Clues Your Acne Is Caused by Fluoride
In chapter three of my book, The Hidden Cause of Acne, I describe the clues that helped me realize the root cause of my acne was fluoride in my diet.
At first, I thought fluoride-induced acne was a rare condition. But when I started to write about my experience online, I was shocked to hear from so many other people who also were able to heal their acne by avoiding fluoride.
I soon started to see the same clues all over acne articles on the Internet and online discussion forums. Here are just a few examples.
Does Your Acne Clear Up or Get Worse When You Travel?
One of the biggest clues for me was observing major changes in my acne when I spent time in different cities.
As an intelligence analyst, I had the opportunity to live in a lot of countries that do not add fluoride to their water. My skin was effortlessly clear when I lived in non-fluoridated cities in places like Tunisia, Scotland, and the Caribbean, but I struggled with severe cystic acne within days of returning to the United States.
If your acne clears up when you travel to a new city for vacation, or if it started when you moved to a new town with a higher amount of fluoride in the water supply, this is a strong indicator it could be caused by fluoride in your diet.
This indicator is especially common in teenagers who move away to urban city centers for college. They think their acne is brought on by stress, but it is really caused by the added fluoride in their diet.
Is Your Acne the Worst On Your Chin and Jaw?
Fluoride affects more than just teeth. It also accumulates in bone tissue.
The National Research Council estimates the half-life of fluoride in bone is twenty years. (source) That means half the fluoride you consume today and is stored in your bones will still be there twenty years from now.
I believe this is why so many people experience acne along their chin and jaw. If you were exposed to high amounts of fluoride while your teeth and jaw bones were forming, much of it would have been sequestered in these tissues, causing sensitivity to fluoride in this area later in life.
If you often develop cystic acne on your chin and jaw, this is an indicator it might be caused by fluoride in your diet.
Is Your Acne Worse When You Eat Certain Foods?
You might have noticed that your skin breaks out from eating seemingly random foods, such as rice and raisins, or cereal and green tea, or chicken skin. These food items are each high in fluoride for various reasons.
In chapter four, I explain how to find low-fluoride alternatives for all the foods you love. Often it is a simple matter of switching to organic options since fluoride is a common pesticide used on certain crops.
Do You Have Dental Fluorosis?
When I was a child, my dentist gave me a prescription for fluoride supplements because I lived in a house that used well water. When my permanent teeth came in, they showed signs of dental fluorosis, a discoloring of the tooth enamel caused by exposure to fluoride.
In 2018, researchers released a study in the Journal of Dental Health that revealed over 60 percent of teens now have dental fluorosis. (source) This was a 31.6 percent increase from survey results taken a decade prior.
Here is a video with images of dental fluorosis created by the Fluoride Action Network.
Are You Sensitive to Fluoride Treatments at the Dentist?
You will not have dental fluorosis if your fluoride exposure occurred after your teeth formed, but you might still be sensitive to fluoride. Some people experience acute reactions to fluoride treatments at the dentist, including vomiting and nausea.
Fluoride is absorbed rapidly through gum tissue and yet fluoride gel treatments have not been adequately tested for safety. (source)
Do You Develop White Marks on Your Fingernails?
I noticed pronounced white marks on my fingernails that corresponded with my worst acne flareups.
There are a lot of Internet rumors about the cause of white marks on fingernails, also known as leukonychia. In chapter three of The Hidden Cause of Acne, I explain my theory that the white marks on my fingernails were caused by the same excess fluoride that caused the white marks on my tooth enamel.
Do You Experience Anxiety and Depression When You Have Acne Flareups?
The link between acne and depression is hard to miss. It is tempting to assume people with acne are depressed because their skin is breaking out, but as I explain in my book, there is much more to the story.
Fluoride depresses thyroid function (source) and has been shown to accumulate in brain tissue. (source) Government dentists were not considering these effects when they decided to endorse public fluoridation programs in the 1950s.
I suffered with depression my whole life before eliminating excess fluoride from my diet. I didn't even realize I was experiencing depression until I felt what it was like to live without it.
Do You Have a White Coating on Your Tongue?
Many people with acne notice a thick white coating on the tongue. Western medicine tends to ignore these types of symptoms, but they are an important indicator in other health traditions.
When I consulted a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine about my acne, she pointed out the thick white coating on my tongue and even called in her assistant to look at it. This was yet another sign that my acne was more than skin deep.
