Minerals, Preferred Minerals And Toxic Metals

By Dr. Lawrence Wilson

© May 2018, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.

All information in this article is for educational purposes only.  It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

 

 

Everything in the physical world is made of mineral elements.  What are they, how do they work, and why are they important for our health?

            There are 92 known stable elements.  Scientists believe they were formed billions of years ago by heat and pressure as the earth changed from clouds of gases into a solid planet.

            There is debate over what the elements really are.  Some scientists such as Dr. Brian Andersen believe the elements are frequencies of light, crystallized into form.  His book, The Rhythms of Nature, contains an interesting circular table of the elements.  According to the quantum theory, elements are composed of sub-atomic particles – electrons, protons and neutrons.

            Others say that the mineral elements are actually tiny beings who are in various states of pressure and heat.  No matter what they are, they definitely form the basis for all physical matter in our universe.

 

MINERALS FOR LIFE

 

            Life on our planet is built around a relatively small number of chemical elements.  The most important ones include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfur, chlorine and phosphorus.  These are sometimes called the electrolytes or the macro-minerals.  These are found in the greatest in quantity in our bodies.

Blood levels of these elements remain fairly constant.  If they vary even a little, especially the first four, the person feels quite ill and it is a bad sign.

However, the levels in the hair tissue vary tremendously, usually offering much more information about them and the metabolic state of the body.  The only one we do not measure in the hair is chlorine.  It is less important than the others and harder to measure accurately in the hair tissue.  Let us look at these first as they are most important in many, but not all ways.

 

            Calcium, the structural element, is found mainly in our bones.  Calcium also regulates cell membrane permeability to control nerve impulse transmission and muscle contraction.  It is important for blood clotting, and it regulates hormonal secretion and cell division.

            Good food sources are dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.  Smaller amounts are in milk, sardines, egg yolks, almonds, sesame seeds, seaweed and dark green vegetables.  Goat cheese is better than cow’s milk cheese for most people because cows are often fed or injected with antibiotics, female hormones and growth hormones.

 

            Magnesium is the bright and shining mineral. Magnesium is named after the Greek city of Magnesia, where large deposits of magnesium carbonate were found centuries ago.  It is required for over 500 enzymes that regulate sugar metabolism, energy production, cell membrane permeability, and muscle and nerve conduction.

            Foods high in magnesium include milk, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, whole soybeans (but not tofu, tempeh or soy protein), parsnips, wheat bran, whole grains, green vegetables, seafood, kelp and molasses.

            Most people need more magnesium than they are eating because food refining strips away magnesium.  Deficiency causes muscle cramps, weakness, depression and fatigue.  Magnesium works closely with potassium and is a calcium antagonist.

 

            Sodium, the volatility and the solvent mineral.  It helps regulate blood pressure, fluid balance, transport of carbon dioxide, and affects cell membrane permeability and other cell membrane functions.  Deficiency causes fatigue and fluid imbalances such as low blood pressure.

            Food sources include sea salt, seafood, eggs, beet greens, Swiss chard, olives, peas, and butter.  Table salt is a refined junk food.  Most of the minerals have been stripped away, and aluminum is often added as a flowing agent.  Use natural sea salt instead.

 

            Potassium, another solvent mineral and a heart mineral.  It is also essential for regulation of the heart beat, fluid balance and to maintain blood pressure.  It is also needed for buffering the blood, and cell membrane effects including nerve transmission and muscular contraction.  Deficiency can cause cramps, fatigue and heart irregularities. 

            Good sources are herring, sardines, halibut, goose, most nuts and seeds, watercress, garlic, lentils, spinach, artichokes, lima beans, Swiss chard, avocados, buckwheat, wheat bran, molasses, and kelp.  Be sure to drink the water in which you cook vegetables to obtain the potassium from the vegetables.

 

            Chlorine, a cleanser.  This is a fascinating element that is found in all living tissue.  Chlorine is essential for the function of cleansing the body of debris.  It is also exchanged in the stomach to produce hydrochloric acid, a very necessary acid for protein digestion.

            Chlorine is a member of a group of elements called the halogens.  Others in this group are fluoride, iodine and bromine.  The body maintains a delicate balance between all these elements. Today too much chlorine, bromine and fluoride are overwhelming the iodine and causing deficiencies in our bodies.

Deficiency of this element is non-existent, unlike all the other electrolytes.  The reason is that chlorine is part of salt (NaCl).  Most people eat too much, rather than too little table salt, as it is found in almost all prepared and processed food items today.  Thus we do not focus on this element in terms of deficiencies.

In contrast, excessive exposure to chlorine is a severe problem.  Too much table salt and chlorinated water are the main sources.  Some bleached flour products are also sources.  Environmental contamination of the food, water and air are constant sources of this element, which is highly toxic in these forms. 

 

             Sulfur, a fiery cleansing and joining mineral.  It is an important element for digestion and detoxification in the liver.  It is needed for the joints and in all connective tissue.  This includes the hair, skin and nails.  Most dietary sulfur comes from sulfur-containing amino acids found mainly in animal protein foods.  Good sources are eggs, meats, and often smelly foods like garlic and onions.  Other sources are kale, watercress, Brussels sprouts, horseradish, cabbage cauliflower and cranberries.

            Vegetarians can easily become deficient in sulfur if they do not eat eggs.  Deficiency can affect hair, nails, skin, joints, energy and the ability to detoxify poisons.

            Today, plenty of organic or usable sulfur is needed to oppose excess copper in the body.  Most people today have too much biounavailable copper in their bodies, and sulfur is needed to help remove it.  Good sources are animal proteins such as eggs, particularly the egg yolk. 

 

            Phosphorus, the most fiery energy mineral.  It is required for energy production, DNA synthesis and protein synthesis.  It is also needed for calcium metabolism, muscle contraction and cell membrane structure.

            Excellent sources include all meats, along with eggs, fish and other animal proteins.  All proteins have some phosphorus in them.  However, red meats and high purine proteins tend to have the most.  These include organ meats, sardines, and anchovies.  The latter two are not bad fish to eat.  Other fish tend to be too high in mercury to make them good foods for regular use.  Other decent food sources are most nuts and seeds, chickpeas, garlic, lentils, popcorn, soybeans, and some cheeses.

Animal-based sources of phosphorus are often absorbed better than grains and beans that contain phytates.  These are phosphorus compounds that are not well-absorbed and that actually interfere with the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc, in particular.  They are found in most grains and beans.  This is why proper cooking and preparation of breads, beans and other foods is extremely important.  Eating these foods raw eating unleavened bread is not wise for this reason.

 

THE TRACE ELEMENTS

 

            Though needed in small amounts, trace minerals are absolutely essential for life.  They include iron, copper, manganese, zinc, chromium, selenium, lithium, cobalt, silicon, boron and probably a dozen others that are less well-researched.  Hair and blood are used to measure these elements.  However, their levels in the blood are so low in most cases that blood is not often the best place to measure them, with the exception perhaps of iron.

 

            Iron, the oxygen carrier and an energy mineral as well.  It is required in hemoglobin for transporting oxygen in the blood, for detoxification and for energy production in the cells.  Iron is found in lean meats, organ meats, shellfish, molasses, beans, whole-grain cereals, and dark green vegetables.  Menstruating women and children on poor diets are most commonly low in iron

  

            Copper, the emotional mineral and intuitive mineral.  It is considered a female element because it is needed more for certain functions in women.  It is called the emotional mineral, because it tends to enhance all emotions when it is high in the body.  It is extremely important for women’s fertility and sexual function, and its levels often varies up and down with the level of estrogen.  Copper is also required for healthy arteries, pigments in hair and skin, blood formation, energy production and for neurotransmitter substances such as dopamine.

Too much copper is common today and causes a wide variety of common symptoms, especially for women but also for boys and men.  Among them are depression, fatigue, acne, migraine headaches, moodiness, ADD, ADHD, autistic tendencies in babies and children, infertility, premenstrual tension and many others.

            Copper sources include organ meats, nuts, seeds, beans, grains and chocolate.  People with high tissue copper are often bright, young-looking, creative and emotional.  This is called the copper personality type.  Each mineral has a personality type.

Excess copper is more common than deficiency today, due to the use of copper water pipes, birth control pills, vegetarian diets and stress.  

 

            Manganese, another female mineral and regulator, is also called the maternal element, because in a few studies, animals deprived of this element did not nurture their young.  Manganese is actually a very complex mineral needed for many body functions.  It is involved in cholesterol synthesis and bone growth.  It is also needed for healthy tendons and ligaments, and for fat and sugar metabolism.  Manganese sources are nuts, especially walnuts,  bran, corn, parsley, tea and wheat germ.

            Most people are deficient in biologically available manganese, as they are in zinc, selenium, chromium and other vital trace elements today.  Most people also have too much of a biologically unavailable form of manganese.

 

            Zinc, the gentle strength mineral and a very important spiritual development mineral today.  It is a male mineral, so called because it is more essential for men than for women in some ways, although it is certainly essential for women as well.  it is required for hundreds of enzymes in the human body.  These include the sense of taste and smell, vision, growth, sexual development, digestive enzyme production, male potency, prostate gland health, blood sugar regulation and processing of alcohol.

            Zinc is very important for the joints, the skin, wound healing, and to prevent birth defects.  Zinc helps prevent diabetes, acne, epilepsy and childhood hyperactivity, and helps detoxify heavy metals.  Adequate zinc has a calming effect and is needed to regenerate all body tissues.

            Refined food is very low in zinc.  According to Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, the entire human population is borderline zinc deficient.  There are very few excellent sources of zinc today.  Among the best are red meats, organ meats and some seafood that I do not recommend because it is too high in toxic metals.  Other sources that are not quite as good are poultry such as chicken and turkey, eggs, wheat, oatmeal, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, wheat germ and colostrum.  Wheat products are not recommended as wheat has become too hybridized and is a highly inflammatory and irritating food for most people today.

Vegetarians run a high risk of zinc deficiency because they avoid red meats, in most cases.  Low zinc, especially in vegetarians, tends to cause a worsening of copper toxicity.  Zinc supplements are essential for everyone today, although the supplements are not as good as eating high-zinc foods, generally.

 

             Chromium, a blood sugar mineral and a spiritual development mineral.  It is also an energy mineral.  A desert rodent called the sand rat develops diabetes when fed a laboratory diet.  When returned to the desert, the diabetes goes away.  Extensive research indicates the problem with the laboratory food is a lack of chromium.

            Chromium is essential to for insulin metabolism.  It can also help lower cholesterol.  Chromium deficiency is very common, especially in middle-aged and older people. Food sources of chromium are brewers yeast, liver, kidney, beef, whole wheat bread, wheat germ, beets, mushrooms and beer. Unfortunately, most of these foods are not recommended for various reasons.  Chromium can be obtained from supplements, and this is usually the best way to make sure you get enough each day.

 

            Selenium, a critical spiritual mineral, is required for the development of certain higher brain centers.  It also gives a smooth, flexible and soft quality to the personality and even to the tissues of the body.  Selenium is vital for detoxification and for thyroid activity in the human body, among its many functions.  It is also needed for protein synthesis, helps the body get rid of toxic cadmium and mercury, and is needed for antioxidant production (glutathione peroxidase).  As an anti-oxidant, it may help prevent cancer and birth defects.  Good sources of selenium are garlic, yeast, liver, eggs, wheat germ and brazil nuts.  Human milk contains six times as much selenium as cow’s milk.

            Refined food loses a lot of selenium (and other trace elements).  For example, brown rice has 15 times as much selenium as white rice.  Whole wheat bread has twice as much selenium as white bread.  Everyone should supplement with selenium today.  The best supplement, in my view, is a food-based selenium rather than the others that are offered today.

 

            Lithium is the brain protection mineral.  It is also a more advanced spiritual mineral for the future.  It has a calming, balancing and protective effect on the brain and the entire nervous system.  It is found in many natural foods so it is not necessary to supplement it in many cases.  However, anyone who is taking an anti-depressant or any brain-altering drug, or is suffering from any brain-related problem may benefit from a natural lithium supplement such as lithium orotate.  The lithium used by medical doctors for bipolar disorder is quite toxic and should be avoided if at all possible.  The natural product is far less potent, but is better absorbed and much less toxic or perhaps totally non-toxic. 

            Cobalt, vitamin B12 mineral.  Cobalt is essential for life as part of the vitamin B12 molecule.  Vitamin B12 is required for the nervous system and blood formation.  It is found in animal products.  Deficiency causes anemia and a very severe dementia that can be irreversible.

Deficiency occurs mainly in strict vegetarians and in those with impaired digestion or any disorder of the stomach.  It is deficient in some elderly people whose stomach does not absorb it very well.

