"A Free Cure (?)
for Fibromyalgia and CFS"
Fibromyalgia,
Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome,
Alzheimer's Disease:
Probable Causes and Treatment
by Darrell
Stoddard
http://www.healpain.net Copyright 2001
"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome might
represent early or evolving
Alzheimer's disease." The words (an opinion of a medical doctor
in a medical journal
I was reading) leaped off the page. Is chronic fatigue syndrome
(and
fibromyalgia that nearly always goes with it), evolving Alzheimer's
disease
in young people? Could there be a connection between fibromyalgia
(FM)/chronic
fatigue syndrome (CFS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)?
I offer the following as a
testable hypothesis to be
considered. It is speculative but not without
evidence. The primary thesis, if correct, may be life
saving. I have reviewed more than a hundred articles on
fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome. What follows is one
of few attempts to explain the cause of these new and mystifying
diseases. Most articles say the cause is unknown and many say
FM/CFS is incurable. After treating more than
18,000 patients for pain, I believe both statements are wrong!
What is Fibromyalgia And Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome?
CFS is also referred to as
chronic fatigue immune deficiency
syndrome (CFIDS). Seven times as many women are afflicted as
men. Both seem to be new diseases. We had neither disease
50 years ago. If FM/CFS did exist, they were not identified or
named. The words are
not even in the dictionary unless you have the latest edition.
Now,
the diseases are epidemic. According to the American College of
Rheumatology, fibromyalgia affects 3 to 6 million Americans.
Still many doctors debate
whether there is such a disease because there are no widely recognized
medical
tests to identify either FM or CFS. They are identified only by
symptoms.
A good argument could be made for the claim that we have created FM/CFS
by
naming them. It is reassuring for patients if we put a name on
their
symptoms even if we don't know the cause or what to do for them.
Even
if FM/CFS are just old diseases with new names, what follows still
applies
as to the possible cause and treatment.
What
is Alzheimer's Disease?
The following paragraph comes
from the Internet website, WebMD.(1)"Alzheimer's
disease is a degenerative disease
of
the brain from which there is no recovery. Slowly and
inexorably,
the disease attacks nerve cells in all parts of the cortex of the
brain....
About half of the people in nursing homes and almost half of all people
over
85 have Alzheimer's disease. It is now the fourth leading
cause
of death in adults. Almost 2 million Americans have
Alzheimer's
disease, and unless effective methods for prevention and treatment are
developed,
it will reach epidemic proportions by the middle of the next century,
afflicting
over 8 million people." (Italics added.)
Hypothesis:
Possible Cause of Fibromyalgia, Chronic
Fatigue,
and Alzheimer's
In the medical clinic where I
have worked for 13 years, we
have
seen more than a thousand patients with FM and CFS symptoms. When
admitted to the clinic, every patient is required to fill out a Symptom
Checklist that
includes 169 symptoms. In addition to the "Hurt all over" and
"Tired
all the time" symptoms, almost all FM/CFS patients also check:
"Difficulty concentrating," "Trouble thinking clearly,"
"Indecisive," "Confusion," "Memory disturbance," "Learning
disability." If this isn't "early or
evolving Alzheimer's disease," many of the symptoms are the same.
Alzheimer's
disease and FM/CFS could be related and have a common cause.
As I thought about the
possibility of fibromyalgia and
chronic fatigue syndrome being "Alzheimer's disease in young
people," the thought
came to me, The cause could be aluminum from soft drinks in
aluminum cans
and aluminum from antiperspirants." These are two of the
dramatic
life style differences between people today and 50 years ago.
(Deodorants
are ok. The problem is the aluminum
antiperspirant included in
nearly
all deodorants, which stops perspiration.)
In the 1980's, aluminum (AL) was
suspected to be one of the
causes
of Alzheimer's disease when aluminum of higher than normal amounts was
found by autopsy in the brains of people who had died from Alzheimer's
disease. To test the theory, animals were given large doses of
aluminum in different forms. The experimental injection of
aluminum into animals did cause neurofibrillary tangles in the brain
but they were different than the neurofibrillary tangles seen in the
brain of AD patients; therefore, the theory was discounted and
abandoned. Although it is widely recognized that aluminum is a
neurologic toxin, most experts today believe the excessive aluminum in
the
brain of AD patients is the effect of the disease and not the cause, or
they
believe the aluminum was not measured properly. The claim that
aluminum
causes Alzheimer's disease is called an "urban legend" on the Internet
(see
reference #13). In Scientific American, an Alzheimer
specialist
answering the question, "Is Alzheimer's disease related to aluminum
exposure?"
called it a "myth." (2) Ironically, in
explaining
how the myth got started, the doctor still presents evidence
linking
aluminum to AD.
