| Answer: | While plenty of studies have shown increased accumulation of aluminium in the brains of people diagnosed with Alzheimer' s disease, what isn' t clear is whether this is a cause or a consequence of the disease. The likelihood is that it' s a bit of both and is a significant contributor to memory problems. In a study in the 1980s of 647 Canadian gold miners who had routinely inhaled aluminium since the 1940s (once a common practice thought to prevent silica poisoning), all tested in the ' impaired' range for cognitive function, suggesting a clear link between aluminium and memory loss.
Aluminium is all around us - in aspirin, antacids, antidiarrhoeal drugs, cake mixes, self-raising flour, processed cheese, baking powder, drinking water, milk, talcum powder, tobacco smoke, drink cans, cooking utensils and pans, air pollution compounds and aluminium foil. It is poorly absorbed by the body unless you are zinc deficient, which half of the population are. It also becomes much more absorbable in acidic conditions. So if, for example, you boil tea (containing tannic acid) or rhubarb (containing oxalic acid), in an old aluminium pan, you can leach aluminium from the pan into the food or drink.
Your aluminium level is easily tested in a hair mineral analysis. If your level is high, it' s important to identify the potential sources in your diet and lifestyle, and reduce them. 1 have often seen high levels in people who grill food directly on aluminium foil. |
