Hi Rissos!
Nice to see you again.
And what a great question – one I'm sure a lot of people have. I know
I have friends who threw away all their aluminum cooking pots when it
was first announced that aluminum could be a causative agent for
Alzheimer's.
And you're right. Now the fervor has died down and all of a sudden
we're packaging things in aluminum again and nobody talks about links
to Alzheimer's. What gives?
Here's the short version of your answer. Note that it's the scale of
the numbers that matter here--.
1 – Aluminum occurs naturally in the environment and can't be avoided.
It mostly exists in an insoluble state so our normal baseline intake
is limited to 30-40 mg per day.
2 – The amount of aluminum we take in via utensils, soft-drink cans,
cooking pots, antiperspirants, and such is extremely small. In one
study for example, only 3-4 mg in a serving of tomato sauce cooked in
an aluminum pot. Researchers agree that these routes of exposure
account for only a small percentage of the average person’s intake.
3 – But, the amount of aluminum that we take in via certain foods,
water, and some medications, can be hundreds of times higher – the
primary culprits being drinking water, potatoes, spinach, and tea.
Processed dairy products, flour, and infant formula may be high in
aluminum if they contain aluminum-based food additives.
Some of the highest levels of aluminum are ingested by people who take
aluminum-containing antacids and buffered analgesics, for whom intakes
may be as high as 5 grams per day.
4 – In order to study the effects of aluminum on specific diseases,
one has to study those people who are exposed to levels that are
higher than the baseline of the general population. In other words, if
EVERYONE is eating and drinking from aluminum containers, but only
SOME people develop Alzheimer's then, to correlate Alzheimer's with
aluminum you would have to study those people have aluminum intakes
that are far higher than everyone else's.
5 – To do that, researchers have primarily focused their studies on
the aluminum levels in water consumed over long the long term by
Alzheimer's patients. And, to date, the results have been
contradictory and inconclusive.
Here is some explanatory material ------
=======================================
ALUMINUM AND ALZHEIMER'S – FAQ's
=======================================
Q: I have heard that aluminum may be involved in the development of
Alzheimer's Disease. Does use of aluminum cookware and drinking from
aluminum beverage cans place me at greater risk for developing this
disease?
A: [Summary]
" Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements found in the
environment. … However, intake is relatively low because this element
is highly insoluble in many of its naturally occurring forms.
The average human intake is estimated to be between 30 and 50 mg per
day.
…there has been concern about the exposures resulting from leaching of
aluminum from cookware and beverage cans. However, as a general rule,
this contributes a relatively small amount to the total daily intake….
For example, in one study, tomato sauce cooked in aluminum pans was
found to accumulate 3-6 mg aluminum per 100 g serving.
Certain aluminum compounds have been found to be an important
component of the neurological damage characteristics of Alzheimer's
Disease (AD). …At this point, its role is still not clearly defined.
Since AD is a chronic disease which may take a long time to develop,
long-term exposure is the most important measure of intake. Long-term
exposure is easiest to estimate for drinking water exposures.
Epidemiological studies attempting to link AD with exposures in
drinking water have been inconclusive and contradictory.
… the significance of increased aluminum intake with regard to onset
of AD has not been determined.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National
Institutes of Health.
FAQ – Aluminum and Alzheimer's
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/faq/alum.htm
--------------
Can antiperspirants [with aluminum] contribute to Alzheimer's disease?
No. … there is no evidence that any significant amount will be
absorbed into the body through the skin.
For perspective, aluminum occurs everywhere in the environment. Our
greatest daily exposure to aluminum is from the food and water we
consume and the air we breathe. Daily aluminum intake from food and
water is as much as 500 times greater than exposure from daily use of
antiperspirants. The weight of evidence to date indicates that the
current level of environmental exposure to aluminum (from drinking
water or other sources) does not lead to an increased risk of
Alzheimer's disease in humans.
Alzheimer's Association of Vermont and New Hampshire - FAQ'S
http://www.alz.org/vtnh/help.htm
========================================
RESEARCH ON ALUMINUM AND ALZHEIMER'S
=========================================
An excellent overview of the contradictions found and difficulties
encountered in researching the link between Alzheimer's and aluminum
Facts: About Aluminum and Alzheimer’s disease
http://www.alz.org/ResourceCenter/FactSheets/FSAluminum.pdf
==========================================================
GENERAL INFORMATION ON ALUMINUM INTAKE AND HEALTH RISKS
============================================================
WHO REPORT ON ALUMINUM
This is an very comprehensive summary of information and statistics on
Aluminum intake via water, air, utensils and packaging for different
countries.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Guidelines for drinking water quality – Aluminum
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/GDWQ/Chemicals/aluminfull.html
=======================
OFFLINE RESOURCES
=======================
This list is a reviewed collection of items prepared by Alzheimer
Association Resource Center staff.
Aluminum and Alzheimer's Disease
http://www.alz.org/ResourceCenter/Resources/rtrlalum.htm
---------------------------
So, to sum up –
The hype 10 or 15 years ago was because researchers found high levels
of aluminum in the brains of deceased Alzheimer's patients. At that
point, all sources of aluminum were suspect and everyone panicked and
quickly removed aluminum from their shelves.
Since then we have learned that aluminum from cooking pots and
utensils adds such a minute amount to our regular daily intake, that
it really has no effect. Studies instead have focused on the large
sources of aluminum to try to find a correlation between intake and
Alzheimer's; however these studies have been inconclusive.
Thanks so much for your question Rissos, and especially thank you for
directing it to me personally. I appreciate it.
If anything I've said isn't clear, please ask for clarification.
-K~
search terms:
Aluminum Alzheimer's
daily aluminum exposure |
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