Toxicities All Around Us

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

January 13, 2020 [printfriendly]

 

 

 

The days of accepting the status quo are over. At least, they should be.

If you continue to believe what you read and hear without the science to back it up, you may be causing severe harm to yourself and your family. When you listen to companies-for-profit tell you their products are designed to make you feel better, live longer, and become happier, you better also demand answers to the questions, “How? Can you prove it? What’s in it for you?”

I’m not going to cite the numerous medical papers that support my rant and rave in this post. I don’t want to bog you down with the detailed science that supports the facts you will read here. For sure, these are available and easily researched if you simply went to PubMed.gov (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) and searched for the topics I reveal below. So, let me sound off for a moment and get this stuff off my chest. The bottom line I want to emphasize is don’t be gullible. Be discerning. Get your facts straight and then make your decisions.

 

Toothpastes

Toothpaste companies tell you their toothpastes whiten teeth, heal gum disease, and remineralize teeth. But these toothpastes have harsh chemicals that will do more harm than good. The companies making their chemically ridden toothpastes should first tell you that if you brushed with filtered water and didn’t eat added sugars or drink acidic sodas, you would rarely have tooth decay or gum disease. And if they hinted that you could brush with common baking soda on your toothbrush, you would be able to whiten your teeth effectively by removing surface stains. Also, by the way, the minerals that naturally help remineralize your teeth are included in the constant flow of your saliva, which is replete in necessary minerals that are biologically available if you eat nutrient-rich foods.

 

Glyphosate (Roundup®)

Food companies that regularly spray their crops with glyphosate to improve their crop survival and size of their crops aren’t telling you the real truth. While improving the salability of their crops, this chemical (formerly manufactured by Monsanto and now owned by Bayer) is destroying the healthy bacteria in the soils responsible for healthy growth of plants. And the residue of glyphosate remains on the plants and gets into foods prepared from these plants. The result is serious damage to the healthy bacteria in your gut. Once in the gut, glyphosate also causes leakage of toxic substances into your bloodstream affecting all tissues. And did these companies tell you that glyphosate residue passes through the placental barrier and is present in babies at birth? There are class action lawsuits currently being pursued against Monsanto and Bayer because cancer was caused by individuals’ continued use of Roundup.

 

Skin Products

How about the beauty and cosmetic industry that charges high fees for creams and lotions to apply to your skin and hair? Are these companies warning you that their products contain toxic substances, which will seep through your skin and enter your bloodstream causing a myriad of problems that might not show up for years – especially if you apply their products daily?

The Environment Working Group has identified the 9 most toxic substances present in many beauty and cosmetic products:

  • Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen
  • Chemicals that release formaldehyde
  • Mercury, which can damage the kidney and nervous system
  • Lead, a potent neurotoxin
  • Asbestos, a known carcinogen
  • Isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben
  • Toluene, which is toxic to the brain and nervous system
  • Triclosan, which affects the thyroid
  • Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been linked to cancer

 

Titanium Dental Implants

Titanium and titanium-alloy dental implants have been excellent choices to replace missing teeth. Over 5 million dental implants are being placed annually. These implants have been made to visually look and function like natural teeth. And these have been extremely successful over decades for individuals who have lost important teeth in their mouth. Yet, are the worldwide manufacturing companies producing these implants or the dental professionals placing these implants completely informing you of the facts? Titanium implants will cause a local inflammatory response in the immune system which potentially could lead to chronic systemic inflammation years down the road. And continuous chronic systemic inflammation could lead ultimately to many types of chronic disease. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that 60% of Americans live with at least one chronic disease, and chronic diseases are responsible for 70% of deaths each year in the United States. Also, corrosion occurs on the surface of titanium dental implants. Chemical products released from these surfaces can be swallowed and absorbed by the body to accumulate in other organs. In addition, nanoparticles of titanium can pass through the blood-brain barrier and may be toxic to the central nervous system.

