The first is from David Vaughan (DAKLINIK@aol.com) who is one of the top nutritionists in Seattle and the second is from Andreas Schuld (brou@istar.ca), a well-known expert on fluoride.

David Vaughan:

The worst offender of manganese in baby food, however, is baby food with turkey meat. It has a whopping 30mg of Mn in 100gms.

Next worst is creamed peaches, which has 15.68mg.

I have been screaming about MN/soy as a problem for years. So little valid research has been done that it is a tough argument to make. One ends up talking about such archaic problems as "Manganic Madness" and the like. A piece of research was done showing high MN in hair of violent and criminally insane prisoners.

In the Northwest part of Washington State there is a huge problem with MN in the well water. EVERYONE who drinks well water from that region has or will have very serious health problems.

There are no known chelators specific to MN Filtering it from water is very expensive and problematic. Because it is the main fuel for the mitochondria this MN overload is a very sticky problem. My view is that it is the higher valence MN (biounavailable) that causes the body to shunt the normal use of bioavailable MN thus causing a toxic buildup for which we have no solution (yet). Big problem.

Fluoride/Manganese Association

Andrease Schuld had some excellent comments as to the importance of the manganese as relates to its interaction with fluoride.

First of all, as the soy formula article from last week states, manganese levels in soy formula are 200 times that of breast milk.

Add to that, the fact that fluoride can increase manganese absorption, and you now have an even more lopsided and dangerous situation. The soy formula has massive manganese levels and the fluoridated water that may be used to reconstitute the powder version or concentrate version of the soy formula causes even greater manganese absorption in the infant.

As Andreas points out, the scientific literature clearly shows that increased manganese levels can cause several problems, such as replacing magnesium in many enzymes that the body makes.

Be sure to vist Andreas's website at http://www.bruha.com/fluoride.

Additional comments from Roger Masters on manganese and fluoride as they relate to soy formula.

The problem is worse because MANGANESE at excessive levels downregulates serotonin and dopamine -- AND high levels of manganese are often found in learning disabled or violent individuals. (If you want, I'll get you the cites, etc.) Secondly, fluoride compounds increase erythrocyte permeab ility to divalent cations and other elements, and this probably also occurs in the brain (see the work of Westendorf, translated so it can now be downloaded from my web site: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmasters/ahabs.htm

Incidentally, have you ever found a link between lead and asthma? I have some data showing it, but want to be cautious about moving ahead. (I'm struck by how many physicians cannot understand that toxins (esp.neurotoxins) can effect behavior and health!

I've heard the argument that it is peculiar logic given the speed of prescribing Ritalin for ADHD to ignore the role of lead in some cases of ADHD. Neurologists who will prescribe a compound to enhance dopaminergic function won't imagine that the problem might be a toxin that down-regulates dopamine function. Medication seems quicker than chelation.

Andreas Schuld:

There are many interactions between fluoride and manganese, especially as it relates to signal transduction in disease. However, as this requires some understanding of pathways etc., it might be too complex to get into at this point. This is, again, particularly important as it relates to thyroid hormone function.

Kanwar, Singh et al (1981) exposed rats to various fluoride levels in drinking water and found that fluoride caused a significant fall of manganese levels in the liver and kidney, while it increased manganese levels in bone.

Kanwar KC, Singh M - "Zinc, copper and manganese levels in various tissues following fluoride administration" Experientia 37(12):1328-9 (1981)]

also in:

Singh M, Kanwar KC - "Effect of fluoride on copper, manganese and zinc in bone and kidney" Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 26(3):428-31 (1981)

When rats were fed green and black tea extracts (high in Fluoride and Aluminum), it was found that the manganese and copper absorption was increased, while zinc, calcium and iron absorption was decreased. In all tea extracts used, the manganese absorption was increased, resulting in increased manganese in the tibia.

[Zeyuan D, Bingying T, Xiaolin L, Jinming H, Yifeng C - "Effect of green tea and black tea on the metabolisms of mineral elements in old rats." Biol Trace Elem Res 65(1):75-86 (1998)]

This is quite important, as tea has very high levels of fluoride, aluminum and manganese. The content of manganese was 1440 micrograms/g in the case of oolong tea, 670 micrograms/g in green tea, and 535 micrograms/g in black tea.

[Matsushima F, Meshitsuka S, Nose T - "Contents of aluminum and manganese in tea leaves and tea infusions" Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi 48(4):864-72 (1993)]

Manganese absorption also depends a great deal on zinc.

When zinc deficient, manganese levels in brain are altered.

[Wallwork JC, Milne DB, Sims RL, Sandstead HH - "Severe zinc deficiency: effects on the distribution of nine elements (potassium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese) in regions of the rat brain" J Nutr 113(10):1895-905 (1983)]

Fluorides, of course, cause zinc deficiency. (see PFPC Newsletter #5: http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/pfpc__5.html)

This is because fluorides act as TSH (thyroid-stimulating-hormone, thyrotropin) analogue in the organism. Zinc, selenium and iodine are under external TSH control.

It has also been shown that Mn2+ ions stimulated adenyl cyclase (AC) activation by aluminum fluoride in human embryonic kidney cells.

[Sanchez-Yague J, Rodriguez MC, Llanillo M, Hernandez-Hernandez A - "The effect of GTP on the aluminum fluoride- and forskolin-activated adenylyl cyclase from human embryonic kidney 293 cells" Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 109(2-3):359-69 (1994)]

There is much more evidence that fluoride ions interact with manganese (i.e. Bumgarner et al, 1989; Clarke, 1985; Hamman et al; 1993; Ozaki et al, 1993; etc.)

[Bumgarner JR, Ramkumar V, Stiles GL- "Altered thyroid status regulates the adipocyte A1 adenosine receptor-adenylate cyclase system." Life Sci 44(22):1705-12 (1989)]

[Clark OH, Gerend PL - "Thyrotropin regulation of adenylate cyclase activity in human thyroid neoplasms" Surgery 97(5):539-46 (1985)]

[Hamman S, Atta M, Ehrenberg A, Wilkins P, Dalton H, Beguin C, Fontecave M - "19F NMR study of the interaction of fluoride ion withribonucleotide reductase and methane monooxygenase" Biochem Biophys Res Commun 195(2):594-9 (1993)]

[Ozaki Y, Satoh K, Yatomi Y, Kume S - "Low concentrations of sodium fluoride inhibit Ca2+ influx induced by receptor-mediated platelet activation" Biochim Biophys Acta 1147(1):27-34 (1993)]

As manganese resembles magnesium it may replace it in many enzymes. Many G proteins require magnesium as a co-factor, and are thus altered.

Related Articles:

Soy Index

Bill Sardi's Original Pro Soy Editorial

Response To Those Who Believe Soy Is Healthy

Green Tea, Fluoride, and the Thyroid