Heavy Metals Cause Autoimmune Conditions – How To Remove Heavy Metals From The Body
It has been known that heavy metals cause autoimmune conditions for decades, yet the mainstream medical establishment hasn’t taken an interest in removing this damaging toxin from the body.1 Heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium, are known to cause oxidative stress.2 This results in an excessive amount of free radicals which can damage cells and tissues leading to uncontrolled inflammation.3 This inflammation then triggers autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
Remove the cause of inflammation and autoimmune conditions go away on their own.
Heavy Metals Cause Autoimmune Conditions
Heavy metals are known to interfere with the body’s natural detoxification pathways which can further contribute to autoimmune conditions. For example, mercury can bind to certain proteins in the liver and kidneys, inhibiting their ability to filter out harmful toxins. This allows these toxins to accumulate in the bloodstream which can trigger an autoimmune response.4
Heavy Metals And Their Link To Disease
Persistent overexposure to heavy metals has been linked to numerous chronic-inflammatory reactions, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.5
Exposure to heavy metals can also disrupt the body’s endocrine system. There are a few main endocrine-related pathways of mercury uptake and metabolism. First, mercury accumulates in endocrine tissues. After mercury has accumulated, it induces direct cytotoxicity, causing endocrine system dysfunction. This results in an alteration of hormone concentrations that disrupt sex hormones.6
Heavy Metals Cause Autoimmune Conditions Due To Cellular Membrane Inflammation
Heavy metals find their way into cells and once they are inside contribute to oxidation, which leads to DNA damage, mitochondrial inefficiency, and cellular membrane inflammation.7 Cellular membrane inflammation directly causes hormone resistance like thyroid hormone resistance, insulin resistance, sex hormone resistance, and leptin resistance.8 This results in the body being unable to properly control hormone regulation, leading to even more endocrine problems.
How Have We Been Exposed To Heavy Metals – Mercury
Mercury was widely used as a preservative, and an ingredient in medicines, as well as cosmetics. As technology became more advanced, mercury was also used extensively in industrial processes such as mining and manufacturing. Eating certain types of fish, such as tuna and swordfish, can also lead to higher levels of mercury consumption. This is due to their long life span and the fact that they feed on smaller fish that may have consumed mercury-contaminated organisms.
Dental fillings contain small amounts of mercury which can be released into your body over time. In addition, inhaling mercury vapor from broken thermometers, skin care products, and other mercury-containing items can contribute to exposure.9
Unfortunately, this has led to widespread environmental contamination with mercury, which is now present in many water sources around the world.
How Have We Been Exposed To Heavy Metals – Lead
Lead is the most common heavy metal that we have been exposed to in our environment. Lead exposure has historically been caused by industrial processes and products such as paint, gasoline, batteries, and plumbing fixtures. In recent years, lead has also been found in consumer products ranging from toys and jewelry to plastic containers and even some foods.
Even low levels of lead can cause health problems, particularly in young children. Lead poisoning can cause serious and permanent impairments to physical development and cognition. It is important to reduce exposure to lead by minimizing sources of lead in the environment, including avoiding the use of products containing lead or other heavy metals.10
How Have We Been Exposed To Heavy Metals – Arsenic
Due to its widespread presence and human activity, many people have been exposed to arsenic. Exposure often occurs when we drink contaminated water or eat crops grown in contaminated soil. Burning fossil fuels also emits arsenic into the air, which can be inhaled and absorbed by our bodies. We can also come into contact with arsenic through certain building materials and lead-based paints, or even through skin contact during recreational activities such as fishing.11
How Have We Been Exposed To Heavy Metals – Cadmium
The primary sources of cadmium in the environment are industrial activities, including metal smelting and the manufacturing of batteries, plastics, paints, and fertilizers. Cadmium is also released into the air from burning coal and other fossil fuels for energy generation. In addition to these man-made sources, natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and weathering of rocks can also release cadmium into the environment.12
Heavy Metals Cause Autoimmune Conditions
Reducing exposure to heavy metals is the first step to overcoming autoimmune conditions. To reduce your risk of being exposed to heavy metals, you should avoid using products that contain them such as paints, coatings, pesticides, and fertilizers.
Also, avoid eating foods grown in areas that are contaminated with heavy metals and only consume seafood that has been caught in a part of the world that hasn’t been contaminated by the manufacturing industry. If you work with or come into contact with materials that may contain heavy metals, be sure to wear proper protective gear such as gloves, respirators, and clothing.
If you have silver amalgam dental fillings that contain mercury, seek a specialized dentist to remove them. Silver amalgam fillings were the source of my autoimmune conditions and it wasn’t until I had my fillings removed by a competent dentist that I began on my path to healing.