Other scientists have published
new research in peer review
scientific journals, that still support the belief that aluminum may be
one of the causes
of Alzheimer's disease. The challenge is to discover or prove
what
makes the aluminum deposit in the brain. Theories have been
proposed
and compelling evidence offered to explain the mechanism of why and how
aluminum
deposits form in the brain.
To understand my theory of how
aluminum, from soft drinks
and
antiperspirants, may be one of the causes of both AD and FM/CFS,
one
needs to learn about the function of the skin. We usually think
of
the skin as just something that holds us together, but the skin is a
very
complex organ that performs an astounding number of functions. It
is
the largest organ in the body. Within a single square inch of
skin
are approximately 19 million cells, including 650 sweat glands, 100
sebum
or oil glands, 65 hair follicles, 19,000 sensory cells and as much as
13
feet of microscopic blood vessels. The skin helps regulate blood
pressure,
protects us from heat and cold, and also protects the body from harmful
bacteria. The skin absorbs oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide,
manufactures vitamin D and a myriad of complex chemicals to protect and
keep us well.
The skin is also an organ of
elimination through
perspiration/respiration. The four organs of elimination are the
bowels, kidneys, lungs, and skin. If we understand the
elimination function of the skin, the very word "anti-perspirant"
should give us concern. Would we take into our body or use
anything called "anti-bowel movement" to prevent elimination because
our feces smells bad? Would we take or use anything called
"anti-urination" to keep us
from voiding because the smell of urine is unpleasant? Last of
all,
would we take or use anything called "anti-breathing" to prevent bad
breath?
Using an antiperspirant makes as much sense! Remember, deodorant
is
not the suspected culprit. The antiperspirant (aluminum) that is
added
to almost all deodorants is the problem. I believe if you put
antiperspirant
on your entire body, thereby stopping the respiration/perspiration
elimination
functions of the skin, you would get ill in a short time. You
wouldn't
need to wait for FM/CFS or AD to develop.
It is true that the amount of
toxins eliminated by the skin
is
small compared to the other organs of elimination. Still, it
seems
the importance of the elimination/respiration functions of the skin has
never been adequately investigated. Just as the kidneys cannot do
the job of the bowels or lungs, the other organs of elimination cannot
replace or
do what the skin does.
A reason for saying that an
antiperspirant on the entire
body
would make you ill comes from the James Bond motion picture, Gold
Finger. Many patients have told me that the gold paint on the
body of the actor, could
only be left on for a short time because to leave the paint on for more
than
an hour or two would cause death; the cause of death being
blockage
of the respiration/elimination functions of the skin or a type of
suffocation.
The skin takes in oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide much like the
lungs.
The function of perspiration is
not only to cool us but also
to
eliminate toxic elements from the body, mostly from under the
arms.
The smell is evidence of that fact. When the elimination of those
toxic
elements (though the amounts are small) is stopped by the absorption of
aluminum in antiperspirants along with aluminum from other sources,
the result, I
believe, is fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome. Any other
mineral, chemical, or stone that claims to stop perspiration would also
be harmful because toxins would not be eliminated. It is OK to
use
a deodorant but
if it says "antiperspirant" it should be discarded.
If perspiration gives you a bad
odor, you should get down on
your
knees and thank god that your skin has eliminated the toxins that cause
the
smell. Incidentally, it is an observable fact that vegetarians
have
less body odor than heavy meat eaters. Many times in China, where
they
eat very little meat, I have been on the worlds most crowded buses and
never noticed offensive body odors. This is even more unusual than it
seems, because
most of the Chinese in Beijing have no shower or tub.
Virtually
all of the apartments in that great city, have only a wash basin.
I
got back to San Francisco and a man had such a strong body odor that I
couldn't
even stand to be in the same terminal with him. You could smell him 100
feet
away.
Fifty years ago, before the
discovery that aluminum would
stop
perspiration, women wore a plastic shield and/or a pad under their arms
to
protect their clothes and powder or cornstarch to absorb the sweat,
plus
fragrances to cover up the smell. We didn't have antiperspirants
and
it seemed no one had fatigue and/or unrelenting pain (which was not
arthritic)
in their entire body severe enough to render them completely
non-functional.
In the "olden days" some 50 years
ago, there were no soft
drinks
in aluminum cans. Soft drinks came only in returnable, refillable
glass bottles or in a frosted glass mug from the local A&W fast
food drive-in. (I know this as a fact because as a boy I made my
spending money by finding the beer and soft drink bottles that had been
discarded and taking them back
to the store for the deposit.) Other than a few people who were
addicted
to Coca Cola from glass bottles, there was not the widespread every day
use
of soft drinks and the apparent addiction to soft drinks that we see
today
in almost all teenagers and young people - the FM/CFS generation.
