Don't Drink the Water!

[Varmit]

CDC and ADA Now Advise to Avoid Using Fluoride Posted By Dr. Mercola | November 13 2010 |

A new study in the Journal of the American Dental Association finds once again that, contrary to what most people have been told, fluoride is actually bad for teeth.

Exposure to high levels of fluoride results in a condition known as fluorosis, in which tooth enamel becomes discolored. The condition can eventually lead to badly damaged teeth. The new study found that fluoride intake during a child's first few years of life is significantly associated with fluorosis, and warned against using fluoridated water in infant formula.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is of a similar opinion. According to their website:

"Recent evidence suggests that mixing powdered or liquid infant formula concentrate with fluoridated water on a regular basis may increase the chance of a child developing ... enamel fluorosis."

Sources:
  Journal of the American Dental Association October 14, 2010; 141(10):1190-1201
  CDC May 28, 2010 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It was 2007 when the American Dental Association (ADA) first warned that parents of infants younger than a year old "should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride" when mixing baby formula, due to concerns about fluorosis.

Now the Journal of the American Dental Association has published a study that found increased fluorosis risk among infants who were fed infant formula reconstituted with fluoride-containing water, as well as used fluoridated toothpastes.

The authors noted:

"Results suggest that prevalence of mild dental fluorosis could be reduced by avoiding ingestion of large quantities of fluoride from reconstituted powdered concentrate infant formula and fluoridated dentifrice."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also followed suit, warning on their Community Water Fluoridation page that mixing powdered or liquid infant formula concentrate with fluoridated water on a regular basis may increase the chance of a child developing enamel fluorosis.

They also state:

"In children younger than 8 years of age, combined fluoride exposure from all sources—water, food, toothpaste, mouth rinse, or other products—contributes to enamel fluorosis."

This is as far as the CDC warnings go, however, and they continue to state that water fluoridation is safe -- and dental fluorosis is only a "cosmetic" problem. In reality, neither of these assertions is true.

Dental Fluorosis is a Sign of Excessive Fluoride Intake
Dental fluorosis results in white and brown spots on your teeth. It is only caused by fluoride -- typically due to ingesting too much fluoride during your developing years, from birth to about 8 years of age. According to the CDC, about one-third of U.S. children aged 12 to 15 years have very mild to mild forms of enamel fluorosis on their teeth.

Promoters of fluoridation say that these markings are "just cosmetic," but it can also be an indication that the rest of your body, such as your bones and the rest of your organs, including your brain, has been exposed to too much fluoride also.

As Dr. Paul Connett, a chemist specializing in environmental chemistry, explained in our recent interview:

"We know that 32 percent of American children have been overexposed to fluoride because you have this telltale sign of dental fluorosis, which in its mildest form is little white specs. But when it gets more serious, it affects more of the surface of your teeth and it becomes colored; yellow, brown and orange mottling of the teeth ...

The teeth are the window to the bones. If you've seen the damage to the teeth, what damage can you not see?"

In other words, if fluoride is having a detrimental, visual effect on the surface of your teeth, you can be virtually guaranteed that it's also damaging something else inside your body, such as your bones.

Bone is living tissue that is constantly being replaced through cellular turnover. Bone building is a finely balanced, complicated process. Fluoride has been known to disrupt this process ever since the 1930s.

Why it's Dangerous to Swallow Fluoride
The United States is one of only eight countries in the entire developed world that fluoridates more than 50 percent of its water supply. It is added under the guise that it helps prevent and control tooth decay ...

This is in spite of the fact that there never been any demonstrated difference in tooth decay between countries with fluoridated and non-fluoridated water, and no difference between states that have a high- or low percentage of their water fluoridated.

Even promoters of fluoridation concede that the major benefits are topical; fluoride works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside of your body, so why swallow it?

The fluoride added to your drinking water is in fact a chemical waste product! It is NOT something you should use as a supplement to your diet.

