Could Heavy Metals Cause Symptom Overload?
Although they may be pretty and shiny, like that blob of mercury you or your parents played with in school in decades past, heavy metals can wreak havoc on your health! Heavy metals are dense metallic elements found naturally occurring in the earth. In small amounts, the body is able to effectively process and excrete them. Today, however, heavy metals are used in many industries at levels much higher than our bodies are capable of detoxifying. These metals end up in the air we breathe, water we drink, and soil that our food comes from, adding a massive burden to the body. Some heavy metals like copper, iron, and zinc are essential elements for life, but only in the proper amounts. Other heavy metals like mercury, aluminum, lead, cadmium, arsenic, etc. have no known physiological function and do not belong in the human body. When the body accumulates too many heavy metals, whether essential or not, they can cause rampant oxidative stress and a cascade of health effects that affect your ability to function on a daily basis.
Heavy metals occur naturally in the earth, and man has learned how to harness their power in different industries and products such as manufacturing, mining, welding, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and beauty products, automobiles, dyes, waste management and landfills, pesticides, battery making, plumbing, and more. Traditionally, mercury was used in the process of gold mining, while cadmium is used in welding, and aluminum is used for many purposes including cars, food preservatives, and cookware. Copper has come to replace much of the lead piping that was historically used in plumbing, but comes with problems of its own.
While heavy metals have improved our lives in these industries, the unintended toxic side effects have led to a global health crisis. The soil we grow crops in and graze livestock on have become overloaded with heavy metals deposited by chemicals and contaminated run-off water where waste has been dumped or leached from landfills. The oceans have been so polluted by heavy metals, that many health experts recommend limiting your intake of large ocean fish, as they are widely known to concentrate toxic levels of metals such as mercury. Heavy metals also end up in the air we breathe through pollution generated by factories. Eventually this contaminated air ends up depositing the metals in the water and soil as well.
Symptoms pf Heavy Metals:
Nausea
Vomiting
Rashes
Neurological problems including changes in senses like vision or smell
Headaches
Disorientation
Numbness or tingling in the extremities also known as neuropathy
Abdominal pain
Gastrointestinal distress
Chills
Heavy metal poisoning can be both acute and chronic. Heavy metal exposure may be a one occurrence, or a person may be slowly poisoned over time by constant exposure to low levels of heavy metals. Long-term symptoms of heavy metal poisoning include chronic fatigue, overall weakness, aching joints, brain fog, liver, kidney, heart, brain, and nervous system damage, as well as mood swings and personality changes. Some bodies are more capable of detoxifying and excreting heavy metals based on factors such as nutritional status, metabolic capacity, and genetic traits. The less capable a person is of detoxifying heavy metals that are ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, the more that person will “bio-accumulate” the metals.
Wreaking Havoc On Your Body
Heavy metals can wreak havoc on the body in several different ways. First, they can create a tremendous amount of oxidative stress, negatively impacting the cell membranes surrounding each one of our cells that keep the content of the cell protected and intact. If a cell membrane becomes severely damaged, that cell may die. Toxic levels of heavy metals can also disrupt the body’s enzyme system, which regulates literally every process of the body. Heavy metals also disrupt mitochondrial function, leading to a loss of capacity to generate energy.
Due to their capacity to cause stress to the body, heavy metal toxicity is often related to health conditions and chronic illnesses such as chronic Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, EBV, seizures (1), multiple types of cancer including breast (2) and brain (3), Hashimoto’s, MS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s (4), chronic fatigue syndrome (5), parasitic infections, and more. When doing a parasite cleanse, a person is also generally undergoing a heavy metal cleanse, as parasites are attracted to bodies full of metals and actually help absorb them from the host tissues. (6)
Mercury
Mercury is one of the most common heavy metal toxicities found in people today. It can come from a variety of sources including dental amalgams, seafood, contaminated water and soil, cosmetics, and occupational exposure in industries like mining.
This toxic metal has no known physiological function in the body. Mercury has the ability to displace essential minerals like magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, and more. Mercury replaces these minerals on their binding sites in the body and wreaks major havoc. Mercury has an affinity for enzyme binding sites and deposits frequently in the mitochondria, brain, kidneys, liver, eyes, and other important body structures.
Common symptoms of mercury toxicity:
Irritability
Tremors
Seizures
Kidney and liver disease
Changes in vision or hearing
Learning disabilities in children.
One study found that for every 1000 lbs of mercury released into the environment, there was a 3.7% increase in autism in school aged children living near coal firing plants. (7)
People with mercury toxicity affecting the brain are often very goofy and strange. The term "Mad Hatter" comes from the fact that mercury was previously used to treat felt used in hat making, and caused neuropsychiatric issues in those who made these hats! (8)
Lead
Lead affects nearly every system of the body as it is absorbed into the body and deposited in the blood, soft tissue, and bones. Lead has an affinity for tissues like the kidneys, liver, G.I. tract, and reproductive organs. The central nervous system is particularly susceptible to the dangers of lead. Young children under 6 are the most vulnerable to the ravages of lead in these environments, as they are receiving the same dosage as an adult but have a much smaller body mass. In the elderly, osteoporosis is often associated with lead toxicity, as lead can replace calcium in causing it to become brittle. Lead also displaces zinc and can cause immune system problems.
Symptoms of lead:
Mental and physical growth delays
Learning disabilities
Irritability
Loss of appetite
Fatigue
Hearing loss
High blood pressure
Muscle and joint aches
Mood disorders
Problems with concentration
Abnormal sperm and reduced count
Anemia
Miscarriages, still or premature birth in pregnant women
Lead levels may also be associated with gout symptoms. Due to its effects on the brain, people with lead toxicity are sometimes described as mentally "dull". If you are having any of these issues, it may be worth it to look into lead toxicity!
