Avoid Aluminum for Better Brain Health

I’ve written many times about threats to your brain’s health. The brain uses such a large portion of the body’s energy and circulation that any foreign substance will likely make its way there eventually. And because the brain is made up mostly of fatty tissue, it tends to accumulate invaders rather than releasing them back into the bloodstream.

The number-one threat to your brains health is aluminum. Its effects are cumulative, and can take many years to show up as full-blown disease.

Here are five ways to reduce your exposure to aluminum:

• Instead of using aluminum for your cookware, utensils, or food containers, use stainless steel, cast iron, copper, or glass.
• Many deodorants use aluminum compounds as their active ingredient. As a first step, you can switch from a spray to a roll-on or stick. At least that way you'll avoid inhaling the spray. The next step is to switch to an aluminum-free deodorant. (Watch out for the newer 'crystal' deodorants, though—recent research shows that they, too, contain aluminum.)
• Read food and medicine labels closely. You’ll discover several products you should avoid or at least minimize. Aluminum is frequently added to items like pancake batter, cake mix, nondairy creamers, baking powder, and even salt to keep them from clumping together. Aluminum can also be found in antacids, diarrhea medicines, and douches. There are plenty of aluminum-free alternatives available.
• Make sure you're getting enough calcium, either in your diet or through supplementation. Calcium hampers aluminum’s absorption by the body.
• Drink distilled water. Alum, or aluminum sulfate, is widely used in the process of purifying water in this country. When added to the water it works as a coagulant to attract suspended particles, which can later be filtered out. Unfortunately some of the dissolved aluminum will remain in the water. (Post filtration aluminum levels are rarely, if ever, checked since the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t have any enforceable standards on aluminum levels in drinking water.)

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