Category Archives: Heavy Metals

Crystal Energy, Detoxification, Heavy Metals, MegaHydrate

Megadeath to heavy metals: what detox via supplements can do for you

If you try to follow the latest advice and trends in the health world then you won’t fail to have noticed the term ‘detox’ crops up an awful lot. So much so, it might be said to be something of a health buzzword. It means, of course, attempting to remove unhealthy foreign entities that are clogging up parts of your body – and can be undertaken in a variety of ways. Fasting, eating more greens, sipping apple cider and taking high-quality supplements; you name it, you truly can run the gamut in order to detox yourself. But detox yourself of what exactly? You may have heard people undergoing a detox to cleanse their intestines, livers and kidneys, but have you ever heard of someone detoxing heavy metals? It’s far from a bad idea, to say the least – and has absolutely nothing to do with avoiding listening to hard rock music.

 

What exactly are heavy metals?

Basically, heavy metals can be described as dense (semi-)metallic elements that occur naturally in the earth’s soil and find their way into water sources. That said; there are numerous man-made heavy metals too. It ought to be noted that certain heavy metals aren’t hazardous to the human body in small doses (in fact, within these terms, the body actually needs them), but truly hazardous examples like cadmium, lead and mercury can quite happily bioaccumulate; meaning they’re absorbed by the body faster than it can rid itself of them.

So, exactly which heavy metals are we talking about here and what sources do they come from; what modern materials/ foods/ products are responsible for giving rise to them…?

  • aluminium (cookware and deodorants)
  • arsenic (eggs and poultry)
  • bismuth (make-up)
  • cadmium (batteries, cigarettes, coffee and hydrogenated oils)
  • lead (auto exhausts and building materials)
  • mercury (contact lens solution, dental fillings and seafood)
  • thallium (gasoline)

Evidently then, reducing your exposure to the likes of meats, low-quality seafood and hydrogenated oils and trying to use natural deodorants and beauty products will help you to avoid consuming these dangerous heavy metals. But what can you do if and when you do consume them? Well, first, let’s take a look at what they actually do in the body to understand why they should be avoided and a detox attempted…

 

What do heavy metals do in the body?

So, in simple terms, the 23 toxic heavy metals in existence, once inside the human body, are adept at interrupting normal cellular processes. They achieve this thanks to their uncanny ability to bind with protein sites, thus kicking out and replacing metals that naturally occur in our cells. What does this do? It inhibits mitochondria (the chemicals that are critical to making energy in cells), thus resulting in the likes of fatigue and far worse symptoms when heavy metal exposure is long-term. Not fun.

 

Heavy Metal toxicity symptoms

And. speaking of tell-take signs of heavy metal toxicity, there are a good many of them. Yet, while acute toxicity symptoms can be quite obvious to those in the know (breathing difficulties, impaired cognitive and motor skills, severe cramping, vertigo, vomiting and so on), signs of less severely affected health due to heavy metal exposure/ consumption are a more general – they include…

  • aching joints
  • acne
  • bad digestion/ bloating/ gas
  • difficulty digesting fats
  • excess sweating
  • fatigue
  • headaches
  • female health issues (involving hormones, infertility and pre-eclampsia)
  • middle-of-the-night insomnia
  • mood swings
  • severe food cravings

Don’t doubt it, though; if not tackled, heavy metal toxicity can lead to the development of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and even cancer. So, clearly far from good news. Yet, it’s not all gloomy, of course; thanks to detoxing, the nasty things heavy metals get up to in our bodies can be checked via them being flushed out.

