Josh Axe’s Heavy Metal Toothpaste

Josh Axe brings heavy metal to the stage in an unexpected way with his homemade toothpaste recipe. Unfortunately, he himself calls the mix toxic.

Josh Axe, a chiropractor who fancies himself a doctor and makes a living selling unproven natural remedies for all that ails you, has a particular distaste for heavy metal.  No, not the likes of Metalilica, Iron Maiden, or Black Sabbath.  We’re talking heavy metal in the context of lead, mercury, and, of particular importance to today’s column, aluminum.

Just like the old school conservatives who associate satanic meanings with heavy metal music, Josh Axe seems to see the devil in aluminum, the most common metal in the crust of the planet.  He calls it a toxic poison,¹ links it to Alzheimer’s,² and even demonizes common aluminum foil, tying it to dementia.³

It’s rather shocking then that “Doctor” Axe has published an article in which he recommends an aluminum-based homemade toothpaste:⁴

“As an alternative to baking soda, you can use white kaolin clay.”–Josh Axe⁴

You see, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubChem database, you can’t have kaolin without aluminum.  Don’t believe me?  Well, here:⁵

“Kaolin is the most common mineral of a group of hydrated aluminum silicates, approximately H2Al2Si2O8-H2O.”⁵ —-PubChem  (emphasis mine)

Here’s a pretty picture of kaolin.  I’ve highlighted the aluminum in yellow:

Kaolin, courtesy PubChem. Note the aluminum. When you brush your teeth with Josh Axe’s homemade remedy, this is what you put in your mouth.

 

When will the public catch on and stop buying from this man? I don’t know the answer. But you, dear reader, can help. Spread these stories. Check Axe’s product labels against his own words. I’ve provided the necessary links in the reference section below. Somewhere out there, I imagine a truly ill man or woman considering throwing out their meds and following one of Axe’s nonsensical, hypocritical wellness plans. They’ll be buying the same chemicals he claims will harm them.

Let’s not let that happen.

References
(1) Dangers of Heavy Metals and How to do a Heavy Metal Detox
Warning: Not a scholarly article. Contains false and/or misleading information.
https://draxe.com/heavy-metal-detox/
Retrieved 03 Apr 2018

(2) Five Gross Grilling Mistakes Damaging Your Health
Warning: Not a scholarly article. Contains false and/or misleading information.
https://draxe.com/grilling-mistakes/
Retrieved 03 Apr 2018

(3) Alzheimers Natural Treatment
Warning: Not a scholarly article. Contains false and/or misleading information.
https://draxe.com/alzheimers-natural-treatment/
Retrieved 03 Apr 2018

(4) Six Ways to Naturally Whiten your Teeth (Josh Axe)
Warning: Not a scholarly article. Contains false and/or misleading information.
https://draxe.com/6-ways-to-naturally-whiten-your-teeth/
Retrieved 03 Apr 2018

(5) Pubchem Kaolin Clay (CID 56841936)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/56841936
Retrieved 03 Apr 2018

Image Credits
Intro image is a parody mashup using a base image of unknown copyright status; I believe ©2018 Wallup. Used here along with a cutout of Josh Axe under the parody provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

Kaolin structure courtesy PubChem.

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PABAble Cause: A “Carcinogen” From Dr. Axe

Author’s note:  Sometime between the publication of this article (December 2015) and April 2018, Axe’s manufacturer quietly changed the formulation and relabeled the product reviewed here.  Axe has repeatedly ignored requests for comment since I wrote this piece, including blocking me on his social media pages, so I’m unable to say when the changes took place.  The screen snapshots of the product/ingredient labels stand testament to what was being sold.  I leave this article, with this correction, as a record of what took place.  In the meantime, Axe continues to sell products that contain the same ingredients he claims are harmful.  Just type his name in the search box in the upper right corner of BadScienceDebunked.com and enjoy the reading. — Mark Alsip, 04 Apr 2018, Lexington, KY

Original article follows:

When we last visited our good friend Josh Axe, he was hard at work selling antimatter-laden miracle dirt to unsuspecting customers, with the claim it would sweep toxins out of their bodies while simultaneously delivering vital nutrients. (Yes, I was confused too.)

Today I’d like to take a look at another product being peddled by “Dr.” Axe. If you read to the end, I can guarantee you’ll be outraged.  The hypocrisy could not be more blatant.

The topic of the day–and don’t be scared by the long words–is para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA).  Let’s start off with Josh Axe giving us a quick backgrounder on PABA:¹

“A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too.” ¹

(Emphasis mine.)  So PABA is an “estrogenic chemical linked to cancer”, Josh?  Hold that thought, and let’s go shopping at draxe.com.  You might want to put on some older clothing. This is going to get messy.

Here’s a nice vitamin B supplement:²

Dr. Axe Vitamin B supplement. (click/enlarge)

If you’ve read my blog before, having seen me highlight Josh’s disdain for PABA followed by a screen snapshot of a product he’s selling, you’ve probably guessed where this article is heading.  You won’t be disappointed.  Time to have a look-see at what’s actually in the supplement Axe is hawking:²

Dr. Axe’s supplement contains PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), the very same compound he just linked to cancer. (click/enlarge)

Oh, good grief…  this supplement contains PABA!  Para-aminobenzoic acid.  The cancer-causing boogeyman of Josh Axe’s nightmares: on sale now for only $39.99 on the Dr. Axe web site (you save $11.25!).

This would almost be comical if not for the fact that in the same sentence in which Axe attacked PABA, he said:

“That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too.”¹

So there you have it.  Here’s a chiropractor/”natural medicine doctor” who warns his followers to avoid putting a chemical on their bodies due to cancer concerns, sells them that very same compound in a supplement they’re supposed to ingest, and in the same breath tells them he reads product labels to avoid putting dangerous product on or in his body.

The mind boggles.

 

Image Credits
Josh Axe product and website screen snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

Axe “look at that” parody by the author.  Created and used under parody/education/public health knowledge provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”).

References
(1) 75% of Sunscreens Are Toxic: What To Do Instead
http://draxe.com/75-of-sunscreens-are-toxic-what-to-do-instead/

(2) Dr. Axe Vitamin B Complex
Organic Vitamin B Complex