When it comes to toxins and poisons, most people try to avoid them like the plague.

But there are certain toxins that we are exposed to all the time (many are already inside of us!) that can have a devastating impact on your health and quality of life.

I'm talking about heavy metals.

Here's what you must know about heavy metals, what they can do to you, and how you can avoid them and help minimize their harmful effects.

The heavy metals

The main "offenders" here arealuminum, mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic.

Let's take a look at where you may be exposed to them, and dangers associated with each:

1- Aluminum

Found in: Cookware, food and beverage cans, aluminum foil, antacids, baking powder, anti-perspirants, margarine, buffered aspirin, unfiltered drinking water and bleached white flour.

It is also used as an adjuvant in many vaccines.

Dangers:

• Aluminum is harmful to your nervous system with symptoms such as disturbed sleep, nervousness, emotional instability, memory loss, and headaches.
• It can impair your body's ability to use calcium and phosphorus. This prevents bone growth and reduces bone density. 
• Toxicity can also cause aching muscles, speech problems, anemia, digestive issues, and impaired kidney and liver function.
• Most disturbingly, aluminum binds with brain cells and is found in high concentration in the brains of Alzheimer'spatients.

2- Mercury

Found in: Dental amalgam fillings are by far the number one source. Even though these are called "silver amalgams" they are 50 percent mercury!

Mercury is also found in fungicides and pesticides, cosmetics, tattoo dyes, laxatives, paper products, home thermometers, and fish (especially shark, swordfish, tuna, mackerel and sea bass). Coal burning power plants also emit mercury.

Plus mercury may still be found in some vaccines as a preservative.

Dangers:

• Mercury causes damage to your cells and their functions. This can eventually lead to failure of organ systems such as the lungs, kidneys, and especially your brain and nervous system.
• Excess mercury exposure can cause mental dysfunction, fatigue, poor memory, decreased senses of touch, hearing and vision, depression, neurological and muscular disorders, kidney and gastrointestinal problems, infertility, and heart disease. 
• Mercury acts as an immunosuppressant in the body, weakening your immune system and spurring the development of autoimmune diseases. 

3- Lead

Found in: Lead is found in pipes, paints and gasoline. Although we have been reducing the lead in our gasoline and paint, they nonetheless remain sources of possible exposure, especially with older cars and homes.

Lead is also found in glassware, roadways, cosmetics, hair dyes, newspaper print, and the glazes used in ceramics.

Dangers:

• Lead competes with and inactivates many important minerals, particularly zinc and iron, and displaces calcium from your bones, making you susceptible to mineral deficiency conditions.
• In children, too much lead in the body can affect behavior, hearing and learning, and slow the child's growth. 
• In adults, lead poisoning can damage the brain and nervous system, the stomach, kidneys, thyroid, and liver. It can also cause high blood pressure.

4- Cadmium

Found in: The biggest source is cigarette smoke. Whether you smoke or not is irrelevant--we all breathe air contaminated with cigarette smoke, but obviously smokers are getting far more cadmium than non-smokers.

Cadmium is also released when coal is burned and is found in many plastics, batteries, certain fertilizers and paints.

And get this--cadmium has also been found in soda and processed foods!

Dangers:

• Cadmium and cadmium compounds are considered "known human carcinogens" with an increased risk of lung cancer in workers exposed to them. 
• Cadmium accumulates in your kidneys and compromises your liver's ability to produce enzymes.
• Cadmium also triggers free radicals which can lead to disease.

5- Arsenic

Found in: Pressure treated wood which is commonly used in children's swing sets and the porches and decks on our homes.

Arsenic is also found in pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. It has been found in some shellfish as well as in calcium supplements made from seashells.

Dangers:

• Arsenic has been associated with cancers of the skin, lung, bladder, liver, colon, and kidney. 
• It’s harmful to the nervous system and can cause tremors, headaches, and numbness.
• Other health effects include blood vessel damage, high blood pressure, anemia, and liver damage. 

 

What you can do

Clearly, heavy metals are all around us and it's impossible to avoid them 100 percent.

But there are some helpful measures you can take to reduce your exposure as well as help counteract their harmful effects:

1) Do the avoid-dance

Here are some ways to avoid known sources of heavy metals:

• If you smoke, please quit.
• Avoid using aluminum cookware and bakeware—stick to stainless steel or cast iron instead.
• Carefully weigh the risks vs. benefits of all vaccines, keeping in mind that a strong immune system is your number one protection against sickness.
• Request that your dentist use composite materials in any fillings instead of silver amalgam. And if you have a lot of amalgam fillings in your mouth now, consider having them removed and replaced with composites.
• Stay away from processed foods, soda, unfiltered drinking water, and farmed fish. Use unbleached flour and aluminum-free baking powder.
• I know this won’t win me any popularity contests, but please avoid getting tattoos, especially those with colored inks.
• Use deodorant instead of anti-perspirant.

2) Have your levels tested

Ask your doctor to do a urine heavy metals test. It simply involves collecting your urine for a period of time (usually 6 hours), then submitting a sample and having it analyzed.

3) Consider chelation therapy

Chelation therapy helps clear heavy metals from your body. It can be done by an IV or with oral chelators (especially the amino acid DMPS). DMPS pulls the metals out of your cells, tissues and organs and puts them into general circulation so your body can eliminate them. 

I had IV chelation therapy back in 2012 to remove mercury from my amalgam fillings. And I promptly had them replaced with composites! 

4) Have a healthy diet of wholesome real foods 

The vitamins and minerals found in real foods are essential for your body to be able to rid itself of heavy metals.

When your nutrient levels are low, heavy metals have much greater access to your cells and can even "lock out" your nutrients as they start on their path of damage and disease.

Plus adequate fiber is crucial. Fiber binds to heavy metals and helps sweep them out of your body when you have a bowel movement. 

So keep it real—fresh vegetables and fruits, meats, poultry, wild-caught fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, and healthy fats like real butter, olive oil and coconut oil.

5) Engage the power of probiotics

Probiotics can help the digestive process, strengthen your gut wall and encourage regular bowel movements—all of which are vital to eliminating heavy metals.

Super Shield PLUS multi-strain probiotic formula is a potent probiotic that's up to this important challenge!

Super Shield PLUS’s 20 billion CFUs and 15 strains of top-quality bacteria can help support your gut wall, making it less porous...so heavy metals stand a better chance of getting swept away with your bowel movements instead of being reabsorbed into circulation!

Plus your immune system will appreciate the beneficial bacteria boost to help it rebound from heavy metal exposure.

Heavy metals are all around us and they’re not going away anytime soon.

So it’s crucial to give your body the help it needs to counteract and eliminate these deadly poisons.

To your health,

Sherry Brescia