Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the earth’s crust, equal to about 8%. It is a naturally occurring mineral that can be found in both plant and animal sourced foods in small amounts. There are also many food additives containing aluminum and cookware and food storage containers can leach aluminum into food via contact.

Additives with Aluminum

There are many additives containing aluminum: aluminum ammonium sulfate, aluminum potassium sulfate, aluminum sodium sulfate, and sodium aluminum phosphate are just a few examples. These additives are used as stabilizers, buffers, and neutralizing agents. Other uses can be anti-caking agents, dough strengtheners, leavening agents, acid-reacting ingredients in self-rising flour or cornmeal, emulsifying agents for processed cheese, thickeners, and curing agents. A familiar food product containing aluminum is baking powder. There are aluminum-free options for baking powder, and I would encourage these options.

Possible Concerns

Aluminum is a recognized neurotoxin linked to several neurodegenerative diseases with a dementia component even though the FDA has classified it as Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS). The challenge is that is can accumulate in the brain, bone, liver, heart and spleen over one’s lifetime.

Here are some areas that can be negatively affected by aluminum:

  • Formation of blood and blood cells.
  • Accumulation over one’s lifetime, aluminum can build up in the brain and affect the nervous system.
  • In the bones, it may cause an imbalance in calcium and phosphate which can cause a softening of bone.
  • Digestion may be affected with an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
  • There can be increased health risks in individuals with impaired kidney function.
  • Some symptoms of toxicity include confusion, muscle weakness, bone pain, bone deformation and fractures, seizures, speech problems, and slow growth in children.

Common food sources:

  • Baked goods such as biscuits, pancakes, waffles, cakes, doughnuts, muffin mixes, frozen rolls, and yeast doughs; it is used as a leavening agent.
  • Processed cheese; it is used as an emulsifying agent.
  • Some pickling salts.
  • Salt, nondairy creamers, and other dry, powdered products used to prevent caking.
  • Teas
  • Water

Non-food sources:

  • Airborne dust
  • Antiperspirants – some studies suggest a link to breast cancer, but the results are mixed.
  • Vaccines and allergy injections – it is used as an adjunctive.
  • Antacids – this can be a huge source of aluminum if you use antacids regularly. There can be 104 to 208 mg per tablets. The average US adult consumes 7 to 9 mg of aluminum per day according to the FDA. So, you can see why antacids may cause a problem of too much aluminum.
  • Buffered aspirin
  • Cosmetics
  • Sunscreen
  • Cookware and kitchen products such as foil, canned goods, and drinking pouches.

Benefits

Even though aluminum is so prevalent in the earth’s crust, there has not been a function found that it is needed in humans or animals yet.

For most healthy adults, consuming 1 to 10 mg per day will probably not cause any issues, especially if your digestion and elimination are working well. The challenge can be that many people don’t have healthy digestion and elimination. If one is consuming a lot of processed foods, there can be a greater accumulation of aluminum in the diet. If you add antacids, buffered aspirin, and immunizations/allergy injections into the mix even more aluminum can be accumulated in the body.

Eating a whole-food diet with little to no processed foods nourishes your body, providing the building blocks for health. Have you started reading food labels more? How many foods have you found with aluminum on the list? What other additives would you like to learn more about?

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Heather

Sources:

  • https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cic/2012/00000002/00000001/art00004
  • https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=un-ZDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA203&dq=aluminum+additives+processed+foods&ots=WRdvQfsQW_&sig=uy7HZ-xIuIYJPvaTntgVqjQQe10#v=onepage&q=aluminum%20additives%20processed%20foods&f=false
  • https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-017-0116-y
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1286011516000266
  • https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad101494
  • https://books.google.com/bookshl=en&lr=&id=SHGdDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT117&dq=aluminum+additives+processed+foods&ots=jC9BmlWtiX&sig=BaIqJFivkqkUPzfvlt20hTrBa68#v=onepage&q=aluminum%20additives%20processed%20foods&f=false
  • https://www.livestrong.com/article/540321-what-foods-contain-harmful-aluminum/
  • http://dietgrail.com/aluminum-content-of-foods/
  • https://wellnessmama.com/91772/aluminum-safe/
  • https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp22-c1.pdf

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