Heavy metals - Nature Cures®

Table of Contents

Heavy metals are generally referred to as those metals which possess a specific density of more than 5 g/cm3 and adversely affect the environment and living organisms.

Although it is known that heavy metals have many adverse health effects and last for a long period of time, heavy metal exposure continues and is increasing in many parts of the world.

The most commonly found heavy metals in wastewater include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, all of which cause risks for human health and the environment. Heavy metals enter the surroundings by natural means and through human activities.

Various sources of heavy metals include soil erosion, natural weathering of the earth’s crust, mining, industrial effluents, urban runoff, sewage discharge, insect or disease control agents applied to crops, and many others.

What are the 23 heavy metals of most concern?

Antimony
Arsenic
Bismuth
Cadmium
Cerium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Gallium
Gold
Iron
Lead
Manganese
Mercury
Nickel
Platinum
Silver
Tellurium
Thallium
Tin
Uranium
Vanadium
Zinc

Some of these heavy metals, in very small doses, are essential for processes in the human body but all are toxic if too much finds its way into the body and some have no biological function in the human body at all.

Heavy metals that are persistent in the environment and known to cause serious health consequences:

Arsenic
Cadmium
Lead
Mercury

How do people become contaminated with heavy metals?

Arsenic

Ingesting crops that have been grown in contaminated groundwater and soil.
Exposure through inhalation of arsenic-containing dusts, particularly in industrial settings or from burning treated wood.

Lead

Water supply pipes in plumbing that still contain lead. Water companies in the UK are especially lax in knowing where these pipes still feed homes and do not do anything to replace them until they burst.
Lead-based paints (in buildings built before 1978 and is the predominant source for children).
Foods grown in lead-rich soil.

Mercury:

Eating fish or shellfish contaminated with methylmercury (includes shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish, bass, walleye, pickerel).
Breathing contaminated workplace air or skin contact during use in the workplace.
Release of mercury vapour from dental amalgam fillings and replacements being done by an unqualified dentist? Less than 1% of all dentists are qualified to remove dental amalgam.

Cadmium

Eating foods containing cadmium (levels are highest in grains, legumes, and leafy vegetables, fish and shellfish).
Contact with cadmium from household products (electric batteries and solar panels).
Inhaling tobacco smoke.

NOTE: Coffee may contain traces of metals like copper, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

NOTE: Green tea increases the concentration of mercury following dietary intake of fish so should never be consumed at the same time.

Why are some vitamin supplements contaminated with heavy metals?

There is concern that the synthesising of some supplements can leave traces of heavy metals which are detectable in the final product. Over the last decade a number of supplements, from individual vitamins to whey proteins, have been tested and traces of a number of heavy metals have been detected.

Prenatal vitamins have been found to contain concerning levels of lead, cadmium, and other toxic elements like aluminium, titanium, thallium, and nickel.

Calcium supplements, especially those derived from dolomite, bone meal, or natural calcium carbonate, show higher lead levels than other forms.

Certain vitamin C supplements and creatine supplements might also be susceptible to heavy metal contamination.

Botanical ingredients, including those found in herbal supplements and those from algae, can accumulate heavy metals from the soil they were grown in.

As mandatory product testing is not enforced it is impossible to determine which vitamins may contain these heavy metals, and which do not. It is for this reason that synthetic supplements are not recommend as heavy metals are linked to brain degeneration, liver toxicity and genetic mutation.

This could lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. It is always best to consume natural foods rich in the vitamins and minerals required rather than synthetic versions.

Which parts of the body do heavy metals damage?

Bones
Brain
Cardiovascular system
Intestinal system
Lungs
Kidneys
Liver
Endocrine glands
Nervous system

NOTE: Persistent exposure can lead to progressing physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes.

What diseases can be due to heavy metals in the body

Alzheimer’s disease
Autoimmune disorders
Cancer
Dementia
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson’s disease

Heavy metals can, not only directly damage the nervous system and brain and induce depression and other psychological disorders but also may cause vitamin D deficiency and aggravate depression by interfering with vitamin D metabolism.

Because vitamin D is essential to the bones, teeth and immune system, heavy metal toxicity may also lead to serious disorders with those structures and processes.

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Which foods can help to remove heavy metals from the body?

Brazil nuts contain both selenium and sulphur so are good additions to the diet to eliminate mercury from the body. Two per day are adequate.

Chlorella is algae which, due to its high chlorophyll content, acts as a natural chelator of heavy metals, especially lead and mercury. Add a tablespoon of dried powder to the daily diet along with a teaspoon of coriander. Capsules can be purchased also with Spirulina another algae that helps to remove heavy metals.

Coriander is best used in conjunction with chlorella because it, coriander mobilises more toxins than it can carry out of the body which may flood the connective tissue (where the nerves reside) with metals,

Chlorella binds to dioxins and other environmental toxins heavy metals exceptionally well and repairs the body’s detoxification functions. It also improves glutathione which is the body’s ‘master’ antioxidant.

Clinical studies completed recently proved that heavy metal chelation using coriander and chlorella can naturally remove an average of 87% of lead, 91% of mercury, and 74% of aluminium from the body within 42 days.

NOTE: Chlorella might cause “bad” bacteria to take over in the intestine of people who have a weak immune system. Chlorella contains iodine and so may cause an allergic reaction in people sensitive to iodine.

NOTE: Check that the chlorella purchased has not been grown in soils contaminated with mercury.

Garlic is rich in sulphur which will chelate mercury from the body. Garlic can lower heavy metal levels in the blood of industrial workers as effectively as the chelator d-penicillamine.

Seaweed can also chelate (bind to) heavy metals in the body and help to remove them.

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Which nutrients can help to remove heavy metals from the body?

Alpha lipoic acid increases the levels of intra cellular glutathione. Glutathione is a substance made from the amino acids glycine, cysteine, and glutamic acid. It is produced by the liver and involved in many body processes. Both alpha-lipoic acid and glutathione can reduce the adverse changes in blood parameters due to lead, cadmium, and copper

Cysteine is a co-factor for glutathione so foods rich in this nutrient are important.

Glutathione is a superb chelator of mercury. Cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine and selenium are cofactors in this process. Therefore foods rich in these nutrients will help to remove mercury.

Glutamic acid is a co-factor for glutathione so foods rich in this nutrient are important.

Glycine is a co-factor for glutathione so foods rich in this nutrient are important.

Invertase ius an enzyme that helps to protect against lead and mercury poisoning.

Selenium is important to help remove toxins and heavy metals from the brain. Selenium is an inhibitor of mercury accumulation and increases excretion of mercury and arsenic.

NOTE: Consume two Brazil nuts per day to obtain sufficient levels of this both selenium and sulphur.

Sulphur-rich foods can remove heavy metals from the system.