As I so love to remind my readers, I’ve been at this blogging thing a long time now. In early December, it will have been a full decade since that strange, cold, dreary winter afternoon (well, technically late fall) when, inspired by an article in TIME Magazine about blogging, sat down in front of my computer, went to Blogspot.com and created the first iteration of Respectful Insolence. At first my output was intermittent, but within a couple of months I was posting virtually every day, a habit that’s continued to this very day. About a year after my very first post, I was invited to join ScienceBlogs, which I did in February 2006. Bizarrely enough, I’m still here.
The reason I’m boring you all with yet another recitation of this blog’s history is because I just want to emphasize that I’ve been at this a long time. There’s very little in terms of quackery that I haven’t seen before. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. However, such is the warped creativity (if you can call it that) of quacks that, even now, every so often I come across a form of quackery of which I’ve never heard before. In fact, it’s times like these I live for. After all, how many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of times have I written about, for example, homeopathy? True, homeopathy is The One Quackery To Rule Them All, but every so often I get a little tired of explaining the law of similars and the law of infinitesimals. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still fun after all these years, but the novelty is long gone.
That’s why, as much as I hate to send more attention his way, I must allow my blogging attention for today to drift over to everybody’s New World Order conspiracy theorist and quack, Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com. I have to tip my hat to him today. He’s pulled out a doozy of a bit of quackery, something I’ve never heard of before. Well, that’s not quite the right way to put it. I have heard of oil pulling before. I first blogged about it seven years ago. As far as woo goes, oil pulling is rather unimaginative; all it involves is taking oil such as sunflower oil, olive oil, or some similar oil and swishing it around in your mouth. The claims, of course, are anything but unimaginative, including pulling “disease elements” out through the mouth; i.e., “detoxifying” yourself through your mouth into a mouthful of plant-based oil. I’ve heard variants of “mouth detoxification” before, too, such as Arthur Bloom’s claim that swishing fruit juices through your mouth can remove enough cholesterol-containing epithelial cells and their “toxic fat” (yes, it’s detoxification), with such an effect that it will prevent or reverse atherosclerosis. As I put it, who needs Lipitor?
What, you ask then, is even better than oil pulling or other methods of “detoxifying” through your mouth? Here’s where Mike Adams comes in. Apparently he’s come across two woos combined into one, two crappy woos that taste crappy together. I’m referring to, of course, the aforementioned oil pulling. But what—what?—could be added to oil pulling to make it even more awesome woo? Glad you asked! I’m talking ozone-infused oil pulling! If you believe Adams, it’s a “revolution in oral health combining modern technology with ancient medicine.” Of course, I don’t believe Mike Adams about much of anything. My curiosity, however, was piqued:
The practice of “oil pulling” has been used for thousands of years to pull toxins from gum tissue in the mouth.* It’s a mainstay tool of Ayurvedic Medicine and many people swear by its benefits. But now we’ve taken oil pulling into the 21st century with the addition of an ozone infusion right into the oil.
Ozone, the same elemental molecule you can smell in the air after a lightning storm, is now being used to radically transform modern dentistry. What dentists have discovered is that ozone kills bacteria throughout the mouth, including in tiny, microscopic crevices. Today, more and more dentists have become aware that old root canals may harbor dangerous bacteria and release toxins into the mouth which get swallowed into the body.
Regarding the whole “taking it to the 21st century” thing, Mike: Ozone is hardly “21st century.” It’s old quackery. Very old. At least 1930s old. Indeed, it’s so old that this article on Quackwatch about oxygenation therapy (which includes ozone therapy) is very out of date and incorrect about this statement:
By 1960, research had identified nearly all energy-producing metabolic pathways in both normal and cancer cells and showed that energy-producing systems in normal cells were the same as those found in cancer cells [10]. Despite this, Warburg insisted until his death in 1970 that the cause of cancer was “inferior” energy of anaerobic metabolism.
