Toxic Heavy Metals Don't Rock - Purely Simple Organic Living

Your Body Needs Some Metals

Hello readers! Welcome to another week in wellness with Purely Simple Organic Living.

This week on our blog, we are focusing on heavy metals.

No, not the leather-clad rock bands from the 60’s and 70’s…we’re talking about the toxic heavy metals found in our environment. Heavy metals are categorized as dense metals and metalloids that naturally occur in the Earth’s crust, but cause significant damage in the body in acute or chronic exposures.

While your body needs metals like copper, iron, and zinc to function properly¹, accumulation of metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury essentially poison the body and pose a major threat to your health.

In this post we will cover heavy metal exposure, symptoms, detoxes and other recommendations to help you navigate an environment riddled with toxic heavy metals.

Heavy Metal Exposure

If you have been living in this world, odds are you are being exposed to all of these toxic heavy metals on a daily basis.

From the food we eat to the products we use, heavy metals are constantly introduced and ingested in our lives, and both the short and long term consequences of exposure are dire.

Public health concern of heavy metal poisoning–specifically from lead and mercury–has brought forth some protective measures to lessen high-level exposure to consumers.

We have made strides in phasing out mercury thermometers, lead paint, and have standardized unleaded gas, but these efforts are only a drop in the bucket!

Mercury is still found everywhere from cosmetics, to fish, to vaccines, to pesticides, to your dental fillings².

Lead and lead compounds are also commonly used in household products.

Our soil, drinking water, and air are have all been polluted with toxic heavy metals due to various industrial activities–exposing us at varying levels each and every day.

Acute Exposure

Acute exposure to high levels of heavy metals, like ingesting lead-based paint, often results in a sudden onset of severe symptoms like confusion, numbness, vomiting, seizures, and even death³.

Chronic, low-level exposure that results in a buildup of heavy metals in your system is associated with headaches, fatigue, weakness, aching joints and muscles, constipation³, kidney dysfunction, and heightened risk of disease⁴, to mention a few.

A 2017 meta-analysis found that accumulation of metals like aluminum, cadmium, and mercury was linked to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia⁴.

Mercury also poses a threat to your thyroid, as it is often stored there in place of iodine, causing health problems like hyperthyroidism and other autoimmune disorders².

Heavy Metal Detox

“Detox” has been a popular buzzword in health culture lately, as it is an effective tool for clearing out the body of excess toxins like heavy metals.

A heavy metal detox usually consists of optimizing detoxification pathways, using chelating agents to bind to the metals and flush them out, and then restoring the body’s natural balance.

But, before your paranoia of heavy metal poisoning gets the best of you and you run to the sauna with a green juice, know that detoxes are a complex process that shouldn’t be done on a whim.

When done incorrectly, heavy metals that have accumulated in the body won’t have a way to get out, and can circulate in your tissues and organs⁵, causing major damage.

When working to eliminate dangerous toxins like heavy metals, it is important to follow the recommendations of a trusted health professional who is experienced in detox protocol.

What You Can Do

Want to know what YOU can do to protect yourself from heavy metals?

With heavy metal pollutants so prevalent in our environment, the truth is you will not be able to completely prevent your exposure–but you can make steps to limit it. Avoid or replace mercury amalgam dental fillings with mercury-free composite material.

Limit your consumption of fish high in mercury, which are often larger fish like ahi tuna, swordfish, king mackeral, etc.

Consider switching to smaller fish that do not accumulate as much mercury like anchovies, sardines, salmon or trout.

Chlorella and cilantro are also cited for their ability to bind to heavy metal toxins and provide antioxidant support for overall cell health⁶.

Eating a balanced diet to ensure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals is another important step you can take to prevent and protect your body from accumulating heavy metals. A leading cause of heavy metal toxicity, aside from environmental pollution, is an inadequate intake of essential minerals like calcium, copper, iron, selenium, and zinc⁶.

We provide services

We provide services to support our clients with heavy metal toxicity, as we are well-versed in detox protocol.

We utilize bio-feedback testing, a non-invasive, radiation-free method of determining areas of heavy metal accumulation in the body.

From there, we offer our clients non-IV chelation therapy(no needle in the arm!)that is scientifically proven to rid the body of excess or toxic metals and balance minerals. We safely support our clients through a variety of detox programs to clear the body of any harmful agents, like heavy metals.

Our amethyst crystal infused biomat delivers infrared heat that is also an excellent and essential tool for detoxification.

Our world is increasingly toxic, but our bodies–when running efficiently–can help us reduce this toxic burden. See what we can do to optimize your health and make your body run more efficiently!

If you have concerns about heavy metal accumulation, schedule an appointment with us by calling (512) 265-0303, and we will gladly guide and support you in your journey to wellness!

Christina Sessums MSW, CNHP, CAHP
Autoimmune Disease Specialist
Call Today: (512) 265-0303
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