Paying attention to potential sources of heavy metals, avoiding them as much as possible, and taking appropriate measures to reduce any existing levels, can help to reduce the symptoms of autoimmune conditions and improve overall health.
How To Remove Heavy Metals From The Body
Heavy metals accumulate in the body over time with consistent exposure and removing these toxins is extremely difficult with typical techniques, as their heavier-than-normal nature makes them hard to transport.
Removing Heavy Metals From The Body With A True Chelator
Once heavy metals are situated in the cells and organs, they can only be removed by the use of a true chelator. A true chelator, like DMSA or DMPS, is able to bind to these heavy metals, pull them out of the cells, and excrete them from the body without those heavy metals being reabsorbed back into the system.1314
However, many people use inefficient chelating techniques like chlorella and cilantro that weakly bind to heavy metals, yet are unable to effectively pull them out of the body completely. This is because chlorella and cilantro contain a single thiol functional group, as opposed to a double thiol functional group that true chelators possess.
A double thiol functional group binds to heavy metals far better than a single thiol functional group. Using cilantro or chlorella to chelate causes heavy metals to be reabsorbed into other systems of the body and oftentimes leads to even more damage, especially if metals are absorbed into the brain.15 16 17
This is why I recommend only using a true chelator agent like DMSA and doing so at regular intervals so that heavy metals are continuously pulled out of the body and completely eliminated. With DMSA, this requires a dose every 4 hours for 4 days and then taking 10 days off before repeating the cycle.18
Realize that this process takes time, often as long as two or three years to sufficiently pull out the offending heavy metals that are leading to inflammation and in turn, autoimmune diseases.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel if you are willing to be patient and stick to the protocol that I have outlined. With this heavy metal excretion protocol, I have helped tens of thousands of people regain their life and watch them in astonishment as their autoimmune conditions simply go away once the root cause of these conditions, inflammation, tapers off.
Ending The Inflammatory Cycle
After removing the cause of inflammation and autoimmune conditions, other supplements are utilized to reset the inflammatory cycle back to its default state. The ugly nature of heavy metals is that it sets chronic inflammation in motion and it requires a complete reset in order to go back to functioning as normal.
After I removed heavy metals from my body and toxic mercury from my brain, I was still suffering from autoimmune conditions that gave me great grief. Upon continued study, I came across the work of Dr. Martin Pall who described why the inflammatory cycle continues even after the factors that caused that cycle to be pushed into motion are eliminated.19 After I reset my inflammation back to normal it was only then that I received complete relief from my autoimmune conditions. It is with great honor that I can help you find relief as well.
Heavy Metals Cause Autoimmune Conditions
Heavy metals cause autoimmune conditions, as they lead to inflammation that results in immune system dysfunction. If we can just remove the cause of that inflammation, and set the inflammatory cycle back to its normal state, we can find relief from autoimmune conditions. I know from personal experience that autoimmune conditions simply go away once the cause is addressed and eliminated.
Read more about the proper heavy metal detox.
References
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2 Valko, M., Morris, H., & Cronin, M. T. (2005). Metals, toxicity and oxidative stress. Current medicinal chemistry, 12(10), 1161–1208. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867053764635
3 Cortés, S., Zúñiga-Venegas, L., Pancetti, F., Covarrubias, A., Ramírez-Santana, M., Adaros, H., & Muñoz, L. (2021). A Positive Relationship between Exposure to Heavy Metals and Development of Chronic Diseases: A Case Study from Chile. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), 1419. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041419
4 Bittarello, A. C., Vieira, J. C. S., Braga, C. P., da Cunha Bataglioli, I., de Oliveira, G., Rocha, L. C., Zara, L. F., Buzalaf, M. A. R., de Oliveira, L. C. S., Adamec, J., & de Magalhães Padilha, P. (2020). Metalloproteomic approach of mercury-binding proteins in liver and kidney tissues of Plagioscion squamosissimus (corvina) and Colossoma macropomum (tambaqui) from Amazon region: Possible identification of mercury contamination biomarkers. The Science of the total environment, 711, 134547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134547
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7 Foulkes E. C. (2000). Transport of toxic heavy metals across cell membranes. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (New York, N.Y.), 223(3), 234–240. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1373.2000.22334.x
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12 Cadmium Factsheet | National Biomonitoring Program | CDC. (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Cadmium_FactSheet.html
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16 Merino, J. J., Parmigiani-Izquierdo, J. M., Toledano Gasca, A., & Cabaña-Muñoz, M. E. (2019). The Long-Term Algae Extract (Chlorella and Fucus sp) and Aminosulphurate Supplementation Modulate SOD-1 Activity and Decrease Heavy Metals (Hg++, Sn) Levels in Patients with Long-Term Dental Titanium Implants and Amalgam Fillings Restorations. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 8(4), 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox8040101
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