If I had to say "Heavy Metals" to you, I bet the first thing you might think about is, AC/DC,
Motorhead, Megadeath or Black Sabbath.
However, as bad as these bands were (in my humble opinion), the heavy metals I will be
dealing with in this blog post are far worse for your health (believe it or not).
Due to its complexity, this blog post is probably one of the most difficult and challenging
posts I will ever compile.
As promised though, I will endeavour to keep it simple and easy to understand, especially
for all our "Heavy Metal" fans out there (only kidding).
So where do we start with this one?
We all know that certain metals are vital to our survival and well being.
These are called "Trace Elements" and perform many important functions:
- Chromium Metabolic Function
- Iron Oxygen Transport
- Copper Red Blood Cell Function
- Selenium Anti-Oxidant
- Zinc Immune Support
- Iodine Thyroid Hormone
- Cobalt Neurotransmitter
These elements are present within the body in very small amounts, typically 0.1% by volume.
They cannot be synthesised by the body, therefore must be consumed through our diets.
Although these are the good guys, you can quickly turn a healthy Trace Element into a very
toxic situation with over supplementation.
Lets look at what a deficiency in these elements can do to the body:
- Chromium Weight Loss, Confusion, Impaired Co-Ordination
- Iron Headaches, Fatigue, Shortness of Breath, Pale Skin
- Copper Weak & Brittle Bones, Memory/Learning Problems, Vision Loss
- Selenium Weakened Immune System, Overactive/Underactive Thyroid
- Zinc Wounds that will not heal, Diarrhoea, Loss of Appetite
- Iodine Swelling of Thyroid Glands, Weight Gain, Dry Skin
- Cobalt Dizziness, Fatigue, Loss of Appetite, Paleness
There are approximately 21 essential trace elements within the body, with some being
classified as "Nutritionally Essential" (see above) while other, less well known ones are
classed as "Probably Essential".
HEAVY METALS:
Now lets take a look at the bad guys.
Although, again, these are naturally occurring elements, they are much higher in atomic
weight and density. At least 5 times greater than that of water.
Your body is perfectly equipped to deal with detoxification of heavy metals and other
contaminants, however, if there is a chronic overloading of the system, things will
quickly start to go wrong.
This blog post looks at such scenarios and explains what you can do to minimise this
risk then apply solutions to detoxify and hence rid your body of said heavy metals.
As they are widely used in industrial, chemical, agricultural, domestic, medical and
military applications, they are everywhere. You cannot escape them.
However, you can minimise your exposure and keep yourself free from toxic ill health.
We are going to deal with the 5 most common, worst offenders, BUT, I am also
going to include Fluoride, so were actually making it 6 in total.
There is a perfectly valid reason for this, and just before we head to the metals
themselves, let me explain why:
FLOURIDE:
Although not a Heavy Metal, this beast is responsible for pulling these elements out of
your pipes, cookware, seafood, exhaust fumes, water and industrial fumes, making them
far easier to accumulate in your body.
I have dealt with this fully in my previous blog " Hydration, electrolytes and water
filtration", so a quick recap before we progress:
- Natural Fluoride is called Calcium Fluoride
- Synthetic Fluoride is called Sodium Fluoride
It is NOT Natural Fluoride which is being used to fluoridate your drinking water.
Under laboratory testing, natural fluoride has no impact or attraction to heavy metals.
However, Synthetic Fluoride (Sodium Fluoride) has been found to hold a strong affinity
with heavy metals, especially lead and mercury.
This chemical is a by-product from the aluminium and fertiliser industries and is sold to
the water companies to be added to our domestic water supply.
.jpg)
This in turn means, the very synthetic fluoride being utilised for its health benefits in our
drinking water, is accelerating and increasing our heavy metal exposure.
You should try and eliminate exposure to synthetic fluoride wherever and whenever
possible.
ALUMINIUM:
Aluminium is one of the most abundant metals on earth, and is practically everywhere.
As with most things, the key is not to panic about things which can be harmful to us,
alternatively, educate yourselves on how best to eliminate or reduce your exposure.
This is no different with Aluminium.
SOURCES:
Because it is so abundant, lets look at its most common exposure sources:
- Vaccines
- Anti-Perspirants
- Cookware
- Aluminium Foil
- Pancake Mixes
- Food Additives
- Preservatives
- Cooking Dough
- Toothpastes
This list is by no means exhaustive, therefore it is always important to check prior to
buying, eating and using.
There are some very simple solutions to both removing & reducing your exposure to
this common, but very dangerous heavy metal:
- Replace aluminium infused cookware with stainless steel, earthenware, glass,
copper or Pyrex substitutes.
- Use deodorants instead of anti-perspirants.
- Consider vaccine requirements.
- Read food labelling carefully before buying.
- Replace aluminium foil with alternative substitutes i.e. greaseproof paper.
- Read household cleaning product labels thoroughly prior to buying.
