Flouride - Friend or Foe?

After detoxing my deodorant, beauty regime, and diet, I thought I’d go one step further and detox my toothpaste. Apparently fluoride (found in most commercial toothpastes) has some pretty nasty side effects, and sits in between lead and arsenic in terms of toxicity. According to Fluoride Action Network, fluoride is linked to arthritis, bone fracture, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, endocrine disruption, gastrointestinal effects, hypersensitivity, kidney disease, male fertility and thyroid disease ... just to name a few! In the US, the FDA has recently required labelling of toothpaste to read ''Warning: Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional assistance or contact a Poison Control Center immediately.''

With this in mind, I set out to find a “natural” toothpaste, free from fluoride. I had heard good things about Jason Sea Fresh toothpaste and found a handy travel size at my local WholeFoods. Side note: travel size or miniature is always best when trying a new “green” product, because sometimes the product ... *ahem* ... *uh* ... *cough* ... there’s no way to put this delicately; sometimes the product just sucks.

Which leads me back to Jason Sea Fresh toothpaste. I really don’t know where to start with this one...

The toothpaste is the colour of polyfilla, which (probably because of my conditioning) put me off right from the start. It looked slightly dirty - the colour of tofu remnants left in the container after you remove the main block. But it smelled minty, so on the brush it went. I suppose that was my first mistake. The texture, similarly, left something to be desired. Instead of the usual foamy gel that cleans every nook and cranny and removes dirt and plaque, I thought I had accidentally mixed up cold cream, baking soda and tofu (yes, this image will come up again),  and put that in my mouth instead of the natural toothpaste ... but of course, I had not. That would be crazy. 

And then we get to the taste...

Peppermint essential oil, spirulina, baking soda, the bottom of a lake. It was horrible. And unlike the fresh feeling you get from commercial, fluoride-laden toothpastes (you know, the feeling that you WANT to linger?), this one stays with you like a bad rash or that annoying telemarketer who just won’t let you get off the phone. After brushing, I had a strong desire to a) scrape off my tongue, b) brush my teeth again with regular toothpaste and c) go camping and not wash my hair for a few days. Hmm ... must have been the “bottom of the lake” flavour.

I thought perhaps it would just take a little getting used to, so I tried it a couple more times, but unlike the organic apple which looks weird but tastes amazing, repeated use of this stuff garnered no better results. Despite the difference in ingredients (I can actually pronounce and understand MOST of the Jason ingredients compared to my normal Sensodyne Multi-Action ... I mean, what the heck is PEG-6 anyway?!?!??), this is not a change I am able to make. If I wanted to feel like I’d just eaten tofu, peppermint oil and algae ... well, I’d just eat tofu, peppermint oil and algae. But I won’t – that’s gross. And I’m sad to say, so is this toothpaste.

I will continue to search out a viable alternative, but until then, fluoride, you remain my friend.

GG Rating – Good for Hardcore Hippies

 

Jason Sea Fresh Ingredients: Calcium Carbonate, Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Carrageenan, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (1) , Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae Powder, Bambusa Arundinacea Stem Powder, Carum Petroselinum (Parsley) Extract , Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract, Perilla Ocymoides Seed Extract, Stevia, Rebaudiana Leaf/Stem Extract, Silica, Sodium Bicarbonate

Sensodyne Multi Action Ingredients: Aqua, Soribital, Glycerin, Hydrated Silica, Pottasium Nitrate, PEG-6, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Isopentane, Aroma, Cocamidopropyl Betain, Xanthan Gum, Chondrus Crispus (Carrageenan), Sodium Flouride, Sodium Saccharin, Sucralose, Sodium Hydroxide, Limonene, CI 42090.