With a Grain of Salt (You Can't Believe Everything You Hear or
Read)
© LeAnn R. Ralph 2006
670 words
I always wonder if the 'experts' who appear on the morning shows
(The Today Show; Good Morning America; CBS Morning Show) have
any idea that they frequently sound stupid to perhaps half the
people who are listening to them.
Consider the other morning, for example. According to one
'expert,' dentists all over the country are extremely worried
because people are drinking so much bottled water, and,
therefore, are not getting enough fluoride from drinking tap
water.
"It is easy to drink fluoridated tap water," the expert said.
"Everyone can just turn on their tap and drink fluoridated
water."
Really?
Everyone?
What about those people who drink well water and are not hooked
into a municipal water system that fluoridates the water supply?
I don't know about people who live out in the country in other
parts of the United States, but around here in Wisconsin, we do
not install systems to fluoridate our well water. Sometimes
people will give fluoride tablets to their children to prevent
tooth decay, and the school districts will also give fluoride
tablets to rural children, but from what I've read, fluoride
tablets might not be such a good idea, either. I have read that
fluoride can depress thyroid activity and that doctors used
fluoride up until the 1950s to treat thyroid conditions.
Whether the claims about the dangers of fluoride are true or
not, I cannot say for certain because I am not a research
scientist who has investigated fluoride. What I can say for
certain is that if you do a Google search for "fluoride" and
"thyroid" more than 300,000 references come up. And when you
start to read through the web page descriptions, you see that
many of the websites are questioning the safety and efficacy of
using fluoride either by tablet or in the drinking water.
In regard to the issue of drinking tap water for the fluoride,
the expert on television went on to say that many people are
afraid to drink their tap water because of contaminants.
Really?
Isn't that why municipalities go to great pains to test their
water? To make that sure the water is free from contaminants?
Isn't that why there are so many regulations concerning the
testing done on municipal water to make sure that it is safe to
drink? Isn't that why municipal water systems have filters and
other devices and procedures to make sure the contaminants are
removed?
Be that as it may, the expert hastened to assure everyone that
the bottled water companies were coming to the rescue and would
soon sell BOTTLED WATER THAT CONTAINS FLUORIDE.
Ah-hah!
Now we come to the real crux of the matter.
It isn't that dentists fear for our teeth and general dental
health because so many people drink unfluoridated bottled water.
It isn't that municipal water systems contain contaminants.
It's that the bottled water companies
want to create a market
to sell more bottled water.So now I wonder, how long did it take the publicist (hired by
the bottled water companies, of course) to talk the producers of
the morning news show into airing the segment?
It all makes me rather sick to my stomach.No one cares about the
health of our teeth. It's just that the bottled water companies
want to sell more bottled water.
Then again, it serves as an excellent reminder.
When I see or hear something on television, or read about it in
a newspaper or magazine, I must always ask myself -- who'se
agenda is this?
And once I figure out who stands to profit by a certain train of
thought or a certain opinion or a certain piece of "news" -- I
am just that much closer to the truth.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Author of the books: - Christmas
in Dairyland,
- Give Me a Home
Where the Dairy Cows Roam,
- Cream
of the Crop and
- Preserve
Your Family History
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