Many people take vitamin B12 shots or pills because it makes them feel better.  This is not a wise idea, in my experience.  Their blood levels of vitamin B12 are too high, and their hair mineral tests always show elevated levels of cobalt.  It is a biounavailable form of cobalt that has a stimulating effect, but can build up in the liver in this toxic form.

As long as you eat some meat three times weekly, or even just soft-cooked eggs, and take a good digestive aid, in most cases you should not need extra vitamin B12.

 

            Iodine, a cleanser and a thyroid mineral (along with manganese).  Iodine, however, it is required for all the cells of the body.  It is somewhat more important for women.  It is needed to make thyroid hormones, and for the regulation of metabolism.  It is important for women’s breast health, cancer prevention and many other body functions in somewhat mysterious ways. 

Good sources of iodine are all fish, seafood, sea vegetables such as kelp and others.  Iodine is also added to most table salt.  This, however, is a junk food that is best avoided.  The problem today is not so much a lack of iodine in the diet as it is an overabundance of iodine antagonists.  These are chemicals in the environment that compete with and replace iodine in the body.  They include all fluoride compounds, all chlorine compounds and all bromides and bromine compounds. 

Unfortunately, these chemicals are everywhere today.  To reduce your exposure to them, avoid all breads and baked goods (bromine), avoid tap water, even if filtered with carbon (fluorides and chlorine, perhaps) and avoid other sources of these minerals such as all fluoride toothpastes and mouthwashes, all fluoride treatments, and exposure to bleaches and other chlorine-containing products.

Because it is impossible to avoid all the iodine antagonists in the environment, an iodine supplement such as kelp is recommended for most people.  If it makes you jittery, just take less. Do not use other sea vegetables or too much fish, however, as these are higher in mercury.  Prescription and OTC iodine pills or liquids are not as good, in my view, because they do not contain all the other trace minerals and they are often not quite as easily absorbed as kelp.  Kelp is also a natural food and the body may be more able to regulate how much it absorbs from kelp better.  Taking any single-mineral products can also unbalance body chemistry if it is done for more than a few weeks to a few months.

 

Boron may be called the plant mineral.  It is very essential for plants, though perhaps less so for human beings. Boron can help maintain female hormone production and bone integrity.  Boron is found in many foods, so supplements are rarely needed, though they will help some cases of hot flashes, at times. 

 

Silicon, along with selenium, is important for the bones and skin.  Food sources include lettuce, parsnips, asparagus, dandelion greens, rice bran, horseradish, onion, spinach and cucumbers, and in herbs such as horsetail.  Since it is in many foods, supplements are usually not needed.  Silicon and selenium also are both spiritual minerals needed for higher brain activity.

 

            Trace minerals often work in pairs or triplets.  The interaction of minerals in the body is a complex and interesting subject.  There are many other trace minerals such as molybdenum, vanadium, bromine, germanium, nickel, tin, cesium, rubidium, strontium, gold, silver, titanium, tritium and others.

            The only way to obtain all these elements is to eat natural foods grown on mineralized soil.  Dr. Weston Price, DDS, studied healthy native tribes around the world.  He found they were eating about 4-10 times the vitamins and minerals of the average American living on refined and processed foods.  

 

TOXIC METALS

 

            Toxic metals are among the worst cause of health problems on planet earth today.  They can cause every imaginable symptom.  Sometimes they act like replacement parts in a car or aircraft that can fit in, but do not measure up to the original parts.

Another analogy is to imagine you live in a wooden house and over the years the wood rots or becomes damaged.  Instead of replacing them with the correct boards, you use whatever is around such as tar paper, cardboard, twigs or tree branches.  Your house might still stand for a while, but it will lose its structural integrity.  When the body is missing vital minerals in the diet such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and zinc, it absorbs toxic minerals from the environment to keep functioning.

            The toxic metals include lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum, nickel, fluoride, antimony, beryllium and others.  These often function in enzymes to some extent, but not nearly as well as the physiological mineral.  All toxic metals are neurotoxic.  They contribute to hundreds of health conditions.

 

            Lead, the dullness and horror mineral.  It may contribute to over 100 human conditions, including neuromuscular and bone diseases, fractures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, anemia, and many others.  Some historians believe the Roman Empire fell because lead water pipes slowly poisoned the people and decreased their intelligence.  Sources of lead include old paint, inks, pesticides, a few hair dyes, solder and other metal products.

 

            Cadmium, the pseudo-masculine and violence mineral.  It can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, fatigue, arthritis, violence, infections, back pain and other conditions.  Sources are cigarette or marijuana

smoke, refined foods and tap water.  Some is also found in most coffee and tea.

 

            Mercury, the mad hatter mineral.  This is because it was used in hat-making 150 years ago in America and those who worked with it became somewhat strange, or mad.  It is extremely widespread today and most people have some degree of mercury toxicity.  Major sources are silver amalgam dental fillings, eating any fish or seafood, especially larger fish such as tuna and swordfish.  These should be strictly avoided.  Shellfish are terrible as well and should be avoided.  Other sources include contact lens solution, many vaccines including flu shots, and a few other products.

Mercury toxicity can contribute to hypothyroidism, impaired immune system, digestive problems such as yeast infections, emotional difficulties, learning disabilities, ADHD and many other conditions.   

            Aluminum, the soft in the head mineral.  This is because it is a rather soft toxic metal and is associated with memory impairment and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. Aluminum is widely used in beverage cans, aluminum foils, antiperspirants, antiacids, and aluminum cookware.  Most table salt has added aluminum, as does most tap water.  Peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen are naturally high in aluminum.

 

            Fluoride, the cancer mineral.  It is an extremely toxic mineral, except perhaps in tiny amounts found in foods such as tea.  In excess, which is everywhere in America and Great Britain today, it contributes to brown staining of the teeth, weakened bones, hip fractures, mental impairment, birth defects and cancer. 

Fluoride compounds are found in pesticides, air pollution, toothpastes, and are added to many water supplies.  Foods processed with water including baby foods and juices often contain far too much fluoride, up to 40 or 50 times the recommended amounts, which are already too high.

            Large, worldwide studies show little or no benefit of added fluoride for tooth decay, contrary to many news reports. Only the United States and Britain continue the insane practice of adding highly toxic fluoride compounds to drinking water.   

            Arsenic, the insidious slow death mineral.  It was formerly used often to poison people one did not like.  Today it is easily detectable with hair analysis, so that is not done much.  Too much arsenic contributes to liver and kidney damage, weakness, diarrhea, muscle spasms, headaches and other symptoms.  Sources include pesticides, beer, tap water, table salt, paints and other chemical products. 

It is common in our food supply, unfortunately, because of its use in pesticides that have now poisoned the soil in many areas.  Organic agriculture is better, but does not guarantee an arsenic-free product.

 

MORE MINERAL BASICS

 

            Here are some axioms about the vital topic of minerals:

 

• The body always has a preferred mineral in each metalo-enzyme binding site.  Nutritional balancing restores the preferred mineral in millions of enzymes in the body, and that is how it improves your health at very deep levels.
• Each mineral literally has personality traits associated with it.  .  
• Minerals display a quality called movement.  This means that minerals tend to move or vibrate a person in certain ways. 
• Most everyone alive today was born deficient in vital minerals and with excessive levels of toxic metals.  This occurs because mothers are deficient and toxic. 
• Any woman even contemplating having children some day ought to begin now to replenish her vital minerals because deficiencies and toxicity are so widespread.
• Practically all our food today is lower in trace minerals than it was 100 years ago.  This has been documented in books such as Empty Harvest.  The reasons have to do with modern agriculture and are explained below. Studies on healthy primitive tribes by Dr. Weston Price, DDS found they were eating 5 to 10 times the amount of minerals than modern people eat.
• When vital minerals are deficient in the diet, the body picks up toxic metals from the environment.  Thus, eating plenty of the vital minerals is essential to reduce the buildup of toxic metals.
• Today we are exposed to levels of toxic metals and toxic chemicals never before seen on this planet.  This is due to industrialization, mining and environmental pollution.
• Stress causes our bodies to use more minerals.  Zinc is eliminated within minutes of a stressful situation.  Calcium and magnesium are eliminated in the urine as part of the fight-or-flight reaction.  Simplifying your life, slowing down and reducing stress are most important to maintain healthy mineral levels.

 

DIET AND MINERALS

 

Minerals, unlike many vitamins and other substances, cannot be manufactured within our bodies.  We must eat them daily in our diets.  Furthermore, one must eat organic food to even approach the amount of minerals our bodies require for optimum health.  A study in the Journal of Applied Nutrition found that organic produce purchased randomly at Chicago health food stores had an average of five times the mineral content compared to conventional produce.

Using sea salt, rather than so-called table salt, helps one to obtain trace minerals.  Most of the minerals are refined out of common table salt.  Good quality sea salt usually does not raise blood pressure or harm the body in any way.  Refined table salt, however, is a junk food.  It often contains added toxic metals as well such as aluminum. 

Other mineral-rich foods are organic vegetables, especially root vegetables.  Whole organic grains, nuts and seeds, fish and good quality meats are other good sources of minerals.  Fruits are not as good sources, as they are mainly water, fiber and sugars.

Kelp is another excellent source of minerals that I recommend for everyone.

 

Cooking and Minerals.  Eating cooked food is actually much better for obtaining minerals than raw food.  This is because cooking helps break down the fiber in food, releasing the minerals and allowing better utilization of the food.  Also, cooking often concentrates the food, permitting one to eat less and still obtain the same quantity of minerals.  Cooking usually does not destroy the availability of minerals.  A little raw food is excellent to obtain certain vitamins lost in cooking such as vitamin C.  However, more than this tends to cause mineral deficiencies in my experience.  To get more minerals, cooked food is much better.  We simply do not have the kind of digestive system that a cow or horse has – with four stomachs and so on – to be able to get enough minerals from raw food.  I used to be a fan of raw foods, as they are good for fiber and vitamins, for example.  However, I was forced to change my mind when the hair tests and other methods started showing how mineral deficient everyone who lives on raw food becomes.

Good quality spring or mineral waters can be excellent sources of trace minerals.  Tap water contains minerals, but almost all of it contains many harmful chemicals as well, and is best avoided. 

Distilled water can help remove toxic substances from the body.  However, it does not contain minerals and for this reason I do not recommend it as a long-term drinking water. 

Reverse osmosis and bottled “drinking water” also contain no minerals and are damaged by the reverse osmosis processing of the water.  Avoid RO and drinking or purified waters for this reason.  Drink only distilled for short term use or spring water. 

Demineralized foods to avoid include white flour, white rice, white sugar, refined ‘table’ salt and all artificial or chemical foods.   These have been stripped of a significant amount of their trace minerals.  Skip them all if you want to maintain adequate mineral levels.  Brown or “raw” sugar, honey and maple syrup are better than white sugar, but are still mineral-deficient.

A digestive aid can help assure that food is broken down thoroughly to obtain the most minerals from the food.  Excellent digestive aids include pancreatin and ox bile.  The others are not as good, but may be used as well.

 

Mineral absorption.  Many minerals are absorbed in a particular way.  In the stomach, they are mixed with proteins or amino acids, which serve as carrier substances to assist their absorption.  This process requires an acidic stomach and the presence of enough protein in the diet.  The process is called chelating the minerals.  In their chelated form, they are far more absorbable. 

This is different from chelation therapy to remove toxic metals.  In that process, a drug or other natural substance is ingested or injected into the body that has the capability of grabbing onto certain minerals and removing them from the body.  I do not recommend this therapy in most case.   

MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS

 

Most everyone today would benefit from a mineral supplement.  An excellent and inexpensive one is kelp.  It is available in capsules, tablets or granules, though the taste is not great.  Kelp not only contains a great variety of vital minerals.  It also contains alginates, which bind toxic metals that are found in all sea products.  Dulse and other sea vegetables also contain many minerals but contain less or no alginates to protect against toxic metals.

Most people can take kelp.  Its high iodine content is wonderful for most people.  Occasionally it can cause nervousness if one is hyperthyroid.  Other mineral supplements come in pill or liquid form.  For example, brewer’s yeast is an excellent source of chromium and selenium.  Beware of mineral supplements derived from ‘earth deposits’ as many contain toxic metals.

 

MINERALS AND THE SOIL

 

The quantity of minerals in our food is directly related to the soil on which the food is grown.  Almost all our food, even organic food, is deficient in minerals for several reasons:

1. Modern agricultural methods often do not replenish all the minerals in the soil.  Most modern fertilizers do not contain all the trace minerals.
2. Most crops are bred for higher yields, better taste or appearance, hardiness or bug resistance.  However, they are rarely bred for a higher mineral content.  High-yield crops produce much more food per acre, but the food is much lower in minerals because the amount of minerals in the soil is the same yet the yield is much greater.
3. Toxic sprays, insecticides and pesticides interfere with microorganisms in the soil that are required to make minerals usable to the crops.  This can significantly reduce the amount of minerals available to the crops.  Organically produced crops tend to have more minerals in them in part for this reason.