Well, yes and no. We now know that this view is wrong; there is a big difference in metabolism in many tumors. Indeed, altered energy metabolism is now considered one of the hallmarks of cancer. I’ve also discussed the Warburg effect and targeting it for the treatment of cancer many times. Be that as it may, this bit of out of date science in a Quackwatch article (and in all fairness it’s not even clear yet whether alterations in tumor metabolism are a cause or consequence of cancer) does not in any way mean that ozone therapy is not quackery. Remember, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is conventional therapy for open wounds, burns, and other sorts of injuries, although it is nothing of the sort for autism, where it is rank quackery. Ozone therapy, however, is quackery, distinctly 20th century quackery.
Of course, the whole idea behind the disease that this form of oil pulling is supposed to cure is a variation of an even older idea: “autointoxication.” It’s an idea I’ve discussed at least a couple of times before. Of course, in woo-ville, usually this “autointoxication” comes from the colon. Indeed, it’s not a coincidence that most of the “detox” regimens involve the colon, given old viewpoint that there are “20 lbs.” of waste matter in your colon that’s slowly poisoning you. Or, as it’s sometimes said, “Death begins in the colon,” to which I reply, “Only if you’re referring to the brain cells of people who believe in colonic ‘detox.’”
It turns out that the admonition to beware of your colon trying to kill you came from a chiropractor named Dr. Bernard Jensen, DC, who is apparently known as the “father of colonics.” Personally, that would not be a name or title that I’d be particularly interested in having ascribed to me, but then I’m not a chiropractor. In any case, if you believe people like Jensen, getting rid of that extra fecal matter is the cure for all sorts of diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and many others.
It’s a view that actually started to infiltrate mainstream medicine in the late 1800s, but fell out of favor by the 1920s as physicians realized there was nothing to it. (There’s nothing like actually operating on the colon to demonstrate how false this view is. Come to think of it, I wonder if we’ll see a colectomy to fix “toxic colon” in The Knick.) Still, lots of quackery requires various purges designed to empty the colon and “detoxify” from above and enemas designed to empty the colon and “detoxify” from below, the most famous example of the latter being the infamous coffee enema. If you believe the quacks, the coffee “detoxifies” through the colon and stimulates blood flow to the liver. It doesn’t.
So basically, oil pulling itself is nothing more than the concept of autointoxication applied to the mouth instead of the colon, with mouth bacteria being the source of all those evil humors toxins that make you sick. Think of ozone oil pulling as simply a super-duper super-charged form of oil pulling that is way more excellent than that old regular oil pulling without ozone:
Oil pulling works far better than mouthwashes because oils are far better at penetrating all the tiny crevices and small areas around your gum tissue and teeth. If you’ve ever had a jar of coconut oil leak or spill, you know how coconut oil gets into everything, finding even the smallest opening to work its way through.
That’s why we chose coconut oil as the base oil for our oil pulling solution: it’s simply the best-performing oil available in the world for oil pulling.
Next, we blended it with ozone-infused jojoba oil, creating an oil combination with outstanding penetration and ozone-carrying capacity. The ozone rides with the oils, reaching every microscopic gum line, tooth crack or fissure anywhere in your mouth, delivering bacteria-killing ozone to all those areas as you swish the oil around your mouth each morning.
And, according to Adams, this wonder substance has at least a three year shelf-life, possibly up to a decade, making it an essential supply for that survivalist shelter you’re building. After civilization breaks down and you’re on your own and can’t see a dentist, you can use it to prevent gingivitis and cavities. How practical for a doomsday prepper.
But what about that three year shelf life? Ozone is an unstable molecule, particularly in aqueous solution. It doesn’t hang around long. At 20° to 25° C around room temperature) in water its half-life is around 15 to 20 minutes. I know what Adams is saying, though: This isn’t an aqueous solution. It’s jojoba oil mixed with coconut oil. Well, these oils contain 9% to 10% unsaturated fat, which means double bonds, and ozone loves to react with double bonds. So I doubt the half life is going to be much better in oil. Even if we imagine the ozone in Adams’ magical mixture to have the same half life as it does in air, that would still only be three days at around 20° C. There’s no way this stuff is going to stick around for three years, much less a decade, regardless of the sort of ozone generator used to “infuse” this oil with ozone. Of course ozone used to be used (and still sometimes is) for water disinfection; so perhaps this coconut oil is really clean, with a minimal bacteria count, but it’s Mike Adams. Who knows?