- Stop cooking your food in aluminium cartons
Whenever aluminium is heated up in ovens, as in cooking ready made meals, this
easily breaks down, then becomes a part of your meal.
The very same thing happens with plastics when you microwave your ready made
supermarket meal in a plastic dish.
Also consider personal hygiene.
Anti-Perspirants work by blocking the pores, preventing you from actually sweating.
Anything placed on the skin, WILL be absorbed into the body, which is not ideal
when you consider the ingredients contained within anti-perspirants.
On the other hand, you can now buy some very health friendly, aluminium, paraben
free deodorants which work in the opposite way.
Some people don't like the fact that deodorants actually let you sweat, however,
they work by masking the smell of sweat using completely natural ingredients.
My personal favourite is the Bull Dog range.
HEALTH RISKS:
The sheer volume of evidence against the use of aluminium in applications as stated
above is both overwhelming & irrefutable.
The cat is definitely out of the bag with regards to the health risks associated with
heavy metals, and aluminium is one of the worst offenders:
- Alzheimer's
- Parkinson's disease
- Autism
- Cancers
- Impaired Kidney and Liver Function
- Chronic Fatigue
- Memory Loss
- Brain Fog
- Depression
MERCURY:
Yet another heavy metal very abundant in all walks of life. Mercury toxicity is very
common, and causes an alarming amount of chronic ill health among the general
populations.
SOURCES:
- Certain types of fish: Shark, Swordfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Blue Fish, Grouper
- Amalgam Fillings
- Organic mercury is converted by bacteria in the water into methylmercury
- Naturally present in coal, mercury is released into the air when it is burned
- Inorganic Mercury Compounds: Skin lightening creams and some medicines
- Mercury is also produced as a waste product in various industrial processes
- Ethyl mercury: mainly found in vaccines.
Although there is very little we can do about the air we breath and the mercury being
released into the atmosphere through industrial practices, there are other things we
can do to remove and reduce our exposure to this heavy metal.
HEALTH RISKS:
Very similar to Aluminium, there is now a staggering amount of independently peer
reviewed evidence from trials & research, telling us there are significant dangers
to health and well being from long term, chronic exposure to Mercury.
Some of the most common, proven health risks:
- Neurological Effects: Cognitive, memory loss, attention & fine motor skills.
- Cardiovascular Effects: cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks etc
- Kidney Damage: Affecting their filtration and excretion functions.
- Respiratory Effects: Lung inflammation and bronchitis.
- Reproductive and Developmental Effects: Worse during pregnancy.
ARSENIC:
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in the earth's crust, however, it can
also be released into the environment via a host of human activities.
These include mining, industrial processes and certain pesticides/herbicides.
Unless your in suicide mode, it is very difficult to be exposed to acute poisoning
of Arsenic, and this blog post is only concerned with long term, chronic exposures.
SOURCES:
- Drinking Water: Found mainly in certain groundwaters
- Pesticides/Herbicides: Following crop sprayings
- Foods: Mainly seafood and rice
- Industrial Processes: Via waste and emissions
HEALTH RISKS:
Again, these are the most proven risks of chronic, long-term exposure to Arsenic,
and not acute circumstances.
Arsenic is probably the lesser talked about heavy metal, however, its levels in our
environment don't seem to be falling, and so, needs to be taken just as seriously:
- Skin Issues: This condition is known as "arsenicosis"
- Cancer Risk: Particularly skin, lung, and bladder cancers
- Cardiovascular Effects: Increased risk of heart attacks & strokes
- Neurological Effects: Cognitive deficits and developmental issues
- Respiratory Effects: Coughing, shortness of breath, and lung irritation
- Gastrointestinal Effects: Abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and digestive disturbances
DETOXIFICATION & HOW TO DO IT:
Now we know what they are and how they can harm us, how we do stop this from
happening, and more importantly, how do we make sure we are protected in the
long term?
There is a very simple strategy for both detoxification and the implementation of
long lasting/permanent solutions.
- REMOVE
- REDUCE
- SUBSTITUE
- CONTROL
- CHELATION & BINDING
Lets take each on individually and in chronological order:
REMOVE:
It is obvious to everyone and all, that there is no point trying to detoxify the body
of toxins & poisons if the method of exposure is not stopped and prevented.
Its like trying to empty the bath with the taps still running on full.
Although there is some obvious overlap with the SUBSTITUTION element of this
section, there are some very quick wins in the REMOVAL department.
The key to this, is first identify the practices, behaviours & applications you
utilise in your daily routine that involve toxins and your ease of exposure to
said poisons.
There will be some you can immediately identify and be able to remove their
risk to you by completely eliminating from your lifestyle & daily routine.
Some examples my include:
- Household cleaners
- Cosmetics
- Non stick pans
- Certain tinned fish
- Lead based paints
- Fluoride toothpaste
- Certain deodorants
Don't start panicking please, we will be replacing these much loved, and
seemingly irreplaceable items in the SUBSTITUION section.
