Breastfeeding, Formula Feeding and Fluoride

Fluoride is generally touted in the mainstream media as wonderful stuff that our kids need. Breastfed infants receive less fluoride in breast milk, but is that bad news, or good news? What effect does fluoride have on infants? Read on to learn more.

First of all, is fluoride really good for you?

If by fluoride, you are talking about calcium fluoride that is a naturally occurring substance in some fresh water supplies, the answer would appear to be yes. While it is a largely inert substance, it is believed to help strengthen teeth and connective tissues.

But if you mean the sodium fluoride that is artificially injected into the water supply of many US cities, the answer is a resounding “no.”

In December 1993, a Canadian Dental Association panel concluded that ingested fluoride does not, in fact, prevent tooth decay. (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1993:149.) The Fluoride Debate

Wikipedia states “Sodium fluoride is classed as toxic by both inhalation and ingestion.” In fact it is 85 times more toxic than calcium fluoride, according to a study called, “Comparative Toxicity of Fluorine Compounds.”

Sodium fluoride’s uses range from Sarin nerve gas, used by terrorists and rat exterminators, as well an active ingredient in anesthetic and drugs like Prozac and Paxil. Before the Nazis discovered that it was a useful chemical for sterilizing, calming and dumbing down their populations and death camp prisoners, it was considered to be an industrial waste product.

After the Nuremberg trials and “Operation Paperclip” where Nazi scientists were pardoned in return to working for the US intelligence agencies, US cities began their own fluoridation programs. 1945 marked the first introduction of fluoride into 4 US cities. 

Many EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) scientists have come out since then demanding that fluoride be removed from the water supplies. But it has been an uphill battle, and many cities still contaminate city water with fluoride around the nation.

The good news, however, is that breasts of mothers who drink fluoridated water filter the poison out of the milk, protecting the baby from exposure while nursing. The bad news is, this means that mothers who need to consume more fluoridated water will be getting concentrated doses of the poison on a regular basis.

Even worse, if your baby drinks liquid formula, it may be supplemented with fluoride or have fluoridated water added to the formula. Such infants are in the highest risk category for fluoride poisoning.

In contrast to recommendations adopted in the 1950s, fluoride supplementation is no longer recommended for newborn children. This includes both fluoride in drops, and fluoride in drinking water.

The potential damage that may be caused be fluoride exposure includes;

tooth discoloration (fluorosis)
crumbling teeth
kidney damage
sterility
loss of IQ
apathy
lethargy
cancer
diabetes
obesity
fragile bones
osteomalacia (a painful bone disease)

About one third of children in the US are suffering from fluorosis. If the EPA, the FDA and the ADA won’t protect us and lobby to get sodium fluoride out of our water supplies, our children’s vitamins, bottled nursery water, toothpaste, and anything else that has been intentionally contaminated, we mothers will have to take charge of protecting our own children. So, moms, start reading those labels, and make sure your family’s drinking water is fluoride free.