Nix Heavy Metals

Used in conventional agriculture, sewage sludge is a source of unwanted toxic metals. Besides buying organic products, the only foods certified not to contain sludge, and doing a seasonal detox, here are some ways limit your exposure to these dangerous metals.

What to Avoid
• Aluminum toxicity increases your risk for colds, dry skin, flatulence, heartburn, muscle weakness, and memory loss. Sources include many antacids, antiperspirants, bleached flour, commercial cosmetics, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and painkillers, as well as aluminum cans and cookware and even municipal water supplies.

• Arsenic is a common contaminant in drinking water, and while EPA has recently lowered the acceptable level, many public water systems haven’t yet followed suit. Indoor air is another source: coal dust, herbicides, insecticides, paints, and smoke. When ingested, this heavy metal is deposited in the hair, nails, and skin; toxicity also impacts the kidneys, liver, and lungs. Symptoms of chronic exposure include confusion, deafness, diarrhea, nausea, peripheral nerve damage, and visual problems.

• Copper overload can compromise adrenal function and nervous system function. Toxicity symptoms include allergies, anorexia, depression, hair loss, hyperactivity, insomnia, and skin abnormalities. Because trace amounts are essential to health, some dietary copper (avocados, grains, shellfish, seeds, and nuts) is essential, but it’s wise to limit this metal as it’s in birth control pills, dental fillings, fungicides and insecticides, copper intrauterine devices, and pasteurized milk as well as copper cookware and pipes.

• Lead contamination has been a problem since ancient Rome, when this metal leached from pottery. It impacts virtually all bodily systems, with exposure before and after birth most damaging. Symptoms include behavioral problems like ADD and ADHD, blue gums, convulsions, hearing loss, kidney disease, miscarriages, and visual disturbances. Lead paint and dust may still account for 70 percent of elevated blood lead levels in American children, who get dust on their hands or put lead-contaminated fingers and other objects in their mouths; water pipes are another source.

• Mercury is a neurotoxin, disrupts normal hormonal activity, increases the risk of heart disease and kidney problems, compromises immunity, and causes headaches, fatigue, memory loss, and mood swings. Found in soil and water, this heavy metal contaminates large fish and many other foods; batteries, cosmetics, dental fillings, some medications, plastics, solvents, vaccines, and wood preservatives are other sources of this cumulative poison.

Also Wise
Test your drinking water (or ask your water company for current, regular reports on the levels of these metals and other pollutants). Apple pectin and other fibers, burdock root, calcium and magnesium, chlorella, garlic, green tea, milk thistle, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and vitamin C with bioflavonoids can help detoxify heavy metals.