Risks of Water Fluoridation

For the FIRST time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. (r)

Were the conspiracy theorists right again…

Here's the history of fluoride they don't want you to know:

Before water fluoridation became one of the "top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century" (according to the CDC), it was a poison (rat poison) and an industrial waste product (aluminum and fertilizer production).

In 1942 the American Dental Association (ADA) didn't recommend fluoride because of questionable efficacy and the unknown potential for harm. Instead, they recommended restricting carbohydrates to control cavities.

But with no new evidence, the ADA reversed both of these. What happened?

This switch coincided with the changing guard of key positions in the ADA.

First, the head of the Kellogg Foundation (huge donors) became the chair of the ADA Council on Dental Health and proceeded to appoint a prominent water fluoridation advocate to the ADA Research Committee.

Second, the editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), who had concerns about fluoride safety was replaced with a new editor who was in cahoots with the Sugar Research Foundation and agreed to “carry announcements about future Sugar Research Foundation grants.”

The Sugar Research Foundation knew sugar caused cavities and that during the coming “carbohydrate age” fluoride needed to be a part of the diet.

The ADA opened the doors to the fluoridated-carbohydrate age because cereal and sugar private interests regarded cavities as one of their biggest threats.

By the 1950s, before initial safety trials were complete, water fluoridation started being dripped into public water supplies as political science trumped health science.

Welcome to "The Fluoridated-Carbohydrate Age."

But fluoridating water with pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, they had to resort to a toxic waste byproduct of fertilizer factories, fluorosilicic acid, which is now dripped into the water supply.

After a half a century of adding "safe levels" of fluoride to the water, governing bodies like the HHS, EPA, PHS, and the FDA started lowing recommended levels of fluoride in public water supplies. Why?

They blamed dental fluorosis, as nearly half of teens had stained teeth from too much fluoride (which even that may have been a conservative estimate).

But perhaps saving face had something to do with it...

A mountain of evidence continued to pile up showing it wasn't only teeth being negatively impacted by fluoride, the body was too.

Brain

The Bashash Study, found that mother’s drinking 1 ppm fluoride had children with IQ points 5 to 6 points lower than fluoride-free mothers’ kids.

To put this in perspective, a 5-point reduction in IQ is on par with lead.

2 years later JAMA Pediatrics, the world’s premier pediatric journal, published a study showing that low levels of fluoride during pregnancy can affect fetal brain development, dropping IQ 3-4 points.

1 year later a 2020 study found that a 0.5?mg increase in fluoride intake from infant formula corresponded to a 9-point reduction in IQ points compared to breastfed infants.

Researchers that reviewed the literature concluded:

“fluoride-associated neurotoxicity in children seems robust…[and] supports the notion that elevated fluoride intake during early development can result in IQ deficits that may be considerable.”

The research on fluoride and its impact on the brain is alarming. But it doesn’t stop here. There are 2000+ studies demonstrating how fluoride consumption can adversely impact other aspects of health.

BONES

A Canadian study compared people's bones in Toronto (fluoridated) and Montreal (non fluoridated). In Toronto they had altered bone architecture with decreased resistance to compression and higher brittleness.

THYROID

Fluoridated water exposes people to amounts that associate with hypothyroidism, which occurs more frequently in fluoridated communities.

PINEAL GLAND

Excess fluoride accumulates in calcifying tissues like the bones and the pineal gland. Dr. Jennifer Luke research showed how fluoride reduces melatonin production and can lead to early onset of puberty.

KIDNEYS

In a review on fluoride’s role in kidney disease, the researchers conclude:

“These studies reveal that there are direct adverse effects on the kidneys by excess fluoride, leading to kidney damage and dysfunction."

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY

In a study comparing people with dental fluorosis to healthy controls, researchers found those with dental fluorosis had significantly lower levels of zinc, copper, and magnesium.

BUT IT PREVENTS CAVITIES, RIGHT?!

With all the risks it must be very effective at preventing cavities...right? Not really.

I treat kids across Missouri, some in fluoridated communities, others non fluoridated. Regardless, most of them have cavities.

The largest study ever on kids dental health showed that fluoridated water associates with a miniscule reduction in cavities (less than 1 tooth surface).

Further, most of the (small) benefit of fluoride on cavity prevention is topical, not systemic. Since the benefits are topical and risks are systemic, it doesn’t make sense to put fluoride in the water maximizing the potential risk for minimal benefit.

DIET

Cavities are a disease of civilization.

They became prevalent during the Agricultural Revolution with the cultivation of cereal crops (~12,000 years ago) and rampant at the turn of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of refined grains and sugar (~300 years ago).

Cavities are also an early warning sign.

An ever-growing body of evidence suggests that a diet that leads to dental decay and periodontal disease also leads to other chronic diseases.

Fluoridated water, at best, slightly reduces tooth decay, but it won't protect you from the downstream effects of the diet leading to that decay.

Rather, it appears it can contribute to worsening health outcomes, especially in children.

Instead of fluoride, I recommend a diet that prevents any need for fluoride.

What kind of diet is this?

Well follow along if interested, because that's what I talk about every day here.

P.S.

Sources to this information can be found here.