The other day, I came across the following website when I was googling how to, oddly enough, get my beef broth to turn to gelatin. It’s a well written blog by a woman named Melissa and it’s primarily about cellulite:
Now I am lucky that I do not suffer from cellulite, but I’m sure many of my readers do… it’s a common problem! And I’m told it’s not only a fat person’s issue or a middle aged issue, but that thin, teenagers suffer from cellulite all the time!
Why Is That?
Because much like acne, cellulite is caused by diet and lifestyle, and the worse our lifestyles become, the more people are suffering. Melissa seems to have many of the same ideas about treating cellulite that I do about treating acne – including specifics like making bone broth, shunning bad fats, and looking for allergies.
However, something incredibly interesting that I also found on her blog was a section about acne and a specific condition that she found out she had that was giving her cystic acne around her mouth. I was obviously incredibly intrigued since I had never heard of this!
It’s Called Fluoroderma
So, you’ve heard of fluoride, right? That stuff they give you at the dentist to prevent tooth decay? It’s that stuff in your toothpaste? Maybe you’ve also heard that a lot of places put it in their city’s water supply in order to prevent cavities.
Anyway, I won’t go into all the dangers of fluoride, but it’s not great. It’s basically a poison they are putting in our waters. Look it up.
Apparently some people can have hyper reactions to fluoride. When it gets into your lymphatic system, it begins to clog it and can come out as acne along those pathways. This is most common around the mouth. If you go to her blog, you can see she had terrible acne around her mouth that looks like what people commonly assume is ‘hormonal acne’.
Anyway, I would really encourage you to go to her blog, and check out her page on fluoride and acne and think about if this could be something that makes sense for you. She has a ton of resources including a quiz to see if fluoride could be causing your acne, and a completely FREE 70 page ebook on how to diagnose and cure acne caused by fluoride exposure. This lady is awesome.
To give you a quick preview of the quiz on her site, you can ask yourself these questions:
- Are your most severe breakouts around your mouth, neck, and possibly ears?
- Do your acne flares come and go as you travel?
- Did you ever take fluoride pills?
- Do you have dental fluorisis?
- Have you drank fluoridated water for many years in the past?
I’m still thinking about whether or not my acne could have a fluoride connection. I think not, but then again, my most stubborn acne is by far the acne around my mouth, I do remember taking fluoride pills as a child, and my teeth do show signs of dental fluorisis on certain days. I am definitely going to be looking further into it for myself.
Anyway… VISIT HER SITE! Melissa is an expert on identifying and treating fluoroderma, so head on over there.
And for my last word – even if you don’t think fluoride is causing your acne, I would HIGHLY suggest that you ditch any toothpaste that contains fluoride and go to something natural. I’d also encourage you to find out whether your town or city fluoridates their water, and if so, make sure you are not drinking that water (get spring water from the store, or even better, find a wild spring).
What do you think about this? Did you check out her site and her discoveries about fluoroderma?
42 Responses
Hi tracey,
Another intresting blog!! I have severe acne pretty much all over my face but have also been battling with impetigo all around my mouth for the past 6months, it just won’t go away which means i cant use make-up on my skin. Its highly embaressing and have severe emotional issues because of the way i look. I remember reading something about flouride and impetigo but never came across it again so i shall be checking this website just incase this is my answer! Fingers crossed!
This is so true!!!!
I’m using a natural toothpaste right now (Kingfisher mint) which is really good and doesn’t contain fluoride. However… I’m also using one by BLANX which is for stain removal (I drink lots of mint tea!), which of course, contains nasty chemicals and fluoride… I can honestly say that there is a connection between fluoride and acne around the mouth. (I say that because I’ve been using BLANX for a week, just to use it up and I’ve had a bit of a breakout, around my mouth only).
I’m just going to throw the rest of it away and buy more Kingfisher!
Thank you for reminding me of this connection, which I first discovered in one of your earlier posts.
tea also contains a lot of fluoride!!!
It does! And caffeine – so herbal tea for me
Awesome review, Tracy. Thanks! I’m excited you found the site. The fluoride connection provides a good explanation for questions like the one you asked in this post: https://thelovevitamin.com/1214/a-weekend-away-with-friends-stopped-my-acne-how-is-this-possible/
Many of the people I’ve heard from who have fluoroderma figured it out after they went on vacation to a non-fluoridated area. I recently came across this letter from a Ms. Harriet Beitzel that could have been written by me! http://sonic.net/kryptox/medicine/a/beitzel.htm
It seems people like us have been “discovering” this connection over and over again for our ourselves. Thank you for helping to spread the word!
