Home Health Fluoride: Why It Might Not Be Healthy for You

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Fluoride: Why It Might Not Be Healthy for You

Updated on October 8, 2019

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Fluoride is a chemical gotten from fluorine, a natural element found in our natural environment and it is even in our teeth and bones.

Fluoride is commonly used in dentistry to prevent tooth decay and strengthen the enamel. In the States and other Countries, fluoride is added to drinking water, this process is called “water fluoridation”.

Fluoride is also produced synthetically and included in many OTC products such as supplements and mouth rinses. It is also used in making insecticides, cleaning agents, aluminium products, steel, and Teflon, and it used in PET scans and other medical imaging scans.

Though there are lots of speculated news on the benefits of fluoride such as preventing and reversing the early signs of tooth decay, strengthens weak enamel, kills bacteria, and prevent the loss of minerals from your enamel, etc.

However, there are a lot of agitations against water fluoridation and the use of fluoride toothpaste and surprisingly, there are lots of studies showing that fluoride actually cause more harm than good.

The Dangers Fluoride Cause in the Body

Excessive use of fluoride-containing products has been associated with a lot of complications in the body and some of them are:

Dental fluorosis

When children are exposed to high concentrations of fluoride, mild form of dental fluorosis can occur because their teeth are developing at this stage. People with this problem have white specks or streaks in their enamel.

In most cases, this does not affect the health of the teeth but it affects the appearance of the teeth by leaving permanent stains on the teeth. Little children below the age of six should not use fluoride products while breastfeeding infants should not be given formula milk made with fluoride water.

Harmful to male and female fertility

Studies have shown that there is a direct link between the rate of fertility and fluoridated water. Higher levels of fluoride in the body lead to lower fertility rates.

In animal studies, fluoride reduced their reproductive hormones and even in humans, men suffering from fluorosis have very low levels of testosterone and low fertility than men who have very low exposure to fluoride.

Skeletal fluorosis

This is a bone disease caused by exposure to excess fluoride. The liver is unable to process fluoride, so it is pushed into the bloodstream where it combines with calcium that has been drawn from the bones.

This damages your joints and bones and it leads to severe pains. The bone can be hardened and inelastic thereby increasing the risks of fractures. It also leaves you with weak bones.

Impaired joint mobility can occur when the bone thickens and the bone tissues accumulate. Recently in China, scientists established a link between fluorosis and reduced reduction in fluoride exposure.

Affects kidneys

Fluoride is toxic and damaging to your kidneys, it has been noticed that in regions with high levels of fluoride in water, there is a higher rate of chronic kidney diseases.

Also, Chinese researchers have reported that a level of 2mg of fluoride in a liter of water can cause renal damage in little children. This includes fluoride bombardment from toothpastes and other products.

Thyroid problems

Excess fluoride in your body can damage your parathyroid gland. This can lead to hyperparathyroidism, a condition characterized by uncontrolled secretion of the parathyroid hormones.

Your thyroid absorbs fluoride instead of iodine when it is present in your body and this is bad for your thyroid, it needs iodine and not fluoride.

Fluoride in your thyroid gland will inhibit the functions of your thyroid gland and also cause cell death. Fluoride was used as a drug for decade to reduce the functions of the thyroid gland in individuals who have overactive thyroid.

The main reason why people have problems with water fluoridation is because the range used in water matches the levels used in this drug used to reduce thyroid functions.

Affects the cardiovascular system

Fluoride makes your cardiovascular system inflamed, it even causes atherosclerosis. Although, the results from studies carried out to see the effect of fluoride on the blood is mixed, it is well known that fluoride affects your cardiovascular system.

Arthritis

Calcification of the cartilage caused by fluoride can lead to arthritis. This tissue is needed for optimum joint health and skeletal fluorosis has been linked to degenerative osteoarthritis.

Affects cognition

The Fluoride action network revealed that fluoride has a negative impact on human intelligence. It affects the neural development of children and affects their IQ.