There are plenty of studies showing the dangers of fluoride to your health, such as:

Increases lead absorption
Disrupts synthesis of collagen
Hyperactivity and/or lethargy
Muscle disorders
Brain damage, and lowered IQ
Arthritis
Dementia
Bone fractures
Lowers thyroid function
Bone cancer (osteosarcoma)
Inactivates 62 enzymes
Inhibits formation of antibodies
Genetic damage and cell death
Increases tumor and cancer rate
Disrupts immune system
Damages sperm and increases infertility
As far as tooth decay is concerned, this is not caused by lack of fluoride.

Tooth decay is caused by acids in your mouth, typically created from sugar being metabolized by bacteria (Streptococcus mutans), and as you may already know, the number one source of calories in the United States is high fructose corn syrup.

The acid produced then attacks your enamel. Eventually the bacteria can get into the dentine, at which point tooth decay sets in. So there are far better options for decreasing tooth decay than using a topical or ingested poison, with a chief one being minimizing your intake of sugary foods and eating a healthful diet.

You typically don't find dental caries in more primitive societies that do not consume vast amounts of sugar like in the United States.

Make Sure Your Children are Not Exposed to Fluoride
One of dentist Bill Osmunson's main concerns is water fluoridation for infants. The ADA and the CDC now both recommend that infants NOT receive fluoridated water for drinking, nor for making their formula, as fluoridated water contains 250 times more fluoride than mother's milk.

"We shouldn't fluoridate water and harm our most vulnerable," Dr. Osmunson says.

It is my strong belief and recommendation to avoid giving your children fluoridated water.

Unfortunately, the only way to ensure your water is pure enough to drink is by installing ahigh quality water filtration system in your house, such as a reverse osmosis filter that can filter out much of the fluoride and other dangerous water contaminants like disinfection byproducts (DBPs).

Remember that most bottled water also typically contains fluoride, even though it's not stated on the label, and whatever you do, avoid using "nursery water," which is fluoridated water sold specifically for infants.

Fluoride in your drinking water is one more reason why breastfeeding your infant is so essential. Nature has kept breast milk virtually fluoride-free for a reason.

If you are unable to breastfeed and are instead using formula, make sure the water you use is fluoride-free. Again, for now the best way you can provide pure, fluoride-free water to your family is by using a reverse osmosis filter, which you can install in your home.

Even better, if you are unable to breastfeed use this recipe to make homemade infant formula using raw milk and no water at all.

Keep in mind also that if you are a pregnant woman it is equally important for your water to be fluoride-free, as this chemical can harm your developing fetus.

The Ultimate Solution is to Get Fluoride Out of Tap Water
Even though the ADA and the CDC have issued warnings that parents not use fluoridated tap water to make infant formula, neither of them has openly informed the public!

So there are millions of parents out there using tap water to make up formula, oblivious of the fact that the agencies that promote fluoridation in this country have issued a specific warning against using fluoridated water for this purpose.

Not only that, but by fluoridating the municipal water supply you doom many low-income families to fail to protect their young children from this dangerous drug, even if they have this information, as they simply don't have the resources to install a reverse osmosis system.

This is why the only real solution is to stop the archaic practice of water fluoridation in the United States.

The Fluoride Action Network is an absolutely phenomenal resource for further education, and they're doing much to pressure the US government for change. We will be working together to devise a complete game plan to tackle this issue head on. Once we reach the tipping point, which may be as little as 5 percent of the population, we will be able to reverse the policies of water fluoridation.

Our strategy will begin with addressing Canada, because 60 percent of Canada is already un-fluoridated. If we can get the rest of Canada to stop fluoridating their water, we believe the U.S. will be forced to follow.

You can visit www.FluorideAlert.org for the most recent updates and progress, as well as tips on how you can get involved and take action in this important cause.

In addition, I highly recommend getting a copy of Dr. Connett's new book, The Case Against Fluoride, for more information on the bad science and political agendas that got this toxic chemical in our drinking water and is, at least for now, keeping it there.

[Teresa]

Gene Cookson.. my deceased father in law preached this to me 15 years ago...
More and more of what he talked and taught me is coming to pass..

