When most people hear the word “detox”, the things that come to mind include juice cleansing, colonics, detox foot soaks, water fasting and a number of other popular detoxing methods/options.
The good news is that many of these work to some degree, and will provide decent results. If you’re looking for basic results, many of the regular cleansing protocols should do it.
But if you want something a bit more advanced, you should consider heavy metals detoxing. Most people don’t think of this, yet, it’s something they need considering the rate of exposure to heavy metals.
What Is Heavy Metal Detox?
To understand this, you need to gain an understanding of what heavy metals are in the first place. These are known as semi-metallic or dense metals that are commonly found and fully present in the soil.
The primary sources of heavy metal consumption are water, food and air. This happens because these metals are leached from the soil courtesy of chemical reactions and industrial activities. Other causes have been linked to man’s activities.
The more common harmful heavy metals include arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and thallium. For instance, lead’s primary source includes root canals, bone broth, municipal water, building materials and car exhaust.
Mercury’s sources include fish and other seafood like oysters, vaccines, and dental fillings. Arsenic’s source includes rice and eggs. Cadmium’s includes regular cigarettes and e-cigs, coffee and hydrogenated oils, while bismuth is found in significant quantities in makeups.
In minuscule doses, some of these metals like copper, zinc and selenium are actually needed in the body. These are the trace minerals. It’s only when they are in significant amounts, combined with the presence of some other metals that are outrightly dangerous in small quantities or otherwise, that they become harmful.
The problem with heavy metals is they tend to bioaccumulate. This means they accumulate in high amounts in the body over time compared to the surrounding environment. As a result, they can become toxic to the body once they reach a certain level of concentration.
This happens because it takes a longer time for the body to digest and excrete them. So, even if you do get rid of some, you probably aren’t getting rid of them fast enough. And since you’re likely to keep maintaining contact with the source, your odds of increased exposure further increases your risk of getting poisoned.
This is why you need to ascertain and verify the source of your water, meats, and seafood, while limiting your exposure to exhaust fumes. You might also want to take a more holistic approach to your dental problems seeing as some of these metals are caused by tooth fillings.
Now, limiting exposure is just one half of the equation. The other half is finding ways to “purge” your body of these heavy metals so that you can be “clean” and have excellent energy levels.
The good news is that our bodies are already doing some of the detoxing without any promptings. The body is intelligent that way. But, left alone, the body just can’t handle that much toxic volume.
It needs all the help it can get, and that’s what we do when we indulge in heavy metal detoxing regimens. This is where heavy metals detox regimens and solutions come into play.
But before you assume that you already have high levels of heavy metals, you need to be sure of what to look for and identify the symptoms.
Symptoms Of High Levels Of Heavy Metals
Before we jump into this, we would have you know that many of these symptoms share a strong semblance with other health conditions. So, just because you have them, doesn’t necessarily mean that you have more heavy metals in your body than is necessary. You should also consult with your doctor to rule out any other possible cause of the symptoms.
Mild symptoms include recurring headaches, persistent fatigue or lethargy, acne, gas, bloating, digestive problems, hormonal imbalance, moodiness, extreme sweating, weight gain around the mid-section, joint aches, and sleeplessness among others.
Severe symptoms include nausea and persistent vomiting, respiratory distress, abdominal or muscular cramping, motor skills and cognitive impairment, and vertigo.
As you can see, many of these symptoms are similar to that of other health conditions. So, don’t assume that you have a case of heavy metal poisoning until you have eliminated other possibilities and seen a doctor about it. Whatever the case, you need to have it checked to prevent the pretty severe health conditions it can trigger.
For instance, heavy metal toxicity portrays neurodegenerative and metabolic symptoms similar to health conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. You’ll agree that these are all very dangerous health conditions that can be fatal if left untreated or undiagnosed early enough.
How Can You Ascertain Your Heavy Metal Levels?
This is important if you are thinking of doing a heavy metals detox program. As earlier stated, you can see that heavy metal toxicity shares similar symptoms with a myriad of other health conditions.
This is why you need to pay more attention to it and determine if you’re really suffering from high heavy metal levels. The most common tests include the
- RBC mineral test
- Chelation challenge
- Hair mineral analysis test.
These tests will help detect if you have heavy metals in your body and by how much. They all have their drawbacks and benefits, but you’ll find them very useful. The most common one though, is hair mineral analysis test. Most people prefer this because of pain-free and non-invasive procedure.
Please understand however, that there’s the possibility of bodily reactions when you start the heavy metals detox process. In fact, some folks have been known to fall sick. This mostly happens because the heavy metals are breaking away from the cells they latched on to, and create a form of toxic buildup in the blood and urine.
So, the body has to work extra hard to get rid of the metals. Patients usually recover within hours after finishing the detox.
Key Takeaway on DIY Heavy Metals Detoxification
Please note that when it comes to the chelating challenge and the RBC mineral test, these are best done in a clinic with doctors or specialists present. Do not try those two at home.
The only heavy metals detox program you can do is the one involving your hair. At the end of the day, you need to understand that we live in a world where you cannot but ingest some heavy metals every day.
However, do your very best to minimize exposure by eating healthy, working out frequently, going to the sauna at least once a week –the process helps eliminate the heavy metals- and have a bath right after, drink more water from trusted sources –municipal pipes that channel water to your home haven’t been changed in decades, which means there’s a higher chance of lead contamination from municipal waters- or boil/filter them at the very least.