Affects the pineal gland

The pineal gland is a very important organ, it is known as the “third eye” of man in some cultures. Although the full abilities of this gland are not yet known, it is a well-known fact that it helps with wake-sleep cycles and rhythms of the body.

These are important functions which the body depends on for optimum health. Fluoride is toxic to this gland, it calcifies it because it accumulates and solidifies the gland.

By the time a person who takes in fluoride regularly reaches old age, their pineal gland will have higher levels of calcium in their pineal gland than in their bones.

Cancer

Though this is still a hotly debated issue, there are few evidence linking fluoride to cancer. Fluoride has been linked to osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.

During the time of this study in 1993, there was a 7 times increased risks of osteosarcoma in young males under the age of 20 in most fluoridated parts of the country.

Even the Harvard School of Dental Medicine conducted a study and they discovered that there is an increased of osteosarcoma in young males exposed to fluoridated drinking water.

Neurological problems

A 2017 study revealed that a baby’s exposure to fluoride before birth can cause poor cognitive functions in the future of that child. Higher levels of fluoride in little children between the ages of 6 to 12 are associated with lower scores on IQ tests.

In 2014, a study revealed that fluoride and 10 other chemicals are neurotoxin that has hazardous effect on the development of children. Some of the other chemicals are arsenic, toluene, methylmercury, and lead.

Hastens female puberty

The pineal gland plays an important role in the early phase of puberty. Girls who have more exposure to fluoride experience puberty earlier than girls who don’t have fluoride exposure or have less fluoride exposure.

Many health experts believe that this is the beginning of the damaging effect of fluoride on sexual function.

How to Eliminate Fluoride From the Body

Tamarind Tea

This popular Indian beverage can expel fluoride from your body. If you can’t find the tea, you can get it online. It is popular in Northern Nigeria also and it is called “Tsamiyar”.

Exercise

Exercises help eliminate fluoride from your body, an Argentina study conducted in 2013 showed that the levels of fluoride in the plasma of rats reduced after moderate exercises than those rats who didn’t exercise.

The rats also had reduced insulin resistance. This made the researchers conclude that daily exercise can prevent the negative effects fluoride has on glucose metabolism.

Selenium

Increase your intake of selenium if you want to detoxify your body of fluoride. Selenium helps reduce or reverse the effects of fluoride on your brain.

Selenium-rich foods are also good for your thyroid gland, one of the organs affected by fluoride, selenium is also good for your heart and it reduces the risks of cancer.

Alkaline Foods

Take alkaline foods and drinks, they are one of your best defenses against the damaging effect of fluoride in the body and they also balance the internal pH of your body.

While you excrete 50% of fluoride from your body, you can increase this by maintaining an alkaline environment. This would prevent the harmful effect of fluoride and protect you from chronic diseases.

Alkaline diets include raw fruits and vegetables and plant proteins. They keep your body clean from fluoride.

Conclusion

Now, what next to do depends on you. You have to make your own research so that you can make informed decision. If you choose to avoid fluoride, it’s a good decision until the confusion is cleared.

Even the WHO admits that long-term exposure to drinking water containing more than 1.5 ppm is harmful to the body.

I don’t think its 100% possible to avoid fluoride as some foods and beverages are made with fluoridated water but it is a good try, at least you will reduce the amount of fluoride going into your body.

There are non-fluoride toothpastes available and there are also water treatment systems that can remove 100% of fluoride from water, an example is the steam distillation system.

Reverse osmosis removes 65 to 95% of fluoride from water and activated carbon filters containing activated alumna can remove 80% of fluoride in water.

Also, practice good dental hygiene to prevent tooth decay and other dental problems. You can floss regularly with coconut oil, it has powerful antimicrobial and antiseptic properties.

In 2000, a controversy arose when German researchers reported that tooth decay in their cities reduced drastically in regions where fluoride was no longer added to the water.

This called for further investigations to know the real reason for the decline and they said it can be caused by improved attitude towards dental care and also easier access to dental care products than before.

This shows you don’t have to depend on fluoride to keep your teeth healthy if you’re convinced that it is not meant to be in your body.

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