Aluminum is found almost everywhere around us – in food, medicines, drinking water, kitchen utensils and various everyday products. But what happens when this metal accumulates in the body? Research on aluminum in brain tissue has raised questions about the metal’s importance in inflammation, nerve cell damage and neurological diseases.
Where is aluminum found?
Aluminum is the most common metal on earth, but unlike, for example, magnesium, zinc and iron, it has no known biologically necessary function in the human body.
Since the industrial production of aluminum took off in the late 19th century, human exposure has increased dramatically. Today, aluminum is found in everything from food and packaging to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals such as vaccines.
Associate Professor Sture Blomberg has compiled research on the biological effects of aluminum in two extensive articles. He highlights in particular how aluminum can accumulate in nervous tissue and affect brain function through several different mechanisms of damage. [1, 2]
FACTBOX STURE BLOMBERG
Associate Professor Sture Blomberg
- Swedish licensed physician, associate professor and former chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
- Specialist in anesthesia and intensive care
- PhD candidate on research into severe coronary artery disease.
- Visiting researcher at UCLA in Los Angeles 1992–1994.
- Volunteer doctor within Operation Smile since 2013.
- Engaged in integrative medicine, nutrition, and research on environmental exposure and health.
Aluminum can accumulate in the brain
When we ingest aluminum through food, only a small portion is absorbed through the intestine. Some is excreted through the kidneys, but aluminum that is absorbed can also be distributed to the body’s tissues.
The nervous system is particularly interesting because many nerve cells remain throughout life.
In the studies Blomberg refers to, researchers have examined brain tissue from deceased people with Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) and autism. In several of the studies, significantly higher aluminum levels were measured than in comparison brain tissue.
In a study with tissue samples from different diagnostic groups, average elevated aluminum levels were reported in:
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105% in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
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195% in familial Alzheimer’s disease.
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234% in autism.
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237% in multiple sclerosis.
The results are an important starting point for Blomberg’s reasoning about aluminum as a contributing factor in neurological diseases. [2]
How can aluminum damage the nervous system?
Blomberg describes several biological processes in which aluminum can affect the brain’s sensitive environment.
1. Inflammation and the blood-brain barrier
The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier, a system of tightly packed cells that regulates which substances are allowed to pass from the blood to the brain tissue.
Aluminum can affect the proteins that hold this barrier together. When the barrier function changes, permeability can increase.
Aluminum can also activate inflammatory signaling pathways and contribute to oxidative stress – a condition in which reactive oxygen species damage cell structures.
2. The transport system of nerve cells is affected
Inside the nerve cells there is an advanced transport system that moves nutrients, proteins and other important substances.
The protein tau helps stabilize this system.
Blomberg describes how aluminum can contribute to changes in the tau protein, called hyperphosphorylation. When tau loses its normal function, the nerve cell’s transport system can be damaged and form the tangle-like structures that are characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases.
3. Damage to the insulation of nerve fibers
Many nerve fibers are surrounded by myelin, a fatty insulating layer that allows nerve signals to travel quickly.
Oxidative stress can damage the fats in myelin through lipid peroxidation. This means that fat molecules break down and lose their normal properties.
Blomberg highlights this mechanism in connection with multiple sclerosis, where damage to the myelin is a central characteristic.
4. Amyloid-beta and Alzheimer’s disease
Amyloid-beta is a protein fragment that can accumulate in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
Blomberg describes research where aluminum affects both the formation and breakdown of amyloid-beta. In experimental models, aluminum has been linked to increased production of amyloid-beta and changes in how the protein forms complexes.
He highlights this as an important part of the hypothesis that aluminum can enhance the processes that damage nerve cells in Alzheimer’s disease.
Aluminum and Parkinson’s disease
Another mechanism concerns the brain’s dopamine-producing nerve cells.
In Parkinson’s disease, nerve cells in an area called the substantia nigra are damaged. These cells normally contain neuromelanin, a dark pigment that can bind iron and other substances.
Blomberg describes research on how aluminum can affect the formation of neuromelanin and thereby impair the protection of nerve cells against oxidative stress.
This provides another possible explanation for how aluminum accumulation could contribute to nerve cell damage. [1]
Silicon-rich water – a way to increase aluminum excretion
A particularly interesting part of Blomberg’s review concerns silicon, which occurs naturally in mineral water, among other things.
Silicon in the form of orthosilicic acid can interact with aluminum and affect how it is handled in the body.
In a study of people with multiple sclerosis, urinary aluminum excretion increased approximately 2.6-fold after ingestion of silica-rich mineral water.
Studies on people with Alzheimer’s disease have also examined this effect.
Blomberg also highlights population studies where the content of aluminum and silicon in drinking water has been compared with the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
Overall, the research supports the idea that silica-rich water can affect the body’s excretion of aluminum, making orthosilicic acid an interesting area for further research into aluminum metabolism and brain health. [1–4]
What can we do to reduce our aluminum load?
Since aluminum is present in many parts of our everyday lives, there is reason to be aware of how we are exposed.
This includes paying attention to aluminum in foods, certain additives, kitchen utensils and other products that come into contact with food and drink.
At the same time, research on silicon sheds light on the body’s natural excretion pathways and how different substances can interact.
The central message is that it is not only what we put in our bodies that matters, but also how substances are absorbed, transported, stored and excreted from the body.
Summary
Aluminum is a metal with no known essential function in the human body. Research has shown that high levels of aluminum can damage cells through, among other things, inflammation, oxidative stress, and effects on nerve cell proteins.
Associate Professor Sture Blomberg highlights the possible importance of aluminum for several neurological diseases and particularly emphasizes its accumulation in brain tissue.
Research on silicon-rich water also adds an interesting perspective: that the body’s excretion of aluminum can be affected by chemical interaction with orthosilicic acid.
Knowledge about the biological effects of aluminum shows why it is valuable to understand our environmental exposure and the body’s ability to handle substances that lack a natural function in our biology.
Read more
The article is mainly based on two research reviews by Associate Professor Sture Blomberg:
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Blomberg, Sture (2026). Aluminum’s various damage mechanisms. Faith, knowledge & science. March 4, 2026.
https://trovetandeochvetenskap.se/aluminiums-olika-skademekanismer/ -
Blomberg, Sture (2025). Is aluminum harmful to the brain? Faith, knowledge & science. November 28, 2025.
https://trovetandeochvetenskap.se/ar-aluminium-skadligt-for-hjarnan/
For those who want to delve deeper into the research, Sture Blomberg’s two original articles are particularly recommended, which contain a comprehensive review of studies, biological mechanisms and scientific references, as well as information about silica-rich water.
Scientific studies
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Davenward, S. et al. (2013). Silicon-rich mineral water as a non-invasive test of the ‘aluminum hypothesis’ in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 33(2), 423–430.
https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-2012-121231 -
Jones, K. et al. (2017). Urinary Excretion of Aluminum and Silicon in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. EBioMedicine, 26, 60–67.
