The Aluminum Myth!!

The Aluminum Myth!!

                                            Aluminum makes up 12% of the Earth’s crust, and is the most abundant metallic element.

a) Aluminum is found in biological quantities in most plants grown in soil. Most of our food crops contain 20-200 ppm or more of aluminum.

b) Known biological function of Aluminum is to activate the enzymes succinic dehydrogenase. It increases survival rate of newborn infants, and according to Professor Gerharkt Schrauzer, head of the department of chemistry at UCSD, is an essential mineral for human nutrition.

c) The Harvard University newsletter recently published a statement that none of the scientific reports regarding the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminum stated what form the aluminum was in.

d) In a study that appeared November 5, 1992 in the science journal, NATURE, Frank Watt, (University of Oxford) used a highly accurate laboratory technique to quantify the levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. To their great surprise, they found the same levels of aluminum in the brains of non-Alzheimer’s control as they did in Alzheimer’s patients. Watts believes that aluminum contaminated stains gave faulty results in the early studies that highlighted aluminum as a health risk.

Aluminum, is it Dangerous or not?

 Undocumented information bring disseminated throughout the health food industry regarding aluminum toxicity, has caused undue concern to health conscious individuals everywhere. Because of the persistence of such claims it would be well to examine the issues form the standpoint of documented evidence and reason. Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, with one seventh of the Earth’s crust being made up of that element. It is never found in its pure form but is always combined with other elements, silica being one of the most common.

Found in Clays

 Aluminum combines with oxygen and silica, to make up the major elements in certain clays; which people have beneficially used (externally and internally) for thousands of years. Any clay compounds found in health food stores contains very high levels (tens of thousands of parts per million) of aluminum. Aluminum is a major component in all soils and enters the food chain at every level, be it plant or animal. If natural compounds of organic aluminum were toxic or hazardous to human health, life as we know it on planet Earth would cease.

Where Did This Untruth Start?

 Aluminum received a bad rap when a foundry worker in England who pulverized aluminum pellets into powder, died of aluminum toxicity. Without goggles, mask or protective clothing he continued his occupation until he became dysfunctional. At his death an autopsy revealed abnormal quantities of aluminum in his lungs, cells and tissues, all of which contributed to his untimely death. Health advocates immediately manned the torch and spread the word that aluminum is a toxic poison which should be banned in any form from contaminating food, drink or medicine.

Iron Toxicity

 Any major or trace element used under identical circumstances to that of the English foundry worker would produce toxicity. Essential trace elements are essential only when used in trace amounts. When used in excess they become toxic (poison). The same is true with the major elements such as iron. When used in excess they become toxic. The fact that most natural compounds of aluminum are inert and pas through the system without harm coupled with the fact that aluminum is never found in nature in the pure form, points to the absurdity of the claims that all forms of aluminum are toxic (poison).

Animals Studies

 Controlled studies on rats receiving high levels or aluminum in the form of potassium aluminum sulfate,  revealed no appreciable differences between the control groups receiving the aluminum-free diet and animals receiving the high aluminum diets. The researchers reported; Minute traces of aluminum were found in the various tissues on all of the diets. The

aluminum containing diets were fed for four generations, with no noticeable differences from the animals on the normal diet in behavior or in growth curves beyond a slightly greater initial growth in the rats receiving aluminum. An investigation similar to that above was conducted on dogs. As was the case with rats, smaller amounts of aluminum were found in the tissues of the normally fed dogs, and these amounts were not appreciably changed except in the liver, following prolonged ingestion (three months) of aluminum in amounts of 230 ppm and 1550 ppm daily (6 and 2 animals respectively). No detrimental effects were noted in the health of the animals. A few analyses for aluminum in human autopsies are reported. These in general are in accord with the figures reported for the rat and dog, with the exception that the figures for the liver are lower and for the heart and brain higher.

Poison from the garden? We don’t think so!!!

Most food crops contain 20-200 parts per million of aluminum; with beans testing 1640 parts per million106 (46.5 mg per ounce). The internationally recognized, Oregon State University scientist, Dr. Melvin N. Westwood, states; that of the thousands of analysis of plant and fruit fibers which he has tested, not one sample has ever shown the absence of aluminum. Nor does he believe that samples run in an aluminum free culture could be grown without the presence of aluminum, since all seeds contain that element. All green-leafy vegetables used in salads and green-drinks contain high levels of aluminum. Onions are especially high in aluminum, and the strawberry receptacle is loaded with natural compounds of organic aluminum.

Reported in parts per million (PPM) mint leaves contain 160 ppm, plantain leaves 56 ppm, beets 28 ppm, various marine algae 40-98 ppm of aluminum. Even our good friends such as spinach contain 102 ppm of aluminum. So organic natural aluminum is good for you, so please understand it’s found in all seeds!!!!!

The Alzheimer’s Myth

 Beans and other legumes are especially high in aluminum (1640 ppm) which simply stated, means that if natural forms of aluminum contributed in any way to Alzheimer’s disease, all ethnic groups eating 106 dry beans Bertrand, G. & G. Levy. The Content of Plants, Notably Food Plants in Aluminum Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. (Paris), 192 (1931), No. 9 pp. 525-529; Compt. Rend. Acad. Agr. France, 17 (1931), pp 235-238, (E.S.R.) 66, p.193. legumes as a staple part or their diet would manifest epidemic numbers suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. We would suggest that anyone believing that all forms of aluminum are toxic should use extreme caution in eating anything from the garden.

 (Natural or Unnatural)

 All trace elements found in organic beds of ancient origin must be assumed to be of importance. These elements have been placed there by nature and not by man. Because we find natural forms of aluminum in all our food chains we cannot assume that plant derived aluminum is non-essential.  To refine out aluminum, arsenic and other trace elements from minerals extracted from naturally occurring organic beds, is to change from a natural to an unnatural state. Since organic aluminum is in all plant foods without exception, is one of the surest methods of determining whether a product is natural in the presence (or absence) of aluminum. If there is no aluminum it cannot be natural. All we need to clear our vision concerning the essential nature of trace elements is to review the literature with respect to trace-elements once considered non-essential and see the surprising number of those same elements that have since been discovered to be very essential. To be slow-learners is better than to be no-learners even if we do have to eat humble pie. In all likelihood, Aluminum (as contained in plants) may yet prove to be one of our closest friends. Especially in the (Compact Molecular Micro Vegetation™.)