The Toxic Metal - Aluminium

Aluminium is the third most common element on earth and exposure is from industrial and household uses. Aluminium sulphate is used as an additive in public water to clarify the water, when combined with fluoride it becomes very toxic and causes brain cell death.

Foods have a natural amount of aluminium in them. The ones that are mostly acidic such as, tomatoes, cranberries, rhubarb, apricots, cabbage and apples. It's also found in processed cheese, teas, herbs, spices and commercial salt. Food can absorb aluminium, from utensils, cans, foil, saucepans and containers. Baking or cooking foods in aluminium especially meat, leaches the aluminium out of the foil and into the food. It can also be found in deodorants and dye-fixing chemicals used in tanning. Aluminium in the 1970's was discovered to cause hallucinations, jerky muscles and dementia in dialysis patients where tap water was used for the dialysis. Aluminium is also a neurotoxin where it can enter the brain and nervous system and travel along the nerves to the spinal cord. Aluminium also has the ability to increase the destructive power of other types of metals in our body that we need for normal function that are otherwise not toxic to us unless it's in high doses, such as chromium and iron. Aluminium also affects myelin that surrounds the nerve sheath and therefore has an effect on people with multiple sclerosis.

Tea contains high levels of aluminium. When you squeeze lemon in your tea it increases the absorption of aluminium. The same goes for hot water with aluminium and fluoride and squeezing lemon in it. When drinking water always make sure it has been filtered well where the metals and fluoride are removed. Kegs that the beer is stored are aluminium; beer naturally also contains aluminium and is acidic so it readily leeches the aluminium out of the kegs into the beers. One important thing to remember is that acidic fruit and vegetables leech aluminium so be careful what you combine your fruit and vegetables with; for example cooking a fish in aluminium with chunks of lemon.

Aluminium has been linked with many neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and ALS. Low levels of magnesium and calcium intake increases the absorption of aluminium and iron from the gut, which allows it to enter the brain. As with all other metal toxicities it has an effect on the nervous system and decreases the antioxidants network system within the body and causes cell death. To detoxify from aluminium you must first of all get rid of any aluminium you're exposed to such as cooking and eating as mentioned above, also processed foods containing glutamate such as MSG, hydrolysed vegetable proteins, soy protein extract, protein isolate as glutamine binds with the aluminium and increases its absorption. Also increase your antioxidants to combat metal toxicities.

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