Detoxification of Heavy Metals
Written by Juanita
The Truth
The truth has invariably come out into the open, which is coming forth more convincingly with each passing year, and that is: Nutrition is, singularity, the most important factor affecting health and disease. Nutrients are what the human body has to work with in building and maintaining healthy cells, tissues, glands, and organs.
A nutrient dense diet can also offer protection from the toxins and poisons in our environment which are the cause of serious disorders, disease, and even death — all the way from the vague, subclinical conditions, such as headaches, hormonal imbalances, chronic mental and physical fatigue, and digestive disorders to the most dreaded killers, heart disease and cancer.
Many of the toxins which cause the maladies mentioned above are known as heavy metals. Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements that have a high atomic weight and a density at least 5 times greater than that of water. Their multiple industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical and technological applications have led to their wide distribution in the environment raising concerns over their potential effects on human health and the environment.
The Five Elements
Their toxicity depends on several factors including the dose, route of exposure, and chemical species, as well as the age, gender, genetics, and nutritional status of exposed individuals. Because of their high degree of toxicity, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury rank among the priority metals that are of public health significance.
These five elements, because of their high degree of toxicity, rank among the priority metals that are of great public health significance. They are all systemic toxicants that are known to induce multiple organ damage, even at lower levels of exposure. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), these metals are also classified as either “known” or “probable” human carcinogens based on epidemiological and experimental studies showing an association between exposure and cancer incidence in humans and animals.
With the assumption that heaviness and toxicity are inter-related, heavy metals also include metalloids, such as arsenic, that are able to induce toxicity at low level exposure. In recent years, there has been an increasing ecological and global public health concern associated with environmental contamination by these metals.
Also, human exposure has risen dramatically as a result of an exponential increase of their use in several industrial, agricultural, domestic and technological applications. Reported sources of heavy metals in the environment include industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, domestic sewage, and atmospheric sources.
What am I to do about all these heavy metals?
We may feel that the immensity of this environmental problem offers no solution; but there are steps we can take, individually, to offset these dangerous metals that might be accumulating in our body over time and affecting our health. Therefore, it is important to minimize the potential health risks of heavy metals by not ingesting them and transporting them out of the body. A person may be able to reduce the levels of heavy metals in their body gradually by making changes to their diet.
According to the National Institute of Health, the following foods may be effective for heavy metal detoxification:
• Dietary fiber: Various foods rich in fiber, such as fruit and grains with bran, may help remove heavy metals. Researchers have found fiber to reduce mercury levels in the brain and blood.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fft2.114
• Chlorella and Spirulina: Studies have shown that chlorella increases the detoxification of mercury in mice.
https://www.drfelty.com/post/gentle-heavy-metal-detox
• Foods containing sulfur: Foods rich in sulfur, such as garlic and broccoli, may be good chelators. Research has suggested that garlic may have prevented kidney damage from cadmium and reduced oxidative damage from lead in rats.
• Cilantro: Cilantro may help, but there is currently limited evidence to support this. In an animal study, cilantro decreased absorption of lead into bone.
“Cilantro is best used in conjunction with chlorella, a healing green algae. Together, they act as a perfect tool for body detoxification. The leaves of the cilantro plant has significant chelating properties, that bind to heavy metals that are removed from the body through our excretory system. Chlorella and cilantro can detoxify other neurotoxins such as phthalates, plasticizers and insecticides.”
https://www.drfelty.com/post/gentle-heavy-metal-detox
"A person may be able to reduce the levels of heavy metals in their body gradually by making changes to their diet."
• Blueberries: Blueberries are very high in antioxidants and have antiviral effects which prevent infections and protect cells from free radicals, which are formed when heavy metals react with proteins and do cellular damage.
• Chaya Mushrooms: Contains a powerful antioxidant called superoxide dismutase, which is essential for both cleansing the liver and cellular regeneration.
Certain supplements also work to detoxify the body from heavy metals:
• Sulphur-containing amino acids: Methionine, Cysteine, Taurine, and their derivatives Glutathione and N-acetylcysteine.
“Sulphur-containing amino acids represent a powerful part of cell antioxidant system. Thus, they are essential in the maintenance of normal cellular functions and health. In addition to their worthy antioxidant action, sulphur-containing amino acids may offer a chelating site for heavy metals. Accordingly, they may be supplemented during chelating therapy, providing beneficial effects in eliminating toxic metals.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28595554/
• Probiotics. “Probiotics were previously recorded to its powerful capacity to bind numerous targets and eliminate them with feces. These targets may be aluminum, cadmium, lead, and/or arsenic. The current review discusses the history of probiotics, detoxification role of probiotics caused by heavy metals, and mechanism of their action that modulate different signaling pathway disturbance associated with heavy metal accumulation in biological system.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32821997/
• Modified citrus pectin: Modified citrus pectin and substances from brown seaweeds lowered heavy metal toxicity by roughly 74% in human participants across five case studies. https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/109829.
• Alpha-lipoic acid: Alpha-lipoic acid is a strong antioxidant that can renew other antioxidants in the body and help transport heavy metals from the body.
• Selenium: Selenium may help remove mercury from the body.
In Conclusion
Crowding out unproductive foods during this process of support to your body is most important. Instead, choose nutrient-rich foods. Consider including more alkalizing food choices, which are enzyme rich, electrolyte enhancing, DNA repairing, blood sugar balancing, antiseptic, and more. These include fresh organic produce, raw vegetable juices, especially celery, raw organic nuts and seeds, and fermented foods.
A heavy metal detoxification diet is best utilized if viewed and practiced as your lifestyle. It is an opportunity of awareness of your individual power of taking responsibility for your individual health. It is your opportunity for holding and maintaining optimal health. Remember, your body loves you; and it is working day and night, 24 hrs. a day; seven days a week, to support you, so make sure you support it with nutrient rich foods and supplements.
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