 

BIOLOGICAL TRANSMUTATION

 

            Most scientists believe that once an element forms, it cannot change into another element except using extreme heat or pressure, as in a nuclear reactor.

            Dr. Louis Kervan, a French scientist, performed simple experiments showing that living organisms can change one element into another at room temperature.  For example, hens do not eat much calcium in their diet.  However, their eggs are rich in calcium.  In another experiment, seeds sprouted in sealed containers with only distilled water contain different amounts of elements than unsprouted seeds.

            These experiments can be duplicated by any high school student.  Dr. Kervan’s book, Biological Transmutations, is fascinating reading.  Unfortunately, the ideas are so revolutionary they are ignored in mainstream physics and biology.   

 

PRINCIPLES OF MINERAL NUTRITION

 

1. To obtain vital minerals, eat fresh, natural foods.  Refined and junk foods usually have their minerals stripped away.  If you don’t eat plenty of vital minerals, your body will take up toxic metals as substitutes.

 

2. Eat a variety of foods.  It is impossible to get all the minerals one needs on a limited diet.  Don’t eat the same food every day.  Vary your proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables.  Do not eat fruits or keep to small quantities, in my opinion.  They contain mainly toxic forms of potassium, for instance, and too much sugar today.  This is unfortunate, and I know most health authorities recommend them, but we find them unnecessary, not a good source of minerals, and always harmful.  An exception is the botija olives.

 

3. Use supplements.  I recommend only kelp and sea salt as excellent mineral supplements for everyone.  Avoid most herbs and other sea vegetables such as dulse.  Rice polishing, wheat germ are not bad.  Be extremely careful with so-called colloidal mineral supplements from clay deposits, and also avoid all humic acid or fulvic acid mineral supplements.  These often contain aluminum, lead, cadmium and other toxic metals.  Read labels carefully.

 

4. Avoid sources of toxic metals as much as possible.

 

5. Women, for healthy pregnancies and happy children, improve your mineral nutrition before getting pregnant.  Toxic metals and mineral deficiencies are passed on to children.

 

REMOVING TOXIC METALS

 

            We use a number of methods all at the same time to remove toxic metals and help restore the proper balance of mineral.  This is an important part of the science of nutritional balancing, which is explained in other articles on this website.

              I also do not recommend natural chelation with products such as Metal-Free, NDF and similar ones.  These are often derived from chlorella, cilantro, zeolite or other sources.  They, too, are less effective and dangerous, as they too remove some vital minerals and deficiencies can develop very slowly and insidiously.

            I also do not often recommend high-dose intravenous vitamin C therapy for chelation.  It is unnecessary for this purpose and always disturbs the delicate mineral balance because vitamin C also removes vital minerals including copper, zinc, manganese and others.

             

CONCLUSION

 

Minerals, from calcium and magnesium to the trace elements such as zinc, are perhaps the single most important group of nutrients.  They are required for every body function, from activating muscles and nerves, to digestion, energy production and all healing and regeneration of the body.

Restoring your vital minerals is a lifetime work, but does not have to be difficult.  Mainly it involves recalling that our food is generally mineral deficient, and our environment contains toxic minerals no matter where one lives.

Healthful habits of living and eating, and simple supplements such as kelp, are a good start to rebuilding your body’s vital minerals.

Other approaches, mainly nutritional balancing science based on a properly performed hair tissue mineral analyses, can help greatly to systematically remineralize the body and remove two dozen toxic metals, along with hundreds of toxic chemicals from the body.

 

Resources

 

1. Andersen, B.D., The Rhythms of Nature, Harmonic Spiral, CA, 1999.
2. Ford Heritage, Composition and Facts About Food, Health Research, CA 1971.
3. Jensen, B., The Chemistry of Man, Bernard Jensen, Escondido, CA 1983.
4. Kervan, C. L., Biological Transmutations, Beekman Publishers, Inc., NY, 1998.
5. Kutsky, R., Handbook of Vitamins, Minerals and Hormones, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., NY, 1981.
6. Pfeiffer, C., Mental and Elemental Nutrients, Keats Publishing, CT, 1975. 
7. Price, W., Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, CA, 1945, 1979.
   Albrecht, W., The Albrecht Papers, Acres USA, Kansas City, MO, 1975.

Hall, R., Food For Naught, The Decline in Nutrition, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 1979.

Jensen, B. and Anderson, M., Empty Harvest, Understanding the Link Between Our Food,

            Our Immunity and Our Planet, Avery Publishing, 1990.

Price, W., Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Price-Pottenger foundation, CA

1993, J. Applied Nutrition, Vol. 45, #1, pp. 35-39.

Main article

Wilson, L., “Minerals for Life”

Wilson, L., Healing Ourselves, LD Wilson Consultants, 2000.

 

 

THE CONCEPT OF PREFERRED MINERALS

 

 

            A very important principle of nutritional balancing science is called the concept of preferred minerals.  It is the idea that when preferred or ideal minerals are not available, often the body can substitute less preferred minerals in some enzyme binding sites and elsewhere in the body.

            When this occurs, the metallo-enzyme (enzyme that requires a metal for its activity) can continue to function, preserving life, in some cases.  However, the level of functioning is not as good as when the ideal mineral or preferred mineral is present in the enzyme binding site or elsewhere in the body.  An enzyme that requires zinc, for example, may function at 50% or even at just 10% when cadmium occupies the zinc binding site on the enzyme.  However, this is often sufficient to preserve life.

           

Survival mechanism.  This is no doubt a survival mechanism that allows a person to survive, even if the diet is deficient in some vital minerals.

 

A similar atomic “look”.  Often the substitute minerals “look” similar to the ideal mineral in terms of the number of filled electron shells, for example, or the molecular weight, or some other characteristic of the elements.

 

A critical concept for babies and children.  Today, most babies are born with too many of the less preferred minerals in their enzyme binding sites, or other places in the body.  This understanding helps explain the epidemics of childhood autism, ADD, ADHD, cancer and other problems of our children today.

 

An anti-aging concept.  As we age, we generally develop more and more nutritional deficiencies.  This occurs because of our depleted food supply, and because stress and aging often decrease one’s ability to digest food and extract the nutrients from our food.

As more and more vital minerals are depleted or “burned out” of the body and replaced with less preferred toxic metals, our energy level and health always suffers, until a fatal imbalance or disease ends life completely.

Thus, it makes sense to attempt to:

1. Prevent the replacement of more preferred minerals with the less preferred ones.
2. Restore the more preferred minerals in the body.
3. Nourish the young women better so that the children will start life with more of the preferred minerals in their enzyme binding sites.

 

Dr. Paul Eck was familiar with this concept and taught it to me.  I also read about in The Trace Elements and Manby Henry Schroeder (1973).  Here is a brief excerpt from page 7 of this interesting book:

 

“In this way, niobium can displace vanadium, tungsten can displace molybdenum, … silver displaces copper, gold will displace copper under certain circumstances, cadmium avidly displaces zinc and changes or inactivates zinc enzymes, causing disease; arsenic displaces phosphorus, causing disease; bromine displaces chlorine; beryllium displaces magnesium; magnesium and calcium interact; strontium displaces calcium; lithium displaces sodium ….”

 

EXAMPLES OF THE REPLACEMENT PROCESS

 

The substitution process can become quite complex.  The most important replacements that I deal with, however, include:

 

1. Calcium and magnesium are replaced by lead.
2. Zinc is replaced by cadmium, mercury and nickel.
3. Chromium is replaced by lead and cadmium.
4. Higher quality magnesium is replaced by other magnesium compounds that are less biologically available.
5. Higher quality potassium is replaced by toxic potassium that comes from superphosphate or N-P-K fertilizers.
6. Oxides of iron, manganese, copper and other minerals replace more bioavailable forms of these minerals.  
7. Some phosphorus is replaced by lead and arsenic. 

 

PREFERRED MINERALS HAVE TO DO WITH BIOLOGICAL TRANSMUTATION OF THE ELEMENTS

 

Biological transmutation is the unique process of transforming one of the chemical elements into a different element at low temperature and low pressure.  This clearly goes on in the body, although medical science does not pay much attention to it at this time.

At times, the body can transmute a mineral into a different mineral that will power a critical enzyme, and thus preserve life.

 

A NUTRITIONAL BALANCING PROGRAM RESTORES PREFERRED MINERALS

 

The replacement of less preferred minerals with more preferred minerals occurs with every properly designed nutritional balancing program.  It helps account for the excellent results, in most cases.

This healing process is analogous to removing defective ‘aftermarket parts’ in an automobile, and replacing them with the factory original parts.  As with an automobile, doing this often causes the machinery to work much better, and it effectively rejuvenates the vehicle.  That is exactly what occurs with a nutritional balancing program.

To do this requires:

1. Supplying enough of the vital minerals.  This is not easy today because even the best food is hybridized and much lower in minerals than it was 100 years ago.
2. Nutritional balancing uses a diet of mainly cooked vegetables to provide a multitude of trace minerals. Human beings cannot extract enough minerals from raw vegetables, we find, no matter what other health benefits they may have.
3. One must avoid fruit, which does not seem to have the right forms and the right balance of minerals.
4. We use sea salt, kelp, dried vegetable capsules, and carrot juice to supply extra minerals. 
5. A digestive enzyme is necessary for most people because most people do not digest their food and absorb their nutrients well enough.
6. The process also requires a lot of adaptive energy. Biochemical energy production is boosted by balancing the key mineral levels and ratios in a mineral biopsy of the hair or other body tissue. 

This is analogous to tuning an automobile engine and running it at the correct speed to produce the maximum torque or power.  So far, blood tests cannot provide the same information as a properly performed hair mineral test, though of course blood tests have other uses.

7. Today the process also seems to require some extra forced detoxification, similar to dialysis of the kidneys.  Nutritional balancing therefore recommends the coffee enema and the near infrared lamp sauna sessions, which greatly enhance the process in many people.
8. Other aids to the process include the use of TMG or trimethylglycine, a particular mental exercise that is very powerful, channel therapy using foot and hand reflexology, and other supportive measures.

 

 

Toxic Metals

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

Definition.  Toxic metals are a group of minerals that have no known function in the body.  In addition, they are known to be very harmful to plant, animal and human bodies.

 

High exposure.  Toxic metals have always been present on earth.  However, mankind today is exposed to the highest levels of these metals in recorded history.  This is mainly due to their industrial use for the past 300 years, the burning of fossil fuels without scrubbers, and improper incineration of waste materials worldwide.

Toxic metals are now everywhere, and affect everyone on planet earth.  They have become a major cause of illness, aging and even genetic defects.

 

Not taught much.  The study of toxic metals is often considered a part of the study of toxicology.  This subject matter is not widely taught today in high schools, colleges or medical schools.

For this reason, this important cause of disease is given little attention in society or in conventional mainstream medicine.  Fortunately, environmental science is beginning to pay more attention to toxic metals and their relationship to the health of all living things on planet earth.

This article focuses on the extent of toxic metal problems, sources of toxic metals, symptoms, and how to remove them safely and deeply. 

 

TOXIC METAL CONCEPTS

 

This article presents the following principles or concepts about toxic metals.  I will only mention them briefly here, because they are explained later in the article.

 

1. Congenital toxic metals.  ALL babies born today anywhere in the world have too many toxic metals.  This occurs because toxic metals are widely distributed in the air, drinking water, food and elsewhere.

Also, all the toxic metals pass easily across the placenta from pregnant mothers and deposit in the tissues of their unborn babies.  This is a very serious problem that few talk about.  However, it is obvious if one does hair mineral testing on newborns and young children.

 

2. Preferred minerals.  The body takes the best minerals it can find from food, water and sometimes elsewhere.  Even the highly toxic ones can sustain life, to a degree.  However, our bodies definitely prefer the ideal or nutrient minerals in enzymes and elsewhere, if they can get them.

For example, the body prefers zinc for over 50 critical enzymes.  However, if zinc becomes deficient, which it is in most soil and in most of our food today, or if exposure to cadmium, lead or mercury is sufficiently high, the body will use the toxic metals in place of zinc.

Cadmium, in particular, is located just below zinc in the periodic table of the elements, so its outer atomic structure is very similar to that of zinc.  As a result, cadmium “fits” well into zinc binding sites and can easily replace zinc in critical enzymes such as RNA transferase, carboxypeptidase, alcohol dehydrogenase and many others of great importance in the body.