I do know, however, that Adams never lacks for hyperbole:
Getting that ozone into the oils, however, is a difficult and time-consuming process. It requires DAYS of meticulous work to saturate the oil with ozone, using very expensive high-technology ozone-producing equipment.
That’s why ozone-infused products are never cheap. Accomplishing the infusion takes a lot of time and investment. But the results are worth it: A breakthrough remedy solution representing a marriage of today’s most advanced technology with one of the most widely-used systems of holistic medicine in human history.
That’s why this product solution is so powerful… and rare. I don’t think an ozone-infused coconut + jojoba oil pulling solution has ever been made available to the public before. This is not only a first; it’s also a real breakthrough for oral health.
OK. So the manufacturer bubbles ozone through the oil for a long time. Color me unimpressed. Of course, all that trouble justifies a high cost: $12.95 for 4 oz. and $24.95 for 8 oz. Adams is, after all, a capitalist. In fact, Adams has a hole line of O3 Essentials, various products claimed to be “ozone-infused.” There are ozone-infused body oil, facial cream, and dental cream.
This is all nonsense, of course, from a chemist’s point of view. (Remember, before I went to medical school, I was a chemistry major.) Let’s just put it this way. Ozone is highly unlikely to hang around in these products in concentrations that could kill bacteria as advertised. Even hydrogen peroxide, which is more stable, breaks down over time. That bottle of hydrogen peroxide you have in your medicine cabinet won’t last three years unless—maybe—if it’s never opened, but then it’s not much use. It generally has a shelf life of about a year if the bottle is unopened but only 30-45 days once the bottle is opened and it’s exposed to air. Moreover, if there were a concentration of ozone sufficient to actually do what Adams claims it does, the experience would not likely be pleasant, given that ozone kills bacteria by producing reactive oxygen species and free radicals and requires a fairly high concentration to be bacteriocidal.
So basically, if you buy this wonder product from Adams, all you’re getting is some scented oil to use for oil pulling, which itself is nonsense. Still, as the old adage goes, there’s a sucker born every minute. After all, Adams wrote a nearly identical article for his ozone-infused dental cream over a year ago, and this time around apparently his ozone-infused oil pulling product sold out after he advertised it. One born every minute indeed.
66 replies on “It’s not just oil pulling, it’s ozone-infused oil pulling!”
Bah. Mouthwash h is less viscous than these oils, so it ought to get into crevices more easily.
Also, ozone reacts with hydrocarbons to form smog (it’s on wikipedia so it must be true–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone). I doubt smog is something a fraud like Adams would care about.
Why in the world do they call it *pulling*?
Wouldn’t ‘swishing’ be better?
Oh wait…
I , unfortunately, know WAY too much about ozone therapy because of a certain woo-infused nurse @ PRN who appears to base her livlihood upon it.
In order for oil to penetrate anything in the mouth, it would have to displace what is already there – water, that stuff with remarkably high surface tension. Now if you were to blast you mouth with a 5 kilowatt hair dryer for several minutes before slopping it out with some oil, you might get the oil to penetrate all the wee nooks and crannies. Maybe mixing the oil with a goodly quantity of acetone would help.
Doesn’t Adams also sell antioxidant products? This seems like a woo-conflict.
Never heard of this until yesterday when I was at the Doctor’s office and, leafing through one of the WebMD magazines salted throughout the lobby, found this endorsement
http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/oil-pulling
W.
T.
F.
“Oil pulling.” It even sounds stupid.
John — yes, I’ve wondered about that. Why do so many providers push both ozone therapy and antioxidant therapy? Do they not realize it’s a big huge “I DON’T UNDERSTAND CHEMISTRY” sign, or do they just not care, knowing that their marks, er, customers won’t recognize the contradiction?
Calli, anyone who understood chemistry wouldn’t be seeing a quack anyway.
One would hope so, Shay. 😉 I’m just wondering if the quacks themselves also misunderstand chemistry, or are just taking it for granted (and with considerable justification) that their customers don’t so it doesn’t matter anyway.
