The dangers of lead and mercury poisoning have made headlines for years, but aluminum is typically overlooked.
“There’s been a lack of awareness of aluminum toxicity, due to its ubiquitous nature in the environment and in products that we use on a daily basis,” says Claire Dwoskin, child health advocate and founder of the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute, which has funded many studies of aluminum.
“In cars, airplanes, and computer cases, for example, aluminum is an extremely versatile and useful metal, but when it gets into products that then end up in the human body, it is extremely toxic,” she tells Newsmax Health.
Signs of toxicity include confusion, speech problems, muscle weakness, seizures, and delayed growth in children.
Aluminum is linked to a host of neurological and other disorders.
Although aluminum is added to many foods, drugs, and other products we ingest, in most cases, it’s possible to use an aluminum-free alternative. These are major sources:
Vaccines and drugs (including some antacids): Read ingredient lists and ask your doctor or pharmacist for an aluminum-free product. For example, Gaviscon antacid tablets (but not liquid) are aluminum-free.
Processed foods and candy: Baking powder (not baking soda), artificial coloring (such as a color followed by a number), anti-caking and drying agents often contain aluminum.
Canned beverages: Acidity in soda makes aluminum leach from cans. Glass bottles are safer.
Antiperspirants: Aluminum-free deodorants are an option.
Sunscreens and cosmetics: Check ingredients and look for products without aluminum.
In the kitchen: The metal can leach into food from aluminum pots and pans. Leaching is most common when foods being cooked are highly alkaline (like baking soda) or highly acidic (lemon juice, tomato sauce, vinegar.
Anodized aluminum pots and pans, which are processed to seal in the aluminum, are thought to be safer than regular aluminum. Even better options are stainless steel, cast iron, or ceramic cookware.
Silica, a mineral that is naturally present in water, helps a human body eliminate aluminum. However, not all water contains therapeutic amounts.
A British study tested high-silica bottled water on people with Alzheimer’s and found that after 12 weeks of drinking up to one liter daily, 8 out of 15 patients either did not worsen or improved.
Urine tests showed that they excreted more aluminum.
The water in the study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, contained 35 mg of silica per liter.
The most common high-silica bottled water brand sold in the U.S. is Fiji, with 85 mg/liter. Other brands with high levels of silica are Badoit (35 mg/liter) and Volvic (31 mg/liter).
Extensive research at Keele University in England, published in the journal Molecular and Supramolecular Bioinorganic Chemistry, found these conditions were linked to aluminum:
ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
Alzheimer’s disease
Anemia
Arthritis
Asthma
Autism
Cancer
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Crohn’s disease
Diabetes
Down syndrome
Epilepsy
Gulf War illness
Hyperactivity
Multiple sclerosis
Muscular dystrophy
Obesity
Osteoporosis
Parkinson’s disease
Sarcoidosis (an inflammatory disease)
Vascular disease and stroke
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