An analogy is to imagine taking an automobile journey.  If one is far away from a repair shop when a key part such as the fan belt breaks, if one had a spare piece of rope, one could tie it around the pulleys and continue the trip slowly.

The rope would not function nearly as well as the original part, but would allow one to keep going. This is how toxic metals can function positively in the body, at times. 

Many people limp along on grossly deficient diets, and many today are born deficient in the vital minerals and too high in toxic metals due to imbalances in their mothers.

Their fatigue and other symptoms are due to the presence of incorrect “replacement parts” in their biological engine compartments.  Depending on where toxic metals accumulate, the resulting effects may be given names such as hypothyroidism, diabetes or cancer.  

 This is critical to understand.  It means that toxic metals can have an adaptive function to sustain life in the face of vital mineral deficiences.

Nutritional balancing programs replace less preferred minerals with more preferred minerals.  This therapy concept is not well-known.

 

3. Stress and toxic metals.  Stress depletes vital minerals faster.  This leads to deficiencies of these minerals.  This, in turn, causes the body to absorb more toxic metals.

In this way, stress is a direct cause of toxic metal excess, which in turn contributes or causes many health conditions, aging, disabilities and death.

 

4. Mineral antagonisms.  Eating plenty of nutrient minerals actually antagonizes, or prevents the absorption of the toxic metals.  Deficient diets, however, always result in toxic metal accumulation and poisoning because there are fewer vital minerals in refined food to compete with the toxic metals for absorption and utilization inside the body.

 

5. The anthropomorphic concept.  All minerals, including the toxic metals, have very specific qualities that affect our bodies, and even our personalities, when we have a lot of the mineral inside us.

For example, cadmium is a very hard toxic metal.  Inside the body, it hardens the arteries and other tissues, and it even hardens a person’s personality.

 

6. The poor eliminator concept. A key to solving toxic metal problems is understanding that many people cannot eliminate toxic metals very well.  This fact is often overlooked when doctors try to correct toxic metal poisoning.

The worst problem is not necessarily the presence of a toxic metal, but rather an inability to eliminate toxic metals.  Hair mineral testing has very specific individual mineral indicators for poor ability to eliminate these metals.

 

7. Toxic forms of vital minerals.  A confusing fact is that nutrient minerals such as chromium, manganese, iron, copper, potassium and even calcium and others can be in a form that is highly toxic to the body.  In other words, nutrient minerals can be in a form that makes them act like toxic metals for the body.

In most cases, the body cannot convert the toxic (oxide or other) form into a usable form.  Instead, the body must eliminate the toxic forms of these minerals to restore health. 

This can be very confusing for both practitioners and clients.  For example, it may appear on a test as if one is eliminating a nutrient mineral.  In reality, one is just eliminating a toxic form of a nutrient mineral that is damaging the body.

 

8. Developmental versus toxic minerals.  Toxic metals slow or stop what is called on this website development.  This is a very special type of healing of the body.

It is critical to replace the toxic metals with what we call the spiritual minerals such as zinc and selenium, in order to promote development.  We call the latter spiritual minerals because they are needed for advanced brain activity.  

 

            Before discussing toxic metals, let us briefly discuss minerals, in general.

 

INTRODUCTION TO THE MINERALS

 

Minerals are the building blocks of our bodies.  They are required for body structure, fluid balance, protein structures and to produce hormones.  Minerals also act as co-factors, catalysts and inhibitors of all our body’s  enzymes.  Everything in our bodies are made of about 50 minerals, also called chemical elements.

Having the right minerals is a great a key to the health of every body system and function.

 

Mineral classification.  Minerals are classified into four groups: 

 

1. Macrominerals.  These are found in large quantity in our bodies.  They include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and sulfur.  The first four are sometimes called the electrolytes, because they are common in the blood.

 

2. Required trace minerals.  These include iron, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, selenium, boron, silicon, iodine, vanadium, lithium, molybdenum, cobalt, germanium and perhaps a few others.

 

3. Possibly required trace minerals.  Less is known about these.  They may include rubidium, tin, niobium, gold, silver and others.

 

4. Toxic metals.  The most well-studied include aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, bismuth, bromine, cadmium, chlorine, fluoride, lead, mercury nickel, and uranium.  However, there are a dozen or more others.

This article will only discuss the more common toxic metals.  However, a complete nutritional balancing program will remove many others such as germanium, gadolinium (used in MRI scans as a contrast medium), thallium, and others. This is a distinct advantage of this program over others that target only one or two toxic metals.

 

The categories of minerals above sometimes overlap slightly because assessing minerals that are required by humans is not a clear cut science.  Some of them may be needed in minuscule amounts, for example.

Also, some forms of the required minerals can be highly toxic.  Examples are some forms of copper, iron, manganese, hexavalent chromium, selenium and others.  Too much of even the most needed minerals can also become toxic. 

 

TOXIC METAL DANGERS

 

General dangers:

 

Easy exposure.  Today mankind is exposed to the highest levels in recorded history of lead, mercury, arsenic, aluminum, copper, nickel, tin, antimony, bromine, bismuth and vanadium, among others.  The levels are up to several thousand times higher than in primitive man.  In my clinical experience, for this reason everyone has excessive amounts of some or all of the toxic metals.

 

Persistent in the environment.  Toxic metals are also persistent .  The late Henry Schroeder, MD, who was a world authority on minerals, wrote:

 

“Most organic substances are degradable by natural processes.  (However), no metal is degradable…they are here to stay for a long time”.

 

Persistent and cumulative in the body.  Toxic metals also tend to persist or remain in our bodies for years.  We can remove some of them if we are healthy, but many also accumulate.

This is the reason why nutritional balancing program include what some consider “drastic” measures to help eliminate them such as coffee enemas, sauna therapy and certain supplements.

 

Specific types of damage:

 

Depositing in tissues.  Toxic metals may also simply deposit in many sites, causing local irritation and other toxic effects. 

 

Causing infection.  Some toxic metals support development of fungal, bacterial and viral infections that are difficult or impossible to eradicate until this cause is removed.

 

Damaging biosynthesis.  Toxic metals are very involved in the production of all chemicals in our bodies from DNA and RNA.  They are needed as raw materials for body chemicals, for enzymes that participate in the synthesis of all of our chemicals, and for more.  Toxic metals interfere, block, replace, and poison many aspects of biosynthesis.

 

Weakening body structures.  For example, lead, fluoride, aluminum and other toxic metals that find their way into the bones weaken the bones.

 

General enzyme damage.  Toxic metals replace nutrient minerals in enzyme binding sites.  When this occurs, the metals inhibit, overstimulate or otherwise alter thousands of enzymes.

An affected enzyme may operate at 5% of normal activity. This may contribute to many health conditions.  Toxic metals may also replace other substances in other tissue structures. These tissues, such as the arteries, joints, bones and muscles, are weakened by the replacement process.

 

Other.  Toxic metals upset digestion, alter gland activity, change the metabolic rate, and damage organs such as the kidneys and liver.  In addition, all are neurotoxic.  This means they damage the brain and nervous system.

In fact, we find that many mental and emotional health disorders involve excess toxic metals in the body and brain.  I hope that someday this fact will be recognized in the fields of psychology and psychiatry.  There is a small group of doctors known as orthomolecular psychiatrists who are aware of this, but they are yet very few in number.

 

MODERN DIETS AND TOXIC METALS

 

The danger of toxic metals is greatly aggravated today by the low mineral content of most of our food supply.  An abundance of vital minerals protects against toxic metals.  Vital minerals compete with toxic metals for absorption and utilization in enzymes and other tissue structures.

However, when food is low in essential minerals, the body absorbs and makes use of more toxic metals.  To continue the analogy from the previous section of this article, we are not stocking up sufficiently on factory parts, so we must use the greatly inferior replacement parts – toxic metals.  Causes for the low mineral content of almost all agricultural products are primarily:

 

1. Hybrid crops are bred for production or disease resistance, rather than superior nutrition.
2. Superphosphate fertilizers produce higher yields by stimulating growth, but the crops grown this way do not provide nearly as many trace elements.  They are used on both commercial and organic crops.

We do not replace all the trace minerals on our agricultural fields today.  Instead, human and animal manures are often flushed into the rivers and oceans, where they do not belong and are often pollutants.

4. Toxic pesticides used on commercial farms damage soil microorganisms needed to help plants absorb minerals from the soil.
5. After harvesting crops, food refining and processing almost always reduce the mineral content of our  food.  Whole wheat flour, when milled to make white flour, loses 40% of its chromium, 86% of its manganese, 89% of its cobalt, 78% of its zinc and 48% of its molybdenum. 

Refining cane into sugar causes even greater losses.  EDTA may be added to frozen foods to retain their color.  However, this chelating agent removes minerals that otherwise would cause the surface minerals to ‘tarnish’, discoloring the vegetables. 

As a result of the above, the term ’empty calories’ aptly describes most of our food today, even some natural foods.  Newer genetically-modified crops are even worse.

Please eat only whole, natural foods.  Organically grown is almost always better.  However, it can vary and many organic foods are still hybridized varieties.

 

1. SOURCES AND SYMPTOMS OF TOXIC METALS

 

For a more complete list of sources for each of the major toxic metals organized by the metal, see the Reference Guide at the end of this article.

 

ALUMINUM

 

Aluminum is called the soft in the head mineral because it is associated with memory loss and dementia.  Aluminum is a very soft and dangerous toxic mineral.  Aluminum is everywhere, and almost everyone shows some aluminum toxicity on hair tests.

Among the most important sources are all types of salt. Table salt also often has aluminum added as an anti-caking agent and should never be eaten! 

Sea salt is better.  I like one called Real Salt by Redmond, which has less aluminum than some others.

Cities routinely add aluminum to their tap water as a flocculating agent (to remove dirt particles).  This is a horrible practice.  Modern anti-perspirants all contain toxic aluminum compounds.  The deodorant stones and deodorant crystals are no better, even though they are “natural”.  Use an old-fashioned deodorant instead, or spray some dilute hydrogen peroxide or some liquid soap like Dr. Bronner’s soap under your arms instead.

Beverages in aluminum cans or food cooked in aluminum may contain elevated levels of aluminum.  Aluminum is also used in some baking powders, and other products.  Peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen teas are rather high in aluminum

 

ARSENIC

 

I call arsenic the slow death mineral.  Its symptoms are vague, and it was used to kill people because it is colorless and tasteless, so it was added to food and slowly killed people.

Today, arsenic is still a common toxin.  It may legally be added to chicken feed (Roxsarone) according to the corrupt US Food And Drug Administration (the FDA) and the somewhat corrupt US Department of Agriculture (USDA).  I believe Europe has banned arsenic in chicken feed.

Arsenic can get into commercial eggs, all pig products such as pork, ham, bacon and lard, and into most US drinking water supplies as it leaches into the soil from farming and livestock operations.

Organic chicken and eggs should be better.  Avoid all pig products due to parasite problems, even if well-cooked, and to avoid the arsenic.

Arsenic is used in pesticides and, as a result, may be found in commercial wines, beers, fruits, vegetables, rice and other foods.  Once again, organically grown should be better.  Recently, rice grown in China has been found to be quite contaminated with arsenic.  

 

 

BROMINE

 

Among the many food sources of bromine are breads and clear-colored soda pop.  These include Mountain Dew, Crystal Light, Sprite and others.  A long list is found in the article mentioned in the next paragraph.

Bromine can damage the thyroid gland and replace iodine in all body tissues.  This is quite serious.  It should not be allowed to be added to our foods.  

 

CADMIUM

 

 We call cadmium the macho mineral, and it is one of the violent elements.  Cadmium toughens the tissues and hardens the arteries. 

It also hardens the personality.  Like lead, it is an older male mineral that is associated with macho behavior, violence and horror.  The concept that when we ingest or are exposed to a toxic metal, our bodies and our minds take on the qualities of the mineral is called the anthropomorphic quality of minerals.  It means that each mineral – both the vital minerals and the toxic metals – have human-like qualities such as hardness, softness, or malleability, and they influence us.

Interestingly, cadmium helps people to “be tough” and take risks.  For example, many modern city women have high cadmium that allows them to function in male-oriented jobs such as being company executives.  Cadmium helps them and others, such as prostitutes, to act more tough and to handle lots of stress.

Military men and women, and police often have more cadmium, as it helps them handle their very difficult jobs, at times, and take risks.  Unfortunately, it is also a deadly toxic metal associated with heart disease, cancers of all kind, kidney disease, diabetes and other serious health problems.

People who have orgasms more than once a week tend to accumulate more cadmium, probably because cadmium replaces zinc in the male testicles, and even in women’s ovaries.  Male and female sexual fluids are rich in zinc and some cadmium.