Was it Upton Sinclair who said that man will never understand something when his paycheck depends on him not understanding it?
John Evans beat me to it. This is a pretty impressive display of cognitive dissonance (though that is probably given them too much credit because they would have to mentally identify the conflict). Pretty amazing they can push anti-oxidants as the cure to everything and a way to detoxify, and then turn around and say that the best way to detoxify the mouth is to pump it full of oxidants. /facepalm
I’ve done oil-pulling. Coconut oil is pretty pleasant, and it does a really nice job of whitening teeth when you do it regularly. It can also do a decent job of getting stuff out from between your teeth if flossing is a problem for some reason.
The detoxifying claims are just silly though.
And here I’ve been using 10W30 for pulling
Tapetum- As an OD, I like the reference to the eye.
Regarding oil pulling, your approach is similar to my approach to massage therapy. While it is often full of woo and pretty tall claims, the fact remains that they are very pleasant to go through and as such my wife and I both have an MT we regularly go to. We too disregard the woo and simply enjoy it for what it is…
And here I was thinking about antique tractors:
fusilier
James 2:24
Shay: Sounds more like WC Fields to me. Or Mencken.
It was Sinclair.
It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding it.
I guess it’s just me, but the thought of taking a big ol’ mouthful of any kind of oil makes me want to gag.
Good greasy food isn’t a problem. I tolerate it quite well (and, truth be told, probably too often). Lobster and butter. BBQ pork ribs. Bacon. Nachos. Cheeseburgers. All foods of the gods. But the thought of a mouthful of cold oil, or even warm, makes my stomach do flip-flops.
If you want to swish something mildly anti-bacterial in your mouth, why not try whiskey? Or a mouth wash with alcohol in it?
Sounds like a perfect method to make a shelf-stable compound like coconut oil go rancid. Of course, depending on the manufacturing method they might just be fully oxidizing the jojoba oil first, purifying it and then sell a relatively stable mixture of oxidized jojoba and coconut oil.
Uselesstwit: You’re probably right.
Shay: Apologies.
Johnny: Ugh, me too. Greasy food, yes, oil by itself, no.
I believe swishing oil in one’s mouth actually pulls the tibia.
[Mike, you push anti-oxidants as a way to detoxify, and then say the best way to detoxify the mouth is to pump it full of oxidants. Isn’t that a contradiction?]
But, but, but… Your BODY is toxified by toxic oxidants, but your teeth aren’t really part of your body. Any good scientist like myself knows bacteria aren’t toxins, so we use the toxic power of ozone for the GOOD of mankind by killing bacteria. And of course this doesn’t add any oxidants to your body because the O3 is meticu’ously infused in the Natural miracle of Jojoba/Coconut oil suspension which lets it bomb the bacteria without entering your system and polluting your precious bodily fluids. The 03 slides on outa there when you spit or sh**.
[How is using high-tech equipment to infuse ozone into vegetable oils ‘Natural’?]
We have consulted Deepak Chopra and other leading holistic scientists on this. Dr. Chopra went into a meditative trance during levitation, tapping into the energy field of universal cosmic knowledge, which revealed to him that the original chemical formulation of jojoba oil was indeed rich in cavity preventing ozone. This has been confirmed by numerous other scientists employing different holistic research modalities. The man-made industrial toxins in the atmosphere have robbed the jojoba oil of it’s natural healing powers. We are merely restoring these gifts that Nature intended.
[Are you planning clinical trials comparing the effectiveness of swishing O3 Coconut, Listerine, and Xylitol rinse, with a control of no-rinse brush-and-floss in the reduction of dental caries and gingivitis.]
Certainly not! As you well know, so-called ‘clinical trials’ are rigged propaganda stunts by Big Pharma, allowing them to propagate the myth that the legitimacy of health products can only be granted by expensive ‘research’ which amounts to no more than Big Pharma shovelling tons of payola into the pockets of their so-called ‘scientific’ shills. Besides, clinical trials are deeply unethical. We know O3 Coconut works, and non-pulling rinses don’t. Why would we condemn three subject groups to the serious dental consequences of NOT using our amazing new exclusive product? I mean, do I need to remind you that’s the kind of horrific medicine practiced by Josef Mengele at Aushwitz? We want EVERYONE to use O3 Coconut!
