Heavy metal toxicity is a reality for us living in an industrialized society because we are constantly exposed to toxins in our daily life. Analyzing your mineral and toxic metal levels has become quite popular in the preventive healthcare sector because it can often help explain the causes of many health symptoms and diseases, from fybromalgia to chronic headaches, allowing people to reverse them.
“Based on what I have seen, a lot of people in Dubai have a higher than acceptable toxic load. This toxic burden on the body can have significant health impacts“, says Dr Sean Penny, Homotoxicologist and Homeopathic Practitioner at The Hundred Wellness Center here in Dubai, where he sees a number of people with higher than “normal” levels of toxins.
What are toxic metals?
Unlike minerals such as zinc, magnesium and iron, toxic metals are not required for humans, plants and animals to thrive. In fact, they can cause a lot of harm. The ones we often hear of are mercury, aluminium, cadmium, lead, tin, barium and nickel but there are lot more.
How do you get a high level of toxic metals?
First of all, some people have a genetic makeup that allows them to break down and eliminate toxic metals more easily – look into something called the MTHFR gene, some variations of it make it hard for certain individuals to detox their cells. It also depends a lot on the degree of exposure: if you work in a polluted environment, or if you have been wearing toxic cosmetics and eating processed foods daily for years for example, there is a good chance you have some degree of toxic load.
External sources of heavy metals include dental amalgam fillings, cigarettes, auto exhaust, canned foods, frozen foods, aluminum cookware, insecticides, water pipes, cosmetics, hair dyes, antacids, deodorants, preservatives, food additives, pesticides, certain fish and seafood, children’s toys, batteries and electronics, clothing and medical vaccinations. This is a long list (and it is actually much longer) but you get the point, these metals are everywhere.
What are the signs?
There are a lot of different symptoms one can experience when they have heavy metal toxicity. These include:
- Chronic headaches, migraines
- Brain fog
- Memory issues like difficulty remembering certain words or names
- Joint pain, stiffness, loss of flexibility
- Abdominal pain and digestive problems
- Fatigue, low energy
- Sinus congestion, itchy eyes
- Vomiting, nausea
Of course, all the above signs can also be due to something else, so when in doubt, I don’t like to guess, I prefer to test.
How to test
There are many ways you can test what your levels of heavy metals are – blood, urine and hair analysis. When speaking with specialized professionals these days, they mostly suggest to do at least two of these to get conclusive results. However, if you were to pick one, hair analysis is probably your best bet. You just need to keep in mind that your hair may also give you a few false positives if you use dye or other treatments, which is why crossing it with urine or blood is even better. You can get tested in a few medical establishments in Dubai, I got mine done at The Hundred Wellness Center.
How to detox
1. Get rid of your toxin exposure
You have to pay more attention to what you are exposed to in your daily life, such as tefal or aluminium pans, cosmetics, food, etc. It’s isn’t realistic to get rid of everything, but if I was going to pick a few, I would suggest the following:
Replace your old dental amalgams
The older ones have mercury in them. However, please don’t go to any old dentist: they need to be trained for this and have the right procedures and equipment. There is a great one who does this here in Dubai called Dr Maximilan Riewer, who was recommended by my functional doctor. What I really like about him is that he won’t remove them unless they present a danger. Mine were over 20 years old and looked suspicious, but some friends have gone to him and been told theirs were ok. His clinic is located in Burjuman Mall. It took less than an hour to get 3 of mine removed.
Go easy on fish
The bigger the fish, the more likely it has accumulated a lot of mercury, so limit your consumption of these and avoid eating the skin and fatty part around it (mercury latches on to fat and skin). Shark, swordfish, King mackerel and certain tunas are the worst culprits. Grouper – otherwise known as Hammour here in the UAE – is also high in mercury so watch out for that. Here is a study that looked at mercury content of certain fish in the Persian Gulf. Instead, opt for salmon, tilapia, herring, sardines, anchovies, shrimp and trout, which have lower levels.
Quit smoking
Easier said than done, but if you are a daily smoker, there is good chance you have high toxicity of certain metals like lead, nickel or cadmium. Here is an interesting study that even looks at how rheumatoid arthritis is linked to metal toxicity from smoking.
Use natural skin care
The skin is our biggest organ and the easiest way for toxins to get into our system. Researchers at the University of California–Berkeley School of Public Health detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum, and five other metals in 32 different lipsticks and glosses commonly found in stores. According to the report, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, some of these metals were found at levels that could have bad health effects in the long run. And that’s just lipstick. Creams, perfumes, powders, foundations, these all have risks so use natural products.
Use a natural antiperspirant
The aluminium and parabens found in antiperspirant and deodorants have been linked to breast cancer. I am assuming that most of you, especially since you live in tropical weather, use antiperspirant daily. ‘Hypoallergenic’ and ‘dermatologist tested’ does not mean it will not have those ingredients either. Get a natural mineral brand or a stone, they can be found in most organic stores in Dubai.
2. Clean up your liver and kidneys
Before you start taking something to evacuate heavy metals from your body, make sure your liver and kidneys are functioning optimally because they are going to be processing a lot of garbage. Do a 2-3 week cleanse by supplementing with milk thistle, dandelion or artichoke extract to ensure these organs are running properly.
3. Sweat – and use infrared saunas
Sweating is a great way to expel toxins outside of your body. But an even better way is to sweat using an infrared saunas. I will be writing a longer article soon about infrared saunas, but for the purpose of this one, just remember this: sweat produced in a conventional sauna has been found to consist of over 95% water, the sweat produced by infrared saunas contains only 80 to 85 percent water. The rest consists mostly of toxins. Also, this takes the load of processing toxins off your liver and kidneys.
4. Include some natural chelators and toxic cleansers into your daily diet
Certain herbs, foods and supplements help your body detoxify from heavy metals. Don’t use them all at once, you don’t want to do a mass killing of toxic metals that will flood your body all at once. Instead, pick one or two and use them regularly. Here are a few that have been proven to be effective:
- Chlorella
- Coriander – the herb is good, but not enough – you need to find coriander extract to get a fully loaded metal detoxifier
- Liposomal glutathione (not the tablets)
- N-acetylcysteine (NAC) – found in many pharmacies in Dubai, it’s a precursor for glutathione – it binds to toxic heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and removes them
- Bentonite clay – it absorbs toxic substances, binds to them and carries them out of the body