 

Food and Hair Dyes

Another area of toxicity is the dyes used in food and hair coloring products. Consumers seem thrilled when their food looks pretty and appetizing. Certainly, a youthful look when hair takes on a color other than gray is desired and pursued by millions of people. The industries that place dyes in food and hair products are not warning consumers that most of these chemicals are not tested for toxicity in humans. They aren’t alerting us that there are scientific studies proving that these dyes could cause various medical complications. In a 2019 article in the International Journal of Cancer, the authors acknowledged that many hair products contain carcinogenic compounds related to breast cancer. And the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in 2018 in which they said, “Artificial food colors may be associated with exacerbation of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms.” So, shouldn’t the consumer at least know the risks of eating food dyes and applying dyes to their hair and scalp?

 

In Closing

We don’t live in a bubble. Nowadays, toxic substances abound. And as I have suggested, they are in products which many of us have taken for granted for so long. Sadly, it appears that many companies are selling chemical products while keeping us in the dark to what they really know. Marketing companies are not under any legal obligation to inform us about the science that is out there. Our responsibility is to be proactive and take care of ourselves and our family. Do some research before you believe what you read and hear.

 

 

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Our Foods May Be Killing What Sustains Us

      Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS   •   Nutritional Periodontist
      July 11, 2016   [printfriendly]
 
 
     
 

Our Foods May Be Killing What Sustains UsWe may be irreversibly damaging our gut microbiome, and we may not know it. The fact is that we need our gut bacteria. We could not survive without our microbial partners, which outnumber human cells by as much as 10:1 (100 trillion microbial cells to about 10 trillion human cells).

 

So, What’s Up With Our Food?

 

A chemical, which is being sprayed on most crops that are grown conventionally on the farm, is getting into our food supply. Then, we eat it. Although this poison may not damage our human cells, it does destroy some important functions of our gut bacteria. Damage to our gut microbiome makes us more susceptible to a host of chronic diseases. We become the victims without knowing what hit us. A bigger problem is that chronic diseases may not raise their ugly heads until decades after we have continuously ingested this toxic substance.

 

The chemical is glyphosate – better known by its brand name of Round Up, which is manufactured by Monsanto. Everyone knows about Round Up; we use it to kill those pesky weeds that make our yards look ugly. Everyone knows about Monsanto; it’s a company whose goal is sustainable agriculture to meet the needs of a growing global population. All good causes. But, the outcome of Round Up on our food supply is fostering disaster in our bodies by way of damaging our healthy gut bacteria and disrupting our normal digestion. Unfortunately, the full extent of damage that glyphosate might be creating in our bodies is still unknown.

 

The danger of glyphosate residue on the chemistry necessary for our gut bacteria to function has been known for almost 40 years. Here are two published studies in 1980 that detail the exact biological pathway that describes how glyphosate destroys bacteria. HERE. HERE.  The shikimate pathway, which was referenced in both articles I cited, is not part of human cellular function. But, read this next sentence very carefully. This pathway is critical for our gut bacteria to perform its numerous necessary functions for us to survive.

 

Damaged gut bacteria affects our entire body including the health of our mouths. All our brushing and flossing will not offset the damage that could occur if unhealthy and infectious bacteria overtook the healthy balance of bacteria in our mouth. There are many published research papers that prove how the state of our gut bacteria affects the state of our mouth bacteria. Here are just two: HERE. HERE.

 

What To Do?

 

I often ask my patients, “If you knew a train were coming at you, would you get off the tracks?” In my opinion, the prudent action is to be proactive. Prevention is so much easier and cheaper than treatment later on. Eat foods that are organic. Avoid all processed foods that include any artificial additives. A nutrient-dense and anti-inflammatory diet, which is a Paleo-type diet, is an ideal choice. Since chronic disease is the result of cumulative effects over the course of years or decades, the sooner we start a proactive approach, the better.

 

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