There exist two forms of diatomite in use today: food-grade (unheated/unadulterated) and industrial grade (heated). Food-grade diatomaceous earth is naturally dried (termed ‘uncalcined’) and has different properties and structure than industrial-grade diatomite. The heating of the diatomaceous earth for industrial use changes the structure from amorphous (unstructured, free-flowing) characteristics to a crystallized, structured form (calcined).

The overwhelming majority of diatomaceous earth is used in industrial applications, such as:

• Insecticide and commercial pesticide
• Filtration medium in water systems, swimming pools, and food
• Mild abrasive use in hygiene products such as toothpaste and facial washes
• Absorbent use such as in toxic liquid spills, cat litter, and ethylene gas
• Preservative...

By Andreas Toupadakis, Ph.D.

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Following a career in industrial and classified-government positions, former nuclear scientist (and current lecturer for U.C. Davis Department of Chemistry) Andreas Toupadakis Ph.D. quit the nuclear labs in January 2000, realizing that government scientific programs are only interested in developing systems of war, not peace.

This article is adapted from a speech delivered by Dr. Toupadakis in the months following his resignation, at the “World Conference Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs” at Waseda University in Tokyo. Almost 15 years on, Dr. Toupadakis’ message of sanity and humanity is (unfortunately) still as important today as it was then.

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine made waves through the mainstream media. In a stunning meta-analysis of the relationship between dietary fats and heart disease that included over 600,000 people, the researchers came to the following conclusion:

“Current evidence does not clearly support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of total saturated fats.”

This conclusion flies in direct contrast to the USDA dietary guidelines, which recommend polyunsaturated fats (think corn and soybean oils) as healthy, and saturated fats as unhealthy (think animal fat and coconut oil) in terms of cardiovascular health.