Hidden Dangers in Your Water

What comes to mind when you think about water?  Some of your descriptions may include:

• Clean
• Pure
• And even healthy

I hate to burst your bubble, but most water you drink is none of the above! Unfortunately, most water we consume, bath in and wash our clothes with is full of toxins that were never intended to be there!  Modern industrialization has turned our water into a dangerous cesspool of unnecessary contaminants. It is far from what nature intended.

Mineral water, which is straight from nature,  is often touted for its benefits.  And well it should be!  Many of our essential trace minerals are found in natural water.  However, industries have taken it upon themselves to “improve” our water by adding extra substances like fluoride and chlorine.  This has ultimately caused more harm than good.  These unnecessary additions have cause health issues ranging from thyroid disease to cancer.

The Fluoride Lie

One of the biggest scams in the history of the water industry is the addition of fluoride.  It has been touted for over 60 years as “natural” cavity prevention.  Its history dates back to Colorado in the early 1900s.  Settlers there had such terribly stained teeth, which they called “Colorado Brown Stain.”  But, what caused the ugly staining of their teeth?  Their drinking water was laced with  naturally occurring calcium fluoride!  Their condition today would be called fluorosis, which is essentially an overdose of fluoride.

Researchers noticed that most of the people in Colorado with those ugly brown teeth didn’t have cavities.  Therefore, they correlated the intake of fluoride with the reduction of cavities.  But, what they didn’t consider that the water was also high in calcium and magnesium, two minerals essential for teeth.

In 1945, fluoride was added to water for the first time in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The city of Muskegon, which was nearby, was to act as the control group in the study.  The experiment in Grand Rapids wasn’t going as planned, so the truth was blurred and rumors were planted in Muskegon that fluoride was doing great things.  The study was supposed to last 15 years, but after 6 years the Muskegon citizens demanded their water be fluorinated so they could reap its “wonderful” benefits.

Several other studies began in New York and then in Wisconsin.  Because of political pressure from the American Dental Association, the United States Public Health Service endorsed fluoridation in 1950 for the entire country!  They endorsed fluoride while many of the trials were still in progress!  At this point, there was little to no scientific evidence the fluoride was beneficial, whatsoever.

Only 5 years into the experiment in New York, it was declared a success.  This was before many of the children in the experiment had even gotten their permanent teeth!  And any child who was sick, was excluded from the exam.  This protected the researchers from documenting the negative effects of fluoride in children.

In 1955, however, the State University of New York found contradictory evidence.  They found that those children who were given fluoride had more cortical bone defects and hemoglobin anemia than the control city.  They also had more cavities and more fluorosis!

The studies from both New York and Michigan essentially proved nothing!  Yet, over 300 million people now have to drink fluorinated water!  Most fluorinated water contains a dangerous 300% more than the recommended amount by the American Dental Association! This amount is just a recipe for disaster in the bodies of many innocent people.

Recent studies have found several more detrimental effects from fluoride consumption.  Some of those include:

• Brain damage – Fluoride can cause dementia, as well as lowered IQ
• Thyroid issues – Fluoride likes to replace iodine in the body.  Those who consume a lot of fluoride and not enough iodine can end up with a lowered thyroid function.
• Bone breaks and cancer – Scientists have found a connection in bone cancer (osteosarcoma) and excess fluoride in the body.  And researchers have known since the 1950s that it can cause damage to our bones.  This damage increases the risk of bone breaks and fractures.

Fluoride is Not FDA Approved

Amazingly, with fluoride’s widespread use and popularity, it has never even been FDA approved!!  It’s actually considered an unapproved drug!  Remember, those fluoride pills they used to give you in grade school?  Those anti-cavity supplements laden with fluoride given to children were NEVER approved by the FDA as safe or effective!  How is it legal to use then, if it’s never been tested?  Isn’t that a requirement of the FDA?

Fluoride could be sold legally on the pre-1938 market, but before the required testing was enacted. But, here is the kicker.  Fluoride wasn’t initially sold for the prevention of cavities.  It was on the market being sold as RAT POISON!!!  So, that definitely makes it safe for children and babies to consume, doesn’t it?

Have you ever read the back of your toothpaste tube?  It says DO NOT SWALLOW!  It says that because they know that fluoride is toxic when ingested.  Recent studies have shown that fluoride only works for cavities when applied topically. But, how can you apply something to your teeth and not ingest any of it?  It’s impossible!

And here is the cherry on top for you.  The fluoride they use for your water, toothpaste, mouthwashes, etc, is not pure pharmaceutical grade fluoride, nor is it naturally occurring fluoride found in nature.  That would be too expensive!  No, they get their fluoride nice and cheap as a by-product from aluminum and fertilizer manufacturing plants.

This fluoride they use for your “benefit” is legally considered “toxic waste.”  Many times the waste products from these industries contain more than just fluoride.  They are often contaminated with mercury, arsenic and lead.  These companies claim that these contaminate are in such minute amounts that they are harmless when consumed.  How is that possible when the EPA’s maximum level for arsenic and lead ingestion per day is set at zero?

Avoiding Fluoride: What You Can Do

I’m sure at this point you are feeling one of a couple different things.

• You may feel totally angry that you knew nothing about the dangers of fluoride up until now.
• You may even be upset with yourself because you have been exposing your children, as well.
• Maybe you even used the fluorinated infant water marketed to be mixed with formula.
• You may feel helpless and overwhelmed.  Fluoride is everywhere!  It may seem too difficult to escape it, so why even try?

