Are you a heavy metal victim?
Toxicity from lead, mercury, nickel, cadmium and aluminum is a major disruptor of our health. Babies are born with a heavy metal burden 1000 times greater than a few generations ago and it is getting worse. Heavy metals react with hormones, nerves, cell receptors, digestion, kidneys and even our brains! Pathogens latch onto this killer-cocktail causing further damage. Cells, tissues and organs become: acidic, congested, infected, inflamed and constantly bombarded by free radical damage. Toxins can then pass through the placenta or blood-brain barrier.
We can reduce these harmful effects by avoiding the obvious offenders in our food and environment and find natural ways to turn down that HEAVY METAL!
How are we exposed to the heavy metals we need to avoid?
Amalgam fillings release mercury into our lungs, blood stream and saliva. Vaccines also contain mercury, harming babies already affected by placental uptake of heavy metals. The cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects of lead and mercury become 100 times more lethal when they combine and the addition of aluminium makes it far worse. Aluminium comes from kitchenware, deodorants, baking powder, antacid formulations and buffered analgesics, processed cheese and non-dairy creamers. Lead comes from old water pipes, solder or plastic pigments and paints. Brightly coloured earthenware glazes also contain lead. Vinegar or acidic foods can leach out lead from these products. Nickel is released from stainless steel by food acids or it can rub off onto acidic skin from jewellery. Nickel accumulates in the prostate gland to feed bacteria that cause prostatitis. Do not let children play with discarded nickel cadmium batteries. Fluorescent light bulbs are a hazardous source of mercury vapour and broken ones must be carefully disposed of. Although most petrol these days is lead-free, the soil near busy roads is not. Lead and other toxic metal particles are taken up by plants from contaminated soil or water.
Symptoms that involve metal poisoning:
A metallic taste due to amalgam fillings extends to: gum inflammation, tender teeth, mouth ulcers, bad breath, bleeding gums or a chronic throat irritation, sinus problems, ear ringing, enlarged neck glands and spleen, dizziness and headaches.
When aches and pains, chills or an overall feeling of discomfort or fatigue do not respond to remedies then consider how metal toxicity combined with a parasite load affect: fibromyaliga, chronic fatigue syndrome, low thyroid, weight gain (from excess reverse t3 hormones). Mood swings or contrasting outbursts of anxiety and hyper/manic behaviour with the inability to focus or pay attention indicate that lead, aluminium and mercury may be causing free radical damage to neurons. Systemic acidity leading to kidney stones (from skeletal calcium), arthritis and osteoporosis or gastrointestinal complaints such as diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, gas, reflux, heartburn, leaky gut and indigestion have a common causes: microbial and parasitic infestations interact with metallic substances and feed off them. Gut-friendly organisms that routinely break down and excrete metallic toxins become overwhelmed by these pathogens.
Chemical sensitivities specified by: spells of dizziness, headaches often with visual blurring or disturbance, burning extremities, numbness, tingling or creepy sensations, tremors or jerks may be reactions to rising levels of heavy metals. Others include: breathing difficulties, skin rashes with pimples or pus-filled lesions and rampant Candida.
What can we do to lessen the load?
Serious conditions that share symptoms of heavy metal poisoning need investigation to determine the extent, location and type of toxin, parasite or other pathogen. Hair analysis, BEST, Quantum, blood tests and other scanning techniques are some of the less invasive options we have from practitioners of integrative medicine.
Amalgam removal requires a holistic dentist to remove fillings safely and use non toxic alternatives. They can also recommend metal chelation procedures. Avoid fluoride in oral hygiene products as it is also toxic. Rather prevent caries in the first place and avoid all that amalgam. Professionals using specific detoxification protocols can also offer chelation therapy.
We need to load up on probiotics so that methyl mercury is excreted and not recycled back to pathogenic bacteria that feed off it. Sufficient calcium will bind to free forms of heavy metals in the colon and usher them out. Vaccinations containing mercury have harmful effects on babies: constant colds, ear infections, behavioural problems, etc. Homoeopathic treatment for ADD and ADHD, neural and mental disorders is worth considering especially with evidence of metal poisoning. Most cases of Autism are due to mercury exposure in early life.