(See: Confession of a Soft Drink on this web site.)
Before antiperspirants, my
father, who was a smoker, had a
big
white circle from perspiration under the arm of all his shirts.
The
material under the arms where he sweat would rot away, ruining the
shirt. Perspiration is the way my father eliminated the nicotine
and other harmful substances from the cigarettes he smoked. You
could smell the cigarettes when mother washed his shirts. I think
the smell was not just from the
smoke in his clothes, but also from the toxins that were eliminated by
the
perspiration under his arms. The average life expectancy of a
male
smoker is 72 years. If father had used antiperspirants, the
toxins
from the cigarettes he smoked would not have been eliminated and I
don't
believe he would have lived to be 79 years old.
Do people get FM/CFS symptoms who
do not use
antiperspirants? The answer is Yes. The same symptoms can
be caused by dehydration and/or
lack of essential minerals which is much easier to correct. (See:
"Healing
Pain" and "Pain Healed Immediately" on this web site.) In most
patients
the symptoms described are a combination of the two. Do all
people
who use antiperspirants get FM/CFS. The answer is No. It
is
a question of how effectively the body can eliminate the aluminum it
takes
in.
Health food people have told us
for fifty years not to use
aluminum cookware, not to use baking powder that contains aluminum, and
more recently, not to use antacids containing aluminum, or consume soft
drinks from aluminum cans. I believe the amount of aluminum that
goes into the tissues from
such sources is minimal compared to giving yourself a big dose under
the
arms every morning - a dose that is absorbed directly into the muscles,
ligaments,
and tendons - the fibrous tissues in the body where fibromyalgia is
manifest.
Most of the aluminum that is consumed orally is eliminated. You
may
absorb and retain as much aluminum from one application of an
antiperspirant as you would from using aluminum cookware for a
lifetime.
Confirming
Scientific Research and Evidence
Aluminum is the third most common
element on the earth's
crust
so small amounts of aluminum may be in the water we drink and in the
food
we eat. It is impossible to totally eliminate all aluminum from
the
diet. Because of that fact, people have always developed
Alzheimer's
disease in contrast to FM/CFS which I believe are new
diseases.
There are studies to indicate that the incidence of AD increases with
the
amount of aluminum in the water supply. Alum (potassium aluminum
sulfate) is added to most culinary drinking water systems as a clearing
agent. (3) The World Health Organization
recommends that
the amount of aluminum present in drinking water be below 200
micrograms
per liter.
A 1996 study by D.R.C. McLachlan
et al. found there was a
correlation between the level of aluminum present in the drinking water
and the number of diagnosed Alzheimer's cases. (4)
This study concluded that between 15,180 and 26,910 of the estimated
66,000 to 117,000 cases of AD might have been prevented if the aluminum
concentration in the
municipal water supply had been kept below 100 micrograms per
liter.
A year 2000 study from France
that followed 2,700
individuals
for an 8-year period showed that a concentration of aluminum in
drinking
water above 0.1 milligrams/liter may be a risk factor for dementia and
Alzheimer's disease. (5)
Aluminum cookware releases
excessive aluminum when tomatoes
or
high acid foods are cooked in it. Aluminum cookware that is
stained
comes out shiny clean after cooking tomatoes. The acid from the
tomatoes dissolves the aluminum which can then be ingested. The
same thing occurs
with soft drinks (from aluminum cans) which are all highly
acidic. Dragen,
et al. measured the aluminum content in a variety of beverages. (6) They found that cola drinks in cans
contained
16 times as much aluminum as their local tap water. Non-cola soft
drinks
in aluminum cans contained 23 times as much aluminum. The leakage
of
aluminum into soft drinks in aluminum cans increased with the level of
the
acidity of the soft drink. Beer is also highly acidic and now
comes
in aluminum cans. In the past, beer came only in glass
bottles.
A MUST READ Internet article by
William B. Grant, Ph.D.,
presents
a compelling theory of what makes aluminum deposit in the brain of
people with Alzheimer's disease. (7) In
another article, Dr. Grant states the following, "Aluminum is strongly
bound to oxygen unless it is dissolved in a strong acid.... Aluminum
oxide is basically inert, so
when ingested will pass through the digestive system intact unless the
digestive
system is acidic from over consumption of acid-forming foods such as
fats
and proteins, with possibly some contribution from highly processed
carbohydrates."(8)
Diet can be changed, heredity
cannot. Dr. Grant
believes
that diet may affect AD as much as heredity. "Possibly increasing
the consumption of calcium supplements when eating acid-forming foods
might reduce
the absorption of aluminum. A better solution may be to include
fewer
acid-forming and more alkaline-forming foods in the diet." Dietary
Links
to Alzheimer's Disease, a complete, comprehensive scientific
article
by Dr. Grant is available on the internet. (9)
This is vital, paradigm, breakthrough research that everyone concerned
with
Alzheimer's disease and/or FM/CFS should know about because some of the
causes
of both diseases may be the same!
