#17

I have to wonder why people remove fluoride added to water. In Australia it’s routinely added. Since that started (decades ago) the rate of dental caries (tooth decay) has plummeted. Tooth decay is the thin end of an oral hygiene wedge that has many health ramifications later on in life.

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#18

I can only speak for myself. I don’t dispute that fluoride helps with tooth remineralization. My concerns are twofold: 1) recent studies showing neural toxicity in a dose dependent manner without a lower threshold, so I have no reason to feel confident it’s safe in the amounts added to water — corroborated by the observational studies in Mexico linking fluoride concentration in an inverse relationship to children’s IQ 2) its mild antiseptic effect on nitric acid cycle bacteria in the mouth—I’m trying to make endogenous NO production a priority so removing fluoride would be low hanging fruit.

Still there’s the benefit of tooth remineralization I didn’t have a good alternative for until recently. But now we have toothpaste with nano hydroxyapatite whose only downside is higher cost. There’s also the excellent one with Biomin that as I understand acts a bit differently but with the same result of remineralizing teeth without fluoride.

Besides reverse osmosis removes microplastics.

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#19

According to the web search results from Bing, there is no evidence that fluoride added to local water supplies in the United States causes any health problems, aside from the occasional mild case of dental fluorosis, which is a cosmetic condition that affects the appearance of the teeth⁴. Fluoride added to drinking water is safe and provides a public health benefit³. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends a level of 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, which is the optimal concentration for preventing cavities without causing adverse effects¹.

However, some studies have suggested that high levels of fluoride exposure may be associated with certain health risks, such as lower IQ, thyroid dysfunction, bone fractures, and cancer¹. These studies are often based on populations that consume water with naturally high fluoride levels, which can exceed 10 milligrams per liter, or use fluoride-containing products such as toothpaste, mouthwash, or supplements¹⁴. Therefore, the relevance of these findings to the U.S. population that consumes water with fluoridated levels is unclear and requires further research¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 1/30/2024
(1) What Is Fluoride? Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and Safety - Healthline. What Is Fluoride? Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and Safety.
(2) Fluoride added to drinking water is safe and beneficial. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/21/instagram-posts/fluoride-added-drinking-water-safe-and-beneficial/.
(3) Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe? | Harvard Public Health Magazine … Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe? | Harvard Public Health Magazine | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
(4) Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe? | Harvard Public Health Magazine … Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe? | Harvard Public Health Magazine | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
(5) Four myths about water fluoridation and why they’re wrong. Four myths about water fluoridation and why they’re wrong.
(6) Fluoride added to drinking water is safe and beneficial. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/21/instagram-posts/fluoride-added-drinking-water-safe-and-beneficial/.
(7) What Is Fluoride? Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and Safety - Healthline. What Is Fluoride? Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and Safety.
(8) Getty Images. Getty Images.

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#20

Epic water filters also remove 99% of microplastic by two types of filtration, ionic exchange and activated carbon.

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#21

I wouldn’t expect any other official stance on the matter from the U.S. government. Remember it was a huge crackpot conspiracy theory that fluoridation was a communist plot to threaten the purity of “our precious bodily fluids” so there’s whack job associations that go with fluoridation skepticism. I’m not one to shy away from holding a position just because insane people have also held it for their insane reasons.

If the U.S. government has been fluoridating the water supply for decades I’d imagine if there were any objective reasons to question the net positive effects of this policy, there’d be huge embarrassment and face loss consequently major friction to undertaking an examination of the evidence. The default policy would be defensiveness — “nothing to look at here, no evidence that it’s not safe and effective”. There’s no way to “prove” the fluoridation of water is problematic as they can’t run controlled experiments of towns / municipalities controlled for climate, geography, population socioeconomic features etc. to see over the course of years and decades whether there’s any statistically significant differences in children’s IQ. The studies that have recently come out show fluoride to be neurotoxic. No lower threshold was established.

In any case this is one of those “your mileage might vary” issues. My husband thinks fluoridation is a miracle of public health policy. I think it’s dubious, could be harmless, could not be. And if Rhonda Patrick filtered out fluoride from her water during pregnancy for the same reasons, it can’t be just for crackpots. Hydroxyapatite toothpaste gives the same benefits as fluoride for teeth. The rest is speculation and I don’t want to take any chances. I grew up without fluoridated water.

