Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in the earth's crust. It is
abundant in the soil, water and air particles. Acidic rain increases the amount
that is leached into our water supplies.
Aluminum is an abundant element in dirt. It is found naturally in nearly all foods and herbs. Herb companies, knowing how much aluminum a pure herb should contain, can use a laboratory measure of aluminum content to indicate how clean the plant (especially root material) is; extra dirt would add to the aliminum content.
Aluminum is not a "heavy metal." It is used in industry were economy, stength and light weight are needed such aircraft parts and beer cans.
Minute amounts of aluminum are needed in the brain to activate vital enzyme systems. It may play a role in protein synthesis.
There is a distinct difference between organic and inorganic forms of aluminum.
Sources of Aluminum and aluminum compounds
Aluminum is primarily absorbed into the body through the digestive tract.
Dietary intake ranges widely from 5 to 150 mg/day. These levels do not seem
to interfere with the absorption or utilization of calcium, phosphorous, zinc,
copper, selenium, iron or magnesium. Adequate calcium intake may decrease
the risk of aluminum toxicity.
It is also absorbed through the lungs and skin.
Treated municipal water - Many municipal water supplies are treated with alum (aluminum sulfate) to get rid of murkiness. At least seven separate studies have shown that people drinking water high in alum are more likely to develop Alzheimer's than people drinking water low in alum. The worst part is that alum can combine with flouride in the blood to form aluminum fluoride. About 300,000,000 pounds of sodium fluoride, an industrial waste from aluminum refiners, is added to our water supply each year. (see Fluoridated Water)
Aluminum researcher Elizabeth Jeffery has found evidence that flouride interferes with the body's ability to get rid of aluminum. She says, "My research indicates that flouride readily combines with aluminum in the blood, and that aluminum flouride, once formed is very poorly excreted in the urine." She believes that the aluminum fluoride then becomes concentrated in the bones (where flourine replaces calcium) and continues to slowly release and recycle through the body over time. Albert Burgstahler, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Kansas, has found that aluminum flouride can pass unusually well through biological barriers, notably the blood-brain barrier, and accululate in the brain. (See "Toxicity in brain tissues" below)
The EPA Secondary Maximum Contaminant level for aluminum in water is 50 ppb. City water filtered through a "Multi-pure" system is usually less than 10 ppb. Coca-Cola Classic in an aluminum can has been measured at 6,160 ppb. (Don't be too shocked. The amounts of aluminum in baked goods, antacids and antiperspirants leaves your Cola in the dust.)
Carbonated beverages are acidic. When doctors at John Hunter Hospital checked containers of 52 different beverages, they found soft drinks in cans contained up to 4 1/2 times the recommended amount of aluminum that drinking water can contain. Medical Journal of Australia 156(9): 604-5, 1992
Aluminum alloy cookware and containers - Cooking utensils and aluminum beverage cans contribute substantially to our load of aluminum. Beer has more aluminum when it is packaged in aluminum cans. It is best to use stainless steel cooking containers or glass or iron cookware. The older your aluminum cookware is the more rapidy it corrodes. Acid-forming foods dissolve aluminum more rapidly. The amount of aluminum ingested from cookware, however is far exceeded by the amounts ingested from food additives.
Food - Sodium aluminum phosphate is an additive in most baking powders, cake
mixes and self-rising flower.. If this form of aluminum combines with maltol,
a sugar-like flavoring agent, the resulting aluminum compound is able to get
through the blood-brain barrier 90 times as well.
Potassium alum is used to whiten bleached flour.
Aluminum compounds are widely used as additives to prepared foods. They lighten
food texture, adjust acidity and keep chunks of processed vegetables and fruits
firmer.
Aluminum is even used in infant formulas and beer.
Sodium aluminosilicate or aluminum calcium silicate are added to table salt
to absorb moisture and keep it from caking.
Sodium aluminum phosphate is used as an emulsifier in processed cheese.
OTC and prescription drugs - Aluminum is found in many over-the-counter painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs and douche preparations. For instance, aspirin is commonly buffered with aluminum hydroxide or aluminum glycinate. If you wash down your aspirin with orange juice, the buffering powder becomes aluminum citrate which is able to get through the blood-brain barrier five times as well.
Aluminum is included in many dental amalgams. It is added to some toothpastes. Read labels carefully for chemicals such as dihydroxyaluminum.
Aluminum chlorhydrate is a prominant component of many antiperspirants. It is DESIGNED to be absorbed. Studies show that regular use of these product can raise the risk of Alzheimer's by as much as three-fold.
Aluminum hydroxide in antacids - Aluminum hydroxide in antacids may be the most common cause of aluminum toxicity in the United States (where antacids are widely advertised and inappropriately used). Elizabeth Jeffery, a research scientist at the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Illinois says that "A normal dose of Tums will give you 5 grams of aluminum hydroxide a day." This is several hundred times the amount normally ingested from food sources. Besides creating digestive complications by neutralizing stomach acid, other side effects are described below.
Aluminum smelting plants - People who work in aluminum smelting plants may experience dizziness, loss of coordination and balance and unusual fatigue. This could be the result of aluminum accumulating in nervous tissues.
Aluminum and silicon - These are two most abundant elements in dirt. When these two elements are absorbed in the intestines they form _?_ compounds that accumulate in the cerebral cortex, blocking nerve impulses. This is agravated by calcium deficiencies.
Excretion and removal of aluminum (4 lines of defense)
The body is easily able to manage normal, natural levels of aluminum. The
body excretes 74-96% of our normal dietary intake of aluminum. Most of the
aluminum forms insoluble salts, especially phosphate salts, in the intestine.
These are mostly excreted in the feces instead of being absorbed. In excess,
however, this can produce a phosphorous deficiency which leads to calcium
loss which leads to structural problems.
The aluminum that is absorbed is only poorly excreted by the kidneys and can easily accumulate in body tissues. It tends to concentrate in the brain, liver, thyroid and lungs.
The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier.
A nutritional supplement, magnesium malate
Effects on the body
The elderly and those with kidney damage are especially at risk of accumulating
aluminum.
Aluminum is more likely to accumulate in the brains of people who are magnesium deficient. This includes a large percentage of Americans. Aluminum inactivates an enzyme that protects nerve cells. Malic acid can pull aluminum away from this enzyme, making a place for magnesium. This may be a protection against Alzheimer's disease.
Toxicity in soft tissues and organs
Aluminum can be toxic if it is present in tissues in excessive amounts. Usually,
the body shows some ability to adapt to increased aluminum intake over time.
Individuals with hypophhosophatemia or abnormal bone metabolism adapt less
well.
Aluminum is excreted through the kidneys. Excessive amounts damage the kidneys, impair kidney function and can cause nephritis and may produce excessive sweating. Chronic renal insufficiency increases the severity of other aluminum-induced diseases.
Aluminum toxicity produces symptoms of poor calcium metabolism similar to osteoporosis including softening of the bones and rickets. Aluminum ingestion impairs absorption of selenium and phosphorus. Because low serum phosphate causes the bones to dissolve and the muscles to weaken, consumption of aluminum reduces total bone and matrix formation as well as periosteal bone and matrix formation. The weakened muscles can become painful, ache or twitch. Dialysis patients who get large doses of aluminum risk the formation of osteomalacia.
Gastointestinal irritation and disturbances produce colic, loss of apetite (anorexia), esophagitis, gastroenteritis
Hepatic dysfunction (decreased liver function) can result in anemia and loss of energy.
Additional symptoms include dyspnea, headaches.
Benefits of organic aluminum in the brain
Although there is a large amount of aluminum in dirt, it actually only found
in small amounts in plants. Minute amounts of organic aluminum are needed
in the brain to catalyze (activate) important enzyme systems. The herb gotu
kola, which has a reputation as a memory booster and brain enhancer is assayed
to have amoung the highest levels of aluminum of all herbs. (see Organic vs.
Inorganic.)
Toxicity of inorganic aluminum in nerve and brain tissues
Suprisingly, aluminum is needed in very minute amounts to activate enzyme
systems in the brain.
Excessive aluminum evidently accumulates in long-lived cells such as nerve cells where it gradually poisons and kills the cells.
Brain functions are disturbed by the deposit of (even relatively small) excessive levels of aluminum. When aluminum salts accumulate in the brain, they reduce mental faculties. Aluminum toxicity in the brain produces symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms include forgetfulness, speech disturbances, memory loss, dementia, psychosis, extreme neverousness, encephalopathy, ataxia and seizures.
Alzheimer's disease is probably directly related to accumulation of inorganic aluminum in the brain. Aluminum-injected rats learn at a slower rate and have aluminum concentrations in their brains parallel to thos found in the brains of Alzeheimer's patients. There has been some controversy over the concept that aluminum deposits may be result of Alzheimer's rather than the cause of it. Some believe that aluminum becomes deposited on the debris of dead cells.
The level of aluminum in ground water around the world does not seem to be related to the incidence of Alzheimer's.
Aluminum toxicity can also produce motor nerve paralysis and localized numbness.
Getting rid of aluminum and remediating the damage
"The evidence is strong enough that the prudent person will eliminate
all food and cosmetic sources of aluminum, and will use aluminum cooking utensils
only if they are coated." Gary Price Todd, M.D., Nutrition, Health and
Disease, 1985
High fiber diet - Fiber in the diet will bind with aluminum salts and carry them out with your next bowel movement. Apple pectin, for instance is an effective binding agent.
Algin has the reputation of removing heavy metals. Typically, 5 capsules of algin are consumed in the morning and again at noon for 10 days. After another 10 days of rest, repeat the process. Continue for 3 months.
Calcium and Magnesium supplements - Buy the chelated (usually ends in -ate) forms of these minerals. They bind with aluminum and will carry it out of the body.
Intravenous chelation? - Several dozen sessions of intravenous EDTA chelation will remove a significant load of metals from the body including obstructive calcum plaques from the arteries. Aluminum is not a "heavy metal." There is some controversy about the ability of intravenous EDTA chelation to remove aluminum.
"Oral chelation" - A serious program of specific nutrients can have a similar effect as intravenous chelation when continued for some months. It is generally believed that oral chelating agents can displace aluminum from tissues.
Lecithin - Bathes and protects the nerves including the brain.
B complex vitamins, especially B6 - are important for removing excess metals from the body.
Analysis for Aluminum
When hair analysis is properly performed, it is a reliable measure of aluminum
levels in tissues.
(Yokel RA. Clin Chem 28(4):662-5, 1982;
Jenkins DW. Toxic Metals in Mammalian Hair and Nails. EPA Report 600/4-79-049
August 1979 - available through the U.S. National Technical Information Service.)
As yet, it cannot be concluded whether aluminum concentrations in hair give
a better representation of the body burden than serum aluminum levels do.
(De Groot HJ et al. Determination by flameless atomic absorption of aluminum
in serum and hair by toxicological monitoring of patients on chronic intermittent
haemodialysis. Pharm Weekbl [Sci] 6(1):11-15, 1984)
Copyright © 1998 Health Education Library Publications
Page last modified: July 24, 2001
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