As she has every weekday morning for the past four weeks, Lisa Pastrich parts her lips and inserts a teaspoon loaded with a thick, slippery dollop of coconut oil. She swirls the stuff across her tongue, pushes it between her teeth, swishes it around and carries on like this for 20 minutes. It’s an odd morning hygiene ritual but one that Pastrich has come to rely on.
“I have very white teeth, but now they’re even whiter,” she says. “I’ve also used it as a hangover remedy.”
The seemingly strange practice is called oil pulling, and it supposedly gives practitioners more energy, strengthens gums, whitens teeth and promotes general well-being by removing bacteria from the mouth. It dates back centuries to ancient India, but it’s become suddenly popular with the health-conscious set, thanks in part to recent endorsements from Gwyneth Paltrow and Shailene Woodley.
It wasn’t Hollywood actresses that convinced Jordan Roland, a 27-year-old graphic designer who lives in Greenpoint, to give oil pulling a try. He heard about it on a snarky podcast and thought it might help with severe halitosis.
While he was initially skeptical, he’s become a believer.
“I did a test with my girlfriend,” he says. “First thing in the morning, I told her to smell my breath. She told me that it smelled disgusting. Then I pulled the oil and she checked it again. She didn’t smell a thing!”
Most medical doctors are ambivalent on the subject of the trendy swishing. There has been no rigorous scientific testing of the supposed health benefits, but the general consensus is that there’s no harm in doing it.
One medical professional who is bullish on the craze is Chicago dentist Jessica Emery.
“It’s fantastic,” she says. “When we spit out the oil, we spit out the bacteria.”
Even those who don’t see tangible medical or cosmetic improvements say they find oil pulling beneficial.
“It is actually relaxing,” says Zach Levine, 35, a Manhattan real estate agent who recently started oil pulling. “While I am swirling around the coconut oil, I have a good excuse to not talk to anyone.”