Page 21 - Spring 2019 Journal

We have been brought up to believe in au- thority and to respect the opinions of experts and expert committees. In turn, we expect learned bodies and societies to be committed to our well-being. All of these values may be evident for other facets of modern life, but they do not apply to, nor have they been applied to, human exposure to aluminum.2 Many will be incredu- lous to learn that in the Aluminum Age, there are no health-based standards or regulations relating to human exposure to aluminum. Nor are there laws protecting us from aluminum in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the cosmetics we use, the medicines we need, the supplements we take or—I could go on. Aluminum is everywhere, and the result of living in the Aluminum Age is that every one of the cells that make up our body includes at least a few atoms of aluminum.
BODY BURDEN
Why should we be concerned that we are ac-
cumulating aluminum in our bodies as we age? The answer is that while the aluminum industry has long perpetuated the myth that aluminum is benign, nontoxic and even safe, nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, there are few more biologically re- active metals than aluminum. The biologically reactive form of aluminum is its free metal ion, known as Al3+(aq). Aluminum is bound strongly by oxygen-based functional groups in biochem- istry; one example would be the phosphate groups in ATP—the energy currency of our body. Essentially, aluminum (as Al3+(aq)) is so reactive that we expend energy simply coping with its presence in our body. If there wasn’t any
aluminum in our body, all of us would have so much more natural energy.
ALUMINUM AND THE BRAIN
If feeling a little more tired than usual was the only repercussion
from our body burden of aluminum, we might tolerate this state of af- fairs in exchange for all of the advantages of modernity brought about by the Aluminum Age. However, what happens to our brain cells and our neurons, which are struggling to cope with burgeoning amounts of aluminum? I have written elsewhere about neurons’ role as the longest- lived cells of the human body; with their biochemical advantages, neurons can be viewed as “an ostensibly immortal cell line” that has enabled human beings to live longer.3 Unfortunately, the lifespan of neurons also predisposes them to a lifetime accumulation of aluminum. With constant exposure to aluminum, can we tolerate the early loss (death) of this important immortal cell line?
When aluminum loads exceed the body’s excretory capacity, they form deposits and accumulate in tissues. In Alzheimer’s disease, alu- minum accumulates in brain tissue to an extent that the brain’s coping mechanisms begin to fail. Think of your brain aluminum burden (while you still can) as a catalyst of the aging process that is bringing about age-related and eventually catastrophic changes in brain chemistry, well ahead of what should be your normal longevity.4 At a time when we are all living longer, and some dream of living forever, it is noticeable that advancing age is not ushering in better health. We may be living lon- ger—but we are living unwell. In the Aluminum Age, it would seem all but futile to aspire to a healthy older age.
NUMBER-ONE THREAT
I have highlighted the role of aluminum in Alzheimer’s disease, but
aluminum is everywhere throughout the body and is more than capable of contributing to most chronic diseases, including diabetes, autoimmunity, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. To many, it seems fanciful to suggest that human exposure to aluminum is the number-one threat to human health in the twenty-first century, but thirty-five years of thinking about and researching aluminum at the highest level tell me otherwise.5
ALUMINUM AND SILICON
As described in an eBook by the Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI),9 aluminum is the third most abundant element in the earth’s crust and the most abundant metal. However, having remained isolated from biologi- cal life for most of geological history, aluminum has no biological function. The situation changed with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, which released aluminum via acid rain from its inert geological stores into bays, lakes and ponds, causing irreparable damage to ecosystems.10
Studies of acid rain’s effects on biological life have shown that the earth also possesses a natural remedy for aluminum toxicity: silicon. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust (oxygen being the first). Silicon molecules are able to bind with aluminum ions and render them innocuous, explaining why locations subject to acid rain that are naturally silicon-rich are able to withstand the effects. This has been confirmed in studies measuring aluminum toxicity to fish in waters with various levels of silicon present.11 Silicon—a natural, plentiful element—could hold the answer to combatting the dangers brought about by the Aluminum Age.
SOURCE: Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute.
SPRING 2019
Wise Traditions 19