http://www.care2.com/greenliving/heavy-metals-and-your-health.html
Heavy-Metal Toxicity: 16 Ways to Limit Your Exposure
By Catherine Guthrie, Experience Life
What would you think if someone asked you to consume a dose of heavy metals every day for the rest of your life? Most likely, you’d be horrified. But truth be told, you’re already doing it. Everyone ingests small amounts of arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury daily. It’s not an option or an immodest proposal - it’s an environmental mandate.
The environment, unfortunately, is laden with heavy metals, mostly as a result of big-industry waste. Anyone who eats a fish sandwich, inhales secondhand smoke, drinks a glass of water or simply breathes air can be exposed.
Heavy-metal toxins is one of those doomsday topics that makes John Q. Public and even some medical experts want to scoff and look away. But the threat is real, and while the extent of the potential damage is still being debated, you don’t have to wait to begin protecting yourself. There are dozens of simple ways to minimize your exposure and curtail potential dangers.
The key is to be proactive about what you can change and mindful about what you can’t. Knowing what you’re up against can help you strike a healthy balance, and may inspire you to learn more about the heated environmental and political debates that surround this important issue.
Tom McGuire, DDS, a holistic dentist in Santa Rosa, Calif., and an expert on mercury-free dentistry, compares the body’s slow accumulation of heavy metals to the damage done by smoking. A person isn’t going to get lung cancer from the first cigarette, he says, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t worry about the long-term health risks of smoking. “Sadly, most people don’t realize they are being poisoned by heavy metals until they have already affected their health.”
To confound matters even further, heavy-metal toxicity can masquerade as a host of other ailments, so it may fly under the radar of conventional healthcare practitioners. “Most physicians don’t think to look at heavy metals as an underlying cause of disease,” says Liz Lipski, PhD, an expert in dietary detox and author of Digestive Wellness (McGraw-Hill, 1999). “It’s just not in their training.”
Symptoms of chronic heavy-metal exposure include depression, irritability, mood swings, tremors, autoimmune diseases, chronic infections and cancer. Skeptics point out that most of these ills can be caused by any number of other factors.
You can cut down on the amount of heavy metals you imbibe by cleaning up your diet and living space. Here’s a guide to four of the most common heavy metals - arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury - the effects they have on the body, and the ways you can mitigate your exposure.
(Click through to end for text-only printable version)
More from Megan, selected from Experience Life (33 articles available)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
41 comments
add your comment »Chelation (pronounced key-lation) therapy removes metals from the body and it has been around since the 1920's. See http://www.drmaulfair.com
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I work with kids with autism and I strongly believe that heavy metals have something to do with it. In the US in 2003 we had 1 in 150 and in 2007 we already have 1 in 63 kids with autism. Kids today get 48 doses of vaccines before they turn 6 years old. If you use homeopathy you know that even trace amounts of a substance can have a reaction in your body. Go online and find what's in your vaccine, each manufacturers ingredient list is a little different and some do have Mercury in it and also Aluminium, Formaldehyde, Triton-X 100 (Polyethylene glycol P-isooctylphenyl ether) is a toxic detergent ect. So take care of your kids because we adults did not have so many vaccines. Outlaw mercury fillings and drastically reduce the amount of vaccines you are getting.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
What a timely article, I have my first appointment with a mercury free dentist on Monday morning to start replacing my amalgam fillings. I had a heavy metal body burden urine test and my level for mercury was off the chart. It really scared my Naturopath and she wanted me to detox last June. I told her not until I had my fillings replaced. There are only 2 bio dentists in CT and the one closer to where I live is mostly about the money. So I'll drive an hour to see the other one but I'm lucky for that much. This dentist had me take a bio-compatible blood test to see what dental materials I am allergic to. I'll be detoxing after the work is done.
Sharon, I'll be e-mailing you for some detox advice.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Oops, I forgot the link to the article and study (see PDF at bottom of page): http://www.dovepress.com/clinical-evidence-supporting-the-use-of-an-activated-clinoptilolite-su-peer-reviewed-article-NDS
Will reply to any inquiries Monday since I'm going away for the weekend.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Hot off the presses:
After years of promising us a medical study to prove that NCD removes mercury and other toxic heavy metals, it's finally in print.
For anyone who would like to hear the biochemist who did this study speak about it, he's having a call on Monday night:
Monday, Nov 9, 9:30 PM Eastern
712 432 7575
Pin 133655#
9:30 PM ET
Questions? Feel free to contact me or visit my website: www.detoxqueen.com. This is a safe and easy solution to remove metals without harmful side effects. For less than the price of two chelation treatments you should be able to remove the vast majority of your toxic burden. No amalgam removal required although that should be everyone's eventual goal to prevent further toxicity.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Testing...I'm sure I only clicked 'Submit' once on my last comment....":o)
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
The fossil fuels are running out....just as well! We'd better start adjusting now for a cleaner future.
When my fella was ill, we tried de-toxing with soya products, cider vinegar (in water), & alfalfa; it took maybe 12 months, but he got better.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
The fossil fuels are running out....just as well! We'd better start adjusting now for a cleaner future.
When my fella was ill, we tried de-toxing with soya products, cider vinegar (in water), & alfalfa; it took maybe 12 months, but he got better.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Sharon & Barbara,
Thanks so much for your comments, advice and sharing. I feel a bit more hopeful and need to finish reading all that you sent. I will also look into the products recommended. I'll get back to you both soon.
With love & blessings
Cindy
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
SHAME on Care2 for using a photo of a syringe next to drops of what is supposed to be mercury! Why can't your moderators "just say no" to quacks!? It is heartless and should be criminal to mislead people like this.
Many people are deeply concerned about the trace amounts of ethyl mercury in the vaccine preservative thimerosal. If you get your flu shot from a single-dose vial, there won't be any thimerosol in it. You should also know that this infinitesimal amount of ethyl mercury leaves your body 10 times faster than methyl mercury.
METHYL mercury is the compound we should all be scared about, the one produced by COAL-burning power plants, that's making our fish inedible. Here's a quickie article on how mercury becomes toxic in the environment: news.duke.edu/2009/08/mercury.html
"The introduction of methyl groups as substituents into a compound usually increases its lipophilicity (goes right into your fat) and reduces its solubility in water. It should ease its absorption into biological membranes" and that's why it's a threat. Methylmercury interferes with brain protein synthesis. www.ehponline.org/press/042105.html
Whenever you see someone like Marvin P trying to stir up fear, investigate to see what they're selling. Would anyone visit a "natural dentist" if they hadn't been made to fear other dentists? I have no money in this game, I'm just sick of seeing people being lied to with pseudo-science.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: