I have seasonal alergies in the spring that turn asthmatic. In a bad years I'm near hospitalization before I saw a doctor. I have not been oil pulling that long. So I have not been through the hat fever season yet on OP. When I started I had a runny nose that cleared up in a few weeks.

I my opinion as long as it isn't motor oil you can you it. The Olive-Oil you bought from the grocery store will be to start. That is was I started on. Mine was a little thick. You can shop around for other types. I like seseme, and it is one of the oils recommended to start out on. If it works out for you, then start looking around for organic, cold pressed, etc. I buy all my stuff from the grocery store, and have not had any problems.

Good Luck,

Arnold

Hey there --

I think that if I had to pick one benefit that has helped me the most of all of them, it would be the improvement in my nasal congestion. I am not sure it was allergies per se, but before I began oil pulling, I would chronically feel sort of congested in my head/sinus areas, with pain or discomfort, often just a general sick feeling (I rarely had yellow-green mucous when I blew my nose so it was not sinus infection, but just intense congestion -- unpleasant and made me feel run down, etc.). I used to use a LOT of the over-the-counter sinus and allergy pills like Tylenol Allergy, Advil Cold and Sinus, etc. -- my husband would get really upset with me because I would forget to get the big bottle at the pharmacy but would always buy the expensive little 2-packs at 7-11.

Oil pulling has helped with this enormously. I no longer (summer, winter, airconditioning, heat -- whatever) wake up with the sinus headache/congestion or feel in the morning like I have been hit by a truck. And have had general improvement in my ability to breathe through my nose. And i just feel better in general, as one would expect when one's head is not jam packed with yuck!

So I think your beginning to OP is a great idea, and I hope it helps you as much as it helped me.

I usually use sesame oil, coconut oil, flax seed oil, or some combination. I remembered to order oil of oregano recently so have been adding a few drops of that into the mix, too. Olive is great and I used a lot last winter -- the one thing about olive oil is that it does not have the teeth-whitening properties of the other oils (especially coconut!), but will, over time, give your teeth a sort of chartreuse or olive-oil-colored cast. As smoker for 25 years, needless to say this was the last thing I wanted to add to my tooth color, which is why I stopped using olive oil on a regular basis -- although I will use it for a couple days if I am out of another oil.

Pure means only olive oil, rather than olive oil blended with another kind of oil. (I have learned a lot about olive oil lately...for instance, your olive oil can look like it's from Italy but really only be bottled in Italy!) Refined means how it is processed. My preference is unrefined because I believe that refining these oils takes some of their good qualities away, but the site oilpulling.com says to use refined -- what we use around here tends to be higer-quality oils and to not use soy, corn, canola, or peanut oils at all. In Virginia you can get unrefined Spectrum sesame oil for about 6 bucks at the Kroger, and there are also a lot of online resources for buying oil (Amazon.com actually has oils for sale!). The best thing to do is to go ahead and start -- use the olive and get going, and then you can look around to find other oils that work for you.

The other thing I will mention is that I do think that barometric pressure can play a part in congestion. This was my experience this summer. I had that same one side stuffy then the other side stuffy, and it was just when there was a low-pressure system coming in. i.e. I think that some people may think their headaches and stuffiness are allergy-related-only, when in fact it could be something else entirely. You might do well to keep a journal of your symptoms over a couple of months and correlate it to the weather conditions/barometric pressure. Just a thought, but it has been pretty big in terms of how my head feels!

Best, and look forward to hearing about your experience with OP!

Laura

Barometric pressure

I went to the health food store and bought organic unreifined sesame oil and sunflower oil. My allergies were gone in 4 months after I started oilpulling. I did it at least once a day sometimes twice a day. The sesame had the best flavor. I am so relieved I had finally found a health protocol that got rid of my allergies, because they were so chronic, and I thought I would never be rid of them.

Thank you all for your feedback! I read that doing this might actually make you feel worse when you first start. Do you still continue oil pulling when this happens or do you take a break from it? And do you still only pull once a day upon waking? Also how long before you feel better and achieve the full effects of this? I'm just curious as to what is going to happen. I just got off antibotics a few days ago so I really don't want to get sick again! lol

You can also try Neilmed Sinus Rinse. I have suffered for what seems like forever year round. I have also been using nasal sprays..etc. This has truly worked for me. You can find out more about it here:


http://www.amazon.com/Neilmed-Sinus-Rinse-1-kit/dp/B000A0S5KC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3...


Be sure to read the reviews. I am so glad someone turned me on to this stuff.