Oil pulling

Short description: Alternative medical practice without proven benefit, in which oil is "swished" around the mouth.

This article is part of a series on

Alternative and pseudo‑medicine

General information

* Alternative medicine
* Alternative veterinary medicine
* Quackery (Health fraud)
* History of alternative medicine
* Rise of modern medicine
* Pseudoscience
* Antiscience
* Skepticism
* Skeptical movement
* National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
* Terminology of alternative medicine

Fringe medicine and science

* Acupressure
* Acupuncture
* Anthroposophic medicine
* Apitherapy
* Applied kinesiology
* Aromatherapy
* Auriculotherapy
* Bach flower remedies
* Bates method
* Biorhythm
* Black salve
* Bodywork
* Bonesetter
* Bowen technique
* Breathwork
* Camel urine
* Cow urine
* Cancer treatments
* Greek cancer cure
* Charcoal cleanse
* Chiropractic
* Chiropractic treatment techniques
* Vertebral subluxation
* Christian Science
* Chromotherapy
* Colon cleansing
* Coffee enema
* Colorpuncture
* Craniosacral therapy
* Crystal healing
* Cupping therapy
* Detoxification
* Foot baths
* Duesberg hypothesis
* Ear candling
* Energy medicine
* Esoteric energy
* Therapeutic touch
* Facilitated communication
* Feldenkrais Method
* Functional medicine
* Hair analysis
* Herbal medicine
* Holistic dentistry
* Hologram bracelet
* Homeopathy
* Biological terrain assessment
* Hypnotherapy
* Iridology
* Ionized jewelry
* Lightning Process
* Lymphotherapy
* Medical intuitive
* Mesmerism
* Magnet therapy
* Manual therapy
* Megavitamin therapy
* Mind–body interventions
* MMS
* Myofascial release
* NAET
* Naturopathy
* Oil pulling
* Orgone
* Orthomolecular medicine
* Orthopathy
* Osteomyology
* Osteopathy
* Parapsychology
* Phrenology
* Psychic surgery
* Psychodermatology
* Radionics
* Rapid prompting method
* RBOP
* Reiki
* Reflexology
* Rolfing
* Scientific racism
* ThetaHealing
* Thought Field Therapy
* Urine therapy
* Urophagia
* Vaginal steaming
* Vision therapy
* Vitalism
* Young blood transfusion
* Zero balancing

Conspiracy theories

* Anti-fluoridation/Water fluoridation movement
* Anti-vaccination
* Vaccines causing autism
* Big Pharma conspiracy theory
* GMO conspiracy theories
* HIV/AIDS denialism
* Discredited HIV/AIDS origins theories
* OPV AIDS hypothesis

Classifications

* Allopathic medicine
* Alternative medical systems
* Mind–body intervention
* Biologically-based therapy
* Manipulative methods
* Energy therapy

Traditional medicine

* African
* Muti
* South African
* Ayurveda
* Ayurvedic acupressure
* Dosha
* Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health
* Balneotherapy
* Brazilian
* Bush medicine
* Cambodian
* Chinese
* Blood stasis
* Chinese herbology
* Dit Da
* Gua sha
* Gill plate trade
* Meridian
* Moxibustion
* Pressure point
* Qi
* San Jiao
* Tui na
* Zang-fu
* Chumash
* Curandero
* Faith healing
* Iranian
* Jamu
* Kambo
* Japanese
* Korean
* Mien Shiang
* Mongolian
* Prophetic medicine
* Shamanism
* Shiatsu
* Siddha
* Sri Lankan
* Thai massage
* Tibetan
* Unani
* Vietnamese

Diagnoses

* Adrenal fatigue
* Aerotoxic syndrome
* Autistic enterocolitis
* Candida hypersensitivity
* Chronic Lyme disease
* Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
* Heavy legs
* Leaky gut syndrome
* Multiple chemical sensitivity
* Wilson's temperature syndrome
* Wind turbine syndrome

* v
* t
* e

Oil pulling is an alternative medical practice in which an edible oil is swished around the mouth for a period of time and then spat out, similar to mouthwash.[1] It originates from Ayurvedic medicine.