 

How to detox heavy metals naturally

Natural, fundamentally healthy and safe ways to detox your body of heavy metals include:

  • Drinking generous amounts of filtered water
  • Regular physical exercise that induces a sweat
  • Maintaining a nourishing and anti-inflammatory diet to support your liver
  • Consuming naturally-derived, high-quality supplements

 

Heavy metal supplements

Yes, as you may have guessed we would, we’ve finally got around to the benefits to be gleaned from well-reviewed, proven and reliably safe-to-consume naturally-derived supplements; those deliberately designed, of course, to help combat heavy metals and flush them out of the body. The following two are especially popular and impressive products (both of them available through us at The Finchley Clinic) that people particularly rate thanks to their unique silica Microcluster technology – which sees their little spheres of silica isolate and encapsulate the heavy metals all the way to their ejection from the body:

Crystal Energy – currently on special offer, this product (in addition to containing silica Microclusters) can instantly turn water into liquid crystals, thus helping to increase flow of water and nutrients across cell membranes to a rate more than two-and-a-half times faster than ordinary water, thereby increasing cell hydration and, in turn, heavy metal detoxification.

MegaHydrate – also on special offer, this supplement comprises silica Microclusters, which can increase hydration, improve cells’ zeta potential to clean the blood, alkalise blood and drive detoxification.

Detoxification, Heavy Metals

Detoxification: don’t end up head-banging over heavy metals

They’re everywhere – in the food we eat; the fluids we drink; the environments we work and live in; the equipment we work with; and, yes, the air that we breathe. They’re toxic metals and we can’t avoid them. They work their way into our bodies whether we like it or not. But are they something we should be concerned about – are they really that hazardous? And, if so, how can we rid ourselves of them?

In the article Conquering Candida, Sherridan Stock, who I consider to be one of the UK’s, if not Europe’s finest experts on the subject of candida overgrowth, refers to heavy metal toxicity as a major (but not the only) cause of the problem. I can also state that it’s one of the main reasons why those with chronic fatigue, severe candida problems or other related problems such as Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) don’t get better. But it’s worse than that – heavy metals are bad for everyone, and pretty much everyone benefits from doing something to chelate them out of their body.

First things first, though, when we talk about toxic – or ‘heavy’ (i.e. dense) – metals, what are we referring to? Well, there are several of them, but by way of example and for the sake of brevity, the three we’ll focus on here are cadmium, lead and mercury. Like all heavy metals, they’re naturally occurring and become concentrated as a result of human-caused activities, ensuring they enter plant, animal and human tissues via inhalation, diet and skin and/ or eye contact. Owing to their high levels of toxicity they poison the human body by damaging it at the cellular level through oxidative stress and secondly by being highly neuro-toxic.

Heavy metal toxicity is commonplace, bordering on ubiquitous, and people should be anxious about it, it affects every aspect of optimal well being, and this is not an overreaction. Our view is that almost everyone has been exposed to toxic metals to some degree or another. Getting them out of the body is not a quick process, but it can be done.

Cadmium

The biggest risk of exposure to cadmium is via food (derived from largely industrial areas) and cigarette tobacco; indeed, the latter may be the most dangerous way to consume the element, as the lungs tend to absorb cadmium more efficiently than the stomach – although cadmium levels are generally lower in tobacco than in foods1. Cadmium contamination is also possible via fertilisers, hazardous waste sites and nickel-cadmium batteries. Like mercury, it’s also used in dentistry and sometimes also present in jewellery worn adjacent to the skin. In no way whatsoever does the human body require cadmium, but it’s also slow to exit the body, ensuring it can take root and seriously affect the reproductive and cardiovascular systems, as well as the brain, eyes, kidneys and bones.

Lead

This is of particular interest to me (Mark Lester, Company Director) as I have recently been diagnosed with this, and I will discuss below what I am doing about it.

No doubt about it, lead can be extremely toxic. Perhaps the headline danger of its consumption is the effect it can have on the brain, and the brain-gut axis (which will be the subject of a future blog / newsletter). Indeed, it’s said that lead poisoning can affect this organ in a similar way to narcotic drug abuse2, suppressing the immune system and so leading to many different issues and ailments such as anaemia, palsy and kidney disease, as well as increasing blood pressure3.