[Diane Amberg]

Back when all this started people didn't take their kids to the dentist like they do now. Kids with really rotten teeth were fairly common. Abscessed gums and infections that could go to the heart affecting children's health. Now it's much more rare. I know this was written up at least 25 years ago when my one niece was born because we talked about using spring water for her formula.  We grew up on good well water but had our teeth "painted" once a year at the dentist. I have very good teeth but was never subjected to systemic fluoride until I was an adult. Studies have been going on ever since and it is very good information. There can be other sources too. If all those juice drinks that kids have are made with fluoridated water it can be there and also food processed with fluoridated water can leave fluoride behind in the food. Dry cereal for example. Then add tooth paste to the mix and it can be a lot. Of course infants with no teeth don't have that problem. no teeth, no need for fluoride." "Look Ma, no cavities!"

[Varmit]

Sorry, but I don't buy the excuse that fluoride was added to the water for the public good.  Espcially when you consider that time and again we have been warned against it, yet just recently the State of California sued the city of Watsonville for refusing to put it in their water.

[Diane Amberg]

It was at the time, but things have changed a lot over the years. I don't think it's needed any longer. Same as having' "fortified" milk, bread and cereals. Long ago kids were not as well nourished as they are today. You never see scurvy, and rickets and such in this country any longer. People's general health is much better. Northern Kansas is one of the areas that has no natural iodine in the soil and goiter was very common. My mother and grandmother both had it. They they started iodizing salt, no more problem. Now people eat sea food and fish as well as salt, so true goiter is rather rare. Varmit you are too young to remember when kids got rheumatic fever and heart damage from infection caused by  abscessed teeth and gums. Fluoride had it's place then.  But it wasn't in so many other things also. Do you remember polio or any of the childhood diseases that are so rare now? Shouldn't people try to make our lives better?

[Wilma]

Varmit, is your upside down flag a cry for help?

[Teresa]

I actually take a prescription iodine tablet every day. ( as much as I eat..  I doubt I need it though) 

[srkruzich]

I actually take a prescription iodine tablet every day. ( as much as I eat..  I doubt I need it though) 

If you used sea salt instead of the mined salt, you wouldn't need the iodine tablets.  The sea salt is better for us.  It also doesn't raise your blood pressure like the inland salt.   Plus i find its got a better flavor.  Has more minerals in it that we need.

Look around for different kinds of sea salts. Shoot, dead sea salts are used for a lot of bath and makeup products that do wonders for our skin. 

[Warph]

Canadians vote against fluoridated water supplies

http://www.cosmeticdentistryguide.co.uk/news/canadians-vote-against-fluoridated-water-supplies-4946

Residents in Waterloo, Ontario have voted to stop adding fluoride to water supplies.

The decision, which was announced on Tuesday, has been welcomed by anti-fluoride campaigners; however, the news has shocked dentists and the incoming head of the Ontario Dental Association has condemned the decision. Dr Harry Hoediono has criticised the decision, saying that people are unaware of the dental health benefits of fluoride and are voting to stop fluoridation based on flimsy evidence they have downloaded from the internet. Dr Hoediono said that it was a shame that such an important decision could be made by a small group of people who perhaps do not have the necessary knowledge to make an informed decision.

Campaigners against fluoride believe that adding fluoride to the water supply is tantamount to poisoning and are lobbying for fluoridation to be stopped all over Canada. Opponents of fluoride claim the chemical is illegal, unnecessary and dangerous; campaigners believe fluoride contributes to health conditions, including increased risk of cancer, thyroid disease and arthritis.

Public health officials and dentists in the area are outraged by the decision; numerous studies conducted all over the world have consistently shown that fluoride helps to strengthen and protect the teeth, which reduces rates of decay. Fluoride also helps to cut costs for public health services as people are less likely to need dental treatment.

Most councillors were opposed to stopping fluoridation; however, they voted in favour of stopping it to support public opinion. Regional Chairman, Ken Seiling, said he did not believe much of what protestors had to say; however, he claimed that health officials had failed to run an effective campaign, which meant that people were largely unaware of the benefits of fluoride.

[Varmit]

Varmit you are too young to remember when kids got rheumatic fever and heart damage from infection caused by  abscessed teeth and gums.

You're right, I am too young to remember but given the 16 alternatives posted above, I'll take my chances.  Not only that but I don't think that people should be forced medicated.