REDUCE:
Next on the list are the heavy metals we cannot, for whatever reason, totally
eliminate from our lifestyles and daily routines.
If we cant eliminate them, we do the next best thing and reduce our exposure
to them to as low as practicable.
Food intake is a classic example, where although you cannot totally eliminate
toxins & heavy metals from your food, you can reduce your exposure by buying
organic as much as you can.
We can also reduce toxins in our food by eating less processed foods,
especially ones laden with bad fats and sugar.
We can also buy less seafood known to contain heavy metals such as king
mackerel, shark, swordfish and king tuna.
Another excellent way to reduce heavy metal exposure is via quality water
filtration. Although filtering water wont remove 100% of toxins & heavy metals,
some filters will get as high as 99.9% removal.
Being in built up areas with lots of traffic will certainly increase your exposure
to heavy metals, such as lead and mercury. An obvious way to reduce this is
to limit the amount of time you spend in these areas.
SUBSTITUTE:
Now we have eliminated and reduced the heavy metal exposure to as low a
level as possible. We surely have some replacement issues remaining for
all the things we have taken away?
We obviously cant totally remove things like toothpaste, cosmetics,
deodorants etc without putting something in their place.
Although we will be dealing with other toxins such as micro plastics and
herbicides/pesticides in further blog posts, right now, we are specifically
focussing on heavy metals.
This is all about research, and looking for products which are free of ALL toxins,
are not tested on animals and are made of completely natural products.
There are lots of brands on the market which meet this criteria, and more
becoming available all the time.
Just remember to always go as natural, clean and organic as possible.
You will be amazed at how much poison and toxin you can remove from
your everyday products, but more importantly, the significant improvement
this simple act will make to both your physical and mental wellbeing.
CONTROL:
Lastly, we look at other control measures we can implement and embed into
our lifestyles and daily routines which will even further reduce our exposure
to heavy metals.
Yes, we can go even further.
These are some further things you can do to reduce your heavy metal
exposure as low as practicably possible:
- Check your house for lead pipework and replace with alternatives.
- Make up a list of heavy metal free cosmetics and cleaning products
in case of unavailability of your favourite brands.
- Limit the canned foods you buy and try to purchase fresh food instead.
- Always check cookware when buying new items.
- Keep up with regular exercise and adequate sweating.
- Continue to educate yourself: you never stop learning.
CHELATION & BINDING:
Basically, this is the removal of heavy metals from your body using food and
supplements: however, lets try and stay as natural as we can?!
So what is chelation & binding?
Due to the state of the world we live in today, we know we have heavy metals
in our bodies to some degree or other. Its just a fact we need to come to terms
with and deal with it.
Our bodies have their own natural detox pathways, which include the liver,
kidneys, skin, lungs and digestive/lymphatic systems.
The process of natural detoxification is then underpinned and completed by the
excretion of sweat, urine, faeces and breath.
The body will do this very effectively and efficiently on its own under normal
circumstances. However, when your body is subjected to long term chronic
heavy metal exposure, especially if this exposure if from multiple heavy metals
simultaneously, the system can become overwhelmed and even fail.
Detoxification through chelation & binding is a method of naturally helping the
bodies own system to breakdown, eliminate and eject heavy metals.
NOTE:
This process will be made significantly more effective if the bodies detox
pathways are supported by a healthy diet, exercise, stress management and
maintaining a healthy body weight.
Chelation & Binding is a process where you first "draw out" the heavy metals
into your bloodstream. You therefore require natural foods in your system which
have an affinity to said heavy metals and are able to attract them and draw them
from places within your body, then into the blood stream.
If this process is not completed and we fail to "bind" the heavy metals, then they
will not be excreted via the normal means i.e. urine, faeces etc. These heavy
metals, now pulled from their hiding place, will simply utilise our blood to
circulate the body and find somewhere else to settle and do their damage.
It is therefore vital that we effectively "bind" the now free heavy metals to
something so they can be effectively ejected from the body.
So what are the best foods and lets get started:
- Cilantro (Coriander): One of the best chelators in the business.
- Humic & Fulvic Acid: Beetroots, radishes, turnips, carrots, parsnips.
- Fruit Pectin: Pears, apples, lemons, limes, plums, gooseberries,
and oranges and other citrus fruits.
- Chlorella and Spirulina: Best available in supplement form.
- Chelating Herbs: Milk thistle and dandelion root.
- Sulfur-Rich Foods: Onions, garlic and cruciferous vegetables.
- Zeolite Clay and Activated Charcoal: Although these can be
extremely effective at binding heavy metals, they do not
discriminate i.e. they will also draw out other nutrients vital to
good health such as vitamins, minerals and other trace elements.
Taking these supplements are therefore best taken early morning,
on an empty stomach.
BLOG POST SUMMARY:
Yes, heavy metals are everywhere it seems, however, by following some
very easy and simple steps, we can significantly reduce our exposure
and assist our bodies to safely and gently remove these toxins from
our bodies.
