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Over recent years, more and more people are becoming concerned about the use of chemicals, pesticides, fluoride and chlorine in their drinking water. There have now been many studies done on both the short and long-term effects of tap water.

LAMUSCLE.COM has made its own investigations into tap water with some startling revelations. In terms of muscle-building, estrogen-forming chemicals in tap water can seriously affect your muscle growth; in fact they can signal your body to store fat and get rid of muscle!

With regards to other chemicals in tap water, please read the following as it may help you make a more informed decision about what you put into your body.

FLOURIDE IN BELGIUM

A ban on the sale of fluoride supplements passed by Belgium recently provoked strong reactions, in particular from anti-fluoride campaigners who viewed the news as a sign of progress. Belgian health minister at the time Magda Aelvoet said she was now pressing for a Europe-wide ban, hinting that the removal of supplements was just the first step towards removing the chemical from the food chain.

THE UK POSITION

The UK government is considering increasing the areas where tap water is fluoridated, believing that the reduction in tooth decay appears to outweigh any risk of medical problems or an increase in discoloured teeth. Ministers have promised further research into the possible hazards of excessive fluoride exposure, including through toothpastes and naturally flouridated water, which might bring problems in bone health and cancer. But they said that a review of evidence by the medical research council had shown no grounds not to use water fluoridation as a public health measure. Opponents of fluoridating water include the Green party who have vowed to step up the complaint that it is a civil liberties issue, regardless of the evidence for the health effects.

About five million people in England have fluoride added to their tap water; in Birmingham, the West Midlands, and Tyneside; another 500,000 down the east of England from Hartlepool to areas of Essex get naturally fluoridated water. Is fluoride really safe?

COVER-UP

A patent by a major pharmaceutical company discloses that concentrations of fluorides from fluoridated toothpastes and mouthwashes activate G proteins in the oral cavity, thereby promoting gingivitis and periodontitis, as well as oral cancer. Incomprehensibly, this vital information is being withheld from the public by all parties involved, including the company, at least two well-known Universities, and numerous oral disease experts. Not the first tine information is withheld where money is involved.

There is extensive evidence of diseases in humans from areas with water fluoridation, from toothpaste and mouthrinse use, as well as in workers exposed to fluorides. Studies on workers exposed to fluoride have shown that the severity of periodontal disease is directly correlated to the fluoride levels in systemic fluids (i.e. Domazalska, 1972). The more fluoride in the system - the more severe the periodontal disease. The same findings have been made for Asthma.

In 1981 Dr. John Yiamouyiannis and Dean Burk, chief chemist emeritus of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the U.S, first showed very convincingly that there was an increase in oral cancer in fluoridated areas. An investigation done by the Battelle Institute on behalf of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) (NTP, 1991) showed a clear dose-response relationship between oral cancers and fluoride intake in the animals tested. Where fluoridation has been discontinued in communities from Canada, the former East Germany, Cuba and Finland, dental decay has not increased but has actually decreased (Maupome et al, 2001; Kunzel and Fischer,1997,2000; Kunzel et al, 2000 and Seppa et al, 2000). Think about this!

The level of fluoride put into water (1 ppm) is 100 times higher than normally found in mothers' milk (0.01 ppm) (Institute of Medicine, 1997). There are no benefits, only risks, for infants ingesting this heightened level of fluoride at such an early age (this is an age where susceptibility to environmental toxins is particularly high).

Three studies from China show a lowering of IQ in children associated with fluoride exposure (Li et al, 1995; Zhao et al, 1996 and Lu et al, 2000). Another study (Lin et al, 1991) indicates that even just moderate levels of fluoride exposure (e.g. 0.9 ppm in the water) can exacerbate the neurological defects of iodine deficiency, which include decreased IQ and retardation.

Some of the earliest opponents of fluoridation were biochemists. At least 14 Nobel Prize winners are among numerous scientists who have expressed their reservations about the practice of fluoridation. James Sumner, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on enzyme chemistry, had this to say about fluoridation: "We ought to go slowly. Everybody knows fluorine and fluoride are very poisonous substances…We use them in enzyme chemistry to poison enzymes, those vital agents in the body. That is the reason things are poisoned; because the enzymes are poisoned and that is why animals and plants die" (Connett, 2000). Scary words indeed!

IS CHLORINE GOOD FOR YOU?

