By Dr. Mercola
Until the 1990s, no studies were done to determine the effects of fluoride on the pineal gland – a small gland located between the two hemispheres of the brain that regulates the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate the onset of puberty and helps protect the body from cell damage caused by free radicals.
It is now known – thanks to meticulous research by Dr Jennifer Luke from the University of Surrey in the UK – that the pineal gland is the primary target of fluoride accumulation in your body.
After discovering that the pineal gland was a major target for fluoride accumulation in humans, Dr. Luke conducted animal experiments to determine if accumulated fluoride could affect the gland’s functioning – specifically the glandular regulation of melatonin.
Luke found that fluoride-treated animals had lower circulating melatonin levels, as demonstrated by reduced levels of melatonin metabolites in the animals’ urine. This reduced level of circulating melatonin was accompanied – as might be expected – by earlier onset of puberty in fluoride-treated female animals.
American girls are hitting puberty at a younger age than ever before. In the 1990s, breast development – the first sign of puberty in girls – at the age of 8 was considered an unusual event that should be investigated by an endocrinologist.
However, in 1999, after a 1997 study found that nearly half of African-Americans and 15% of Caucasians had begun to develop breasts by age 8, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrinology Society suggested changing what is considered “normal”.
Instead of acknowledging that girls hit puberty at a younger and younger age as a sign that something is wrong, some “experts” would rather just change the definition of what is considered normal. !
In fact, something is wrong, very wrong, when 5, 6 and 8 year old girls are starting puberty. Some studies have even found that 2-year-old girls are starting to develop sex.
These children not only face an unfairly increased risk of breast cancer, but also lose precious childhood years because their bodies mature faster than their minds.
What Causes Precocious Puberty?
There can be many factors contributing to this phenomenon, but surely one of them is the chemicals in the environment. Along with endocrine disrupting chemicals (BPA, phthalates, PFOA (Teflon)) and PCBs, fluoride has also been suggested.
Fluoride has been added to the U.S. water supply for so long — and has been widely available around the world for its supposed benefits to teeth — that almost no one thinks about it.
Well, this is not always the case. In 1944, LP Anthony, DDS editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association, said: “Fluoride is a highly toxic substance…”
Before that, in 1936, an article in the Journal of the American Dental Association stated that fluoride at concentrations of 1 ppm (parts per million) was as toxic as arsenic and lead.
The Journal of the American Medical Association also stated in its September 18, 1943 issue that fluoride is a general prototoxic agent that alters the permeability of cell membranes by certain enzymes.
And, an editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, October 1, 1944, stated:
“Drinking water that contains at least 1.2 ppm of fluoride will cause a developmental disorder. We can’t be at risk for such serious systemic disorders. The potential for harm outweighs the potential for harm. .”
Others have also tried to spread the word about the dangers of fluoride, including Christopher Bryson, author of The Fluoride Deception, who recently called the widespread promotion of fluoride a “massive scientific fraud and Global”.
However, this element, or as some might call it, this caustic industrial chemical, is intentionally added to about two-thirds of the United States’ public water supply. For people living in these areas, fluoride is part of every cup of water, every bath and shower, and every meal cooked with that water.
Meanwhile, in the UK, 42 schools have decided it’s a good idea to add fluoride to school baby milk. And some of you may also think that a fluoride treatment provided by your dentist is a good idea.
Well, it’s time to erase this myth once and for all.
Fluoride is the active toxin in rat poison and cockroach powder
So common sense will dictate that this is not a good thing to put in your body, and your instincts will be right.
Once inside the body, fluoride destroys your enzymes by changing their shape. You may remember that your body depends on thousands of enzymes to carry out various cellular reactions, and without these enzymes we would all die. They can carry out their reactions because they have a specific shape that allows them to work with other elements in your body, like locks and keys.
However, once the fluoride destroys their shape, your body won’t recognize the enzymes and will in fact treat them as foreign invaders and try to attack them.
When your enzymes are damaged, it can lead to collagen breakdown, eczema, tissue damage, skin wrinkling, genetic damage, and immunosuppression. It can also cause problems with:
- Immune system
- Gastrointestinal system
- Respiratory system
- Blood cycle
- Renal function
- Liver function
- Brain function
- Thyroid function
Studies from China have even confirmed that high exposure to fluoride leads to a decrease in IQ in children. This is understandable when you consider that even at levels as low as 1 ppm, studies have demonstrated direct toxic effects on brain tissue, including:
- Reduce lipid content
- Weakened antioxidant defense system
- Damage to your hippocampus
- Damage to your purkinje cells
- Increase aluminum absorption
- Beta-amyloid plaque formation (classical brain malformation in Alzheimer’s disease)
- Fluoride buildup in your pineal gland
This last effect is fully correlated with research by Dr. Jennifer Luke, which showed that fluoride impacts the pineal gland’s regulation of melatonin and this may contribute to the early onset of puberty.
All these risks, and it doesn’t even help your teeth!
Obviously serious risks like those above won’t justify preventing some cavities, however, fluoride doesn’t even do that.
World Health Organization data show that similar reductions in caries in fluoridated countries since the 1960s have also occurred in non-fluorinated countries.
In another study from 2004, pro-fluoridation dental researchers from Aderlaide University in South Australia were unable to demonstrate any difference in permanent teeth between children who drank fluoridated water all their lives. and the kids drinking rainwater or bottled water.
So what effect does fluoride have on your teeth?
It is known that it interferes with the growth of tooth enamel, a condition known as “dental fluorosis”. Fluoride advocates like to say that fluorosis is purely a “cosmetic condition,” but rarely do symptoms appear for no reason.
In this case, white spots that form on your teeth after consuming too much fluoride can be a warning sign that other tissues are being affected. For example, studies have shown that children with severe oral fluorosis are more likely to have fractures.
The Environmental Working Group even reported a finding from a Harvard PhD thesis that boys exposed to fluoridated water when they were between the ages of 6 and 8 had an increased risk of developing osteosarcoma, a form of bone tumor. Bone cancer is 7 times more likely to cause death.
If you’re wondering how to keep your teeth healthy, remember that fluoride is never the answer in the first place. Instead, take care of your diet for naturally healthy teeth. In fact, most people whose diets include very little sugar and few processed foods have very low rates of tooth decay.
As for how to remove harmful fluoride from your drinking water, a regular carbon filter will NOT work. About the only way to remove this harmful chemical from your water is to use a reverse osmosis filter.
Other Hidden Fluoride Sources
If you have any non-stick pans, as soon as you start heating them, they’ll start evaporating fluoride because it’s the polymer that makes them “non-stick”. The higher the temperature, the more fluoride is in your home. So do yourself a favor and get rid of all your non-stick pots and pans.
