that I followed directions, used sunflower oil and if anything didn't move the oil enough in my mouth (I lose concentration and just let it sit there!)

I have been oil pulling with sunflower oil once daily (mornings) for 3 weeks now, and here are my observations from my journal:

For about 2 years I was unable to chew on the right side of my mouth because of tooth pain and extreme sensitivity to hot, sweet, cold, etc. I strongly suspect I am in need of another root canal. Starting with the second day of oil-pulling I found the entire right side of my my mouth was no longer sensitive. Beginning with the 3rd day, I was able to chew on the right side of my mouth, albeit gingerly. Now, 3 weeks later I chew on the right side of my mouth equally with the left side - no pain, no sensitivity. And I've noticed my teeth feel more secure and they no longer feel 'loose. And as many has commented on, they feel cleaner and look whiter.

The audible wheezing noises while breathing whenever I would lie down have stopped. I seem to be sleeping better too. Some nights all the way through. I have a way to go on this problem, though.

Milk makes my lungs fill with phlegm which was really hard for me to expectorate in the mornings. This too has stopped. Despite continuing to drink milk (homemade probiotic Kefir, actually) and the occasional milk in my coffee, teas and with cereal, my lungs no longer feel congested and I have no coughing fits anymore while trying to expel the congestion out of my lungs; no coughing either as there doesn't seem to be any congestion. I had been a heavy smoker for twenty-some years before quitting 18 years ago and this is probably the genesis of my lung problems.

Since early childhood I have had the herpes simplex virus in my body and suffered from frequent cold and canker sores. Now, by the time I feel one on my tongue it is gone in the morning. The other day the smallest, single-blister cold sore I ever had - which was all but invisible appeared in the corner of my mouth. It went through its stages and absolutely gone in 3 days, flat. Without treatment the blisters multiply and the healing process normally takes around 2 weeks.

NOTE: As I do not have the time nor disposition to do this oil-pulling therapy more than once a day - I 'pull' sometimes for over the 20 minutes - all the way up to an hour. None of my fillings have loosened or fallen out. A funny aside to all this is that I now find myself absent-mindedly 'pulling' all my drinks, coffee, tea, milk and if nothing else I am sure it is helping to remove food trapped in between my teeth.

I've been oil pulling for a month. I have found it very easy, most of the time I read email while doing it. I found it is best for me to take less than 1 full Tablespoon, because- of all the salvia that fills my mouth so fast. It has made my teeth stronger, and really white, for the first time in my adult life! I have a very healthy system to begin with - I have hopes that a slight (genetic, psroisis) skin condition.. will finally move on. The process is working slowly on me. It might be more effective if I was swishing and pulling more..instead of holding it in mouth. My first few days had the older symptoms returning.. pains, fevers, aches.. waking with sour mouth. This was a sign it IS working. Now, no more bad effects! I still oil pull 1 or 2 X per day, with sunflower oil. Do not have any aches or pains, wish to see improvement in my weight loss..skin..and continued healing overall. I tell others to try it!

First I must say this is a GREAT! Website and I search on it often. I have pretty much cured my asthma with the AV and coconut oil... If I leave certain beers and wine alone will usually don't need to us my nebulizer machine either. I'm very excited about trying the OP as I just bought sunflower oil last week. I have been sending infomation on OP to my Mom as I want her to try it too... But she has had pancreatic cancer and has had the Whipple procedure done 3 yrs ago. And YES she did have the chemo and radition that (WE) think made her condition worst. The problem is she has to take these expensive enyme medications in order to help digest her meals. I wanted her to try the OP because of the toxins from the chemo and radition. I have been looking on the web site for any one with these issues to find out what their outcome is from OP after a few yrs of a major surgery as the Whipple. She is doing very well... and I want to see her continue this way. I look forward to hearing from you soon.. And THX AGAIN for this GREAT WEBSITE! I tell friends about it all the time as in fact 1 person tried the ACV on a Korn on the toe... IT'S GONE! Ha! Ha! Love this site! Tangie

I was quite skeptical at first - I mean, swishing oil around in my mouth for twenty minutes? It seemed... silly. A month ago, however, my sinuses began hurting a lot - every couple of years I will have a lot of tooth pain for about two weeks, then my face will swell, and then I'll go to a doctor and get an antibiotic. This time, however, I tried the OP as soon as I felt the pain, and the next morning my face was completely swollen. I remembered what I read that symptoms will become more severe at first, then abate. I did go to the doctor anyway because I was still skeptical, but I was interested that the swelling happened so quickly instead of the usual couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I have also been experiencing severe sensitivity on the left side of my mouth.

