Heavy metal poisoning

What is heavy metal poisoning?

Heavy metal removal principles

Foods and remedies to remove toxic metals

Warning re pharmaceutical or synthetic chelates

References

What is heavy metal poisoning (toxicity)?

Every living organism needs a wide range of elements for life and health. Some are only needed in the most minute quantities. For example, a teaspoon of selenium is sufficient for good health for the average human's entire life. In larger quantities, selenium becomes toxic. For cadmium, even smaller quantities are required. There are a few elements that seem to be toxic in any quantity. For most people, the following heavy metals are a problem:

• Arsenic. The most common symptom of arsenic toxicity is over or under pigmentation. Usually this appears as dark spots or light spots on your torso. Another symptom is the thickening of the skin on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, then developing into keratosis.
• Cadmium. A classic symptom of cadmium toxicity is a yellow skin. A yellowing skin is normally caused by jaundice, but if it is not jaundice the next cause to look for is cadmium. Cadmium is found in cans of spray paints, cadmium-coated rust-proof nails, tobacco and in limited quantities in shellfish.
• Lead. Found in old generation paints, contaminated water supplies with old lead-soldered pipes, lead polluted soils and large fish from polluted waters. Lead is also used as a vaccine adjuvant. One of the classic symptoms of lead poisoning is a lead line - a blue colouration along the gums in the mouth.
• Mercury is one of the main causes of autism. Mercury is widely used as a vaccine adjuvant, and in the form of Thiomersal (Thimerosal), an organomercury compound used as a preservative, antiseptic and antifungal agent. Mercury was used in old-fashioned tooth fillings. It can accumulate from eating large fish from polluted waters. Classic symptoms of mercury poisoning include a greying of the skin, and a red to pink colour on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
• Plutonium, uranium and other radioactive elements.

Other elements sometimes found in the body to a toxic excess include:

• Aluminium.
• Antimony.
• Barium.
• Beryllium.
• Bismuth.
• Chromium.
• Copper in an inorganic, cuprous form.
• Nickel.
• Thalium.
• Tin (small quantities of tin are essential for good health and it is increasingly deficient in most people).
• Uranium and most radioactive metals.

Heavy metal poisoning can come from many sources. The smelting of metal ores is a common source. Electroplating is the primary source of chromium and cadmium. Through precipitation of their compounds or by ion exchange into the soil and ocean floor, heavy metal pollutants can localise and lay dormant. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals do not decay.

Heavy metal removal principles

You can remove these toxic minerals from your body, and protect against taking them up by:

• Chelation. Certain foods, drinks, herbs and clays actively bind to a range of minerals. They are then excreted or washed away in the bath water. A list of natural chelation agents is provided below. Manufactured pills containing amino acid and other chelates can also be purchased, but I prefer the natural agents.
• Saturation. If you have a sufficient and wide range of minerals in your diet your cells become saturated with the variety of minerals they need. Toxic minerals are then likely to be excreted rather than taken up. Some minerals are also antagonistic to each other, and a high level of one prevents the uptake of another. Example: iodine saturation prevents the uptake of radioactive iodine pollution, and the absorption of other halogens (chlorine, bromine, fluorine). See fluoride removal.
• Antioxidants. A diet high in antioxidant nutrients and enzymes protects you from toxic minerals.

Foods and remedies to remove toxic metals

• Boron binds to a variety of heavy metals in your body, which are then excreted in the urine. Borax is the form in which I recommend you supplement boron.
• Zinc, calcium and iron sufficiency protects you from the accumulation of several potentially harmful elements.
• Selenium. The best way to get selenium sufficiency is to eat one or at the most two Brazil nuts per day. Consuming larger quantities of Brazil nuts can cause selenium toxidity and expose you to accumulation of radioactive elements such as thorium and barium.
• Clay.
• Coriander.
• Distilled water or ultra-pure water can strip a variety of elements and other compounds from the body, including heavy and toxic metals. When drinking distilled water to leach away heavy metals, it is important to replace the good minerals which you will also lose each day, like zinc, magnesium, iron, calcium and even copper. This is not an ongoing way to drink for the rest of your life, rather distilled water should be used for a limited period of up to many months as part of a detoxification program.
• Iodine, primarily for radioactive elements.
• Activated charcoal.
• Kombucha.
• Seaweed.
• Get sufficient sunlight, both on your skin and in your eyes. Dawn is the most important sunlight to see every day that you can. Morning sunlight, from dawn until 10am, is the most beneficial. Get it in your eyes (by not wearing sunglasses and being outside), and on your skin if you possibly can, even in winter. Sunlight affects your gut biome, digestive system, and the entire hormonal system. Getting sufficient sunlight greatly assists your ability to excrete heavy metals.
• Pectin. Apples are a rich source of pectin, and you can purchase pectin as a powder, often used as a setting agent when making jam. Other sources of pectin include sunflower seeds and citrus fruits. Pectin is a soluble dietary fibre which forms a sticky gel that tends to bind with heavy metals before they are excreted.
• Vitamin B12 sufficiency. Most vitamins and minerals should be obtained from real foods rather than supplements and fortified foods, and this also applies to vitamin B12. The best food sources are red meat, fish, seafoods, free ranging eggs and dairy products.
• Folate. The best food sources of folate are dark green leafy green vegetables like turnip greens, spinach and romaine lettuce. It is also present in other vegetables such as asparagus, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Other foods include liver, seafoods, sunflower seeds and some whole grains.

Warning re pharmaceutical or synthetic chelates

Pharmaceutical or chemical (non-food) chelating agents bind to lead and some other toxic metals in soft tissues and are used in the treatment of heavy metal poisoning. They promote the excretion of these metals in the urine and faeces. Unfortunately most of these chelating agents also significantly increase the excretion of beneficial minerals such as zinc and calcium. These non-food chelating agents should only be used under medical supervision in cases of severe toxic metal accumulation, because they can cause a drastic drop in the levels of critical serum electrolytes. For example, a severe loss of calcium (hypocalcemia) can result in in cardiac arrest and death.

References

1. Prasad (ed). Metals in the Environment. University of Hyderabad. Dekker, New York, 2001.

2. Ashmead, H. DeWayne. The Roles of Amino Acid Chelates in Animal Nutrition. 1993. Westwood: Noyes Publications.

3. Turkez H., Geyikoglu F., Tatar A., Keles M.S., Kaplan I. The effects of some boron compounds against heavy metal toxicity in human blood. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 2012 Jan;64(1-2):93-101. Epub 2010 Jul 20.