the fluoride myth

When I was a kid my Mum used to have to nag me to clean my teeth, mainly because like many kids I hated doing it. Now that I'm older I can look back and see that I may have been doing myself a favour without really knowing it.

The reason for writing this is that I recently heard that schools in Sheffield are going to add fluoride to the milk that they give children. Of course, this will help to protect their teeth, right?

Wrong.

What isn't widely known is that the whole fluoride thing is a fraud. Fluoride, as added to water supplies and toothpaste, is a hazardous bi-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry. It's not the same sort of fluoride that's found in your teeth.

As if poisoning the water supply wasn't bad enough, there are actually no long term studies to show that fluoridation of water helps prevent tooth decay in children. In fact, studies have shown that it can in fact make the situation worse.

There is plenty of information out there if you look, but there are a couple of interesting articles here and here, and a whole load of them here.

It may cause the teeth to erupt later, which of course is very convenient if you plan to carry out a study in the short term. This is a commonly used practise by the pharmaceutical industry.

More to follow.

what is "raw reality"?

raw reality is my own particular take on certain aspects of modern living. At the time of writing I have no definite idea of what the subject matter will be, but there will no doubt be some commentary on matters relating to health and nutrition as these are areas in which I am interested and thus naturally will more often be a part of what I'm thinking about.