HEAVY METAL REMOVAL WITH NATURAL SUBSTANCES
This home procedure is safe to do for 3-4 days a week a few times a year. It involves the juicing of green coriander (dhania) leaves to agitate the toxins. As they are released from the tissues they need to be chelated (bound) to chlorella (blue green algae) and other leaves rich in chlorophyll like parsley and celery. The pectin in apples is important to keep the heavy metal gathered up and flowing down to the intestines. All these substances combine to aid expulsion prevent reabsorption. Garlic protects the red and white blood cells along the way. When these toxins reach the bowel they are bound to calcium particles along with regular amounts of methyl mercury that is released with the help of your friendly gut bacteria. All of this is then ushered out of the body and down the drain.
Drink this juice and see how something wonderful comes over you as you free yourself from the drag of heavy metals.
Metal detox juice recipe: (make 2 servings)
Process all together in a blender goblet:
1 cup of coriander leaves – plus the roots. Soak and wash it very well beforehand.
1 ½ cups of water with a chopped apple
½ cup of fresh parsley and ½ cup celery
Strain it all through a piece of cloth placed on a sieve and squeeze out the juice.
Optional extras: slices of fresh ginger or lemon, 4 fresh olive tree leaves.
1 When you rise, make the juice and drink half of it.
2 A while later, take 10 chlorella tablets. (Blue green algae supplement.)
3 Later on eat cottage cheese, mixed with ground-up flaxseeds, onions and garlic. Nibble walnuts or almonds, apples and rice crackers. Chew parsley, to control garlic fumes.
4 Mid-morning: more juice. Snack on apples.
5 Lunch: a light meal with more garlic.
Drink glasses of water with ½ lemon squeezed in it and a pinch of Himalayan salt to stay alkaline.
Don’t sip acidic juices or wine for hours at a time. It erodes amalgam and releases mercury vapour. Rinse out the mouth with water often. A good antidote is: homeopathic MERC SOL in a higher potency like C30.
6 Supper: turnips, butternut, green vegetables, onions, garlic, rice, eggs, fish or turkey.
7 Bedtime: 1 – 2 teaspoons of calcium and magnesium in ½ glass water to bind and excrete the toxins.
Controlling metal toxicity is an ongoing process and includes the balance of gut microbes. Favourable strains of gut flora can detoxify mercury but a dominance of pathogenic species will reabsorb it. So take daily probiotics and fermented foods like yoghurt, maas (fermented milk) and sauerkraut. Adequate calcium supplementation will assist the capture and removal of heavy metals.
Resources and book lists
1 Townsend Letter october 2009 page 111, 59-66 (Eliminating neurotoxins). 102-104 (Naturopathic perspectives.) www.townsendletter.com
2 Detox Now by Leslie Kenton ISBN 0-09-82582-2 Vermillion London
3 The Food Pharmacy by Jean Carper ISBN 0-671-71502-X Simon & Schuster Australia
4 Healthy Happy Eating by Sue Visser ISBN anderson Publishers
5 Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals by Bisset and Wichl ISBN 3-88763-079-3 Medpharm scientific publishers.
6 Encyclopedia of medicinal plants by Andrew Chevallier. ISBN 0-7513-1209-06 Dorling Kindersley
7 Townsend Letter July 2002. pages 50 – 62 (Alzheimer's) November 2002 pages 87,111,
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/amalgam.htm#resource
Peer-reviewed medical study and medical lab documentation can be found at:
http://www.flcv.com/olp.html
http://www.flcv.com/periodon.html
http://www.flcv.com/damspr1.html
http://www.flcv.com/damspr2f.html
http://www.flcv.com/damspr22.html
http://www.prostate-massage-and-health.com/Chronic-Prostatitis.html
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/heavy_metal_poisoning/treatments.htm#latest
THIS IS HOW PLANTS HELP US TO REMOVE HEAVY METALS:
CORIANDER LEAVES:
Heavy metal: Dhania, otherwise known as cilantro or coriander is well loved on curries and spicy foods. When eaten at a meal, these leaves are automatically a bile stimulant, and so aid digestion. (1) As a natural way to help remove heavy metals from our toxic systems, it is invaluable. It even crosses the blood-brain barrier as thus helps to repair mercury-based damage within brain cells. According to one study, it removed aluminium and lead from bone tissue faster than any of the other detoxifying drugs that were tested. During the day you can take 4-5 chlorella tablets to help bind the loosened metal particles. You will be surprised as how well you feel, being set free from that “heavy metal” load for a while. It is essential that you do not allow your system to become acidic if your mouth contains amalgam fillings because particles and volatile fumes can leech out of the metal and into your bloodstream. At bedtime it is essential to take a calcium and magnesium supplement to complete the process.