Unfortunately, all sorts of everyday items can contain harmful amounts of lead (such as cigarettes, old piping, car batteries, paints, pesticides, PVC plastics and – at times – cheap toys), highlighting the need for us all to be vigilant. For instance, exposure to lead dust/ flakes from piping in aged buildings and some industrially-applied paints have caused many public health incidents down through the years, leading to the necessary implementation of different regulations.

Mercury

This is a subject that has been the subject of entire books – some written by holistic dentists. Put simply, we should always avoid direct contact with mercury. Famously an important component in thermometers, it can also be found in many other things common to everyday experience, including dental fillings and seafood. It’s especially dangerous – and to be avoided then – when consumed through tainted food, but notoriously can be absorbed by those working in industrial jobs in the likes of coal power plants. Mercury is used as a preservative in vaccinations, and one (of several) reasons I am opposed to vaccinations is because this is such a toxic component.

As our bodies have no use for it, exposure to any amount of mercury is toxic. Once in the body, though, mercury is very hard (but not impossible) to get rid of. It will reside in the blood, bones, fatty tissues, brain, spleen and kidneys. Once again it also affects the gut-brain axis referred to above. It can contaminate breast milk and, in worst case scenarios, afflict the nervous system to such an extent as to cause serious muscular spasms. Short-term exposure can cause the likes of diarrhoea, fever and vomiting; long-term exposure, the likes of neurotic and kidney disorders and inflammation of the gums and mouth.

Diagnosis

There are various tests available for heavy metals – breath tests, urine tests and hair analysis tests. But be warned, all of these tests have one serious flaw. They test whats coming out of the body, but do not necessarily show you how much is still trapped inside. This is why although I am not opposed to these tests I am not going to provide links for testing them. I spent good money on these tests, and they still failed to pick up my own lead toxicity, which was diagnosed I believe correctly through less orthodox testing.

How to remove the heavy metals

 

ORËÁ. Originally marketed as ZNatural, this is the product we’ve sold the longest and have had the most feedback on. This was  original liquid zeolite product developed by Dr Harvey Kaufman. It is capable of reaching all the cells and tissues in the body and penetrating the blood-brain barrier, in working to remove heavy metals and other toxins. As well as the web page, I have also previously blogged about this product here and there is an excellent video on the research done on it’s forerunner as ZNatural here.

 

zeotrexZEOTREX – Developed by Another liquid zeolite product developed by Dr Edward Group. It differs from ORËÁ in that it  also contains herbs and iodine to assist with heavy metal detox. There’s information about it on our web site, as well as a nice little YouTube video produced by the suppliers found here

 

 

SEALANTRO – Sealantro is a proprietary blend of Chlorella, Seaweed (Chondracanthus chamissoi) extracts, and Cilantro leaf extract forrmulated to support healthy detoxification. It is considered a vital part of Dr Lee Cowden’s world famous programme for the treatment of Lyme Disease.

Interestingly, for my own lead toxicity issue, the products that tested best with my kiniesiologist for my lead toxicity were Zeotrex, Sealantro, and Chlorella. As toxioc metals tend to bind tightly to the tissues of the body, I plan to take all three for at least 6 months, and I am also giving myself regular enemas to further my own detox – I have been experimenting with coffee enemas alternating with Spirulina and Chlorella. ORËÁ did not test well for me – although this does not diminish my faith in it based on both the feedback I have had from customers as well as the research, so I will get it tested again in a few months in case the situation has changed.

 

References:

1 Jarup, L. (1998). Health effects of cadmium exposure – a review of the literature and a risk estimate. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. 24: 11–51.

2 Manto M. (2012). Toxic agents causing cerebellar ataxias. Handb Clin Neurol.; 103: 201-13. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-51892-7.00012-7. Review.

3 Zeqiri N, Zeqiri S, Skenderaj S. (2012). Blood pressure evaluation at the workers exposed to lead. Med Arh.; 66(2): 92-3.