Best,
Melissa
Hi Melissa!
I’m glad you found this post, I was going to email you and say hi – and thank you for writing such a wonderful resource!! Your book was so good and I’m really happy to have this information on board.
I’m really thinking hard about whether this could be an issue for me – I grew up on well water which I assume doesn’t contain fluoride, and while my acne does seem to come and go at random – it doesn’t necessarily match up with changes precisely when I change cities and locations. Sometimes there does appear to be a loose correlation but it’s hazy.
On the other hand, like I said, my most stubborn breakouts do concentrate around my mouth and the crease from my nose down to my chin, and I do have some dental fluorosis. I’ve also never eaten fully organic. I also eat a fair bit of chicken.
So much to think about it! Either way, I still think the major root causes for acne is vitamin and mineral deficiencies and digestive issues… and from there, the acne is triggered and exacerbated by all sorts of stuff depending on who you are…. blood sugar swings, toxic overload, allergies, stress…. and perhaps for some people, fluoride! Of course, you go over that in the book too – underlying reasons your body can’t deal with the fluoride.
Anyway!! Thank you again Melissa! You rock!
What is the best shower filter, sink filter, and reverse osmosis filter for removing fluoride?
I think people who grew up on well water might be more likely candidates for fluoroderma because we’re the ones the dentists convince to take fluoride pills. Those things are way too toxic for children’s bodies to handle. I developed chronic nose bleeds at the same time I started taking the fluoride pills but no one ever put it together, even when my teeth came in with dental fluorosis. Most of that fluoride accumulates in your teeth and bones and will stay there for a long, long time. I’m still figuring out the fluoride detox but I’ve made a lot of progress in the last year. It’s been quite the adventure. 🙂
Thanks again for everything, Tracy. It’s been fun chatting with you! Please let me know if you come across any more info or breakthroughs about fluoride and acne!
Just talking to myself here –
I am pleased to find out that only 4% of British Columbia still fluoridates its water with more communities dropping out every day! My hometown is not one of them so that is awesome.
However, apparently it is mandatory for the whole of Australia to fluoridate. My acne was persistent when I was in Australia last time (clearing up when I went to SE Asia, and beginning again upon immediate return to Australia – this is definitely the most clear cut time it’s changed with travel), and its kinda stubborn this time too, particularly around my mouth. Although my worst acne has occurred in Vancouver and my hometown, both of which do not fluoridate, so I don’t know. Either way, I find this all very, very interesting.
Hi, Tracy. It might be worth finding out what the natural level of fluoride is in the water supply. I noticed that I still get a reaction from water that contains natural fluoride (such as Fiji brand). Even as little as .5 ppm (half the “recommended” amount) is likely to cause a problem. Combine that with all the fluoride that is hidden in the food supply, and you’ve got one confusing acne culprit!
I live ni NYC where all the water has flouride….even if i choose an organic toothpaste my drinking water will have it so what really am i supposed to do?
Did you read her book? Do you think it sounds like you?
If it really does, you can buy spring water from a store to drink, and also avoid the foods she talks about
It’s a bit off topic but maybe some of you know. Can too low blood pressure cause acne? My blood pressure is really low – 90/50, I wonder if it can be the cause?
I don’t know for sure, but I think bad circulation means that blood and nutrients aren’t getting to your skin as much as they should be. So… possibly. Things like yoga and exercise might really help you.
I love you girls! I cant believe how much time i wasted talking to my family doctor over the years. sigh, my eyes are finally open. Thanks for uniting us all during our very deserving journey to optimal health xo Great blog
I think there is a definite connection between fluoride and health issues for some people. The past few years I have suffered from horrible mouth ulcers (at least three big ones at a time), and even with a healthier diet, less stress, different tooth brushes, etc nothing could make them go away. Once I switched to a SLS and fluoride free toothpaste they went away completely. I’m now 95% sure fluoride was responsible, because a couple of weeks ago I started using a mouthwash with it in it and the ulcers came back.
In relation to acne, I also noticed that the persistent acne I got on my chin and upper lip (kind of forming a triangle around my mouth) cleared up significantly when I changed toothpastes.
If anyone reading this has similar symptoms I would strongly encourage them to look into sodium lauryl sulfate and fluoride free toothpastes and mouthwashes.
Hi J! Thanks for sharing your experiences with that… like Melissa says, I think this fluoride cause is probably a lot more common than we think… and how nice would it be if a simple thing like using a fluoride free toothpaste could make a huge difference to your skin?