Cadmium is widespread in the air, as it is used in brake linings of cars.  It is also used in metal plating as it is a very hard substance. 

Tobacco cigarette, marijuana and CBD oil or cannabis oil contain cadmium.  This is one reason people like marijuana, as cadmium boosts the sodium level.  They don’t realize they are poisoning themselves – usually permanently – by using it.  Cadmium is also used as a catalyst in some hydrogenated products such as commercial peanut butter and margarine.  Please avoid these horrible food items.  

 

 

LEAD

 

Lead is called the horror mineral because it is associated with violence, lowered IQ, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and many other neurological problems.  Lead is a widely distributed toxic metal due to its many uses in industry.

Pesticides used on fruits, vegetables and many other foods may contain lead, among other toxic metals.  Lead was added to gasoline until the 1970s in the USA and elsewhere.  Now gasoline contains a highly toxic form of manganese, instead. 

Old house paint, current paint used on ships of all sizes, a few hair dyes, lubricants, medications, cosmetics such as lipstick and others, inks, and perhaps other products may contain lead.  Glazes used on cookware in some nations still contains lead that can come off onto the food.

Entire books have been written about lead toxicity, which causes hundreds of symptoms from anemia to death.  

 

 

MERCURY

 

Mercury may be called the mad hatters mineral.  People who made raccoon skin hats in the mid 1800s in America and Europe developed mercury toxicity after a few years from rubbing mercury on felt to soften it.  They became mentally and emotionally deranged, in many cases. 

“Silver” dental amalgam fillings are usually about half mercury.  I would have them replaced if you have them, as the mercury will slowly leach out of them and into your body.

Fish and seafood is universally contaminated with mercury.  It is really a tragedy, since otherwise it is a great food.  Mercury is found today in ALL FISH, bar none.  Even small fish, which used to be safe, are not any more.

 As a result, the only fish I suggest eating are sardines.  

 I suggest avoiding all other fish.  I know there is a problem because anyone who eats fish other than these on a regular basis, even once a week, demonstrates high mercury on a hair mineral test.

Large fish concentrate mercury a million times or more.  The federal government recently issued a warning that pregnant and lactating women should avoid tuna, shark, king mackerel, halibut, ahi, mahi mahi, and other large fish.

Avoid shellfish.  Shellfish are often even more toxic than other fish.  For some reason, their bodies often accumulate cadmium and lead, in addition to mercury.  Most shellfish are caught in coastal waters, which are the most contaminated.  Please avoid all shellfish, forever, as the problem is just getting worse in most nations of the world.

Once again, this is sad to have to say, but mineral tests reveal the problem to anyone willing to check my assertion.  This is why many people are “allergic” to them.  This is a mild term.  They are really poisoned by them.  

 

NICKEL 

 

This is called the depression and suicide mineral, as it is associated with these feelings and symptoms.  Nickel is another hardener, used to plate inexpensive jewelry, in coins, and as a plating material for bathroom fixtures and many other metallic items.

  Most orthodontic braces sadly contain nickel today.  It is also found in some metal crowns and dental wires used in bridges and elsewhere in dentistry.  Be very careful about this because nickel can contribute to cancer and other health problems.

Nickel is found in rooibos tea or red tea.  It is also used as a catalyst to make ALL hydrogenated oil products such as commercial peanut butter, ALL margarines, and vegetable shortening

 

 

FLUORIDE

 

Fluoride is sometimes called a cancer mineral.  It is highly toxic.  In fact, it is sold as rat poison.  The research about its toxicity and horror for the human body is very clear scientifically, but this is suppressed by most public health authorities in the USA and Great Britain.

The biggest source is fluoride added to drinking water supplies.  Adding fluoride to drinking water not only does not stop cavities in the teeth.  It is totally insane, because fluoride compounds added to drinking water are extremely toxic.

Most of the world has stopped this awful practice except for parts of America and Great Britain.  More and more American cities and towns are voting it out.  If your town still has it, organize to get rid of it.  Several excellent websites and organizations are there to help. 

Fluorides have found their way into ground water supplies, and thus into the food chain.  For this reason, fluoride levels in foods processed with water may be very high, especially baby foods and reconstituted vegetable and fruit juices.  Please never consume these, and never feed them to your children.  Also, do not give babies and children fluoride tablets or fluoride treatments at the dentist’s office.

Health authorities who recommend fluoridating the water, or any fluorides, are extremely ignorant, in my experience.  I have debated dentists and public health officials on this issue.  Their real level of knowledge of the medical literature on fluorides is lacking. 

Recommendation for fluoride also rarely, if ever, take into account the already toxic amount of fluorides people are already getting in natural foods, foods processed with fluoridated water, and fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwashes.  The combination adds up to overload, in all cases.

Hydrofluosilicic acid, the chemical often used to fluoridate drinking water, is a smokestack waste that contains lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum, benzene and radioactive waste material 

 

CHLORINE

 

Everyone assumes chlorine is safe, since it is used to purify most all drinking water around the world.  It is not safe, however.  It is a very toxic mineral associated with heart disease and dementia, among other health conditions.

Purification of water supplies with ozone is much better.  I strongly suggest that everyone drink either spring water, which has little to no chlorine in it, or drink carbon-only filtered tap or other water. 

Carbon will remove most chlorine from water.  A carbon block filter is best.  Just remember to change the filter every few months so it will keep working.

Note that carbon and carbon block filters do not remove most toxic metals from water.  Only distillation and reverse osmosis remove most toxic metals.  However, these produce a mineral-free water that is not good to drink for this reason, and for other reasons, as well.

Another important source of toxic chlorine is the residue found in bleached flour and any products such as bread, pastry, cookies and more made with bleached white flour.  Chlorine is used to bleach the flour.

 

COPPER

 

Copper is not a toxic metal.  However, it often accumulates in toxic forms in the body, and causes many health problems.  This problem is extremely common today.

Copper mainly accumulates in the nervous system and in the female organs.  For example, copper toxicity is associated with migraine headaches, premenstrual syndrome, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, some schizophrenias and seizures.

Copper also can replace selenium in various tissues.  This can impair the conversion of T4 to T3, contributing to thyroid imbalances that are very common.   

IRON

 

Iron is a vital mineral.  However, acquired iron toxicity is extremely common.  This is what we find on hair mineral tests. 

This is not the same as the genetic disease hemochromatosis.  The toxicity has a different cause.  The iron is in a toxic form, often in an oxide form that is very irritating and pro-inflammatory.

Sources include eating red meat more than about twice or three times weekly or eating more than 4-5 ounce portions of it.  Other sources are taking iron pills or mineral supplements containing iron.

Another important source is “iron-enriched” foods such as breads and most other products made with white flour.  Some herbs such as black cohosh are high in iron, as is some drinking water.  Iron can give drinking water a slight yellowish color.  Holding on to anger can increase iron in the body.  Many babies today are born with too much toxic iron, just as they are born with too much of many toxic substances.

  Holistic doctors often give anti-oxidants to help reduce the inflammation.

However, a much better solution is to remove the toxic iron.  Nutritional balancing programs do this, in all cases.  However, other nutritional, herbal or medical programs cannot do this very well, in my experience 

URANIUM

 

The main sources of uranium are air polluted with radioactive particles from A-bomb tests, nuclear power plant emissions, nuclear plant accidents such as the Fukishima disaster recently in Japan, and perhaps some foods contaminated with uranium from the same sources.

Uranium is radioactive, as is radon gas found in some homes.  It can damage the lungs and other organs, it damages DNA, and is associated with higher levels of cancer and other diseases.

 

General Food Sources.  Food grown near highways or downwind of industrial plants may contain lead and other toxic amounts of metals.   Even organic home gardens may be contaminated if, for example, old house paint containing lead leaches lead into the soil.

Sprays and insecticides still often contain lead, arsenic, mercury and other toxic metals.  Refining of food often contaminates the food with aluminum, as it is found in water supplies everywhere and it may be used in some food refining processes.

Also, some food refining removes the protective zinc, chromium and manganese from food and leaves the toxic metals in some cases, such as cadmium.  This makes white flour even more toxic, as with white sugar, and is another reason to totally avoid these foods.

 

Airborne Sources of Toxic Metals.  Most toxic metals are effectively absorbed by inhalation.  Auto, ship and aircraft exhaust, industrial smoke and products from incinerators are among the airborne sources of toxic metals and other chemicals.

Mercury and coal-fired power plants.  Burning coal can release mercury, lead and cadmium among other metals.  Iranian and Venezuelan oil are high in vanadium.  Coal plants should have scrubbers, as they do in the United States.  However, India and China, in particular, often do not have scrubbers on their power plants.  They may not realize the damage their plants are causing to the entire world due to pollution of the air, water and food supplies.

Uranium exposure is largely from airborne sources such as nuclear bomb tests and accidents at nuclear power plants.  All nuclear power plants also emit some low-level radiation, as does uranium refining and medical use of nuclear material.  X-rays, CT scans, PET scans and dental x-rays also add to our burden of ionizing radiation today.  Fortunately, some of this can be removed with a nutritional balancing program.

 

Incineration can be clean.  Older methods of incineration of electronic parts, plastics, treated fabrics, batteries and even diapers release all the toxic metals into the air.  The use of scrubbers and newer methods of very high temperature incineration are much better.

 

Cadmium and mercury in papers.  Cigarette and marijuana smoke are high in cadmium, and cadmium is found in cigarette and joint rolling paper.  It helps keep the drugs burning.  Pesticides used on these crops may contain lead, arsenic and other toxic metals.

 

Medications and toxic metals.  Many prescription and over-the-counter drugs contain toxic metals.  Cipro (fluoquinolone antibiotics) and anti-depressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine) are fluoride-containing drugs, for example. 

Thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, is still used in many vaccines, including most flu shots, even when doctors deny it, I am told.  Independent evaluation of a large study that is part of the Centers For Disease Control Vaccine Safety Datalink concluded that:

 

“Children are 27 times as likely to develop autism after exposure to three thimerisol-containing vaccines than those who receive thimerisol-free versions” .

 

Thiazide diuretics contain mercury.  These include Maxzide, Diazide and many others.  Antacids such as Ryopan, Gaviscon, Maalox, Mylanta and many others are very high in aluminum.

Direct Skin Contact As A Source Of Toxic Metals. Almost all anti-perspirants and many cosmetics contain aluminum.  Dental amalgams contain mercury, copper and other metals.  Dental bridges and other appliances often contain nickel.

Prostheses and pins used to hold bones together may contain nickel and other toxic metals, although most are titanium and stainless steel, which are much better.

Copper intra-uterine devices (IUDs)  release lots of copper into the body.  This can cause depression, and other problems for some women.

Soaps, body lotions and creams often contain toxic compounds.  A few hair dyes and commercial high-end lipsticks contain lead.  Selsun Blue shampoo contains selenium that is quite toxic.  Head N Shoulders shampoo is much safer and contains zinc, but not selenium.

Household lawn and garden chemicals may contain lead, arsenic and other compounds.  Mercury treated seeds and arsenic-treated wood are other common sources of toxic metals.

 

Occupational exposure to toxic metals is important for many occupations today.  Among the worst are plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, printers, ironworkers, and other metal workers.

Workers need to wear gloves, masks and take other precautions when handling inks, metals and other toxic materials.

 

 

III. DETECTING TOXIC METALS

 

            Toxic metals are not easy to detect.  In fact, detecting all the toxic metals is impossible, as far as I know, because they accumulate deep within body tissues and organs.  Here are comments on the various methods of detection, including tests of the blood, urine, hair, feces, liver biopsy tests, and other methods such as electrical machines and applied kinesiology.

 

Blood tests. The problem with blood tests is that the body quickly removes toxic metals from the blood and moves them into the tissues.   So blood tests must be done soon after an exposure, usually within days or weeks at the most, or they are practically useless.

Blood tests are helpful for an acute exposure, such as eating a food contaminated with lead and doing a test soon after.  However, this entire article is mainly about chronic toxic metal poisoning.

 

Urine and feces challenge tests.  These are done by first administering a chelation drug that binds to and removes toxic metals.  Examples are EDTA or DMPS, for example.  Then one collects a 24-hour urine, or a feces sample to see what comes out of the body.

This test does not detect most toxic metals.  The reason is that the chelating drugs mainly circulate in the blood.  So they tend to miss most toxic metals that are stored in the tissues or incorporated into enzymes in the brain, heart, liver, kidneys and elsewhere.

 

Liver or other biopsies.  This method is more accurate and is used, at times, to detect iron poisoning and copper poisoning, for example.  However, liver biopsies are costly, invasive and somewhat dangerous.  For this reason, liver biopsies are not used often.

