In 1945 some parts of the United States began putting fluoride in the drinking water after scientists noted that people who were living in areas with high levels of fluoride in their water had less tooth decay. By 1962 the United States Public Health Service recommended that public water supplies contain fluoride to help prevent tooth decay. Fortunately, 97% of westernized countries have rejected the idea of putting fluoride in the drinking water, but it is still being used in the United States, Canada and parts of the UK.
Once inside the body fluoride absorbs in the bloodstream from the digestive tract. It then travels through the blood and tends to collect in areas high in calcium, such as the bones and teeth. Very little fluoride is excreted through the urine and sweat, which leads to toxicity in the body.
The major sources of fluoride are found in fluoridated drinking water and fluoride-containing dental products such as toothpaste, fluoride rinses and mouthwashes. In 1990 researchers found evidence of the cancer-causing potential of fluoridated water in male rats who had developed higher levels of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
Fluoride collects in parts of the bones where they are growing, known as the growth plates, which are also the areas where osteosarcomas typically develop. The theory is that fluoride might somehow cause the cells in the growth plate to grow faster, which might make them more susceptible to eventually becoming cancerous.
On another front, research published in 2019 shows devastating evidence on the effects of fluoridated water on the absorption of iodine. Iodine is used to make the thyroid hormones T4 and T3 which are necessary for the control of cellular metabolism, growth and development of the body structures, and for proper brain development. If iodine levels fall below recommended levels the thyroid gland is no longer able to synthesize sufficient amounts of thyroid hormone. The resulting hypothyroidism can occur at any stage of life, but is most devastating during fetal development and childhood, which can cause stillbirth, miscarriages, poor growth in children and cognitive impairment.
The latest research does in fact now show that dietary absorption of iodine is reduced by fluoride in our drinking water causing iodine deficiency which in turn upsets the thyroid gland function. And a British study published in 2015, a few years earlier, had also found a correlation between fluoridated drinking water causing a rise in the incidence of hypothyroidism.
Fluoride used to be used to shut down the thyroid gland in cases of hyperthyroidism, but it worked so well it actually destroyed the whole gland, so they had to discontinue its use. It was shortly after this that it was put in the drinking water. Some people feel that this is one of the few contributing factors causing the epidemic of hypothyroidism seen in countries where the water is fluoridated.
And on yet another front, in 2006 a National Research Council study concluded that fluoride is likely to affect the functioning of the pineal gland causing decreased melatonin production.
Here’s a little information about the pineal gland: it is a very tiny gland, about the size of a grain of rice. The pineal gland produces melatonin, which controls your sleep patterns, helps you make decisions and determines how you perceive reality.
Up until very recently, melatonin was just thought of as the sleep hormone. But research continues to provide us with more and more information on some of its other important functions. For example, melatonin is only one (of two) antioxidants in your mitochondria. This piece of information is very important to know since the mitochondria, found in most of the trillions of cells in your body, is responsible for making ATP or energy.
In fact, malfunction of the mitochondria is considered one of the driving forces in the aging process, and is at the root of many diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes, heart disease and many others. The latest research on melatonin shows how it can indeed slow down the aging process. And get this: melatonin has been proven to be twice as active as Vitamin E in its antioxidant capabilities! This is amazing and so is this other piece of information: Melatonin is the only antioxidant selectively taken up by the mitochondrial membranes to repair itself. Keep in mind that there are hundreds, if not thousands of antioxidant compounds in your body, yet your mitochondria has chosen melatonin to rescue it from free radicals!
The pineal gland makes melatonin by receiving light cues from the eyes which causes it to produce melatonin which sends several hormonal messages to the body. The pineal gland transmits information about the length of daylight, known as the circadian rhythm. It tells the body whether there’s light or darkness, the season you’re in and the length of the days.
However, unlike most other parts of the brain, the blood brain barrier does not fully protect the gland from the rest of the body. Instead it receives a lot of blood flow, second only to the kidneys. So any toxins in the blood will have easy access to the pineal gland.
A research study done in the 1990’s found high concentrations of fluoride in the pineal glands of study participants. Fluoride from the drinking water accumulates in the pineal gland more than in any other part of the body. After the fluoride accumulates there it forms crystals. This calcification prevents the gland from making melatonin.
A reduction in the production of melatonin causes older adults to have disruptions in their sleep patterns — for example, they may feel sleepy during the day and stay awake at night.
And since the pineal gland also produces serotonin, known as the happy hormone, any disruption in pineal gland function could result in depression.
Many ancient traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and the ancient Egyptians feel that the pineal gland is the seat of the soul because they say it is connected to the third eye which represents intuition and clairvoyance. It is well known that during ecstatic states people report seeing light and colors. Research now shows that the pineal gland has photo receptors and it’s actually lined with tissues similar to those found in the retina. It also has the same wiring in the visual cortex in the brain as the eyes do. And a recent discovery demonstrates that the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is produced by the pineal gland, proving once again that the pineal gland is the gateway to higher spiritual realms and consciousness.
The pineal gland is shaped like a pine cone. Certain ancient religions consider the pine cone a sacred symbol representing the pineal gland or the Third Eye. The Buddha’s head is shaped like a pine cone and the staff used by the Christian Pope has a pine cone shape too. The sixth chakra is believed to be located in the middle of the brain where the pineal gland is located.
This is definitely not a gland you want to calcify and render lifeless. Which means you should know whether or not your drinking water contains fluoride. I make it a point to ask every patient if their tap water contains fluoride and the majority of the patients report to me that they don’t know. But the truth is that fluoridated water is now supplied to 3 out of 4 Americans.
Fluoride is very hard to take out of the water — boiling of the water won’t remove it. And you have to purchase special filters to remove it since not all filters are capable of removing this dangerous compound.
There are probably many other detrimental effects on the body which come from adding fluoride into the drinking water which will be discovered in the future. But with what we know so far — a possible cause of bone cancer, hypothyroidism and pineal calcification which leads to less melatonin production which leads to increased aging, problems with sleeping, depression and many serious diseases, this should be enough for us to avoid fluoridated water as much as possible.
I would like to add two cautionary notes here:
1) Please don’t take melatonin as a supplement. The whole neuroendocrine system is a finely tuned orchestra where the production of hormones is based upon the exposure to daylight and darkness, delicate circadian rhythms which occur throughout the seasons and the need for the hormones themselves: when the hormones dip low, your body gets cues to make more, when the hormone levels are high enough, production slows down. If you take melatonin from an outside source you are suddenly throwing this natural production of hormones way out of balance. Your body gets confused and stops making them since blood levels will always be high now. Interfering with the body’s intelligent production of hormones is definitely something you don’t want to do.
2), new mothers: please don’t put your child on the multivitamins which contain fluoride that your well-meaning pediatrician might want to give to you. Doing so could cause a whole host of health problems, especially hypothyroidism, problems growing, mental delays and possible bone cancer as you shut down your child’s normal thyroid function and potentially calcify the pineal gland, which interferes with the production of melatonin and all the ramifications that might bring.
I hope the information presented here will lead you to carefully investigate what’s in your drinking water and encourage you to avoid dental care products and vitamin supplements containing fluoride. By doing so you’ll prevent a whole host of very serious diseases from ever developing.
Thank you,