Kudos to Dr. Oz for taking a stand and bringing attention to the issue of arsenic in your apple juice. Although he has come under fire by the FDA and some doctors like Dr. Besser from Good Morning America, this is to be expected any time a truth is revealed. Especially one that will hurt the pocketbooks of the food and drug industries.
Although the role of the FDA is supposed to protect the health of the American consumer, that is not the case. They work to protect the interests of the food and drug industry and put your health at risk in the process. So anything they have to say must be taken with a grain of salt.
They are controlled by the food and drug industry and blatantly lie on a regular basis. The safety standards that they set for arsenic and most other harmful substances are far too lenient and do not take many factors into account like the cumulative effect and the impact on the endocrine system. I know a physician who commonly refers to the FDA as the foolish drug administration, which is quite fitting.
Dr. Besser from good morning America accused Dr. Oz of being irresponsible and fear mongering. I say that making the country aware of an issue the FDA would like to keep hidden is not fear mongering or irresponsible. It is quite the opposite. The American people have a right to know what is in their food and how it affects them. The FDA has a responsibility to make them aware, but they fail to do so. It is doctors who put their head in the sand and choose denial over enlightenment, like Dr. Besser, that are being irresponsible.
Although Dr. Oz mentioned that arsenic in your body can change your DNA and can lead to cancer of many types, and many people felt his stand on this whole issue was radical, he actually took a conservative approach in the amount of information he shared with you.
Arsenic, as well as other heavy metals, have a long list of other negative impacts on the human mind and body besides cancer. The target organs for arsenic include the central nervous system, digestive system, skin, blood and kidneys. It can cause damage to the brain, nervous system, endocrine system, cardiovascular system and is linked to many chronic health conditions like adrenal insufficiency, cell destruction and hemolysis, anemia, headaches, damaged blood vessels, abnormal heart beat and oxygen deprivation leading to heart attack.
It impairs the citric acid cycle and ATP production – which is needed to produce energy and leads to chronic fatigue, it disrupts neurotransmitters in the brain – which leads to many mental health and brain disorders like depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, memory loss, autism, impaired cognitive functioning, Alzheimer’s and many more.
The developing brain of a child is very vulnerable to impairment from arsenic and other heavy metals, which can lead to all kinds of developmental problems like learning disabilities, hyperactivity, attention deficit, behavioral issues, problems with interpersonal interaction, self-esteem and more.
Another very important point to be aware of is that apple juice is not the only food where you will find high levels of arsenic. It is commonly found in high amounts in seafood, drinking water, chicken and some medications. Although a certain degree of arsenic occurs naturally in nature that doesn’t mean it is good for you, there are many toxins in nature that we need to avoid. However, the largest sources of contamination come from industrial sources like, coal fired power plants, smelting and refining plants, mining, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides and wood preservatives.
As Dr. Oz pointed out, drinking one glass of apple juice with arsenic is not the problem, it is the long-term exposure and the cumulative effect that we are concerned with. Arsenic accumulates in the tissues, organs and cells, which then degrades the level of health over time. If you have a child who is drinking apple juice every day that is tainted with high levels of arsenic, then in time there will be accumulation in the body.
Additionally, let’s say you or your child drink a couple glasses of apple juice a week, eat some cookies that were sweetened with apple juice concentrate, had some french fries that were sweetened with apple juice concentrate, take a shower or a bath in water that has arsenic, then eat some fish and chicken with arsenic, and then take some medication with some arsenic, all in the same week.
Now, if you had been exposed to only one of those instances, then probably not such a big deal. However, the accumulation of all seven sources amounts to a very high level of arsenic. So it isn’t just the apple juice that is the problem, it is the combination of all sources of contamination.
Another side of the cumulative effect is that we must take into account all the other toxic substances the human body is exposed to on a daily basis. It isn’t just arsenic that our bodies are working over time to eliminate. Most people are being exposed to hundreds of toxins each day in their home, school and work place. The more toxins the body must process, the less effective the process becomes. It’s detoxification system becomes overburdened and can’t perform its jobs adequately, which means that instead of moving the arsenic out, it gets stored.
Add to that, the fact that most people are consuming a diet that is very poor in nutritional value and you have a serious problem. Nutrients are needed for the detoxification system to work optimally. Most of the population is nutrient deficient and have detoxification systems that are impaired because of poor diet and excessive exposure to numerous toxins. This means that toxic substances that may have been removed immediately by the body in the past are now accumulating and causing poor health and disease.
The good news is that there is a very simple, painless and affordable way to find out if you have arsenic toxicity in your body with a hair analysis. A hair analysis will tell you how much arsenic is in your body and if that level is considered to be toxic. If arsenic is found in your hair there a few simple steps you can take to remove it.
- Have a hair analysis to assess arsenic levels in your body
- Remove the foods from your diet that contain arsenic
- Use Epsom salt baths or clay baths to pull it out.
- Supplement the diet with chlorella and/or kelp. This also helps pull it out.
- Sulphur based supplements and foods will help with removal as well, like SAMe, methionine, and TMG – trimethylglycine, glutathione, garlic, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and eggs.
- Assess mineral levels, or at a minimum ,take a good multimineral. Nutrient minerals help the body keep out the toxic metals.
A hair analysis will also tell you if you have other heavy metals in your body like mercury, cadmium, tin, antimony, etc., which are also destructive to the body and mind and they can be removed from the body with the same steps above.
On the other hand, it’s also important to be aware that sometimes the damage to the nervous system, immune system, brain etc. from arsenic and other heavy metals can be permanent or very difficult to correct. So prevention is always preferred by avoiding exposures as often as possible.
- Have your water test. Drink filtered water
- Put a filter on your shower or bath
- Eat and drink organic
- Look for seafood that specifically states it is free of heavy metals
- Avoid foods you know contain arsenic, like certain brands of apple juice
- Optimize your detoxification system by assessing nutritional deficiencies and correcting them
Another kudos to Dr. Oz for recommending that you drink Organic apple juice to avoid the arsenic exposure. However, keep in mind, that juice is very high in sugar and should be limited for special occasions. It’s not something that should be drank every day. Water is the beverage you are supposed to drink every day and you serve your children much better by teaching them this lesson when they are younger.
Fruit juice is too concentrated and effects blood sugar, insulin, neurotransmitters and the endocrine system in the same way as refined sugar. Too much sugar in the body leads to insulin resistance, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, addiction etc. Children who eat too many sugary foods become addicted to sugar. Children who are addicted to sugar become teens and adults who are addicted to nicotine, cocaine, alcohol, heroin etc. They are much better off with a whole apple.
Arsenic and other heavy metals in your food and water supply, not just your apple juice, is a serious issue that very few people have ever heard about. Dr. Oz’s show is a great first step in mainstream medicine for bringing awareness and discussion to this topic.
References
Dr. Jeremy Kaslow
www.drkaslow.com/html/arsenic.html
Dr. Charles Gant
www.cegant.com
Dr. Oz Show (ABC)
ABC News