What SLS and flouride free toothpaste do you use? I bought Earthpaste but im afraid to use it!
I use Nature’s Gate!
I stopped using my fluoridated whitening toothpaste four days ago and started using a fluoride-free toothpaste instead. I have not gotten any new acne for FOUR DAYS. That’s AMAZING. I read that sometimes mouth acne can be caused by brushing your teeth with fluoridated toothpaste before bed and then drooling onto your skin while you sleep. I really think that’s what was happening to me! I also started using tea tree oil lip balm instead of Burt’s Bees and I think the antiseptic properties of the tea tree oil are doing their part in keeping my mouth area clear. I’m about to start taking probiotics to help clear the rest of my face.
Wow that’s really great that you’ve seen such results from quitting the fluoride toothpaste! Thanks for sharing that, maybe it’ll spur others to switch toothpastes…. seems too easy, doesn’t it? 😀
Hi Tracy, I can attest to Melissa’s comment and fluoroderma. When I eat chicken, unorganic lettuce, grapes, sardines, and a lot of the sources mentioned in melissa’s book, I get acne! Always on my chin, and super, super, super painful. But also – after beer, or tea or drinking a lot of water in different locations, my lymph nodes, on my face, in front of my ear, began to hurt. When I went to a restaurant, had only two glasses of water and came away with two painful zits, and happened to see melissa’s site, that was when it really clicked for me.
I think really painful pimples are telling you something different than whiteheads or blackheads.
However, fluoroderma seems to be worse when you are iodine deficient, which many of us are. especially if you follow a natural foods/whole foods diet like you and the one in your book (which is great BTW!)
So please, make sure you’re not iodine deficient, anyone, if you have fluoroderma!
(PS There’s also bromoderma – acne from bromine, a halogen in the same column of the periodic table as fluorine and bromine is in numerous flours (i.e. unbromated can sometimes mean only a different compound which still contains bromine is used to prevent bugs from building up in the flour). so if you eat a lot of baked goods and start taking iodine, you might see the fluorine OR bromine coming out in your skin. finally it takes time to get the build-up out. I hope someday I can eat conventionally grain fed chicken and eat chicken broth without problems.
Hi Lyon,
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience with fluorderma. I’m curious if that is the reason that many people say that iodine causes acne – because when you take it, it detoxes you of fluoride that comes out through your skin. ? maybe?
okayyy, so, since i commented on another post a few days ago i stopped all fluoride that i was consuming. toothpaste, got bottled water to drink and wash face with, and i added a few minerals i might be a little lacking in. so hopefully that might help a little since im at the end of ideas. i dont know that fluoride could be the culprit because i dont break out that much around my mouth or chin. most of my acne is on my cheeks, and even though i dont pick or pop they scar there every time. ive looked at some face mapping but different sites have different say so’s. do you know of what could be linked to most of the breaking out to be on my cheeks? thanks tracy!! hope your holidays are going well!
Hi Trish, yes, because all the face maps are different, i’m not able to exactly say why you are breaking out on your cheeks either. How’s your digestion?
Please know that it’s actually important to pop/squeeze your zits. If you do not squeeze them, you will scar. It’s a myth that squeezing causes the scarring. Don’t scratch or pick, but definitely squeeze and pop them to prevent scarring.
Luckily.. The country where I’m from (denmark) doesn’t use fluoride in their water suply (lucky us) But I did recently find out that some companies that makes water bottles here uses about 0,03 mg fluoride in their water bottles.. 0,03 isn’t that much but it does make me feel uneasy though.
Luckily I found out that there is a company in Denmark who doesn’t use fluoride so I’ll try and buy water bottles from there. 🙂
Not certain if fluoride is an issue for me, but it might be. If I stay long in a shower, and get the water on my skin, at the end of the shower my skin is super dried out, feels really tight afterwards…this also happens if I take a lot of showers in a day, so I normally only take one a day and short 1-3 mins. When my skin is clear, I barely put any water on it at all, just gently splashing water on it, that’s all. If I take long showers or more than one shower in a day I think I am getting more exposure to fluoride (if it is the problem). Thus when I barely have any contact with water on my skin or acne prone areas, I simply don’t get acne. I use to think it was diet, but I was clear all of last summer and I did short showers and had a terrible diet (beer, pizza, fast food, anything and everything). What would be your take on this?
Thanks
For the past week and a half i was super itchy all over my body, like i woke up in the middle of the night crying and rubbing any cream i could find on my legs which were the worst.
