This article investigates the best ways you can detox from excess fluoride and begin clearing your persistent cystic acne. My first post ended up being crazy long! I got myself into a huge research wormhole on the whole fluoride/acne thang as I just wanted to give you guys as MUCH information as possible…. so ended up splitting the post into two parts.
In my previous post I explained how I came across Melissa Gallico’s eye-opening book ‘The Hidden Cause of Acne’ which going deep into the potential link between fluoride exposure and acne. As a ex-FBI investigator, this book is extremely detailed and evidence based. Seriously. Melissa seriously knows what she’s talking about. If you’re currently struggling with acne despite ‘doing everything right’ and live in a high-risk area such as USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong, I highly recommend downloading this book and reading it back to back as soon as you have a free couple of hours! To find out more information on the hidden sources of fluoride and the countries which are most at risk of toxic fluoride overload, be sure to check out my last post here.
Fluoride & acne: how to detox from fluoride exposure
From the information I’ve outlined in my previous post, you’ve now probably got a pretty good idea as to whether you’re at risk of suffering from excess fluoride exposure. Unfortunately, if you have significant amounts of fluoride build-up in your system, it can actually take years to completely eliminate stubborn acne-causing toxins such as fluoride, PUFA, excess iron and BPA! Don’t let that put you off your acne healing journey. You WILL see improvement in the first 3 months as inflammation starts to calm down, your gut bacteria is restored and your acne starts to heal.
The critical steps you need to take to detox from fluoride exposure are:
- Remove as many sources of fluoride from your diet as possible – including toothpaste and drinking water
- Add major sources of iodine to your diet from A2 dairy, seaweed, eggs and a multivitamin
- Increase lymphatic drainage through massage, dry brushing and exercise
Detoxing fluoride: removing fluoride from your system
This is much easier said than done…! If you’re living in a artificially fluoridated area then you’re really going have to watch what you eat and drink. The best option for reducing your fluoride exposure is investing in a fluoride-removing water filter. There are three types that remove fluoride: reverse osmosis, deionizers (which use ion-exchange resins) and activated alumina. Each of these filters should be able to remove about 90% of the fluoride. Unfortunately, standard carbon filters like Brita will NOT remove fluoride from your water supply.
Another option is finding your own spring or checking out your local health food stores. My local health food shop supplies a free filtered tap that you can fill up your own containers which is much more environmentally friendly than buying tonnes of bottled spring water.
And THAT’S just drinking water!
You should also prioritise removing fluoride from you dental care – including toothpaste and mouthwash. Luckily this is an easy step and there are tonnes of great options available. I interchange between brands like David’s, Green People, Dr Bronner’s, Urtekram and Kingfisher. Check out your local health food shop or Google ‘fluoride free toothpaste’ – there will be plenty of choice in your area, you just have to look!
Purchasing some stainless steel or ceramic cookware is also a great step to detoxing your body from fluoride. As I mentioned before, Teflon ‘non-stick’ cookware contains a combination of toxic chemicals that can leach into your food during cooking. One study found that water boiled in a non-stick pot contained three times the amount of fluoride when compared with water from the same source boiled in stainless steel or pyrex pan.
As for the food and drink, I recommend taking precaution where possible but the water, dental care and cookware are the three areas you should definitely prioritise when it comes to successfully detoxing fluoride from your body.
Detox from fluoride: adding iodine to your diet
Adding extra iodine to your diet is a fantastic way of displacing the fluoride that has built up in your body. However *disclaimer alert*, taking extra iodine and flushing out the stored fluoride and can cause what’s called a healing crisis. Unfortunately this means that there is a chance you can have an acne breakout when you start reducing fluoride exposure and increase iodine intake.
Remember, this is a GREAT thing, you WANT to get rid of that fluoride build up. Any type of detox can lead to a breakout as the stored toxins are removed from the body through sweat, urine, faeces and skin and in some people can cause a minor flare up. While a breakout during the first few weeks of healing your acne naturally can make you feel like giving up, there ARE ways you can reduce the severity of a healing crisis which aside from acne, can also include:
- Fatigue
- Diarrhoea
- Aches and soreness
- Low-grade fever
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Nausea
- Skin irritations/rashes
- Stuffy nose
Simply start adding seaweed, kombu, eggs and A2 dairy to your diet each day and you can naturally increase your iodine intake through food. I also recommend taking a good quality multivitamin with an additional dose of iodine to ensure that you’re getting enough of this vital compound to start clearing your acne.
Detoxing fluoride: increasing lymphatic drainage
Sometimes referred to as a ‘detox massage’, supporting your body’s internal waste removal system through lymphatic stimulation is a great way to help the body rid itself of unwanted toxins, including fluoride! Anything that creates a toxic burden on your system has the potential to clog up your lymphatic system so gentle massage techniques can assist your body in detoxing efficiently and therefore flushing out fluoride (and other toxins) and reducing the symptoms of a healing crisis.
Lymphatic drainage techniques to help detox fluoride include:
Breathing techniques – The lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the heart and requires breathing as a ‘pump’ to keep the lymphatic system working efficiently. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t breathing properly. Deep belly breathing (officially known as Abdominal/diaphragmatic breathing) helps push sluggish lymphatic fluid through the system and allows our lymphatic system to work at its best. Deep belly breathing exercises are available on YouTube to help you get the technique right.
Dry Skin Brushing – Dry skin brushing, or body brushing is an excellent at-home technique that helps speed up lymphatic drainage and also helps reduce cellulite by stimulating the flow of lymph fluid! I love dry brushing and even have this facial dry brush with I’m obsessed with! I follow these instructions and it really helped get rid of a number of hard nodules I had under my jaw.
Massage and Lymph Drainage Therapy– Gentle, lymphatic massage helps drain lymph fluid and speed up the detoxification process. Melissa swears by Lymph Drainage Therapy (LDT) treatments and found them to quickly improve acne flare ups during her detox from fluoride exposure.
Exercise and Rebounding – While all forms of movement will help increase lymphatic flow and therefore speed up fluoride detoxification, it’s thought that rebounding, or bouncing on a mini trampoline is the ultimate form of movement for detoxification. In a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, NASA scientists conclude that jumping on a trampoline produces a “biomechanical stimuli” up to 68 percent greater than running on a treadmill.86 The difference is attributed to the g-force generated by the change in gravity at the height of each jump.
If you’re interested in learning more about Fluoroderma and the link between acne and fluoride exposure, or just want to educate yourself more on this subject, I highly recommend reading Melissa Gallico’s ‘The Hidden Cause of Acne‘. She’s written this extremely informative book which goes into way more detail than I could ever portray! It’s a great read and gives tonnes of interesting advice on how to limit you exposure to this environmental toxin.
Do you have any questions about detoxing from fluoride to clear your acne? Let me know in the comments below!
Peace, Love & Clear Skin
Is ghee good for acne? Skin benefits of clarified butter
5 reasons water can improve your skin (& your health!)
Low sugar smoothies for clearer skin
How hormones affect acne
Dear Amy……..you are a gem for providing so much useful information. I have treated many patients for acne over the years mainly using bioresonance medicine and changes in macro- and micro-nutrition with pretty good results. But, there have been those hard to crack cases and reading your article points to the possibility of why these cases were failing. I shall certainly include your information in my treatment regime for future acne patients and will,of course, mention you and Melissa Gallico. Thanks from myself to the both of you!
Thank you for sharing my article in your podcast!