Occupations where lead exposure is more likely to occur include auto repair, mining, pipe fitting, battery manufacturing, painting, and construction. After 1978 lead-based paints were outlawed, however, older buildings are contaminated with lead-based paints and lead-containing dust from paint flaking off walls. It is prevalent in and around municipal waste incinerators and landfills. Lead is also found in tap water and well water.
Lead is also found in some cosmetics and pottery glazes. Cigarette smoke is another major source of lead ingestion, and this is one reason why second hand smoke can be so deadly.
Although bone broth has many health benefits, drinking too much of it can lead to lead toxicity, as lead is leached from the bones during the boiling process. (9)
Aluminum
Aluminum is a shiny convenience in most households, used in aluminum foil and cookware, but this insidious metal can be found in many other places and products, and is associated with a myriad of diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis.
Toxic levels of aluminum can cause:
Digestive problems
Dementia
Psychosis
Seizures
Speech problems
Delayed mental and physical growth in children
Loss of balance and coordination
Inflammation
Kidney and liver damage
Muscle pain
Fatigue and malaise
Weakness and deformity of bones
Anemia
Shortness of breath
Sources of aluminum include cookware, aluminum foil and cans, cosmetics, medications, antiperspirants, some water filtration systems, low quality stainless steel, aluminum smelting plants, and food additives.
In order to avoid aluminum, you can consider replacing your cookware, buying bamboo utensils like spatulas and ladles, using deodorant that is not an aluminum-containing antiperspirant, storing food in Pyrex with snap lids instead of using aluminum foil, and making sure your cosmetics are free of aluminum. Silica is a known nutrient that helps the body give aluminum the boot if you have been exposed. (10)
Other toxic metals and essential heavy metals
In addition to these toxic heavy metals, others common types include cadmium (industrial use, welding, cigarettes and marijuana, pigments), nickel (alloys, jewelry, cookware, batteries), and arsenic (pesticide for landscaping and agriculture, commercial chicken meat, used to treat wood like on decks and playhouses).
Essential heavy metals like copper, iron, and zinc are critical to survival, but become toxic in too high of doses as well. Excessive copper can come from copper pipes, birth control like copper IUD, and a long-term strict vegetarian diet. Excessive iron may result from eating too much enriched flour, too much red meat without enough fiber, or copper deficiency. Supplementing with zinc can be beneficial, but when it is at too high of levels over a period of time, it can cause copper deficiency. It is critical to have balanced amounts of these essential heavy metals to ensure proper physiological function of your body!
Testing For Heavy Metals
Testing for true overall body levels of heavy metals can be difficult, so we must rely on indirect markers such as blood, hair, and urine testing. In conventional medicine, they will most often only use blood tests to determine heavy metal toxicity. This is problematic because the blood will only indicate acute high level exposure and heavy metals are rapidly cleared from the blood and deposited into the tissues within a few days of exposure. Because of this, low-grade, chronic heavy metal poisoning is often overlooked by blood tests.
In my clinic, I like to utilize several methods of testing including hair mineral analysis and unprovoked/provoked urinary metals testing. The hair mineral analysis has markers for a range of heavy metals. Sometimes the levels of heavy metals are overly high, but just because a metal does not show up on the initial test does not mean you are in the clear, but that your body is sequestering it because it does not have sufficient energy to detox it. If you are on an effective heavy metal program, we would expect to see your levels jump on a retest. For the urine test, it gives us an idea what your body is able to process under normal conditions, and the provoked test uses a potent chelating agent to draw metals out of your tissues so we can get a better measurement of your overall toxic burden.
Plan of Action
In conventional medicine, it is usually expected that the body will eventually detoxify heavy metals on its own. In some circumstances, chelating agents like EDTA or DMSA will be used. Many holistic practitioners use these chelating agents as well, but I generally do not use them in my practice, as they can cause a lot of damage to a body that is not ready to remove heavy metals, as well as remove essential elements like magnesium, potassium, etc.
In my clinic I utilize more natural supplements for effective heavy metal detox such as extracts of fulvic and humic acid, which act both systemically and in the G.I. tract to chelate and facilitate the excretion of heavy metals. CellCore HM-ET Binder is safe and effective for extracting heavy metals and environmental toxins. I prefer HM-ET binder over traditional binders like charcoal or clay, as traditional binders generally cannot absorb anything outside of the G.I. tract, and do not provide energy to the cells to repair themselves after removing metals, as HM-ET binder does.
Other beneficial ways to handle heavy metals include increasing your intake of essential minerals like magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, etc. as these minerals are displaced because of heavy metals. MitoATP, CT-Min, and Fulvic Iodine may also be beneficial in helping the body detoxify heavy metals. N-acetyl cysteine is another great supplement, as it is a precursor of glutathione, which is the body’s master antioxidant and necessary for reducing the toxicity of heavy metals. Cilantro extract and chlorella may also be beneficial to help detox heavy metals. Using moderate doses of flushing niacin paired with infrared sauna is a great way to remove heavy metals stored deep within the body. Coffee enemas may also be beneficial, as heavy metals concentrate in the bile and coffee enemas help remove bile so it does not continue to re-circulate.
Avoiding sources of heavy metals will be your best method of prevention. Use natural deodorants instead of antiperspirants, beeswax wraps instead of aluminum foil, ceramic or stainless steel cookware instead of aluminum, avoid dental amalgams and consume mostly small fish to reduce mercury exposure, etc.
(1) https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/heavy-metal-poisoning/
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5704424/
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311389/
(4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7716790/
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481032/
(6) https://www.cell.com/parasitology/comments/S0169-4758(98)01358-1
(7) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829208000142
(8) https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-03-04-10.html
(9) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987713000133