Toxic Metals

Toxic metals are widely used in industry, agriculture and food processing. They are in our air, water and food supply. They are often overlooked as a cause or contributor to chronic illness and are not addressed by medical, nutritional or other health practitioners.

Whenever a deficiency of essential minerals occurs in the body, they are always replaced with toxic metals in enzyme binding sites and enzyme systems. Enzyme function is absolutely essential for a healthy metabolism as nearly all body processes are controlled by metabolic enzymes. The metal can occupy the binding sites but it will not work the way the preferred mineral would.

Metal Replacement

Lead replaces calcium, cadmium and copper replace zinc, aluminum replaces magnesium and manganese. Substitution allows vital enzymes to continue functioning to some degree but also causes dysfunctions to occur. Replacement of vital elements with less desirable elements is a basic principle of the survival of all living organisms. Metal accumulation can be an adaptive mechanism and this must be recognized when therapies are initiated to remove them. Nutritional therapy must be seen as not simply alleviation of deficiencies of nutrients, but replacement of less optimal metals with essential minerals.

Metal Detection and Detoxification

Hair mineral testing is the best way to detect metals in the body particularly when it is due to chronic low grade exposure. One of the most important findings in toxic metal research is that the metals are easily passed from mother to child through the placenta. More and more children are born already poisoned -- starting life with the metabolic disturbances that they cause. The autism epidemic, ADD epidemic, learning disability epidemic, and increasing childhood illness such as asthma, allergies and cancer are all related to this toxic load more and more children are burdened with. Testing the hair is vitally important in children with these conditions.

Aluminum, mercury and cadmium are the most commonly seen toxic metals in hair analysis and are often released during the first year or two of a Nutritional Balancing program. All of these metals can cause discomfort as they leave the body. Once significant amounts have been excreted, it is fairly common to see a major improvement in all kinds of chronic health problems. The following is more specific information on the effects of metal poisoning.

Metal Chelation

Metal chelation employs a synthetic amino acid called EDTA or DMSA which attaches to metals that are in a free form in the blood and carries them out of the body through the urine. The chelating agents also pull out large amounts of calcium, magnesium, zinc and other essential minerals. In an attempt to counter this effect, mineral supplements are given.

However, in testing patients who opted for this method, every single mineral level in their hair was extremely low following chelation. The other big problem is that in many cases, the metals are sequestered and bound to the body tissues and cannot be picked up by the chelator.

Many times, I receive hair tissue mineral analysis test results for a patient who has done a so-called mercury detox a year or many years ago, but on their first test, the mercury is still very high. I have repeatedly seen high mercury on a first test in people who have had their fillings replaced many years ago and who did chelation in conjunction with that but the mercury was still coming out years later in their current hair growth.

So to a great degree, chelation just isn't very effective. The Nutritional Balancing gives the body what it must have to release the metals which is a balanced biochemistry with adequate amounts of bio-available nutrients. Once the body has the proper minerals, it will let go of the metals it has been substituting for them, sometimes quite rapidly!