Chlorine has been used since the early part of the last century to kill off the microbes that spread cholera, typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that while chlorine does not seem to cause cancer in lab animals, it can (in the water treatment process) create a whole list of by-products that do.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies three of these trihalomethane by-products (chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane) as probable human carcinogens. The fourth, dibromochloromethane, is classified as a possible human carcinogen.

It is estimated that cryptosporidium, the protozoan responsible for causing the gastrointestinal disease cryptosporidiosis, is present in more than 50 percent of treated water. In 1993, the town of Milwaukeein the U.S, suffered an outbreak of this disease, caused by infected water. More than 400,000 people became ill, 4,000 were hospitalized and approximately 50 died.

One of two long-term studies found that smoking men who drank chlorinated tap water for more than 40 years faced double the risk of bladder cancer compared with smoking men who drank non-chlorinated water.

The second study found that rates for rectal cancers for both sexes escalated with duration of consumption of chlorinated water. Individuals on low-fibre diets who also drank chlorinated water for over 40 years more than doubled their risk for rectal cancer, compared with lifetime drinkers of non-chlorinated water. These are startling results.

The by-products of chlorine (organic hydrocarbons called trihalomethanes) present the biggest health worry. Known as THMs, they cause cancer in laboratory animals.

"Chlorination of drinking water that contains organic compounds leads to the formation of by-products, some of which have been shown to have mutagenic (mutation-causing) or carcinogenic effects", explain researchers led by Dr. Per Magnus, of the National Institute of Public Health in Oslo, Norway.

Of 141,077 newborns in Norway during the study period conducted by the doctors, 1.8% had one or more birth defects, the investigators determined. They report that overall risk for birth defects rose by 14% in municipalities with both chlorinated water and water with relatively high concentrations of organic material, compared with municipalities with no chlorination and low levels of organic material.

THE ESTROGEN CONNECTION

A major new worry for people drinking tap water is the high levels of estrogen-promoting substances, such as the weed-killer Atrazine. Atrazine changes the ratios of testosterone to estrogen (increasing the estrogen effect). In other words, the more Atrazine enters your body, the less Testosterone and the more Estrogen you will produce.

In layman's terms, this means that you will be weaker, with less muscles and more fat!

Atrazine is believed to have caused male frogs to grow internal female sex organs, according to a study published in the April 16, 2002 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After a five year review of industry and government data summarized in its new "hazard assessment," The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found Atrazine to be a more potent carcinogen than before. EPA had classified the weed killer as a "possible" carcinogen: now it is "likely" to cause cancer.

ANTIBIOTICS IN WATER

As if it couldn't get any worse, there are yet more undesirable substances in tap water. The U.S produces more than 50 million pounds of antibiotics each year. Experts estimate that 60% are used to treat humans. The other 40% go to farming operations. Even low levels of antibiotics fouling water supplies may help create superbugs: microorganisms that have evolved to survive an antibiotic's lethal assault. The 3 types commonly found in tap water are: penicillin, tetracycline and vancomycin. Scientists know that antibiotics given to animals (or to humans) don't get fully metabolized in the digestive system and end up being excreted. In a farming operation, that waste can make it into the runoff or groundwater, which eventually makes it into a nearby stream Public health experts already have noted the rise of infection after infection that cannot be stopped with the usual arsenal of antibiotics. And the superbugs may be causing "tens of thousands" of deaths each year, says Abigail Salyers, an expert on antibiotics.

IS BOTTLED WATER THE ANSWER?

If only life was that simple! Unfortunately with everything in life, there is always a plus and a minus. As far as tap water is concerned, the minuses seem to far outweigh the pluses.

Bottled water has grown into a $22 billion-a-year industry and is now so popular there are more than 700 brands of water produced worldwide. Promoters of tap water point to the fact that tap water standards in Europe and the United States are higher than those governing bottled water. This may be the case, but isn't bottled water supposed to be just pure water from the mountains? Those who have become heavy users of bottled water may be surprised to learn that, in the view of the World Wildlife Fund, their habit is actually harming the environment. They say 1.5 million tons of plastic are used each year to bottle water. Toxic chemicals released during the manufacture and disposal of bottles can release gases that contribute to climate change.

So as you can see every action has its own consequences. As far as muscle building and fat loss are concerned, tap water does not seem to be the most conductive in terms of getting a better body.

Why take our word for it? Try going without tap water for at least 2 weeks & switch to bottled mineral water and see if you notice a difference in the following:

• Muscle mass
• Fat levels
• Aggression
• Immune system function & wellness
• Stress levels

We think you will see a "noticeable" difference.