After three weeks of OP, I noticed that the sensitivity has completely disappeared. My teeth feel stronger, and have lightened quite a bit.

As for my energy, it has improved as well. I don't have the usual dying-to-take-a-nap-at-two-o'clock-in-the-afternoon-feeling any more.

I have been using one tablespoon of sunflower oil, twice a day, on an empty stomach, for about 25 days now. I am now convinced that OP is a valid therapy, and I will continue my regimen to see what other benefits will occur. Thank you!

Hello,

I have been using unrefined sunflower oil for a little over a week now and have a few thoughts to relay. My experience so far has been good. My teeth are whiter and I feel that toxins are being pulled from my body.

It seems to me that it is best to do the oil pulling in a relaxed manner being gentle in your approach. And it is not necessary to slosh continually. Take a break frequently and just let the oil sit there for a little while. Keeping one's chin up all the time causes the oil to go to the back of the throat and that causes a gag reflex so I've found that looking down slightly while sloshing and then, every few minutes, looking straight ahead and sloshing the oil back and forth between my teeth reduces the gag sensation and still accomplishes drawing toxins out.

Also, I've noted from the postings here that some folks are concerned about being perfect in their approach. As a suggestion, don't worry about it. Worry itself interferes with detoxing. If you ate recently and it is not convenient to wait awhile to do the pulling, it is still better to do it than not doing the pulling at all. I believe the point of doing it on an empty stomach is mainly that the body will be more responsive to dumping toxins if it is not digesting food at the same time, however, the pulling still has value. The enzymes will draw out toxins no matter when you oil pull. If it is unpleasant to keep the oil in your mouth for 15 to 20 minutes, hold it as long as you can. If that is 5 minutes then you'll still receive benefit and, with experience, your body will adapt to the experience and keeping it in longer will probably become easier and easier.

Some people are also concerned about whether to use refined or unrefined oil. It probably doesn't matter from the standpoint of removing toxins. Sloshing the oil stimulates saliva production. Saliva contains the enzymes for drawing out toxins. Polyunsaturated oils such as sunflower and sesame may be more effective than saturated fats for detoxing because the molecules of polyunsaturates are open ended and attract and hold various substances. As is indicated, these oils become ripe with bacteria, viruses, parasites, yeasts, etc. so spitting the stuff out and rinsing thoroughly is a real good idea.

Tooth enamel: To get the best results from oil pulling I suggestion you brush your teeth with non-fluoridated tooth paste. Fluoride compounds harden the enamel, making it less porous. This is the effect that is touted as helping to reduce cavities. What is not generally brought out is that fluoride is indiscriminate in what it hardens. Drinking fluoridated water, rinsing with fluoridated mouth washes and brushing with fluoride tooth paste is serious overkill. Excess fluoride, and it doesn't take much at all to be too much, causes teeth, bones and soft tissue to become hard, even brittle. Brittle is not a good thing in a living body. Also fluoride accumulates in the body, hardening what it attaches to, and causes a person to feel more and more stiff. Enamel is meant to be somewhat porous. The initial studies on the benefits of fluoride were conducted in communities where the natural form, calcium fluoride, was present in the water supply. Sodium fluoride is what is generally added to city water supplies and tooth paste. This form is very toxic. Even the calcium form can cause bones and so on to become brittle if too much is taken. For instance, there is a herd of elk in Yellowstone National Park who live in an area with high concentrations of calcium fluoride in the water supply. They have much shorter life spans than elk who drink from sources without significant amounts of calcium fluoride. The elk who get a lot of fluoride develop brittle bones and teeth, which break easily, and so die prematurely from starvation and broken bones.

Saliva contains about 3 times more calcium than blood plasma. It is thought by some that the reason for this is that our saliva can lay down calcium on the teeth and repair minor cavities as well as strengthen the enamel in general. Excess fluoride would interfere with this. And, again, we benefit from very small amounts of fluoride. More in this case is definitely not better. If you are concerned about getting enough fluoride, rather than using fluoridated mouth washes and tooth paste, drink a cup of green, white or black tea a day. These types of tea supply plenty of naturally occurring fluoride.

One more thing. There is a very old form of breathing known as Ujjayi Pranayama. It is a safe and beneficial form that helps with a detox. It only needs to be done for a few minutes a day to see results. It oxygenates the entire body, improving metabolism and reducing stress. If you would like the directions for practicing it send an email to charliepah [at] rock.com (replace [at] with@) and I'll send the directions to you as a word document or as part of the email, whichever you want. I'd prefer to send it as a word document so it will print out correctly.

