Brominated Vegetable Oil

Put down that Mountain Dew! Drinking Mountain Dew and other various sodas could be the hidden key to your infertility!

Drinks such as Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple, and even Gatorade all have one ingredient in common: Brominated Vegetable Oil. In fact, any citrus flavoured thirst quenching drink may contain this synthetic chemical.

Also used as a flame retardant, Brominated Vegetable Oil has been banned for consumption in approximately 100 countries. Bromine has been added to vegetable oil since 1931 to help citrus flavours stay suspended in drinks. However, over time, this chemical accumulates in the body – including in breast milk – which can cause problems with neurological development, fertility, puberty, and thyroid hormones. Brominated Vegetable Oil remains in fat tissues for long periods of time and displaces iodine, which can depress thyroid function, leading to depression, memory loss, hallucinations, violent tendencies, psychosis, seizures, ataxia, confusion, vision impairment, slurred speech, loss of muscle co-ordination, and headaches.

Several studies performed on rats throughout the 1970’s showed that bromine can reduce reproductive rates, heighten behavioural problems, cause heart lesions, cause testicular damage, and stunt growth.

If you frequently drink beverages that contain Brominated Vegetable Oil, it may be best to cut them out of your diet and consider taking antioxidants instead, including Omegas 3, 6 and 9, or vitamins A, C, D, E.