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#22

I prefer to get rid of most fluoride in my water just in case. I don’t need it for teeth bc mine are still good with no cavities. Filters are pretty inexpensive, $300 per year approx.

#23

I don’t know about microplastics, but have you investigated zeolite for detoxing? Powdered clinoptilolite (sp?) removes heavy metals and some other toxins. It’s a naturally occurring mineral and is available on amazon. Make sure you get something that is finely powdered, not granulated - the granulated form is too large to do much good inside the body. We use the larger form in the litter box and the chicken coop because it grabs ammonia, among other things, reducing odors. And frankly, it’s good for the chickens to eat a little as part of their grit intake.

I have not been able to find any information on whether it interacts with rapamycin, so we take it the day before dosing just in case.

This is what we use but there are several others available.

This article includes links to some of the studies on zeolite and metal chelation:

https://www.casi.org/latest-clinical-research-zeolite-heavy-metal-detoxification

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#24

The newest toothpastes are also amazing and prevent a great deal of cavities as well. I haven’t had a cavity since I started using anti-bacterial Colgate Total six years ago.

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#25

I also use Colgate Total toothpaste! Together with water pick it keeps my mouth healthy.

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#26

Are reverse osmosis filters made of plastics?

#27

I have a reverse osmosis filter and it definitely has some plastic parts. The four separate filter canisters are metal on the outside but the reservoir is plastic and the tubes that move the water around are plastic. Keep in mind that most newer-construction houses have water lines that are made of plastic - it’s the new standard. So there’s really no escape from the water coming into contact with plastic. I love the taste of RO water and feel great about drinking it over tap or our previous Brita filter water. I live in the industrial Northeast of the US where there’s been a high density of people and pollution for hundreds of years. Our tap water is very hard and I’m sure contains a legacy of industrial waste of all kinds. So I’m hoping that any bit of plastic that is introduced in the last section of my RO system is way less than what is coming in from my municipal water company.

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#28

To the best of my knowledge the US government does not fluoridate any water (other than perhaps the city of Washington D.C.), rather whether one’s water is fluoridated is the decision of each municipality and/or state. I’ve lived in places where the water was fluoridated and others where it was not. I think fluoridation helps people with deficient diets and/or poor dental hygiene, but to introduce it to 100% of the population to help a subset is a bit heavy handed in my opinion.

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#29

Where in the Northeast?

@yasmeenbrain tweet…

#30

I live in northern New Jersey. The list of EPA Superfund sites in my state is depressingly long.

#31

Can drinking LOTS of water (esp filtered for microplastics) help detox your body?

BIOCHEM 101

Microplastics: A Real Global Threat for Environment and …

by K Ziani · 2023 · Cited by 41 — Due to their characteristics, namely, synthetic materials with high polymer content, solid particles smaller than 5 mm, insoluble in water

Best way to rid of especially fat soluble agents.

  1. Reduce intake of such agents.
  2. Keep low body fat
    .
    .
    .
    .
  3. Staying hydrated and eating fiber to help excretion via urine, feces
  4. Sweating via exercise and heat exposure
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#32

I suspect exercise increases microplastic exposure (simply by increasing metabolism/need to eat, and the more you eat, the more MP accidentally gets stuck somewhere)

#33

If you want to avoid MP getting stuck in atherosclerotic plaque, what about reducing apoB & non-HDL-c to try and avoid plaque to begin with?

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#34

aquagear… is consumerlab rec’d

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#35

I’m not convinced that any of this matters, to be honest.

There are a lot of junky studies out there injecting particles into mice, or finding Microparticles in whichever organs. However, there is not really what I’d consider “strong” evidence that they’re actually causing meaningful harm.

Most mouse/rat studies use polystyrene particles, injected or inhaled in high doses, which are not representative of human exposure.

There’s also no such thing as “detox” unless you’re having kidney failure and need dialysis.

I’m not saying that I’m thrilled by the idea of microplastics in my body. But I think there are 20 other more important things to worry about from a longevity point of view. If I have optimised my ApoB, my glucose/insulin, my nutritional state, have a high VO2max, have plenty of muscle mass, good grip strength, a low resting HR etc etc etc… then I might turn my attention to plastics or fluoride. I just don’t think the hysteria is really worth it right now.

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#36

FYI: Request for feedback: potential solution for microplastics