Some environmental factors of AD
are noted in a WebMD
article. (10) "The disease is rare
in West
Africa, but African-Americans have four times the risk as white
Americans...
A study of Japanese men, however, showed that their risk increased if
they
emigrated to America." Dietary changes could explain the
difference.
In the research cited by Dr.
Grant, it was found that other
metals
and elements in the brain of autopsied Alzheimer patients were higher
than normal, in addition to aluminum. They were: Silver,
(Ag), Cobalt (Co), Iron (Fe), Mercury (Hg), Scandium
(Sc), and Sodium, Mercury being the highest of all. The alkali
metals: Cesium (Cs), Potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb), were lower than
normal.
Dr. Grants summary reads as
follows: "There is strong
evidence
that the incidence and prevalence of AD is affected by diet, with high
risk factors found to include alcohol, fat, refined carbohydrates,
salt, and total
caloric consumption, and preventative factors found to include
antioxidants, essential trace minerals, estrogen for post-menopausal
women, fish and fish
oil, and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents.... Thus, healthy diets
should
be considered the first line of defense against the development
and
progression of AD, as well as all other chronic degenerative
diseases. The finding that the highest correlation between diet
and AD incidence and
prevalence is found 3-5 years before the study period suggests that
diet
modifications late in life can still affect the risk of developing
AD."
(Dr Grant is a good scientist who knows the difference between
correlation
and causation. In his more comprehensive study cited, Grant addresses
all
of the elements necessary to affirm causation.)
George M. Tamari, Ph.D., lists
23 diseases linked to
aluminum toxicity including Alzheimer's, pain, weakness, fatigue, and
aching muscles. (11) (Sounds like a description
of FM/CFS.)
Tamari reports that people whose diets are "deficient in calcium and/or
zinc
will absorb more aluminum than well fed subjects" and that
"antagonistic
elements, like zinc and calcium, will replace aluminum." In
conclusion
he states, "By ingesting food rich in the deficient element, or by
using
food supplements, the unwanted toxic elements may be ‘replaced' by
antagonistic
nutritional elements." A zinc deficiency may cause aluminum
to
deposit in the brain but excessive amounts of zinc may promote
formation
of amyloid plaques in the brain which is characteristic of AD.
Too
little or too much zinc could contribute to AD. Fluoride is
also
an antagonistic element of aluminum but is not recommended because of
its
toxicity.
Because of numerous articles and
a book advocating malic
acid
to chelate aluminum from the body for the treatment of FM, I performed
a
Med-Line search on malic acid and aluminum. The search brought up
10
studies published between 1966 and 1999. A 1993 study by Domingo
et
al. was the most pertinent.(12)
Eight
groups of mice were given in their drinking water eight different acids
commonly found in the human diet. After one month the mice
were killed and the amount of aluminum was measured in the bone and
four major organs. The acids actually caused aluminum (from the
water they drank
and from the food they ate) to deposit in the bones and organs of the
body,
including the brain, instead of chelating the aluminum out!
Because of the importance of the
Domingo study, I submit the
entire abstract:
"The influence of some frequent
dietary constituents on
gastrointestinal absorption of aluminum from drinking water and diet
was investigated in mice.
Eight groups of male mice received lactic (57.6 mg/kg/day), tartaric
(96
mg/kg/day), gluconic (125.4 mg/kg/day), malic (85.8 mg/kg/day),
succinic (75.6
mg/kg/day), ascorbic (112.6 mg/kg/day), citric (124 mg/kg/day), and
oxalic
(80.6 mg/kg/day) acids in the drinking water for one month. At the end
of
this period, animals were killed and aluminum concentrations in liver,
spleen,
kidney, brain, and bone were determined. All the dietary constituents
significantly
increased the aluminum levels in bone, whereas brain aluminum
concentrations
were also raised by the intake of lactic, gluconic, malic, citric, and
oxalic
acids. The levels of aluminum found in spleen were significantly
increased
by gluconic and ascorbic acids, whereas gluconic and oxalic acids also
raised
the concentrations of aluminum found in kidneys. Because of the
wide
presence and consumption of the above dietary constituents, in
order to
prevent aluminum accumulation and toxicity we suggest a drastic
limitation
of human exposure to aluminum." (Italics added.) This should
include,
of all things, not giving yourself a big dose under the arms every
morning.
