Try sunflower oil to get rid of the metallic taste following chemotherapy

While carrying out a reflexology treatment in the cancer unit yesterday one of my patients was having a chat with one of the doctors.  He asked how she was coping with the metallic taste in her mouth which is so common during a course of chemotherapy.  She surprised us both by saying that it hadn't been a problem for her as she had found her own remedy and of course both of us wanted to know what it was!

She said that 3 or 4 days after her chemo she uses a mouthwash of 1 tbsp of sunflower oil which she swishes round her mouth and gums for at least 10 minutes.  She says it has a very viscous consistency to start off with and then gradually becomes more liquified and after 10 mins when she spits it out it has turned white.  She said that she had tried it earlier after chemo but found that she couldn't stomach it so had to wait the 3 or 4 days to be able to manage a whole 10 minutes.  She said she has had no metallic taste so has been able to continue eating her favourite foods, and she hasn't had any mouth ulcers or soreness.  (This week was her 5th chemo out of 6 sessions)

I thought I would search around a bit on the internet and indeed this is an Ayurvedic technique called oil pulling and there is lots of info on various websites about it and its also recommended by Deepak Chopra in his book Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide, Revised and Updated Edition  as a detox technique for cleansing the taste buds.

Sounds like this could be well worth a try for anyone you know undergoing chemo and suffering from mouth and taste problems - it certainly won't do any harm anyway!