02/24/2025
TOXIC HEAVY METALS/MINERALS
You may have heard about the dangers of lead, arsenic, cadmium, aluminum, and mercury in the body.
Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, this post is for you.
For the sake of not writing a book, I’ll just refer to them collectively for the most part.
Heavy metals gain entry into the body in various ways. They’re breathed in through the air (or ci******es, va**ng), absorbed through water either by consumption or through the skin while bathing or swimming, taken in while consuming food or beverages, and by skin contact directly (tin foil, laundry agents, actually touching something with the elements in it, etc).
Once inside the body, they typically hang out in the blood for a little while, but not for long. Weeks, days maybe. Then they are either eliminated if the body has the resources to do so, or they settle in specific organs. Each one has its own affinity for certain organs. Lead, for instance, can settle in bone. Mercury can collect in the kidneys, thyroid gland, and pituitary gland. Aluminum can accumulate in the brain and kidneys. And so on.
Heavy metals can take the place of minerals in the body. For instance, lead can take the place of calcium, causing the bones to become more brittle (and other symptoms). When this happens, calcium is displaced and can possibly be deposited elsewhere (joints, arteries, soft tissue). Lead can also displace manganese, iron, copper, and zinc which leads to respective symptoms of deficiencies specific to each mineral.
Many processed foods and cooking methods reduce the mineral and vitamin content in foods, which then malnourishes the body. When deficient in these minerals, toxic metals are more likely to take their place as a less preferred mineral. This leads to a rock and a hard place situation. Now, the body needs the minerals and nutrients to thrive and it’s got toxic metals lodged in certain tissues that it needs the strength (minerals) to be able to release/detox. A whole foods diet is critical to health.
When you consider the fact that we also have certain genetic variations pertaining to nutrition and the body’s ability to detox and convert certain nutrients to usable forms, it adds another layer of difficulty. For instance, you can have a genetic variation which limits your ability to convert the plant version of vitamin A to retinol, which reduces your overall level of vitamin A in the body. Same for zinc, glutathione (known as the master detox compound), folate, the list goes on and on. And vitamins are crucial to the function of minerals in the body. They are mineral cofactors along with other things.
Minerals themselves can also cause toxicity. Too much copper, iron, manganese, selenium, etc can all cause symptoms themselves. For instance, copper can be very stimulating to the brain leading to insomnia, nightmares, attention/hyperactivity issues, and can even be the cause of seizures. Copper that’s too high (especially in relation to zinc) can cause skin, hormonal and emotional issues. Manganese toxicity (mainly from contaminated city or well water) can cause overactive brain, blood sugar issues, bone development, detox ability, etc.
In a world inundated with toxicities in general, it’s hard to avoid exposure. But it’s possible to build up your body’s defenses against them to better guard against their damage. It’s possible to remineralize your body and detox heavy metals and/or mineral toxicity.
Hair analysis can show these toxicities. Sometimes it take a little while (6 months/1 year or so) to see release of them from tissue storage while the body is rebuilding and gaining strength. In this case, they might not show on an initial hair analysis.
Or sometimes your answers come from the very first one.
If you’re interested in seeing your own results and how nutritional balancing can help you, call (or text) 864-743-1980 or shoot a message.
Or check out the website for more info 👇🏻
Thriveholisticnutrition.net