Malic acid, all of the acids used
in the above study, amino
acids
from meat, fats, and protein may cause aluminum (that may otherwise
pass
through the body) to deposit in the bone, organs, and brain.
Alkaline
drinking water, essential minerals (including calcium, magnesium,
potassium, sodium),
and alkaline-forming foods (see list at end of this article) may keep
this from happening.
It has also been discovered that
low doses of fluoride (the
equivalent of 1.0 ppm, the "optimal" dose added to drinking water to
prevent cavities in the teeth) may cause aluminum to deposit in the
brain. Brain Research,
a peer review medical journal, reported in 1998 that the amount of
aluminum
deposited in the brain of low dose fluoride treated rats was double
that
of the controls!(13) Fluoride
(antagonistic
to AL) made the aluminum bio-available to cross the blood-brain
barrier.
Aluminum from all sources can be
substantial. Studies
conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration estimate that the
average adult American
consumes 20 to 40 mg of aluminum per day; 90 percent from FDA-approved
food
additives found in baked goods, desserts, and cheeses. Up to
5,000
mg of aluminum a day may come from medicines, including antacids and
buffered
aspirin. Individuals on antacid therapy may consume up to 3,000
mg
of aluminum per day and do so for many years. Checking on
over-the-counter
drugs today, I found that buffered aspirin and antacids that once
contained
aluminum no longer do so. Did the above FDA study change
that?
Mylanta and Maalox now use much safer magnesium and calcium carbonate
instead
of aluminum.
There is enough new and old
evidence in scientific journals
which
link aluminum to AD that we should reconsider aluminum as one of the
possible causes Alzheimer's disease. Just because the
neurofibrillary tangles induced in animals were not the same as the
neurofibrillary tangles seen in
the brains of AD patients, or the fact that people with low AL intake
still
get AD, or that the aluminum in the brain was not measured properly, is
not
justification to abandon the theory.
A new study led by James Croom,
Ph.D of North Carolina
State University offers
great
promise for treatment. Researchers found that aluminum levels in
the
brains of laboratory mice decreased by 80 percent after the mice were
given
supplemental doses of a protein
called peptide YY. The sharp drop
in
aluminum levels occurred after injecting the mice with the protein
supplements
for just three days. (14)
Testing
the Hypothesis:
I have primarily cited studies
that acknowledge a possible
connection between aluminum and AD. That debate about
aluminum causing AD
(believed by most to be disproved so long ago that it's not even worth
considering)
will go on and on. (15) The hypothesis
that
aluminum may cause FM/CFS is testable short term.
Those who say antiperspirants
couldn't possibly be harmful
can
(all science aside) find out for themselves by putting an
antiperspirant
on their entire body for a few days. They won't have to wait for
double-blind, crossover, placebo controlled studies or publication of
research in peer-review scientific journals.
There is no experimental
evidence that aluminum in
antiperspirants is one of the causes of FM/CFS. I present my
theory here only as a
hypothesis to be considered. We don't need to guess how the
deodorant companies, soft drink manufactures, and fluoride proponents
will respond. Those with FM/CFS can try the suggestions below and
find out for themselves. It will cost nothing. I have
nothing to sell. Experience has shown
that avoiding aluminum may help FM/CFS within weeks.
I now conclude with the question
that started this all, "Is
fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer's disease in young
people? And
could there be a connection between FM/CFS and AD? If I am
correct about
aluminum being one of the causes of both diseases, the consequences are
staggering.
We would expect to see, as the antiperspirant/soft drink/fluoride in
the
drinking water (and almost all tooth paste) generation ages, an
epidemic
of Alzheimer's like the world has never known. It not only
portends
terrible things to come but also offers hope of preventing one of
the
most tragic of all diseases (AD) and sparing others from the disabling
effects
of FM/CFS.
If I am wrong, there are still
plenty of reasons to avoid
aluminum. As far as I know, no one has ever presented evidence
that aluminum in any amount is good for the health of trees, plants,
animals, or humans. Most just say that aluminum in small amounts
does no harm. NO ONE EVEN
ARGUES THAT ALUMINUM, in any amount, IS BENEFICIAL. Innumerable
articles
and studies claim aluminum is or may be harmful to the body.
If you believe that
aluminum could be one of the causes of
FM/CFS
or don't want to take a chance, the take home message is: You
may be able to prevent and/or reverse the effects of fibromyalgia,
chronic fatigue
syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, and other degenerative diseases by doing
the
following:
1. DON'T USE ANTIPERSPIRANTS. A
deodorant that is not also an antiperspirant is OK, if you can
find one.