 

Electrical machines.  Electroacupuncture devices, radionic machines and other machines can detect some toxic metals.  However, I have not found them accurate or reliable.  They are also sometimes dependent upon the skill of the operator, which further decreases their reliability and accuracy.

 

Applied kinesiology.  This method, also called muscle testing, is variable in its reliability and extremely dependent upon the operator or practitioner.  It also does not quantify the amount of metals present.  I would not depend upon it.

 

HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS FOR TOXIC METAL DETECTION

 

I specialize in the use of this test.  For this reason, this is a longer section of the article.

The hair test measures toxic metals deposited in the hair and skin.  It is better than some other methods, but I do not use the test primarily to detect toxic metals.

I find that no test is that accurate.  Fortunately, if a person follow a complete nutritional balancing program, all the toxic metals come out of the body, so figuring out which are present is not too important.

 

Why hair?  Hair accumulates toxic metals because hair is an excretory tissue.  This means that anything that goes into the hair will be removed from the body.  So the body often unloads poisons by shunting them into the hair and skin.

The hair mineral test is also unique in that it is a biopsy type of test that gives a snapshot of the inside of the body cells.  None of the other methods do this so directly.  

 

Government opinion on hair testing.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA reviewed over 400 studies of the use of hair for toxic metal detection and concluded that:

 

“Hair is a meaningful and representative tissue for (biological monitoring for) antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium and perhaps selenium and tin.“

 

The author of a study of lead toxicity in Massachusetts school children, Dr. R. Tuthill, concluded:

 

“Scalp hair should be considered a useful clinical and epidemiological approach for the measurement of chronic low-level lead exposure in children.”

 

Reading the levels of the toxic metals on a hair analysis report is not sufficient to glean all the information from the test.  Here is how to do it better:

 

1. The hair must be washed at home within 48 hours or less before sampling.  Any ordinary shampoo may be used.  If one has a water softener, then it is best to wash the hair twice before sampling it, using unsoftened tap water, reverse osmosis water, distilled or spring water.

 

2. The hair sample must not be washed at the laboratory at all.  The reason is that washing the hair always erratically removes some of its minerals.  For this reason, I only suggest using Analytical Research Laboratories for hair testing.  Most other labs wash the hair.

 

3. Look for elevated levels of toxic metals.  However, MOST LABORATORIES HAVE THEIR ACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF TOXIC METALS SET TOO HIGH.  One must use the acceptable levels that are listed in the section below.

 

4. The amigos.  These are toxic forms of iron, manganese and aluminum.  The interpretation rule is that if any one of these are elevated, the other two are elevated in the body as well. 

Elevated aluminum is any reading above 0.04 mg% or 0.4 ppm.  Elevated iron is any reading above 2 mg% or 20 ppm.  Elevated manganese is any reading above 0.04 mg% or 0.4 ppm.   

5. Poor eliminator patterns.  An excellent indicator of hidden toxic metals in the body is the presence of a poor eliminator pattern.  For the exact criteria for these patterns.

 

6. Hidden copper toxicity. The hair copper level is a very poor indicator of copper toxicity.  Instead, look for hidden copper indicators, which include:

 

– Copper greater than 2.5 mg% or 25 ppm.

– Copper less than 1.5 mg% or 15 ppm.

– Calcium greater than about 65 mg% or 650 ppm.

– Potassium less than about 5 mg% or 50 ppm.

– Mercury greater than about 0.035 mg% or 0.35 ppm.

– Zinc less than 13 mg% or 130 ppm.

– Na/K ratio less than 2.0

– Four lows pattern.

– Zinc greater than 17 mg% or 170 ppm, in many cases.

– Phosphorus less than 12 mg% or 120 ppm, in most cases.

 

7. Mercury indicators.  Mercury is so widespread that almost everyone has too much.  I do not pay too much attention to any test for mercury because I know that:
8. a) Anyone who eats large or medium-sized fish has a lot.
9. b) Anyone with amalgam dental fillings has a lot.
10. c) Anyone who eats seafood or sushi has plenty.
11. d) Most, if not all babies today are born with it thanks to toxicity in their mothers.

 

The hair or other test results are often not as important as these dietary, lifestyle and environmental factors.

 

8. Other general indicators of high toxic metals on a hair mineral analysis. These include a very slow oxidation rate, fast oxidation in an adult, three highs or four highs pattern, and sympathetic dominance pattern.

I realize this includes almost everyone, and that is the truth.  We know this because even those who show few toxic metals on their initial hair mineral test often eliminate large quantities of toxic metals during nutritional balancing programs.  This shows itself on repeat hair mineral tests, and often takes a number of years to be revealed.

In my own case, it took eight years before cadmium showed up on my hair test, and about 20 years before nickel showed up.

 

HIGH, LOW AND NORMAL HAIR LEVELS FOR THE TOXIC METALS

 

AGING AND TOXIC METALS

 

The slow, or not so slow, replacement of vital minerals with toxic metals is an important and neglected cause of aging due to deactivation of enzyme systems and the loss of organ and tissue integrity.  One could say it is the essence of aging, from a purely mineral perspective.

Toxic metal accumulation also feeds on itself.  As one’s energy production decreases with age, the body is less able to eliminate toxic metals.  This, in turn, causes more metal accumulation.   

GENETICS, GENE EXPRESSION AND TOXIC METALS

 

Many birth defects are due to faulty gene expression, and not DNA problems.  Toxic metals are one cause.

For example, zinc is required for several key enzymes in gene expression, such as RNA transferase and RNA polymerase.  Not surprisingly, zinc deficiency is associated with conditions such as neural tube defects.  Many toxic metals interfere with zinc metabolism.  

Single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs are a fancy name for defective gene expression, even though the DNA is fine.  Toxic metals at the cellular level can cause these.

             

1. SOLUTIONS TO TOXIC METAL OVERLOAD

 

One should not fear toxic metals.  They cannot be completely avoided, but one can minimize exposure with careful eating and a healthful lifestyle. 

Also, our bodies have a lot of evolutionary experience with them and effective mechanisms to eliminate them.  These can be supported and enhanced with a nutritional balancing program. 

This method, which does not involve chelation at all, uses at least 35 methods together, at once, to remove ALL toxic metals safely and deeply.  In my experience, it is more thorough, safer and removes metals better than intravenous or any other type of chelation therapy.  Also, all chelating agents remove some beneficial minerals along with the toxic ones. 

HOW TO DETOXIFY THE BODY

 

The methods below are always used together in nutritional balancing program, in an integrated combination, to remove all toxic metals and hundreds of toxic chemicals, as well, from the body.  Full documentation as to why these methods work and how to use them is found in numerous other articles on this website.

 

1. Increase the amount of rest and sleep greatly.  Extra rest and sleep is critical for any detoxification program for several reasons:
2. a) Detoxification takes place mostly when we are resting or sleeping.  During the day when one is active, the body is mainly focused on the daily activities, not on eliminating poisons from the body.
3. b) Rest and sleep reduce sympathetic nervous system activity.  This is so important it is listed separately as a powerful method to enhance detoxification of all chemicals, metals and other types of poisons.
4. c) Resting and sleeping more conserves the body’s energy for healing.  Most people use up too much energy in their daily activities.  This slows progress tremendously.
5. d) The essential organs and glands, such as the adrenals, thyroid, liver, kidneys and others rebuild best when rested.
6. e) Sleep allows mental and emotional processing to occur.  This reduces stress, which helps release toxic metals.  Many people live in continual stress because they do not process each day’s events and traumas enough at night due to not enough resting time.

 

2. Inhibit the sympathetic nervous system.  This is another key to our programs.  Sympathetic nervous system activity reduces the elimination of all toxins from the body.  This is well known in medicine. 

The liver, kidneys, bowel, skin even the lungs are all associated with the parasympathetic nervous system.   They are also important organs of elimination.  Sympathetic nervous system activity inhibits these activities powerfully.  One can reduce sympathetic activity in at least six ways:

1. a) As mentioned above, get a lot more rest and sleep.  This is a primary method of reducing sympathetic nervous system activity.
2. b) Diet is important needs to be as nourishing and non-stimulatory as possible.  Lots of cooked vegetables provide the most minerals possible. 

The diet also needs to minimize chemical additives and other toxins.  One should also  limit caffeine, sugar, wheat, most beef, and other stimulating, irritating, allergic or sensitive foods in the diet.

1. c) Supplements used in nutritional balancing programs are carefully chosen to have a parasympathetic effect.  This means strictly limiting all stimulating products, including many herbs, as well.
2. d) The lifestyle must be restful in general.  This can have a big influence on the nervous system, even if one sleeps enough.  It includes one’s activities, relationships, job or career, thoughts and emotions.
3. e) The Pushing Down Exercise is very helpful to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity.  Regular prayer, certain affirmations, and always watching one’s “mental diet” can be critical to reduce fear, anger and negativity.  Too much that is on the television, the news and other information sources is harmful to the body’s delicate nervous system.
4. f) Other ways to reduce sympathetic nervous stimulation are to be careful with excessive exercise, reduce cell phone use, and avoid other radiation sources.  Far infrared saunas give off harmful EM fields and should not be used. 

Red heat lamp saunas, however, are excellent to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity.  Reduce noise levels, freeway driving and other more dangerous or unnerving activities. These and many other simple changes together can reduce your stress level dramatically.

1. g) Reducing certain imbalances on a hair mineral chart also can dramatically lower sympathetic nervous activity.  These include, but are not limited to, balancing a fast oxidation rate, reducing a high Na/K or a high Ca/Mg ratio, improving zinc, selenium and chromium status and lowering certain toxic metal levels.

 

3. Eat an excellent-quality diet of 70-80% cooked vegetables and some animal protein daily.  Avoid all fruits, fruit juices, sweets, most nuts and seeds and strictly avoid vegetarian and raw food diets. 

This diet is the richest in alkaline reserve minerals that I know of.  The body will absorb and utilize less toxic metals if it receives more of the preferred minerals.

A recent  study in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured the mineral content of organic versus commercial food.  Results indicated that food labeled “organic” that was selected randomly from Chicago food markets had an average of twice the mineral content of standard supermarket food.

The famed people of Hunza who live to 120 years or longer in excellent health drink glacial runoff that was so mineral-rich the water was cloudy (see The Wheel of Health by G.T. Wrench, paperback edition, 2009).

            Other mineral-rich foods that are part of the diets we recommend are kelp, sea salt, and bone broth.

The fiber from cooked vegetables and whole grains reduces bowel transit time and reduces constipation, which help limit the absorption of toxic metals.

 

4. Other dietary considerations.  These include;
5. a) Avoid all restrictive and extreme diets.  These include strict vegan and vegetarian diets, for example. These are almost always deficient in zinc and many other essential nutrients.  

 Raw food diets do not work well today because no one is able to extract enough minerals from raw foods.  The minerals are not available because they are bound up with tough vegetable fibers that we cannot properly digest, even with a digestive aid.  Raw food is also much too yin for general consumption.  

Cooking does not reduce the mineral content of food and usually makes minerals much more bioavailable by breaking down fiber.  Cooking also concentrates the food so that one ends up ingesting many more vital minerals.

1. b) Avoid living on protein powders and other processed supplements instead of foods.  For example, egg or whey protein powder is not a substitute for eating eggs or fresh goat milk.   The latter are whole foods that are much richer in many minerals.  Food supplements are never a substitute for an excellent diet.
2. c) Avoid most refined foods such as white sugar, white flour, table salt and white rice.   These are almost devoid of vital minerals and will cause the body to absorb and utilize more toxic metals.

 

5. Improve the eating habits, attitudes and other aspects of lifestyle.  Excellent eating habits include having regular, sit-down meals in a quiet place.  Also, eat quietly and slowly, and chew thoroughly.  These habits assist nutrient absorption and proper elimination.  Poor habits include skipping meals, snacking all day, eating on the run, and eating the same foods every day wit no variety.

Attitudes.  A relaxed and positive outlook greatly facilitates elimination and healing of all illness.  One’s attitudes can matter greatly as well.  They either relieve stress, or add to it.

I encourage an attitude of gratitude and avoidance of all victim thinking.  This include thinking that anyone else is a victim, either.  Such apparently small changes in one’s thoughts and actions can have a huge impact on general health and the body’s ability to heal and eliminate toxic substances.  In contrast, hopelessness and low self-esteem impair elimination.  These factors are too often overlooked by medical and holistic practitioners.

In some cases, other lifestyle patterns are destructive and must be changed, such as drinking too much alcohol, recreational drug use, spending time with negative or destructive “friends”, and other lifestyle issues.