Enjoy yourself.
Charlie

I tried oil pulling with sunflower oil and in 2-3 days my teeth stopped being sensitive. It doesnt hurt when I have cold foods also. Also, I noticed that I had no vaginal discharge on days I did oil pulling. Thank-you, earthclinic.

Hi.I came arcoss this site searching for info about cayenne. Looking the the left side of the page I saw oil pulling and was like, what's that. Glad I took the time to read about and I have never heard of this before. I was so sleepy but I was really interested so I kept reading. I did my first OP today 02/22/08 and I used Sunflower oil.I did'nt know that I could find it in my local grocery store for 2.60. Anyway, I kept busy while swishing for 20 minutes then I released and it was white and looked a little funny. shortly after I was sleepy and felt a little light headed. I will continue to do this and report back in a month.I love this site!!

Oil Pulling: Response to Shirin from Singapore 2/29/08 post. Hi, Shirin, You may be having a healing episode / crisis. Ted or one of the other contributors would know better than I. My perspective as a physical therapist is that you may be working your mouth / jaw too hard while you are oil pulling.

'I recently began oil pulling, and I noticed my TMJ (jaw joint) problem flaring up at first. TMJ problems can result in all of the symptoms you described, including the neck pain. This is because the neck and face / jaw muscles are very closely related during the functions of chewing, talking, opening/closing mouth.

I realized that I was working the oil too hard and too fast in my mouth (20 minutes is a long time). When I slowed down and did smaller movements with the oil, it was better. I also had to start with a little less oil until my coordination improved to the point where I did not feel like I had to swallow.

Try the following the next time you oil pull:

1. sit with good posture in a firm chair (not hunched forward over computer, sink, or desk).
2. put a pillow on your lap to support your arms. This will allow your neck and shoulders to relax a bit.
3. Be mindful of what you are doing; are you clenching your teeth? are you pushing / thrusting your jaw forward or sideways? are you tensing your tongue a lot? are you frowning or shrugging your shoulders as you concentrate? These are all things to avoid.
4. Try to work slowly and keep your face and jaw as relaxed as possible while working the oil. Your cheeks should be doing most of the work. You could practice by moving air around in your mouth as if you were swishing oil. I have a tendency to clench my teeth, so I monitor that carefully.

I have stopped trying to "chew" the oil because I can't do it without aggravating the TMJ. I have also started taking mini-breaks of up to 5 seconds where I just let the oil rest in my mouth so my neck /jaw / face / scalp muscles can relax a bit.

Possible remedies if this is due to TMJ (jaw) irritation:
1. applications of moist heat up to 15 minutes, 3-4 times daily. It can be done as often as every hour if necessary for pain control, but no more than 15 minutes! I do not know if it is ok to do right after oil pulling from a toxin standpoint, however I usually have my patients use heat right after eating if their symptoms become aggravated. Sometimes cold compresses feel better. The idea is to get the muscles to relax and break that pain cycle. Breaking the pain cycle is important so that this does not become a long-term problem.
2. Use your fingers to do gentle massage (with or without oil. I do without because my skin is naturally oily), or, better yet, get someone to do it for you. The forehead, under the cheekbones, in front of the ears, the scalp (especially over and behind ears), and VERY VERY gently under the jawbone from the back near the ears out to under the chin. Gently pulling the ear lobes down and slightly outward is also helpful. When my TMJ is flared up, I find it easier to do the massage with one hand at a time because using 2 hands causes my neck/jaw/face muscles to tense further. I hope this helps. Kristin

Hello, I've been doing oil pulling using cold pressed organic sunflower oil for 7 days now. Day 1 and 2 I didnt feel anything. From day 3, I started getting really bad headaches & pain all over my neck, jaw and top of my head. At first I thot good its a reaction, but now after 7 days, i'm feeling terrible. Please advice if I should stop or change oils or what can I do to reduce these symptoms.

Oil pulling helped my dry eyes and stopped up nose. I have been doing oil pulling for 6 months now.I usually have a glass of lemon water but no food first thing in the morning. Then I use about a tsp of organic sunflower oil and "pull" for about 15-20 min. Then I brush my teeth and start my day.I used to have very dry eyes especially when wearing my contacts and my nose got stopped up easily depending on what I was eating. Now I don't have trouble with either one of those things. However when I stopped pulling the symptoms reappeared, so I am back to pulling every morning and just know it is a part of my routine. While pulling, I read my email, feed my pets, fix my tea and I'm done. The benefits are great and it becomes a habit when you fit it into your routine. This web site is so great!! Thanks!