2. DON'T DRINK SOFT DRINKS FROM ALUMINUM
CANS. Better still, don't
drink them at all. Fruit
Juice, beer, tomatoes and
tomato juice from aluminum cans should also be avoided.
3. DON'T USE ANTACIDS WITH ALUMINUM.
Individuals on antacid therapy
may consume up to 3,000 mg of aluminum
per
day.
4. DON'T USE HAND LOTIONS CONTAINING
ALUMINUM.
Read the labels. Most of them do.
5. DON'T USE BAKING POWDER CONTAINING ALUMINUM,
or
eat foods cooked with such baking powder. Virtually all
commercially baked products, except for bread that uses yeast as a
leavening, are baked using baking powder that contains aluminum.
The two common brands of
baking powder in your grocery store both contain aluminum. You
can
buy "Rumford Baking Powder" in the health food store that does not have
aluminum.
5. DON'T DRINK YOUR TAP WATER unless the
chlorine
has been removed and the aluminum level is below 200 micrograms per
liter or even 100 micrograms per liter. Aluminum is added to most
municipal
drinking water systems as a clearing agent. Remember, the World
Health
Organization recommends that the amount of aluminum present in drinking
water
be below 200 micrograms per liter. McLachlan estimates that,
"Between
15,180 and 26,910 of the estimated 66,000 to 117,000 cases of
Alzheimer's
might have been prevented if the aluminum concentration in the
municipal
water supply had been kept below 100 micrograms per liter."
6. DON'T DRINK FLUORIDATED WATER OR USE FLUORIDE
TOOTH
PASTE. Fluoride is an antagonist of aluminum and will replace
aluminum.
Fluoridated water, in the recommended amount to prevent cavities,
doubled
the amount of aluminum deposited in the brain of rats.
7. DON'T USE BUFFERED ASPIRIN (if it contains
aluminum) OR OTHER MEDICATIONS THAT CONTAIN ALUMINUM.
The
best
buffer for aspirin is ½ teaspoon of baking soda which is highly
alkaline. Completely dissolve an uncoated aspirin and the baking
soda in a glass of
water before taking. See: Inflammation
Worse than Cholesterol by the
author for the only way to take aspirin.
8. MALIC ACID TO TREAT FM/CFS MAY CAUSE THE
ALUMINUM
TO DEPOSIT IN THE BRAIN. There
are dozens of Internet sites
and
a book that recommend malic acid to treat fibromyalgia.
Experimental
evidence has shown that it may be helpful - but if it takes aluminum
out
of the muscle tissue and deposits it in the organs and brain, is it
worth
the relief it gives?
9. In addition to aluminum, ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FAT,
REFINED
CARBOHYDRATES (SUGAR), AND TABLE SALT (that pours when it rains) ARE HIGH
RISK FACTORS
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. They
may also be risk factors for
FM/CFS.
10. Another
important thing you can do is to DRINK IONIZED
ALKALINE WATER. (See Conclusion below for the way to do
this.)
List of Alkaline and Acid Forming Foods (16)
Since it would be impossible to remember the acidity or
alkalinity
of all foods, we will list here some common foods, the best and worst
in
each category. For Aluminum detoxification, remember:
Most Alkaline is best. (Foods on the left of the chart
are the best becoming less and less desirable as you move to
the right.) Most Acid is least desirable.
Food
Category |
Most
Alkaline |
More
Alkaline |
Low
Alkaline |
Low
Acid |
More
Acid |
Most
Acid |
| Spice |
Sea salt |
Pepper |
|
|
|
Table salt |
| Drinks |
Most
mineral
water,
Ionized
water |
|
Filtered
water,
Most
spring
water |
Reverse
osmoses
water,
Distilled
water |
Coffee, |
Soft
drinks,
Beer,
Alcoholic
beverages |
Sugar
Honey
Molasses |
|
Molasses |
|
Honey |
|
Sugar,
Jam, Jelly,
Cocoa, |
| Vinegar |
|
Soy sauce |
Apple
cider
vinegar |
|
|
White
vinegar |
| Dairy,
Eggs
|
|
|
Human
breast
milk,
Duck
eggs,
Quail
eggs |
Cow milk
Cream,
Butter,
Yogurt,
Aged cheese,
Chicken
eggs |
New
Cheese |
Ice
Cream,
Pudding,
Processed
cheese |
| Grain |
|
|
Oats,
Wild rice |
Wheat,
White rice |
Corn,
Rye |
Barley |
| Vegetable |
Onions,
Yams,
Sweet
potatoes,
Lentils |
Asparagus,
Garlic,
Broccoli |
Potatoes,
Cauliflower,
Cabbage,
Squash,
Lettuce |
Tomatoes,
Split peas,
Beans |
Carrots,
Green pea,
Snow pea |
Soybeans |
| Fruit |
Lime,
Nectarine,
Raspberry,
Water-
melon,
Tangerine,
Pineapple |
Grapefruit,
Cantaloupe,
Olive,
Mango,
Avocodo,
Apple,
Peach |
Orange,
Banana,
Apricot,
Blueberry,
Strawberry,
Grapes |
Coconut,
Guava,
Dry fruit,
Dates,
Figs,
Plum,
Prune, |
Cranberry |
|
| Nuts |
|
Cashews
Chestnuts |
Almonds |
Pine nuts |
Peanuts,
Pecans |
Walnuts,
Brazil nuts |
Meat,
Fried
Food |
|
|
|
Fish,
Venison,
Elk, Lamb,
Mutton,
Turkey,
Shell fish |
Chicken,
Pork,
Veal |
Fried
Food,
Beef,
Pheasant,
Lobster |
Our hypothetical BEST MEAL EVER would
be: Cold
water
fish (salmon, halibut, cod, trout) or venison, baked with olive oil,
seasoned with sea salt, pepper, and fresh lime juice; baked yams
seasoned with real butter and sea salt; mineral water or milk as a
beverage. (Stirring a teaspoon of Grandmas' Molasses into a
glass of milk makes it even better. Try it you'll love it.