PARSLEY
Heavy metal: Parsley is the king, when it comes to purging both the liver and urinary system, being rich in chlorophyll. Sprigs of parsley when chewed make a good a breath deodorant, well known as a chaser to garlic. It contains a lot of potassium and helps to alkalize the body. For therapeutic use, add a whole cup of parsley, including the stems to the fruit and vegetable juices you make. They add extra iron and trace elements and enzymes to the juice and ease up that water retention. You can also include dandelions and other edible leaves from the garden, or some spinach.
CELERY
Heavy metal: Rich in chlorophyll, helps the particles to flush via the kidneys and eases water retention.
We ladies should chew the stalks instead of eating chocolate all day, but the dark green leaves or soup celery are best added to your daily juice with the parsley and coriander. Celery reduces the need for salt in food and is popluar in stir fries, salads and just about every stew, soup and curry. Dark green celery leaves contain bergapten, a chemical that affects skin pigmentation. For people from a cold climate who come to a hot and sunny south Africa, it helps prevent red-hot sunburn and promotes a speedy and even tan – and a whole lot more? Aphrodisiac deluxe according to secret advice from a men’s health magazine. Celery exudes sexy phehomones that rev up the libido and primal instincts of man, they say. In juice is cleanses the kidneys, eases water retention and is a great source of alkalizing minerals.
GARLIC
Heavy metal: Garlic protects the blood from the effects of heavy metals, especially whilst they are being loosened and removed.
Other benefits: Many people belive in the heart-healthy and anti-microbial effects of garlic. One does not need to buy expensive garlic and parsley capsules to obtain these benefits. Research now indicates that garlic matured in an aqueous solution is hundreds of times more potent than plain old garlic cloves. In other words: in an empty glass jar, half-filled with water, chop up cloves of garlic till almost full. Keep it in the fridge and take 1 or 2 teaspoons of garlic water a day. Replace the water every time and your matured garlic will serve you well for months at a time.
It is also convenient to use for adding to your favourite dishes. Keep the fresh parsley handy to chew afterwards. Deodorize your fingers by rubbing with lemon peels.
APPLES
Heavy metal: Apples can help release and excrete heavy metals from our tissues. Pectin contained in apples is a natural chelating (binding) agent for aluminium, lead, mercury, cadmium and nickel. Apples can do more for ills than many pills, so it is wise to eat a few every day and to know just how they are helping you to: reduce cholesterol levels, fight cancerous tumours, help with blood sugar balancing in addition heavy metal detoxification.
1Tumour control: apple pectin and apple juice contain high levels of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that helps maintain healthy colon tissue and it inhibits enzymes that are required for tumours to develop. (1) They also contain caffeic acid (chlorogenic acid) that blocks other cancer formations and they provide the the antioxidant quercetin as well as vitamin C, E and folic acid.(3)
2 Pectin is a water soluble fibre found in apples and it helps to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol whilst raise HDL (good) cholesterol. This can be accompanied by a drop in blood pressure of at least 10% in bad cases after eating 3 apples a day between meals for 4 weeks. This effect is supported by the chrome in apples that is essential for insulin sensitivity. The better the insulin pumps sugar into cells, the lower the triclycerides (low density cholesterol.) The highest levels of chrome are found in apple skins. Sour and unripe apples contain more chrome and citric acid. Adding a few pinches of cinnamon to those apples will also boost the effect of insulin, so you may have to adjust your medication accordingly. Sour, green Granny Smith apples and most unripe fruits thus have a lower GI index than sweeter fruits because of higher cirtic acid and chrome levels. (2)
3 Apples are an essential part of detoxification protocols. Leslie Kenton’s two day apple fast will show you this. Eat as many apples as you like – but only apples.
LEMONS
Alkalize; Lemons are very sour, but have an alkalizing effect on the bloodstream. The white pith of lemons is rich in much needed vitamin K and is of great benefit to liver functioning. To get the most out of a lemon, add some slices to a glass of water. Sprinkle in a few grains of Himalayan salt. Give the lemon a squeeze and drink the water. Replace the water and the salt a few more times during the day as you drink it every 2 hours or so. (Do not sip any fruit juice all day, as it can erode tooth enamel and fillings. Rather drink it all at once and rinse with clear water.) The peel can then be chopped and mixed with a sprinkle of salt and eaten as a tasty relish with spicy foods, salads or snacks. Add leftovers of lemon peel to your daily juice and use lemon juice on salads and other foods. Rub it on the skin to help fade blemishes.
