How Harmful Is It?
According to the handbook, “Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products”, fluoride is more poisonous than lead and just slightly less poisonous then arsenic. It is a cumulative poison that accumulates in bone over the years.From 1990 to 1992, the Journal of the American Medical Association published three separate articles linking increased hip fracture rate to fluoride in the water.
In the March 22, 1990 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers reported that fluoride treatment of osteoporosis increased hip fracture rate and bone fragility.
Infants who consume formula made with fluoridated tap water may consume up to 1,200 micrograms of fluoride, or about 100 times more than the recommended amounts.
Such “spikes” of fluoride exposure during infancy provide no known advantage to teeth, but they do have plenty of known harmful effects.
Babies given fluoridated water in their formula are not only more likely to develop dental fluorosis, but may also have reduced IQ scores. A Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have “significantly lower” IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas. A number of prominent dental researchers now advise that parents should not add fluoridated water to baby formula.
What Can We Do About It?
As always, the first step in detoxifying is to curb taking in toxins.Purifying Water by reverse osmosis or distillation is a good start to slowing down your fluoride contamination (add a few crystals of himalayan salt if you’re worried about the lack of minerals).
Avoid products with added fluoride or made with fluoridated water. Here are some of the more common items where fluoride is found:
- Soft Drinks
- Bottled water (unless the label specifically states reverse osmosis)
- Tinned fish and canned food items
- Non organic fruits & vegetables. This is due to the spraying of herbicides and pesticides. Buy organic or lightly rinse them in apple cider vinegar before eating
- Cooking Dishes that use Teflon (pans, baking dishes, pots etc)
- Toothpaste.
Did you know it’s near impossible to get a fluoride-free toothpaste in a regular supermarket? You really have to look around – typically small health or organic food stores will have a very small range.It’s the main reason why my family hand-craft our own “Tooth Fairy” toothpaste and we use it all the time. I simply don’t recommend that anyone put fluoride in their mouth.
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