 

6. Nutritional supplements. Nutritional supplements called mineral antagonists can help reduce toxic metals in the body.  For example, kelp is an inexpensive source of iodine that can help remove fluorides, chlorides and bromides from the body by competing with them for absorption and for binding sites in the cells of the body.

Kelp also contains alginates that help bind toxic metals in the intestines so they will be removed.  Kelp also contains a wide range of other vital minerals to body needs to rebuild itself.  All act as antagonists to some degree to the toxic metals.

In addition to kelp, nutritional balancing programs usually involve supplemental zinc, selenium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals.  Calcium and zinc are cadmium antagonists.  Selenium and zinc are mercury antagonists, and so on. 

In nutritional balancing science, however, supplements must only be used in a way that does not unbalance the oxidation rate and the major mineral ratios.  This is a major difference between this method and most other nutritional methods of healing.

The reason for this is that unbalancing the major mineral ratios decreases a person’s vitality, which will negate or at least reduce the effectiveness of the entire program.  Also, one must be careful not to use too many supplements.  This adds too much yin energy to the body and can confuse the body.  Also, many supplements subtly negate each other.  For example, copper and vitamin C are definite antagonists.  Therefore, supplementation must be kept simple and clearly follow these and other rules.

 

7. Support the eliminative organs.  This greatly facilitates toxic metal removal. Balancing the mineral levels and ratios on a hair analysis is a powerful support for the eliminative organs.

In addition, for the liver and bowel, we always give ox bile and pancreatin.  We sometimes use a kidney support formula to support elimination through the kidneys.

The procedures such as red heat lamp sauna therapy, coffee enemas, foot reflexology and the Pushing Down Exercise also support the eliminative organs.

 

8. General nutritional support.  In addition to the above, nutritional balancing programs always include general nutritional support such as vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients.  Food alone does not provide enough of these to replenish our demineralized bodies.

 

9. Improve adaptive energy.  Increasing the amount of energy available to the body cells is a great key to toxic metal and toxic chemical elimination. The body must produce plenty of biochemical energy in order to eliminate toxins. This is sometimes overlooked by physicians, even holistic ones.

 

10. Balance the oxidation rate.  The primary way to enhance adaptive energy using nutritional balancing science involves a properly performed and properly interpreted hair mineral analysis.  With it, one can identify the oxidation type and the oxidation rate.

One can then use foods, lifestyle, diet and other methods to balance the oxidation rate. This gentle balancing procedure, done in all nutritional balancing programs, greatly enhances the body’s ability to eliminate toxic metals.   One must also avoid any supplement or procedure to remove toxins that upsets the oxidation rate.  I teach this science to anyone who is interested.   

11. Reduce exposure to toxic substances as much as possible.  This includes exposures in foods, such as pesticide residues on foods, and chemical additives in foods.

It includes pure water, if possible.  However, I differ from some health authorities on this issue.  The only water I recommend is either spring water or carbon-only filtered tap water.   

 I also suggest reducing the toxins one acquires by contact.  This includes soaps, lotions, cosmetics, creams and all skin products.  It also includes dental amalgam removal, except in the case of active cancer, which can be made worse by amalgam removal.  Wait until the cancer is under control before doing this and preferably be on a nutritional balancing program to help reduce the side effects of amalgam removal.

Some people also need to reduce occupational exposure to toxic metals.

 

12. Improve circulation, oxygenation and hydration.  This is done with sauna therapy, deep breathing, the correct type and amount of drinking water, mild exercise (more is not needed and just wastes energy), and improving general health.  Also, inhibiting the sympathetic nervous system assists with circulation.

 

13. Balancing yin and yang qualities in the body, and in one’s life, in general.  The concept of balance between opposite forces is one of the most ancient teachings on planet earth.  I find it is also critical for detoxification of heavy metals. 
14. Distilled water, on occasion, but only during healing crises or purification reactions.  Drinking distilled water will remove some loosely bound toxic metals.  However, it can deplete essential minerals in the body because it is mineral-free water.  Therefore, I only recommend it during a healing reaction and when a person is already following a nutritional balancing program.  At these times, it can be used for a few days or perhaps a week to reduce elimination symptoms and speed up the removal of certain toxins from the body.

 

15. Remove the need for compensations and adaptations. This is a little more technical.  Often, toxic metals perform an adaptive role in the body.  They can support the activity of the adrenal glands, for example, and they can actually be used in some of the body’s millions of enzyme systems to a limited extent.

By balancing the body chemistry delicately, the need for a toxic metal in an adaptive role can be removed.  This makes possible the removal of many toxic metals.

This methodology is built into nutritional balancing programs that are correctly designed.

 

16. Reduce all stress. Stress of any kind will slow the removal toxic metals.  Therefore, reducing all stress on the body and mind greatly enhances toxin elimination.   
17. Replace less preferred minerals with more preferred minerals.  This is also a somewhat more complex topic.  For each metallo-enzyme in the body, there is one or perhaps two preferred metals or minerals that will cause the enzyme to function optimally.

Nutritional balancing programs always seek to replace less preferred minerals in enzyme binding sites with more preferred minerals.  This is required for all deep healing.  It is done by giving the appropriate foods and supplementary nutrients, avoiding the others, reducing toxic exposures and stress, conserving energy for healing with more rest, and other methods.

 

18. Increase the body temperature when it is low. This may not seem important, but it is a very powerful method of enhancing many body activities, including elimination.

Indeed, all the body’s enzyme systems function optimally when the body temperature is ideal.  However, most people have a low body temperature today, due in part to toxic metal accumulation in the thyroid and adrenal glands.  Other reasons are fatigue, a low thyroid for other reason, nutrient depletion and others.

One can use a sauna to heat the body a few degrees every day.  Even if it is only for 30-60 minutes at a time, this can have a tremendous effect of normalizing enzymatic reactions in the body that, in turn, promote healing and detoxification.

 

19. Eliminate infections and parasites of all kinds. This may not seem related to toxic metal removal, but it is.   Most people have several dozen chronic infections in their bodies.  Common sites are the eyes, ears, throat, bronchials, intestines, teeth, and bladder.

Each of these infections uses up adaptive energy or vitality in the body.  As they are cleared using nutritional balancing – and never antibiotics that tend to be toxic – a person’s vitality increases and his ability to then eliminate toxic metals increases, at times drastically.

 

20. Emotional and mental cleansing.  This is an unusual concept, but can be vital to detoxify the body.  We find that cadmium, for example, is associated with what may be called ‘macho’ styles of thinking.  If a person will do the pushing down exercise, or just read the Bible, for example, it will help to release negative and violent thoughts.  This will help remove some cadmium from the body.

Similarly, copper toxicity is associated with fearful thoughts.  If one reduces fearful thinking, then this will help reduce copper overload in the body.

 

21. Bridging over damaged enzymes.  This is a very important mechanism whereby by giving higher doses of some vitamins, especially B-complex vitamins, one can bridge across enzymes damaged by the presence of toxic metals.  These enzymes are needed to help remove the toxic metals.

 

22. The use of a powerful digestive aid for everyone.  No matter how good the food one eats, if digestion is weak, and it is weak in almost everyone today, one will not absorb enough minerals and other nutrients.  Insisting on a powerful digestive aid is therefore essential for many people to facilitate proper mineral absorption.

 

23. Integrating all of the above methods in a way so that none interferes with the others.  This is essential.  A problem with many medical and holistic approaches to toxic metal removal is that the methods of detoxification get in each other’s way, which negates some or even all of the benefit.

For example, chelation is effective to remove some metals.  However, most chelation, even natural chelating agents, remove some vital minerals along with the toxic ones.  This is extremely harmful, and it is not an easy problem to solve. Simply taking minerals does not seem to work adequately.  One reason is that minerals are complex, are found in many forms, and are best absorbed from food, not formulated products, in general.

Another problem with chelation is that the chelators are often slightly toxic, which damages the kidneys, liver and other organs, interfering with metal elimination.

Chelation may also mobilize toxins from relatively harmless areas of the body and redistribute some in the kidneys, and this is harmful, as well.

 

24. Release traumas.  This is most helpful for detoxification.  It is a large subject, but the main idea is that when traumas are present, they directly interfere with elimination in the body because they affect the nervous system.  Nutritional balancing releases most traumas fairly easily.   
25. Release toxins in the body’s own sequence, order and its own timing.  This is extremely helpful to make the process of toxic metal removal as safe as possible, and more effective, as well.  It is accomplished in nutritional balancing programs by focusing on raising the body’s energy and vitality level, rather than focusing on pushing out particular toxic metals. 

As the body’s adaptive energy level rises, the body decides which metals to remove first. Neither the doctor nor the client make this decision for the body.

 

26. Correct latent diseases and disorders.  Nutritional balancing causes the healing of latent or sub-clinical health problems.  This is an unusual ability of this program and depends upon raising the adaptive energy level of the obdy.  Once these heal, the body is more capable of thorough detoxification.

For example, many people have slightly damaged livers or slightly damaged kidneys.  Yet the damage is sub-clinical or latent, meaning it does not cause any symptoms.  When a person begins a nutritional balancing program, often these sub-clinical conditions are corrected first because they are the basis for later healing.

 

27. Other natural and balancing therapies.  Therapies that combine beautifully with nutritional balancing include gentle chiropractic, osteopathic manipulation, Rolfing, structural integration, and foot and hand reflexology.  These can help to reduce stress, improve vitality, support the eliminative organs, improve circulation and more.

 

28. Avoiding other therapies.  This is also important to remove toxic metals.  For example, many herbs, most natural hormone therapy, most vitamin and mineral regimens, most homeopathy, and most medical drug therapy, unless needed for a life-threatening condition, can and will impair toxic metal removal in various ways by unbalancing body chemistry, adding toxins, or otherwise altering the body chemistry.

Also, vegetarian diets are too low in zinc and in sulfur-containing amino acids and this impairs detoxification.  Raw food diets do not allow the body to absorb enough minerals.

 

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RESTORING THE LIVER, KIDNEYS, SKIN AND LARGE INTESTINE

 

Many toxic metals accumulate in these organs.  In most Americans, in particular, who have used pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter remedies, healing these organs takes time.

Fortunately, the liver has great regenerative ability, especially when one is less than about 65 years old.  We use every method possible to enhance liver functioning.  This includes:

1. a)  A clean, healthy diet and pure water to drink, as explained above.
2. b) A healthful  lifestyle, especially going to bed by 9 Pm and lots of rest and sleep.  The liver does its main work during rest and sleep.  Missing this single factor is often a key as to why some do not succeed in restoring the liver.
3. c) Nutritional support for the liver includes milk thistle, dandelion root and perhaps other herbal products that are superb.  Be careful with some herbs, however, such as burdock root and others, as they are somewhat toxic.  They may be used for a short time, but are not for ongoing use as milk thistle and dandelion can be used.
4. d) Other procedures for the liver are a daily coffee enema, or even two per day for very toxic conditions, colonic irrigation to reduce debris and fermentation and putrefaction in the colon, castor oil packs over the liver and the use of a near infrared lamp sauna.

Of these, the coffee enema or really a coffee implant, is the most powerful and wonderful procedures that I have seen.  I cannot say enough good things about the effects of this simple, though slightly unpleasant procedure.  

Using a near infrared sauna on a daily basis, or better twice daily, is also very helpful for liver detoxification. Traditional saunas and far infrared saunas may be okay, but do not seem to work as well.  Far infrared types may emit harmful electromagnetic frequencies.

1. e) Attitude change is critical for the liver in some cases.  The liver is associated with a “bilous personality”.  In modern language, this means anger, resentment, hatred and other harmful emotions.  For some people, this is the key to their liver regeneration.  Meditation, relaxation and forgiveness are thus important for the liver.
2. f) Other healing modalities may help, especially body work such as Rolfing, acupuncture and acupressure.  For instance, we recommend everyone to rub their feet each day.  This seems simple and maybe silly, but can have beneficial effects, particularly if one is skilled at it.  The technique is easy to learn and to practice.

 

The kidneys.  To restore the kidneys, many of the same items are critical.  These include an excellent diet that is balanced for the oxidation type, along with a very healthful lifestyle and reducing your exposure to all toxins.  Other items include:

1. a) Herbs for the kidneys.  Uva ursi, parsley and other herbs are helpful to a degree.  We also use kidney glandular substance with excellent results.
2. b) Drinking plenty of spring water or carbon-only filtered tap water or sand-filtered tap water is critical for the kidneys. Be sure to drink enough pure water (2-3 quarts daily for all adults).  We don’t recommend other types of water.

Strictly avoid reverse osmosis water, “drinking waters”,  most “purified water” and alkaline waters.  Carbon-only filtered tap water is okay and second-best, but not as good, in most cases, as a good spring water.  Drink an hour after meals or up to 15 minutes before meals, rather than with meals.  