Whatever you may be feeling, I’m hear to tell you step by step how to eliminate as much fluoride as you possibly can from your life.  If you take it step by step, it is less overwhelming.  Don’t let your anger or feeling of helplessness stop you from protecting both yourself and your family.

#1. Use Fluoride-Free Toothpaste

The easiest place to start in eliminating fluoride is in your mouth health products.  Look at your toothpaste and mouthwash.  They likely both contain fluoride.  This is a good time to read that warning label that says, “DO NOT SWALLOW.”  This will help convince you that you’re on the right track.

Now, buy a fluoride free toothpaste and mouthwash.  These aren’t typically sold at your local big box store.  You will likely have to go to a health food store or order it online.  Some of my favorite fluoride-free brands include Spry, Kiss My Face, The Natural Dentist, and Nature’s Gate.

However, I make my own natural, fluoride-free toothpaste.  I show you how to make homemade remineralizing toothpaste in this video, which is – in my opinion – the safest and most effective for the health of your teeth.

#2. Use Fluoride Water Filters

One of the most disappointing things that I have run across in my research of water filtration systems, is that most do not filter out fluoride.  Some leave it in, because they believe their customers want it left in for its benefits.  Other filters don’t offer fluoride filtration because it can be more difficult to filter out.

It’s highly unlikely that you will find a fridge filter or pitcher filter that filters out fluoride. The majority of those are carbon filters and although they work well at filtering many other contaminants out of your water, they don’t work for fluoride.  In order to get the fluoride out of your water, you need to use one of these options:

• Reverse Osmosis – These filters are available in both faucet and whole house models.  (I recommend a whole house because you can absorb fluoride through your skin and breathe in its vapors in the shower!)
• Distillation – You can get several different kinds of distillers, even whole house versions.  The only downfall is that you will have to take mineral drops as distillers pull essential minerals out of your water.
• Activated Alumina Filters – They do require frequent replacement, however they work quite well.

If you can apply these two steps, 1) going fluoride-free with your mouth care, and 2) getting a fluoride-filtering unit, then you are headed in the right direction. Those two steps will help eliminate most of that toxic fluoride that you and your family are exposed to.

Chlorine Clean?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t end with fluoride.  Fluoride is not the only evil contaminant in your water.  The water industry has also felt like it is necessary to add chlorine to our water, as well.  Their intention is good.  Chlorine does kill bacteria and other pathogenic bacteria in water.  It probably has saved people from getting terrible microbes from the water supply.  However, chlorine has its definite downfalls as well.

Chlorine itself has many side-effects like skin irritation and respiratory issues if inhaled.  But, that’s not the worst of it.  When chlorine mixes with other elements in the water it forms something called trihalomethanes, or THMs.  THMs are toxic and cause even worse problems than chlorine alone.  Some of those include:

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  Asthma
• Allergies
• Birth Defects
• Skin Rashes and Dry Skin
• Dry, brittle hair
• Cancer

There is an alternative to chlorine when it comes to treating pathogens in water. Some facilities in Canada and Europe are using ozone to treat their water.  A few cities in the US are catching on, but not many. Again, the best thing for you to do is to invest in a water filter.  Even the cheap carbon filters are quite good at filtering out chlorine.  Boiling your water gets rid of it, as well.  Unfortunately, boiling your water concentrates its fluoride levels.

Hormonal Water

Is your water hormonal?  No, this isn’t the beginning of a joke.  This is real.  If your water comes recycled from a wastewater facility, then it’s highly likely that you’re drinking hormones.  This is because there are hundreds of thousands of women on birth control or hormone replacement therapy. These drugs are passed through their urine into the water system. Some cities have tested as having over 50 different pharmaceutical drugs in their water!

Although the levels of most of those drugs are significantly low, the hormone levels aren’t also so low.  Your water may be treated and filtered to prevent bacteria, but drugs in the water are left untouched!  Ingesting hormones through your water can cause major hormonal imbalances in your body.  This is even more of a concern for children drinking the water.  Some of the possible side effects include:

• Infertility in both men and women
• Early Puberty
• PCOS
• Breast Cancer

Luckily, most filters work well at filtering out those hormones.  Again, even the less expensive carbon filters, filter out most of the hormones from your water.

Pure Water Starts With You

To be honest, I wish I didn’t have to use a water filter.  I wish that my town didn’t use fluoride or chlorine in their water.  I sure you are now thinking the same. There is something you can do.

Cities across the U.S. are now making a fuss and demanding better water! Albuquerque, New Mexico is the 32nd largest city in the United States and it was able to remove fluoride from its water system!  Since 2010, over 64 communities across the United States were successful in demanding the removal of fluoride from their water.

If you would like to start a revolution in your community, I recommend you join http://www.fluoridealert.org/.  They can help you raise awareness and take the right steps towards having fluoride free water for everyone in your community!

Remember those descriptions I mentioned above?  Clean, Pure, and Healthy?  Well, that CAN be your water, but it starts with you!  Taking action and getting the right water filter for yourself is a really great step.

But being a voice and raising awareness about the hidden dangers in our water can do so much more.  Let’s join together and make our water be exactly what it should be.  The way God created it.

Clean, Pure, and Healthy.

Do you use a water filter?  What do you use?  Do you have one you recommend that I didn’t mention?  I’d love to hear about it.  Comment below.