Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health
Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health

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:

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

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:

Foods and remedies to remove toxic metals

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.