It is a wonderful substitute for chocolate milk
and tastes almost as good.) Dessert could be fresh nectarines,
raspberries,
watermelon, tangerine, or pineapple with cultured yogurt.
The hypothetical WORST MEAL would
be: Fried
beef
(hamburger or steak) with a slice of processed cheese, white bread or
bun
with margarine; french fries; caffeinated soft drink or beer; chocolate
ice
cream and a chocolate brownie for desert; coffee with
sugar;
and a cigarette to finish the meal (or you) off.
Conclusion
Trace amounts of aluminum
are found in grains, vegetables,
and
fruit, naturally taken up from the soil. Almost all culinary
water
systems add aluminum to the water supply as a clearing agent, and no
filter
I know of will remove aluminum without removing vital trace minerals
(necessary for the life of every cell). We cannot totally eliminate
aluminum from our
diet. We cannot eat only alkaline foods. But we can drink
only
alkaline
water.
Water ionizers made in Japan and
Korea are available that
electrically separate the water coming from the faucet into alkaline
water and acid water.
Alkaline water comes out of one hose and acid water comes out of the
other.
You cook with and drink the alkaline water and use the acid water on
your
plants. Your plants love the acid water, and drinking only alkaline
water
is one of the best things you can do for your health. Water
ionizers
also filter the water, which takes out the chlorine. Some brands
also
run the water through ultra violet light, which kills infectious
microorganisms.
The ultra violet light feature adds to the cost and may not be
necessary
if your water is chlorinated.
Having a water ionizer and
drinking only filtered alkaline
water
is not only one of the best ways to suppress FM/CFS and prevent
Alzheimer's, but it is one of the best things you can do to slow or
delay the aging process.
(For a full treatise on the subject of aging, I highly recommend a
superb
little book titled Reverse Aging by Sang Y. Whang. See
also: The Cause of All Degenerative Disease by the author.)
Using Peptide YY (when we can get
it), avoiding sources of
aluminum, avoiding fluoride toothpaste and fluoridated drinking water,
avoiding acid foods, eating alkaline foods, and drinking only
alkaline water
would be the ultimate thing to do. This may not eliminate all
Alzheimer's
disease (some people are genetically more susceptible than others), but
it
will do no harm. It could eliminate fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue
syndrome
and it could dramatically reduce the number of people who are afflicted
by
Alzheimer's disease.
Blessings on you, reader, if you
have gotten this far.
If
this hasn't given you something to be paranoid about, nothing
will.
Overreacting could be detrimental. It's not just the bad stuff we
eat
that is harmful but "what eats us." Eating more alkaline foods
and
fewer acid foods to keep aluminum from depositing in our tissues is
important, but not as important as avoiding the sources of
aluminum. May neither acid ran, antiperspirants,
aluminum, Alzheimer's or paranoia befall you.
A FREE CURE (?) FOR FIBROMYALGIA and
CFS
Could be simply eliminating:
ANTIPERSPIRANTS,
POP, FRUIT JUICE, OR TOMATO JUICE, FROM ALUMINUM CANS
FLUORIDE TOOTHPASTE AND FLUORIDATED WATER
I have nothing to sell and you
have nothing to lose but your pain and fatigue.
You will not even lose your friends if you use a deodorant that is not
also an antiperspirant.
Be good and you
will be happy.
