Get That Fluoride Out of Your Tea!

Get That Fluoride Out of Your Tea!

It is important to be reminded every so often that all things must come in moderation. That is certainly a lesson one woman learned after discovering drinking one to two gallons of super-strength tea a day resulted in harmful levels of fluoride in her body, causing her bone pain. Specifically, the woman was suffering from spine pain attributed to hyper-dense bones. When tested for the cause of her symptoms, the results showed high levels of fluoride in her urine. This case motivated scientists to test several brands of instant tea available at grocery stores to determine the fluoride content in each.

The study analyzed 10 different brands of tea at regular-strength levels in fluoride-free water. Each contained fluoride levels ranging from 1.0 to 6.5 parts per million (ppm):

Preparation Product Fluoride (ppm or mg/L) First number = Laboratory 1; Second number = Laboratory 2; Third number = Mean Lipton Instant (1999) 2.7 2.6 2.6 Instant (2003) 7.7 5.4 6.5 Instant decaffeinated 3.1 2.4 2.7 Instant diet iced tea mix (decaffeinated lemon) 1.1 1.0 1.0 Naturally decaffeinated flow-through bags 1.9 2.0 2.0 Nestea Instant 2.4 2.1 2.3 Instant decaffeinated 2.4 2.2 2.3 Schnucks Instant 1.5 1.0 1.3 AriZona Lemon iced tea mix 2.5 1.9 2.2 Luzianne Specially blended for iced tea (bags) 3.9 3.1 3.5

While consuming high levels of fluoride has been known to boost bone density, it also results in bone brittleness and can lead to skeletal fluorosis, resulting in: Bone pain Calcified ligaments Bone spurs Fused vertebrae Difficulty moving joints Further, scientists believe fluoride is absorbed naturally into tea plants from soil and rainwater, and varies by the year, harvest and location all over the world. Aside from instant tea, Americans can be exposed to fluoride through drinking water, fluoridated toothpastes and dental preparations, coated cookware, chewing tobacco, some wines and certain sparkling mineral waters.

Washington University January 25, 2005 The American Journal of Medicine January 2005; 118(1): 78-82

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Fluoride is a toxic substance that can have profoundly negative effects on your body. If you consume large amounts of green tea for health benefits you might want to invest time in researching a brand that indeed is quite low in fluoride. We aren't just whistling Dixie here folks. This is a real threat and you simply need to avoid brands that can dump loads of this toxic heavy metal into your skeleton.

This study has made it quite clear that tea can be a source of fluoride. In fact, studies have shown, and experts have come forth to testify, that the risk of consuming fluoride far outweighs any possible benefit. Fluoride Facts Fluoride is more toxic than lead and is used as a pesticide for mice, rats, and other small pets. The fluoride used in tap water is not closely monitored and often contains high levels of carcinogens like arsenic. The fluoride we ingest from the water supply and from a number of other sources is associated with a number of negative health effects such as cancer, weakened bones and osteoporosis. If you are still not convinced of the need to avoid fluoride I would suggest reviewing the fluoride links page, as there are literally thousands of pages documenting the problems with fluoride and the reasons you want to eliminate it for you and your family.

Also, The Fluoride Deception by Christopher Bryson is an important book that will make you question the effects of not only fluoride but also of other "safe" chemicals used openly in our environment today. This book chronicles very real people and events, and the end result is a masterpiece of documented abuse, pollution and poisoning that can no longer be ignored.

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