Practitioners of oil pulling claim it is capable of improving oral and whole-body health.[2] Its promoters claim it works by pulling out toxins,[1] but there is no credible evidence to support this.[1][3][4][5]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Criticism
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 Further reading

## History

Oil pulling stems from traditional Ayurvedic medicine,[1][6][7][8] whose practitioners may use sunflower oil, olive oil, or other herbal oils instead of coconut oil.[1][9]

## Criticism

There is no high-quality research on oil pulling,[1][3][5] no understanding of a possible mechanism explaining how it would work,[10] and no evidence that it provides any benefit.[1][4][5] The American Dental Association agrees that there are no reliable scientific studies supporting the practice of oil pulling for any benefit to oral hygiene or overall wellbeing.[11]

The Canadian Dental Association assessed the practice of oil pulling in 2014 stating: "We sense oil pulling won't do any harm, we're not convinced there are any particular benefits to it."[12]

## See also

* Traditional medicine
* List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 King A (13 April 2018). "Bad science: Oil pulling". British Dental Journal 224 (7): 470. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.281. PMID 29651060.
2. ↑ Butler, Bethonia (20 March 2014). "Everyone is talking about 'oil pulling.' But does this health practice actually work?". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/03/20/everyone-is-talking-about-oil-pulling-but-does-this-health-practice-actually-work/.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Novella, Steven (12 March 2014). "Oil Pulling Your Leg". https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/oil-pulling-your-leg/. "Oil pulling is a suggestive misnomer, implying that something bad is being pulled from the mouth (toxins and bacteria). What little scientific evidence exists shows that it is probably not as effective as standard mouth wash, and what benefit it has is likely entirely due to the mechanical act of swishing to remove particles and bacteria from teeth and gums ... Oil pulling for general health or any other indication is pure pseudoscience. Detox claims are based on nothing, as are all detox claims. There is no evidence or plausible rationale to recommend oil pulling for any indication other than as a poor substitute for oral care."
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lipids in preventive dentistry". Clinical Oral Investigations 17 (3): 669–685. April 2013. doi:10.1007/s00784-012-0835-9. PMID 23053698.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Effect of oil pulling in promoting oro dental hygiene: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials". Complementary Therapies in Medicine 26: 47–54. June 2016. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2016.02.011. PMID 27261981. "To the best of our knowledge this is the first systematic review assessing the effect of oil pulling on oro dental hygiene. The results should be interpreted with caution because of the small number of included studies. Furthermore, the included studies were not adequately powered, and small sample sized studies could lead to misleading results".
6. ↑ Puri, Nividita (2015) "Holistic Approach of Oil Pulling in the Dental World: a literature review". The Dental Assistant 20–23
7. ↑ Bronson Gray, Barbara (18 April 2014). "Oil-Swishing Craze". http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20140418/oil-swishing-craze-snake-oil-or-all-purpose-remedy.
8. ↑ Cheshire, Sara (6 August 2014). "Does oil pulling work?". Turner Broadcasting System. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/06/health/oil-pulling.
9. ↑ Mulson, Jennifer (19 August 2014). "Live Well: Oil pulling draws fans, skeptics in Colorado Springs". Colorado Springs, Colorado. http://gazette.com/live-well-oil-pulling-draws-fans-skeptics-in-colorado-springs/article/1535792.
10. ↑ Lakshmi, T; Rajendran, R; Krishnan, Vidya (2013). "Perspectives of oil pulling therapy in dental practice". Dental Hypotheses 4 (4): 131–134. doi:10.4103/2155-8213.122675.
11. ↑ "Oil Pulling". American Dental Association. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/o/oil-pulling.
12. ↑ Anna Lazowski (5 June 2014). "Oil pulling: Ancient practice now a modern trend". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/oil-pulling-ancient-practice-now-a-modern-trend-1.2664794.

## Further reading

* Dunning, Brian (April 8, 2014). "Skeptoid #409: Oil Pulling". https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4409.

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil pulling. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Chemistry:Oil_pulling&oldid=874887"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template