[Are you developing other health products using the powers of vegetable oil to carry organic materials that attack disease in targeted ways that shield the holistic body for any negative effects of those materials?]
At present, I’m very busy prototyping my new invention, which will change the future of our society. It will help solve the really big problems facing our world such as dwindling water supplies, skyrocketing medical costs and environmental contamination. This revolutionary breakthrough will empower people with a new, EMP-proof technology encompassing nutrition, medicine, sustainability and preparedness, providing them with extraordinary solutions they currently cannot access.
**sadmar notes: the last paragraph is derived from actual copy on NN; http://tinyurl.com/njtv4jd
The rest of this post is less ridiculous stuff I just made up.**
This, naturally, is taking most of my research time. However, infused coconut can certainly push as well as pull, and I am collaborating with other top scientists — who must remain anonymous for the sake of their personal safety — to develop vegetable-oil based, mercury-free, totally organic oral vaccines that will eliminate all risks of the toxic shocks that have produced the appalling epidemic of precious normal children destroyed by autism, reducing them to sub-human monstrosities.
Assuming, of course, that the mother has kept her body free of GMO poisons, avoided feeding those toxins to her infant, and fortified their diets with the full complement of breakthrough Health Ranger Select foodstuff and supplement products available at the Natural News Store.
And remember we make it easy to buy your way to better health by accepting PayPal and all major credit cards, and offering free shipping on any order over $99 — which is basically free shipping for everybody as anyone truly concerned about their physical and spiritual well-being, as all our customers are, understands that health is priceless, spends way more than $99 at each trip to the web store, and recognizes they’re getting an incredible bargain in the process!
••These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.••
———–
I (sadmar) believe swishing oil in one’s mouth actually pulls the tibia.
Since ozone reacts with oils to produce lipid peroxides, and lipid peroxides and their byproducts are potent mutagens and carcinogens, using ozonated oils either topically or systemically seems very unwise to me. Ozonated oil does kill bacteria, though the minimum inhibitory concentration against Staphylococcus aureus in the linked study was 9.5 mg/mL. If we compare this to ciprofloxacin (chosen as it is a favorite bête noire in CAM circles) which has a MIC for S. aureus of less than 4 μg/mL we see that ciprofloxacin is more than 2,000 times more effective at inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus than ozonated sunflower oil.
Even 3% hydrogen peroxide (about 30 milligrams per mL), often used as a mouthwash, is considerably more effective at killing Staph than ozonated oil*.
* H2O2 has an MIC against Staph aureus of 200 micromol/L which is 0.2 micromol/mL. H2O2 MW is 34 g/mol = 34 micrograms per micromol, so 0.2 micromol/mL = 6.8 micrograms per mL, more than 1,000 times more effective than ozonated oil,
But but but!
Ciprofloxacin is made in a lab!
When I do oil pulling I use WD-40
Whereas ozonated coconut oil grows on trees? I suppose a Natural News lab must be more natural than a Big Pharma lab, though I wouldn’t put anything Adams has cooked up in my mouth.
While that difficult and time-consuming process requiring requiring all-caps DAYS of meticulous work using very expensive high-technology ozone-producing equipment to saturate the oils with ozone is routinely done in spare bedrooms, home workshops and potting sheds.
DW – I know you are being facetious, I was aiming my snark at those that actually believe such drivel.
I have been planning on using lard for oil pulling. I think that would provide the nice porky flavor I desire before bed at night.
far be it from me to pedantificate but lipid peroxide is a very loose, almost biologisty term.
th ozone will react with the unsaturations to produce a molozonide, which will rapidly rearrange to form an ozonide. this ozonide can then undergo several reactive pathways including reductive cleavage to aldehydes, disproportionate cleavage to an acid and an alcohol, displacement to form peracids or peresters and, if you are really lucky, homolytic cleavage to form the dreaded FREE RADICALs. Most likely to ive you a funky smelling mess over time due to butyrates.