1. c) Rest is also critical for the kidneys, which are close to and associated with the adrenal glands.  This, in Chinese terminology, is related to the kidney meridian, a meridian that is very weak on most people.  Rest cannot be overestimated to restore the kidneys and the adrenal glands.

 

The skin.  This is the third most important eliminative organ, and most doctors pay no attention to it whatsoever!  In most people, today, including most children, it is toxic or congested and for these reasons quite underactive in its job of eliminating many toxins from the body.

Bathing in toxic bath water harms the skin, as can tight clothing and some synthetic clothing.  The use of toxic lotions, skin creams, and body care products also harms the skin of many people.

 

Sauna therapy.  Improving the skin requires a lot of work in most cases.  Even with two saunas daily, plus all our other efforts, just restoring the skin will take six to twelve months in most adults.  Children require less, as their skin is usually in far better condition due to more sweating and fewer toxic exposures.

Saunas draw blood to the surface, powerfully stimulate circulation and decongest the internal organs.  Infrared saunas penetrate more deeply and are often more comfortable as they work at lower temperatures.

I find the best saunas are those powered by infrared heat lamps.  Far infrared saunas are okay, in most cases, but are not as good as a near infrared lamp sauna.  Almost all far infrared saunas emit stray electromagnetic fields that affect some people.

Steam baths and other procedures such as skin brushing, sitting in hot tubs or others may be used, but are not nearly as good.  Sweating during exercise is also not nearly as good, but better than nothing.

As an example of what saunas can do, The New York Times recently reported on the success of sauna therapy to help hundreds of New York firemen.  They had became ill from the World Trade Tower disaster. No other medical or alternative therapy was able to help these brave men and women to recover their health.  

 

The large intestine.  This is also an important organ of elimination and one that is in terrible condition in the vast majority of people.  Fortunately, it is easier to correct than the skin, liver or kidneys.  Diet, of course, plays a critical role in rehabilitating the intestines.  Eliminating sugar is most important, even the sugar found in too much fruit or juices.  Fiber is critical, as is enough protein for the intestine to rebuild itself.

In addition, lifestyle is important and coffee enemas can greatly speed the elimination of toxins from the large intestine and liver that often lead to bowel problems.

I recommend for most people a digestive aid, usually GB-3 by Endomet Laboratories in Phoenix.  This not only assists digestion.  It also kills many parasites in the intestines over time and helps eliminate poisons from the liver as well.

Other aids for digestion are other digestive aids such as Betaine Hcl-pepsin, bromelain and others.  However, they are not as good.  Deep breathing, some exercise and adequate rest and sleep are important for digestive strength as well.  Staying warm in winter is important as well.

 

WHY TOXIC METAL REMOVAL WITH NUTRITIONAL BALANCING GOES ON FOR YEARS

 

Even with an excellent quality diet, healthful lifestyle, and consistent daily use of near infrared sauna therapy, coffee enemas and short-term use of distilled water for about 6 months, but usually not longer, toxic metal removal at the deepest levels takes a number of years in almost everyone we have encountered.  This means that repeated hair mineral analyses keep revealing more and more of the metals coming out of the body through the hair and skin, often for 5 to 10 years.

NOTE: This is not because nutritional balancing science is slow to remove the toxic metals.  I believe it does it faster than any other method of removing toxins from the body such as chelation therapy, herbs, clay baths and other methods.  It also does it in a much safer manner.

The reason it takes so long is that nutritional balancing removes many more of the toxic metals, and this is a slow process for the following reasons:

 

• Toxicity of the metals.  They are extremely toxic substances.  If they were removed too quickly, they could poison or even kill a person.  The body seems to know how to remove them at a pace that is safe, providing we keep balancing the body chemistry and supporting a person the entire time.  Otherwise, it just takes longer.  Rarely, a person will have a powerful toxic reaction as a heavy metal is released from a storage site, but this is not common.
• Location of the metals, in some instances. Some storage sites of the body are much harder to reach than others due to impaired circulation, or other difficulties such as the blood-brain barrier and others.  Toxic metals in the bones, for example, usually take longer to reach as well due to reduced circulation and just the depth or layer of the tissue where they are stored.  Sites that have suffered damage and some scarring such as often the ear canals, bronchials, lungs and other tissues may also be harder to regenerate and thus take longer.
• Incorporated into enzymes.  Toxic metals are often not just in deposits or floating free in the tissues, although this is true of some of them.  These are the easiest to remove.  Unfortunately, millions of molecules are replacing essential minerals in enzymes throughout the body.  They cannot simply be pulled out with a chelator or anything.  The body must very carefully and slowly replace them with enzymes that contain essential minerals.  This is a much slower process, but a vital one that slowly increases a person’s energy level and restores functioning of all the body organs as well.
• Low vitality.  Energy is required to synthesize new enzymes, carry away toxic metals and activate the eliminative organs to remove them completely.  Most people, especially when they begin a program, have low cellular energy production that make this process much slower.
• Impaired eliminative channels.  All toxic metals must be flushed or removed from the body through the so-called eliminative channels or organs such as the liver, kidneys, bowel and skin. Some can be removed through the lungs and elsewhere but these are the main routes.  Most people have very damaged livers, colons and skin, so this slows the process of metal elimination drastically, often for a few years until these organs can be rebuilt and function at their optimum levels.
• Impaired general nutrition.  As explained above, toxic metals must often be replaced by vital minerals in enzymes.  One may think that just swallowing some kelp capsules or other supplements and eating well will provide these replacements.  However, the body has complex buffering systems, and it will only accept a certain amount of these essential minerals at one time.  This is even true if one decides to take mineral in intravenously or intramuscularly.  Each mineral must be bound to a mineral transporter to be properly utilized in many instances and the process of remineralizing and renourishing a body thus is a time-consuming process no matter what.  If I felt that IV or IM minerals and other nutrients were better, I would suggest it but so far I have seen the opposite.  Other than very gross remineralizing of the body, these routes of administering nutrients seem to do more damage by unbalancing the delicate mineral balance of the body and bypassing the normal buffering systems of the body having to do with food absorption.  Exceptions to this principle may exist, but they are not many.

 

POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS WITH TOXIC METAL REMOVAL

 

            This topic must not be forgotten in any article about toxic metals.  The elimination of heavy metals, as well as the removal of toxic chemicals and chronic infections, almost always will cause symptoms from time to time.  These symptoms are called healing reactions flare-ups, exacerbations, aggravations, crises of Herxheimer reactions in different natural healing arts. They may include energy fluctuations, headaches, skin rashes and other symptoms as well.

Emotional and mental symptoms often occur as well.  These include feelings of depression, anxiety, irritability, insomnia or mood swings.  All purification symptoms tend to be very temporary.  The best way to handle them is to rest more, reduce your nutrition program if you wish and do supportive therapies.

These include extra coffee enemas, drinking distilled water in larger quantities, short, rather than longer sauna therapy sessions, colonic irrigation, Epsom salt baths and others.  In almost all cases, this will suffice to move the toxic metals out of the body a little faster and the symptom will disappear.

At times, more vigorous or severe healing reactions occur.  Almost any symptom can arise, from a cold or flu to various aches and pains or other types of symptoms.

Usually only supportive, natural methods  of care are needed to see a reaction through to completion.  However, if you are not sure, always contact a person knowledgeable in healing and purification reactions.   

 

SUMMARY OF THE SOURCES AND

SYMPTOMS OF THE COMMON TOXIC METALS

 

SOURCES

Aluminum – cookware, beverages in aluminum cans, tap water, table salt, baking powders, antacids, processed cheese, anti-perspirants, bleached flour, vaccines and perhaps other medications, and occupational exposure.  Virtually everyone has too much aluminum in their bodies.

 

Antimony – found in Flovent, an inhaler used for asthma!  Also used in lead-acid batteries, “lead-free” solder, bullets, motor bearings, pewter, some paints and glass, and some microelectronic circuits.  It was formerly used in some anti-parasitic drugs. 

Antimony is also used in most fire retardants that are required on most furniture, mattresses, cribs and other products.  This is severely increasing the prevalence of antimony toxicity in homes and offices.

 

Arsenic – pesticides, beer, table salt, tap water, paints, pigments, cosmetics, glass and mirror manufacture, fungicides, insecticides, treated wood and contaminated food.

 

Beryllium – air pollution (burning fossil fuels), manufacture of plastics, electronics, steel alloys and volcanic ash.

 

Cadmium – cigarettes, (tobacco and marijuana), processed and refined foods, large fish, shellfish, tap water, auto exhaust, plated containers, galvanized pipes, air pollution from incineration and occupational exposure.

 

Copper – copper water pipes, copper added to tap water, pesticides, swimming in pools, intra-uterine devices, vegetarian diets, dental amalgams, nutritional supplements – especially prenatal vitamins, birth control pills, weak adrenal glands and occupational exposure.

 

Lead – tap water, cigarette smoke, hair dyes, paints, inks, glazes, pesticide residues and occupational exposure in battery manufacture and other industries.

 

Mercury – dental amalgams, ALL fish (tiny fish are better), ALL shellfish, sea vegetables, some medications such as thiazide diuretics, air pollution, gold mining, and the manufacture of paper, chlorine, adhesives, fabric softeners and waxes.  Most everyone has too much mercury in their body today.

 

Nickel – hydrogenated oils (margarine, commercial peanut butter and shortening), shellfish, air pollution, cigarette smoke, plating and occupational exposure.

 

 

SYMPTOMS

Aluminum – Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, anemia and other blood disorders, colic, fatigue, dental caries, dementia dialactica, hypoparathyroidism, kidney and liver dysfunctions, neuromuscular disorders, osteomalacia and Parkinson’s disease.

 

Antimony – Symptoms are usually chronic.  Skin exposure can cause dermatitis.  Lung exposure causes irritation and inflammation.  Chronic use of Flovent (a drug) appears to keep the hair phosphorus level low.  This may indicate impairment of protein biosynthesis.

 

Arsenic – abdominal pain, abnormal ECG, anorexia, dermatitis, diarrhea, edema, enzyme inhibitor, fever,  fluid loss, goiter, hair loss, headache, herpes, impaired healing, interferes with the uptake of        folic acid, inhibition of sulfhydryl enzyme systems, jaundice, keratosis, kidney and liver damage, muscle spasms, pallor, peripheral neuritis, sore throat, stomatitis, stupor, vasodilation, vertigo, vitiligo and weakness.

 

Beryllium – adrenal insufficiency, arthritis, bone spurs, bursitis, depression, fatigue, osteoporosis and symptoms of slow metabolism.

 

Cadmium – hypertension, arthritis, diabetes, anemia, arteriosclerosis, impaired bone healing, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, reduced fertility, hyperlipidemia, hypoglycemia, headaches, osteoporosis, kidney disease, schizophrenia and strokes. 

 

Copper –  acne, adrenal hyperactivity and/or insufficiency, agoraphobia, allergies, hair loss, anemia, anxiety, arthritis, autism, cancer, chronic candida albicans infection, depression, elevated cholesterol, cystic fibrosis, depression, diabetes, dyslexia, elevated estrogen, failure to thrive, fatigue, fears, fractures of the bones, headaches, heart attacks, hyperactivity, hypertension, hypothyroidism, infections, inflammation, insomnia, iron storage diseases, kidney and liver dysfunctions, decreased libido, multiple sclerosis, nervousness, osteoporosis, panic attacks, premenstrual syndrome, schizophrenia, strokes, tooth decay and vitamin C and other vitamin deficiencies.

 

Lead – abdominal pain, adrenal insufficiency, anemia, arthritis, arteriosclerosis, attention deficit, back problems, blindness, cancer, constipation, convulsions, deafness, depression, diabetes, dyslexia, epilepsy, fatigue, gout, impaired glycogen storage, hallucinations, hyperactivity, impotency, infertility, inflammation, kidney dysfunction, learning disabilities, diminished libido,  migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, psychosis, thyroid imbalances and tooth decay.

 

Mercury – adrenal gland dysfunction, alopecia, anorexia, ataxia, bipolar disorder, birth defects, blushing, depression, dermatitis, discouragement, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, hearing loss, hyperactivity, immune system dysfunction, insomnia, kidney damage, loss of self-control, memory loss, mood swings,  nervousness, numbness and tingling, pain in limbs, rashes, excessive salivation, schizophrenia, thyroid dysfunction, timidity, tremors, peripheral vision loss and muscle weakness.

 

Nickel – cancer (oral and intestinal), depression, heart attacks, hemorrhages, kidney dysfunction, low blood pressure, malaise, muscle tremors and paralysis, nausea,  skin problems, tetany and vomiting.