You might not know this, but the average umbilical cord of virtually every baby born in this world tests positive for over 232 chemicals and metals that have been passed from the mother to the fetus, according to the highly ethical testing done by our Environmental Working Group. See link.
Among the many poisons lurking in both our bodies and that are passed to our newborns are heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) and other heavy metal profiles, namely, lead (Pb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and selenium (Se). See study, study, and study.
These are all very dangerous metals when in excess.
Where are all these metals coming from and why is it so crucial we begin a heavy metal protocol – NOW?! I’ll tell you this and more today.
Today, we’ll cover
Let’s go!
Why Are We So Toxic in Heavy Metals?
Our soils, water, waste water, foods we eat, products we use, painted walls, jungle gyms, makeup, fish oil capsules, are toxic in heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, all of which cause risks for human health (link).
Heavy metals our environment and bodies through both our destructive behaviors and natural environmental processes, such as
*(arsenic, being a poison of course, sets off an inflammatory reaction, because the poultry’s antibodies are attacking the poison and its own tissues, fattening/inflaming them to make them looker bigger, plumper, and SELL faster. See study – and the many posts on arsenic in chicken and how the FDA finally acknowledged this after 65 years of poisoning us link,
The Dangers of Heavy Metal Toxicity
Exposure to heavy metals can cause massive kinds of damage to the brain and body, and lead to cancer, MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism in children, thyroid disorders, inflammation and diseases caused by inflammation, obesity, chronic fatigue, organ damage, and reduced mental and central nervous function.
Some of the most symptoms of heavy metal toxicity are detailed below—however, symptoms vary depending on the kind of metal you are exposed to (I highly recommend Wendy Myer’s book (Limitless Energy: How to Detox Heavy Metals and End Exhaustion and Chronic Fatigue and blog (Live to 110).
With the abundance of metals and other toxins we have coming into the body, our organs are overburdened with trying to remove them, especially our liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
The trouble is, heavy metal toxicity can leach nutrients out of the body – in fact, the very ones we need to support the liver’s phase I and II detox pathways we need functioning at full force to flush these metals and other poisons out of the body.
Then, these nutritional deficiencies impair the detox pathways so much the metals start accumulating in our fat, brain, and other tissues of the body.
If the phase one and two detoxification pathways become overloaded by toxins in the liver, these just keep accumulating, and accumulating, and accumulating.
And what does this spell for us? Disease, dementia, and early death.
The thing you must know is that you must nourish the liver before you begin a heavy metal detox. The way your liver works to detox metals, in fact, is to combine them with specific minerals, in an effort to kind of “disguise them” as a safe substance the system can excrete safely without harming the kidneys and other organs.
Without enough of these minerals and compounds your body will not fully flush the minerals and they will continue to accumulate in the body.
So you need certain minerals, compounds and fatty acids, and vitamins in perfect status.
Preparing to Detox: You Must Prepare
The liver is your detox organ of the body. It detoxes everything you need to flush out of the system, old, trashed cells, toxins, pollutants, chemicals, and heavy metals out of the system and into waste through two important pathways, the Phase I and II detox pathways, and certain nutrients are crucial for both of them to work properly.
Your liver works like a huge factory, shuttling certain compounds here, and certain toxins there, in order to render them safe to flush out of the body.
The Phase I pathway is responsible for breaking things down and then sending the raw materials onto the phase II pathway.
The Phase II pathway forms new substances out of the toxins shuttled to them by combining them with molecules of minerals, like choline for example (a process called conjugation) in order to render them safe to flush out of the body.
Conjugation Explained
You need a diet rich in all kinds of nutrients to conjugate properly. If one is missing, the conveyor belt in your factory screeches to a sudden halt, because it’s missing some vital component it needs to say, conjugate arsenic into something that looks like a choline or molybdenum substrate in order that the kidneys can flush them fully.
Phase I is dependent on ENZYMEs. It needs enzymes to break up substances into smaller components and molecules called metabolites, which are very toxic end products produced by the first phase.
The Enzyme it needs is called Cytochrome P 450. Nutrient cofactors you need to support cytochrome P450’s abilities include
Also, cytochrome’s detoxification process creates a lot of waste—it’s a pretty busy process requiring lots of cellular energy—and whenever you have an energy action you manufacture energy waste in the form of free radicals. So, you also need to supply the liver’s phase I system with plenty of natural antioxidants like
What does the Phase I pathway do in the face of heavy metal toxins? It quickly shuttles these toxic metabolites onto Phase II saying something like “I cannot handle this big bad toxin—can you please handle this Phase II?”
Phase II Pathway
Phase II says in reply, “Let’s see if I have the compounds on hand I need to render these harmless for the Waste Department (kidneys)!”
The Phase II pathway quickly checks its inventory for special substances to create a new substance out of this metabolite, chiefly amino acids like glycine and taurine, and other substances, like glutathione, sulfate, and methyl.
The nutrients required for phase II fall into two categories.
The first are the amino acids, which donate molecules that are attached to phase I intermediates.
These include sulfur donating amino acids, chiefly:
Other, non-sulfur-containing amino acids are also required:
Glutathione is also important for phase II.
Foods to support Phase I and II pathways
Supplements to support Phase I and II detox
The Heavy Metal Detox Protocol
Now, I recommend following a liver-supporting diet and supplementation program, making sure to fully support the detox pathways as much as possible before you begin taking any chelators or binders which attach to these heavy metals to move them out of the system. Why?
Saunas: saunas are one of the best, healthy, and safe ways to flush heavy metals and pesticides of all kinds out of the system. 2, 50 minute saunas a week with lots of careful hydration for at least 6 weeks will get you definitely flushing a significant portion of toxins out of the body.
PectaSol/Modified Citrus Pectin
PectaSol is wonderful for attaching to heavy metals and flushing them of the system.
Chlorella: Chlorella works to attach to toxins and flush them out of the body safely. It’s especially good for stubborn toxins and metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, uranium, and pesticides. Chlorella also helps prevent heavy metals from storing in the system.
BioSil
BioSil is wonderful for detoxifying heavy metals—Wendy Myers, author I mentioned earlier, believes BioSil is one of the best removers of heavy metals and is wonderful for collagen support as well.
Microsilica is one of the world’s most powerful binders for removing heavy metals from the body. According to Dr. Chris Shade, one serving of microsilica has the binding power of 100 chlorella tablets, and 1 gram of it can remove over 200 mg of mercury.
Zeolites
Zeolites are particularly good at removing pesticides, herbicides, and other environmental toxins from the body.
Other good compound for removing metals and toxins
– Activated coconut charcoal
– Chitosan
– Ortho-silicic acid
– Clay
– Chlorella
– Cilantro
– Probiotics, both resident and soil-based organisms (SBOs).
All of these supplement brands will have their own specific directions for usage.
Good luck to you and please, let me know how you feel after your heavy metal detox!