But lets say any ozone persisted in solution, presumably hiding inside tiny diving bells submersed in coconutty goodness. Ozone is remarkably toxic, a vesicant in many circumstances and a potent irritant of anything moist.
I know most folks don’t have the background knowledge in organic chemistry that I have, but I am particularly amused at the fact that Adams is touting a long shelf life for a product that contains an ingredient known to decompose the other ingredient.
No wonder he’s selling it in small containers.
I also can’t get rid of the image of someone opening up a bottle after a few years, discovering that wonderful odor of short chain aldehydes we call rancid and wondering if they should still swish it around the mouth.
someone opening up a bottle after a few years, discovering that wonderful odor of short chain aldehydes we call rancid
Perhaps it is like those Scanidwegian delicacies* where the food is pre-rotted or pre-rancidised to stop it going off.
* Or cheese, come to think of it.
Others have already pointed out what I suspected: namely, that infusing oil with ozone would turn the fats rancid. I’ve eaten meals with rancid fat twice (not by choice). They were literally the vilest, most foul tasting stuff I’ve ever eaten.
I’m guessing one of two things. That there’s no ozone in the oil, or that it will have the vilest flavour ever.
Here Doktor please–the first rule of lutefisk is that we don’t talk about lutefisk.
@ herr doktor:
My late uncle ( named Julian -btw-) lived in Italy for a year or so and later described the rotting, infested cheeses he encountered there in great – and disgusting- detail.
However his experience spoiled him for all but the most mundane cheddar: it was a long time before he ate anything as exotic as blue cheese.
Krebiozen is spot on about the reactivity of olefins with ozone to form ozonides. Consider, however, that in the absence of a reducing agent, some ozonides can be surprisingly stable, or even orally bioavailable (Artemisinin is the most famous example). Would not be a bit surprised if rinsing your mouth out with their swill would lead to a few of these nasty chemicals leaching into the blood stream to wreak havoc elsewhere.
Surströmming —
http://tinyurl.com/7k46vd9
HDB@28: I believe beer, wine, and similar potables are also in that category. There is a reason Europeans drink beer and wine, rather than water: historically, many fresh water sources were not safe to drink, but the bad bacteria don’t grow (or at least not as quickly) in a solution of 3-15% ethanol plus miscellaneous flavoring agents.
Julian- A few years ago I made brownies, which required some vegetable oil. Not taking a moment to smell the container, I proceeded to make a batch of brownies out of rancid vegetable oil. Needless to say, the first (and also last) bite caused me to wretch. I too would like to be a fly on the wall for the next Mike Adams disciple who uses some of this stuff towards the end of its advertised shelf life…
As Popeye might say, “ This could be embarasking!”
“The bactericidal and healing action of ozonized oils could be attributed to products formed by the ozonation of mineral oils, such as formaldehyde, not to the ozone itself. (emphasis mine)
Being held in moderation, presumably because I botched my own name. Did that once on a test back in about grade 7.
As Popeye might say, “This could be embarasking!”
“The bactericidal and healing action of ozonized oils could be attributed
to products formed by the ozonation of mineral oils, such as formaldehyde, not to the ozone itself.” (emphasis mine)
EBMOD: A few years ago I made brownies, which required some vegetable oil. Not taking a moment to smell the container, I proceeded to make a batch of brownies out of rancid vegetable oil.
Ugh, reminds me of what happened when I tried to cook dinner with a friend once at her house. Up until that point, I had been happily unaware that olive oil could spoil. (Yes, I use it a lot, but at such a rate that I am more likely to run out than have to throw it out.)
Shay: Having grown up in Minnesota (You betcha’, though we actually don’t say that…) I must chide you for talking about the thing we don’t ever, EVER talk about with outsiders.
Johnny: Yeah! There’s your billion-dollar idea, right there! If Mickey D’s fries up those Big Mac patties in ozone-infused jojoba oil you’ve got Bacteria-Pulling Cavity-Preventing Dental-Hygiene CHEESEBURGERS! Free enterprise triumphs and we don’t have to have the nanny state robbing from the makers to put free fluoride in the water for all the takers! God bless America!
😉 😉
Shay: “Here Doktor please–the first rule of lutefisk is that we don’t talk about lutefisk.”