Nothing worked, it was driving me mad and my doctor couldn’t help.
I finally took a benadryl the other day before bed and woke up feeling fine so i realized it was an allergy, i was scared it was to sugar or something because after eating candy my skin freaked out.
But i remembered reading this article of yours not too long ago and i realized the only thing i changed in my life is i got sensitive tooth paste, i have been using fluoride free for the past year and i’m sure the sensitive has a lot of fluoride in it to build up your teeth. thats why my skin freaked out after eating sugar because i always brush my teeth afterward.
I’m so thankful for this article because i would have just kept using the tooth paste, its the last thing i would have thought of and the itch was terrible, unending, all day and all night and everywhere on my body. more people need to know about fluoride allergies
Hi Nat, I’m glad this article was so helpful to you! 🙂
The Cellulite Investigations webpage isn’t up anymore!
oh no, really? Aw damn, that sucks. It was a really good resource.
Interestingly, upon reading this article I did some research and discovered that most countries in Europe do not fluoridate their public water supply nearly to the extent that the US and Canada do, because the decision rests with local or regional governments rather than national governments and there has been considerable public opposition. In the case of the UK it depends on your water supplier (and it turns out very few have opted to fluoridate — I checked mine and they don’t). In the case of some other countries, particularly Germany, fluoridation of the public water supply is banned countrywide.
So umm…good call on Europe’s part, I suppose!
My curiosity about this was piqued since the main area where I continue to get acne is around my mouth and on my chin, and seeing as I’m about to turn 31 I’m hard-pressed to believe that it’s hormonal. That said, I’ve been using fluoride toothpaste all my life so it might be worth ditching that for a while to see if that helps at all.
On a side note, I’ve been doing a modified Caveman Regimen for the past 2 and a half weeks after 5+ years of slathering Benzoyl Peroxide on my face twice a day, and even though I’m still getting pimples I’m mostly happy with the results particularly as my face is no longer so sensitive, flaky, and desiccated all the time. Also the fact that I’m no longer spending so much money maintaining my constant BP supply is a plus. I call my modified regimen the “Regular Guy’s Regimen”, which means just rinsing my face briefly in the shower once a day and applying nothing to my face aside from that.
Cheers!
I know that filtered water has fluoride in it, only thing that gets rid of fluoride is reverse osmosis. I decided to just drink distilled water, during that time I had a huge break out of whiteheads along my jaw, that I had never had before. I switched over to distilled, and it was all gone within a week. I don’t believe it’s the “cure” but drinking distilled water helped me out a lot. Drink distilled water, avoid foods with a high-glycemic load/index such as pasta, white rice, all forms of factory processed sweets and I would assume that your gut will heal and your acne will to. I bought a ton of distilled water, which is super cheap btw, and now i’m going to avoid rice, as that is the last thing I believe contributing to my white heads. I have very mild breaks outs of whiteheads, mainly around the mouth. I have read articles that have stated that fluoride has the potential to weaken the gut and as a consequence deteriorates your immune system.
Drinking distilled water or reverse osmosis water without remineralizing it and restructuring it will strip your body of vital minerals like magnesium. This is not a good long-term plan, but can be done for a day if your goal is a certain type of detox.
Last year I started getting a really strange outbreak of tiny, white bumps underneath my eyes and a few on my chin–no matter what I did I could not get them to go away! After months of experimenting with diet and other factors I finally tried eliminating flouride from my life and within a week they were gone. Been flouride-free ever since.
I Just wanted to echo what others have been saying. I have been struggling with strange neck /behind ears acne since my last pregnancy. I am 40 and thought I would never see then end of acne! I eat mostly clean and organic, and have been trying so many natural tactics (including a diet led mostly by the philosophies of Ray Peat). I was desperately looking for answers online when I found the aforementioned article with photos and her acne was just like mine! I ran out and bought Nature’s gate toothpaste a few weeks ago and have no new acne! OMG! I haven’t been this acne and makeup free in years!! So thankful! We live in a small Texas city (urban/inside a large city) that does not fluoridate the water, so I must be really sensitive to fluoride if toothpaste alone can do that to me. Anyway, so very excited to have answers!!! And clearer skin!!! Thank you!
Wow, I’m so happy for you D!
Fluoride is a neurotoxin – it is poison to your body. You can see videos on youtube when they add the fluoride to drinking water they are wearing protective Hazmat suits and air filters. The main sources are from tap water, toothpaste, and both black and green tea. Thankfully we have some easy ways around this:
1) Coconut oil mixed with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is one of the most effective and least expensive toothpaste and you can make it at home. Otherwise always buy toothpaste without fluoride. Oil pulling or oil swishing is also an excellent way to fight tooth decay as well as remove toxins in addition to brushing and flossing.