Note: The following
article is posted with permission of the author. It is vital information for
anyone that has a loved one who is suffering with Alzheimer's disease:
Personal
Stories: My Father's Mind
By Jeffrey Bland, Nutritional
Biochemist and
Chair of the Institute for Functional Medicine, in Gig Harbor,
Washington
My father
always said the
worst part of getting old would be to lose his mind. His was an
exceedingly
good one. After a lifetime of working as an aerospace engineer, he
retired at
70 and almost immediately decided to go to school to learn computer
programming-just because he wanted to see how it was done. Two years
later, he
graduated number one in his class. He was just like that: smart enough
to be
able to follow through on his curiosity.
Soon after, though, he became vague and started demonstrating signs of
dementia-
misplacing things, losing his sense of direction. Finally, one
day he
couldn't even remember how to turn on the computer. Before calling his
doctor,
I did extensive research into dementia and spoke with the head of
neurology at
Columbia School of Medicine, in New York, who had published papers in
the 1980s
showing a link between B-12 deficiency and dementia. So I suggested to
the
doctor that he give my father injections of B-12.. He balked-he hadn't
seen the
studies-but I kept pushing, and he finally relented.
Four days after starting the injections, my father walked, fully
dressed, into
the room where my mother was reading and asked, "Do you want to go for
a
drive?" She was stunned. Here was a man who could barely get out of
bed,
much less dress himself and think of what he wanted to do. In another
few
weeks' time, my father was back at his computer doing the things he
liked to
do. He has since passed away, but from the time he started
taking B-12, he had
ten high-quality years of life.
(There
is a possibility that sublingual Vitamin B-12, available in your
health food store, may be equally beneficial. For more information on
Vitamin B-12 and Alzheimer's disease, see: http://www.apa.org/releases/cognitivesupport_article.pdf
)
End notes:
1. What is Alzheimer's disease? For the full article
see: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50324
2. Scientific American http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/medicine/medicine22.html
3. Re: The Alum added to drinking water issue
see: http://www.awwa.org/govtaff/aluminpa.htm
4. McLachlan D.R, et al. Risk for
neuropathologically confirmed Alzheimers disease and residual aluminum
in municipal drinking water
employing weighted residential histories. Neurology. 46
(1996):
401-405
5. American Journal of Epidemiology 2000;152:59-66
6. Dragen JM , Dickeson JE, Tynan, PF. et al. Aluminum
beverage cans as a dietary source of aluminum. Med J Aust
1992; 156: 604-5
7. Grant WB, Alzheimer's, Acid Rain, and Aluminum,
on this Website - Alzheimer's
Disease Breakthrough
8. Grant WB Aluminum Accumulates in Body
with High
Acid Diet. Townsend Letter for Doctors 1999 June p.92,
9. Grant WB, Dietary Links to Alzheimer's Disease,
http://www.mc.uky.edu/adreview/Vol2/Grant/Grant.htm#top
10. Environmental factors linked to AD. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50324
11. Tameri, George M. Aluminum - Toxicity and
Prevention. Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients Feb/Mar
1999 pp. 98-100
12. Domingo JL; Gomez M; Sanchez DJ; Llobet JM;
Corbella
J Effect of various dietary constituents on gastrointestinal
absorption
of aluminum from drinking water and diet. Res Commun Chem Pathol
Pharmacol, 1993 Mar, 79:3, 377-80
13. Verner JA, et al. Chronic administration of
aluminum
fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and
cerebrovascular integrity. Brain Research, vol. 784:1998
14. Peptide YY Reduces Brain Aluminum. http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/6/peptide_aluminum.htm
15. For a delightful, nostalgic article that reviews
the
history of claims that aluminum may be harmful and shows how long the
health
aspects of aluminum have been debated see: http://www.snopes2.com/movies/actors/valentin.htm
This web page gives quaint tales from the past including the once
popular claim that Rudolph Valentino died from eating food cooked in
aluminum cookware. The web page would put what I have
written, the research of those I have cited,
along with all other claims that aluminum may be harmful in the realm
of
an
"Urban Legend." The site has a link to a Scientific American
article
in which an Alzheimer specialist declares that the idea that aluminum
may
be one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease is a "myth." I plead
guilty
to perpetuating the urban legend and the myth.
16. A chart entitled FOOD AND CHEMICAL EFFECTS ON
ACID/ALKALINE BODY CHEMICAL BALANCE is available from ELISA/ACT
Biotechnologies, 14 Pigeon Hill Drive, STE 300, Sterling, VA 20165.
For other theories regarding the cause of FM/CFS, click on
the
following link:
Fibromyalgia
& Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Resource
(It may be of interest for you to know that the above organization
refused to publish the above article when it was offered to them
without cost.)
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by the Pain Research Institute. For the latest
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