Especially when I am on vacation in wine country with only a tablet (which decided to autocorrect the reference to itself to “table”).
Like some others above, I find the mere thought of putting a glob of oil in my mouth gag-inducing. Speaking of rancid, though, how do you get all the (ugh) oil out of your mouth and all those little crevices that only it can (supposedly) get into?
I remembered that I still have a small pot of ozonated oil at the back of my fridge, the legacy of some increasingly desperate and unwise attempts to deal with a persistent health problem some years ago. I dug it out and borrowed my wife’s nose (I’m anosmic, sadly) to assess its aroma. It never smelled rancid and still doesn’t, despite being at least ten years old. It still has a sharp ozone-like smell (a bit like chlorine, but quite pleasant in small concentrations). Whether that’s due to slow release of ozone or to some other volatile substance that smells like that I don’t know.
The fact it is still in my fridge after all these years tells you how useful I found it. TBH I never got over my concerns about the complete lack of any safety studies, or any good evidence for what this stuff might do to a person.
@ Krebiozen:
I knew that you probably had extremely old, weird products around the house!
As I do- but mine are eyemakeup from Morocco, ancient perfume samples, French anti-anxiety meds, curry powder from the Caribbean etc.
…google “casu marzu”.
can we hope, just for an instant, that they find other animal and vegetable oils that work just as well?
I’m awaiting the day we see an SBM article about actual Snake Oil.
I’ve tried regular oil pulling and i noticed whiter teeth, better skin , my sinuses became much more clean and i also noticed that i would keep my teeth with less bacterial plaque for longuer.
Plus, this is a technique that is 5000 years old… perhaps a little bit of refrain would be advised from all you proud scheptics.
As for the ozone infused, no comments there.
I’ve got the Charaka Saṃhitā as the first mention, so you’re short by over 2000 years. BTW, how popular is it in fact in the subcontinent?
Nick J.,
Snake oil? Marvelous stuff, Chinese water snake oil, which is probably where the term came from, as sold by Chinese quack medicine peddlers is full of omega 3 fatty acids that may be an effective treatment for aches and pains, and even for improved cognitive function (maybe, I’m sceptical). That Scientific American article keeps falling over, so you may find the Google cache version more reliable.
perhaps a little bit of refrain would be advised from all you proud scheptics.
A refrain? “Second verse, same as the first; A little bit louder and a little bit worse.”
Denice,
Guilty as charged, though I have less weird stuff around than I used to, having moved several times and had a few ruthless purges over the years. Some still remains, mostly scientific/technical stuff rather than antique exotic stuff, unless a rababa that badly needs restringing counts.
Jojoba oil is primarily composed of very long chain fatty acid esters, 20 and 21 carbon omega-9 fatty acids with a single double bond, so the possibility of oxidizing the single double bond is probably pretty slight, depending upon the process used.
That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that the mouth is full of beneficial bacteria, which secrete significant quantities of nitrites, which are antibacterial, except perhaps to the bacteria that secrete them. As such, the mouth is an important component of the immune system.
As you pointed out, fat-solube “toxins” (whatever they are) would not be present in significant concentrations in the blood, preferring instead the body’s fat deposits or bile acids. Water-soluble toxins, more than likely, would be tightly protein-bound in the blood, and would have to transverse significant barriers such as the endothelial layers to even have a chance to be affected by any solvent in the mouth. Typically, the body has more efficient means of removing exogenous substances from the body, whether by conjugating compounds for excretion by either the kidneys and through bile acid excretion in the case of more fat-soluble compounds.
I couldn’t find any studies researching the solubility of ozone in a lipid medium, but given the high lipophilic nature of jojoba oil (or any other oil), the probabilty of ozone remaining the such a medium is very unlikely. It would be like trying to carbonate a bottle of olive oil.
As a former pharmacist and current chemical engineer, I’m always intrigued by claims that claim to remove toxins. I’ve asked many times and I never received even a semi-coherent respone to what the term “toxins” actually means. I’ve asked for specific examples and no one has been able to provide a relelvant response.
