Despite overwhelming evidence that water fluoridation is a senseless practice that endangers the health of our country’s citizens, there seems to be little sign that it will come to an end any time soon. While many communities are rising up and demanding an uncontaminated municipal water supply, some cities are still voting on adding fluoride to their water for the first time.
Fifty different studies have linked fluoride with IQ reduction and other developmental problems in children,[1] and many more have demonstrated that daily fluoride consumption can contribute to arthritis, osteoporosis and other severe bone diseases, bone cancer, brain damage, thyroid dysfunction, and more.[2]
And as much as we’d like to say that fluoride poisoning is an isolated issue, exactly the opposite is true. At present, 75% of the municipal water supply in the United States is fluoridated—which means that 200 million Americans are being forced to consume this known neurotoxin on a daily basis.
Luckily, there’s a special fruit that you can use to protect yourself.
Tamarind to the rescue
Tamarind (or Tamanindus indica) is an African evergreen bush that produces a fruit with a confoundingly unique taste—it somehow manages to be sharply sweet and deeply sour at the same time. The taste alone makes this fruit worth trying.
But taste isn’t the only thing that makes this far-flung fruit unique—researchers are discovering that tamarind has the ability to remove toxic fluoride deposits from the body.
One 2002 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrated that a third of an ounce of tamarind, consumed daily for eighteen days, significantly increased urinary excretion of fluoride.[3] These results are especially promising results given that fluoride deposits are usually found in bones, an area of the body from which it’s notoriously difficult to remove toxins. The study focused on young boys, as previous studies have shown that children are most adversely affected by fluoride poisoning.
A follow-up study confirmed the original results, this time introducing a control group that was only given defluorinated water (no tamarind). The other group, who consumed tamarind daily for three weeks in additional to defluorinated water, experienced even greater excretion of fluoride from their bodies.
Finally, yet another study showed that tamarind even helps heal previous fluoride-induced damage by calming oxidative stress and restoring normal mitochondrial function in affected cells.[4]
And here’s the best part: tamarind also provides many other health benefits too, so integrating it into your life is an easy choice (especially if you live in an area where water fluoridation is practiced).
Tamarind is remarkably high in highly absorbable vitamin C, iron, and other beneficial nutrients. It reduces systemic inflammation (and thus is a fantastic ally for those suffering from arthritis and other aches and pains),[5] reduces levels of triglycerides (and thus helps prevent heart disease),[6] and wards off disease by supercharging the body’s endogenous production of powerful antioxidants like glutathione and superoxide dismutase.[7]
It even holds promise as a weight management tool: its high levels of fiber curb cravings and facilitate proper digestive function, and the hydroxycitric acid it contains slows the production of alpha-amylase, an enzyme responsible for fat storage in the body.
These findings are turning a lot of heads in the medical community, as systemic inflammation, heart disease risk factors, and obesity are some of the strongest underlying drivers of chronic disease in our country. Researchers believe that further study will reveal yet more ways in which this potential superfood can detoxify the body and protect it against a wide range of conditions.
Get fluoride out of your life
While the mainstream still hasn’t stopped singing the praises of fluoride (and denying its harmful effects), there’s ample evidence that this poison has got to go. Don’t wait for your city to stop fluoridating its water, though—take the measures necessary to remove fluoride from your daily drinking water as soon as possible.
It’s important to reiterate that, during the studies cited above, participants were given non-fluoridated water to drink exclusively. While tamarind will aid the excretion of fluoride from the body, it’s essential that you also stop drinking fluoridated water if you want to ensure that this poison doesn’t negatively affect your health.
Purchase water filters for both your drinking water source and your shower (the fluoride, chlorine, and other chemicals in water can be even more detrimental when absorbed through the skin during a hot shower).
When choosing a water filtration product, be sure that it specifies fluoride as one of the toxins it filters—if it isn’t listed, you can assume that it doesn’t filter fluoride. Some of the more popular water filter brands (like Brita and Pur) do not sell consumer-level products that filter out fluoride (as a general rule, reverse osmosis and deionization systems will remove fluoride, and activated carbon filters will not).
It’s our hope that, before long, our country will come to its senses and cease the dangerous and irresponsible practice of water fluoridation. In the meantime, though, you can protect yourself with the proper water filtration system and a good daily dose of tamarind.
References
[1] http://fluoridealert.org/studies/brain01/
[2] https://fluoridealert.org/issues/water/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11840184
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26439939
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23151094
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17383788