2) Borax is a natural mineral and it will detox the fluoride from your system including your pineal gland (helps you sleep and regulate your circadian rhythm). Simply go to your local store and buy it inexpensively (often in the laundry section). In the U.S. I buy the brand 20 Mule Team. There are warnings on the box that refer to it as rat poison, but it is safer than salt. This link shows a data sheet that gives borax a safety rating of “1” which is the same as baking soda and salt (it’s actually safer than salt however): https://www.omsi.edu/sites/all/FTP/files/kids/Borax-msds.pdf
For women- mix 1/8 teaspoon of borax into 1 liter of water and drink it throughout the day. Do this every day for 4 days on and then 3 days off. Do this cycle 2 to 4 times and the majority of the fluoride will detox out.
For men- do the exact same as the women, but on the second round increase the borax to 1/4 teaspoon.
While drinking the borax for the first time it can cause major insomnia (I personally was wide awake with unbelievable energy), so start in the morning. Some people report fatigue, but that’s much more rare. Borax is also known to help immensely with rheumatoid arthritis if you have any joint pain. Once you’re finished detoxing with this protocol- drink small amounts of borax every other day in your water and ideally on an empty stomach.
3) Tea is extremely healthy for you- especially green tea (an excellent anti-oxidant). In order to combat the fluoride sprinkle a small pinch of borax into your mug. This will bind the fluoride. My favorite tea is organic matcha from Japan (even the organic from China has been found to contain toxicities).
4) Clean and safe water source- Buying water is suspect and most of it is just bottled tap water. It usually comes in plastic which only contributes to toxins like phthalates and xenoestrogens building up in your body. It’s a pain to transfer and lug around from the grocery store and the environmental impact to ship heavy water only contributes to more greenhouse emission and physical pollution (plastic bottles litter the sea).
Thankfully the price of a good reverse osmosis 5 to 7 stage water filter has come way down. You can find them now online for around $200 U.S. or less which end up being far less expensive than buying bottled water (the replacement filters are also very inexpensive). RO filters will filter out fluoride as well as everything else, but because it’s such a good filtration system it also filters out all the beneficial minerals as well.
RO water is basically the equivalent of distilled water- no minerals and dead structure. One great benefit to that is you’ll no longer need to buy distilled water for your humidifier any longer- the RO water will work just fine.
This brings me to an important point though- the water needs to be remineralized and restructured before consuming. I use a gallon size glass jug that I fill up with the RO water and I add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt as well. If the taste of the salt in the water is too prevalent you can lower both the BS and salt to your liking (lower the BS before the Himalayan salt). I often also add 1/2 teaspoon of magnesium chloride from Zechstein sea for added and all too important magnesium. I then let this sit in the sun for at least a day. To really go the extra mile- you can then refrigerate it to even further restructure it. I have multiple jugs, so there’s always one ready for me to consume. To further restructure the water you can vortex it. There are many ways to do this, so just do a web search to find out (I often just spin the water making it look like a tornado).
If you’re traveling and you must consume tap water and you’re not sure if it contains fluoride- just sprinkle a little bit borax in the water and it will bind it.
Definitely purchase a TDS (total dissolved solids) water tester (and make sure it takes into account temperature as well). These can be purchased for $30 or less U.S. and are worth every penny. When I tested my water here in NYC the water showed 400 ppm (parts per million) and after installing my RO water filter system it then measured 15 ppm. 15 ppm is very safe and it means my filter is doing it’s job. The reason why it’s worth every penny is because now I no longer need to pay attention to the manufacturer suggested time to replace my filters and I’ve found they last much longer then what is suggested. This saves more money than the cost of the TDS tester as well as having peace of mind that it’s actually working. Not a bad deal at all.
Recently what happened in Flint, Michegan should be a wake-up call. If you have a RO filter system in place- something like lead poisoning could not occur to you or your family. It seems city officials and politicians are doing less and less and cutting more corners than ever, so why take the chance.
Lastly- you actually absorb more toxins transdermally through your shower or bath than you do through drinking. If possible get a whole house water filter or an additional filter for your shower head.
Peace and love everyone,
Andrew Days
Andrew, thank you for very detail post. I am beyond upset that I was not aware of the problem till today. My 17 yo son seems suffering .. Where I can get info on Borax safety for his age…I will appreciate any additional info.
Best regards