It is really a very sad day reading this blog. I am a pos grad licensed Dr. of Oriental Medicine. I was a pulmonary lab and neonatal specialist. I have more than 35 years of hands on clinical medical experience. I had a personal alternative medical clinic treating all the sick people coming in who were trashed by the USA medical docs. I used Chinese herbals… acupuncture, COLONICS, IV chelation, IV vitamins, Chinese chiropractic… and on. Today… I do injections of medical ozone, IV ozone, vaginal ozone, rectal ozone and watch the people heal faster than any two pistol pete medical doctor could even imagine… Such ignorance here. I also manufacture Ozone Machines of high ozone output.. industrial-agricultural applications. Your notions about ozone is silly…. really really lacking a lot. I invite you to come into the real world. .. out of your intenet virtual world where the so called “wisdom” permeates through the wi fi ethers… So very sorry dude… you and quackwatch are just poor saps,… who have nothing really good to do. YUP… cured cancers too,, naturally… 30 days… how ´bout your friends… still kiling people with your drugs that do not work? Sooo very sorry for those who are reading and paying attention to your ignorance.
If you print what I wrote… I tip my hat to you as normally those like you suppress that which is contradictory because you are insecure.
Albert: “I tip my hat to you as normally those like you suppress that which is contradictory because you are insecure.”
This is not CureZone. First time comments are held in moderation to avoid spam.
But now your ridiculousness is out there for all to see.
It’s unfortunate that you didn’t bother reading the comments immediately preceding yours, Sunshine Girl.
YUP… cured cancers too,, naturally… 30 days
Of course you have.
I am a pos grad licensed Dr. of Oriental Medicine.
Most would agree with the “pos” part.
Chinese chiropractic… and on. Today… I do injections of medical ozone, IV ozone, vaginal ozone, rectal ozone
Goodness me. The combination of confabulated bullshit and weird sexual perversion is not a good look.
What’s with all the periods? He having that much trouble collecting his thoughts?
“Injections of Ozone?” isn’t Ozone itself toxic?
If it was one of us two-pistol pete using it, of course it would be toxic. Ozone is a strong oxidizer. At ground level, it’s one of the component of the smog in densely-driven urban areas, and as such it’s participating to the pollution-driven irritation of our respiratory tract. Very bad for asthmatics.
But it’s a polymath alternative guru using it, and as we all know, anything a alt-med purveyor is doing couldn’t be toxic.
“Injections of Ozone?” isn’t Ozone itself toxic?
Me, I wondered more about the random combinations of Worship Words like “Chinese chiropractic”, which signify nothing except that the user is a shameless grifter.
So, tell me Albert: where can I find the the peer-reviewed jounral articles of published clinical trial results documenting that you have in fact healed people “faster than any two pistol pete medical doctor could even imagine”, including recoveries from cancer and demonstrating that the healing was function of recieving ozone treatments?
As a ‘pos grad licensed Dr. of Oriental Medicine’, who is also a pulmonary lab and neonatal specialist with more than 35 years of hands on clinical medical experience, I’m sure you understand why you would be completely nreasonable if you expected anyone to accept your assertions without credible evidence in their support.
to these who asked, chemistry behind it:
streptococus mutanis buries it self under a layer plaqe adhead to teeth so when there will be food it will come alive. it is it’s conservation system.
plaqe begins a mocus then precipitates on teeth.
plaque is made from dextran of types 1-6 1-4 1-3 as a mix of these glucan linkages. dextran from streptococus mutanis is 70-90% is of 1-3 bonds.
there is a class of solvents called ionic liquid.
it is used to desolve cellulose.
it takes 30 minutes to disolve 100 micron layer using strong ionic liquid. see ionic liquid patent.
about 4 days to precipitate a layer and 4 dayes to disolve.
glucose and other acidic foods and oil is also acid and it is an ionic liquid but it is not very strong and probably disolves only 1-6 and 1-4 linkages with hope that the structure. will just fall off without the missing material removed.
oil is not so efficient but maybe if using it long time it works.
there is also anorher way. which is dextranaese. but i could not find it easy for cheap sale. it is not sold anymore in that mothwash gsk changed formula also on this.