Certain metals are found naturally in the body, and are vital to human health. Like zinc, for example, which is a co-factor in over 100 enzyme reactions, and iron which prevents anemia. Normally, they occur at lower concentrations and are referred to as trace metals. In higher doses, they are toxic to the body and produce deficiencies in other trace metals. As an example, higher levels of zinc can result in deficiency of copper, which is another metal that is required by the body for multiple functions.
What Are Heavy Metals?
Toxic or heavy metals are trace metals with a density that is at least 5 times that of water. They are stable elements (which means they can’t be metabolized by the body) and are bio-accumulative (meaning they are passed up through the food chain to humans). Heavy metals include: lead, mercury, arsenic, nickel, aluminium, cadmium, platinum and copper (metal form, not the ionic form that is required by the body). Heavy metals do nothing for the body, can be highly toxic, and can have serious effects on your overall health.
Once they are released into the environment through the air, food, drinking water, or the countless amounts of man-made products and chemicals, heavy metals are taken into the body via ingestion, skin absorption, and inhalation. If these heavy metals accumulate in tissues of the body faster than the body’s natural detoxification methods can dispose of them, a slow buildup of these toxic metals will occur. Exposure to highly concentrated metals is not necessary to produce toxicity within the body, as heavy metals will accumulate in tissues of the body, and over time, will reach concentration levels that are highly toxic.
Sources of Heavy Metal Exposure
Our overall exposure to heavy metals has increased dramatically in the last 50 years. This is most likely a result of an dramatic increase in the use of these same heavy metals in industrial products and processes. Today, chronic exposure comes from lead in paint and tap water, chemical residues in processed foods and “personal care” products (such as shampoo and other hair products, cosmetics, mouthwash, soap, toothpaste, etc.), mercury-amalgam dental fillings. In today’s society that is dependent on industrial products, there is simply no escaping exposure to toxic metals and chemicals.
In addition to numerous hazards both outdoors and at home, some occupations involve exposure to heavy metals on a daily basis. More than 50 professions are exposed to mercury alone. These professions include pharmaceutical workers, physicians, any dental occupation, hairdressers, lab workers, printers, painters, metal workers, welders, battery manufacturers, cosmetic workers, photographers, engravers, potters, and visual artists.
The Effects of Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metals directly influence behavior by impairing neurological and mental function, which influences neurotransmitter utilization and production, and alters numerous metabolic processes within the body. Systems that toxic metal elements can impair and alter include the cardiovascular and blood systems, endocrine (hormonal), detoxification pathways (skin, liver, kidneys, colon), enzymatic, immune, nervous (central and peripheral), energy production pathways, gastrointestinal, urinary, and reproductive.
Breathing particles from heavy metals, even at levels under what is considered non-toxic, can result in serious health effects. Literally all aspects of human and animal immune system functions are impaired by inhaling heavy metal particulates. Additionally, toxic metals can cause genetic mutation, increase allergic reactions, compete with “good” trace metals in the body, and act as antibiotics, which kill both beneficial and harmful bacteria. Most of the damage toxic metals produce stems from the reproduction of oxidative free radicals that they tend to cause. With an existing antioxidant deficiency or heavy toxic load, uncontrolled production of free-radical occurs. Free radicals can result in tissue damage all throughout the body, damage from free-radicals are a precursor for all degenerative diseases.
Another effect of heavy metals is that they increase the overall acidity of the blood. To proper blood pH is restored when the body draws calcium from the bones. Additionally, toxic metals create conditions that lead to inflammation in tissues and arteries, that causes more calcium to be drawn to the inflammation as a buffer. The calcium then covers the inflamed areas like a bandage within the blood vessels, creating one problem while patching another, namely the progressive blockage and hardening of the artery walls. Without the replenishment of calcium, the constant removal of this vital mineral from the bones results in osteoporosis.
Even minute levels of toxic elements have negative consequences on health. Metabolic rate, detoxification pathways integrity (or the ability to detoxify toxins), nutritional status, and the degree of heavy metal exposure all can affect response in a certain individual. The elderly and children, whose immune systems are age-compromised or underdeveloped, are more susceptible to toxicity.
How Can We Protect Ourselves from Heavy Metals?
Once the hazard from heavy metals is understood, their use and production should be phased out and toxic storage detoxified. An all natural heavy metal cleanse, like Zeotrex is a the best method of heavy metal detoxification I have tried, and I can personally say that it works wonders on mercury, aluminium and lead levels. If you believe you have high levels of any heavy metal, 1 week of Zeotrex and you will feel a remarkable difference. Other natural methods are effective, but work much slower, like Iodine Supplementation, consuming Coconut Oil on a daily basis, the right water and the right amount of it, and even the consumption of certain herbs all assist in natural detoxification.
Even if all heavy metal production were to stop today, so many heavy metals have already been released into our environment, they are able cause numerous neurological diseases and chronic poisoning for generations to come. With the government doing moving very slowly to make efforts to protect the public from hazards associated with heavy metals, it’s up to us to take measures to protect ourselves. According to modern medicine, there is nothing a person can do to address mercury, aresenic, cadimium, lead, nickel, or aluminum expsore, other than avoiding the known sources.
Given how prevalent these toxins are in our lives, this is impossible.
