July 8, 2021: while the French football team has been eliminated for a long time from the Euro France, it is European champion. European champion in… heavy metal poisoning.

Heavy does not mean visible. Heavy means toxic because they settle in our cells. Toxic for the environment but also for your body, as a whole. Heavy metal poisoning is now considered a public health problem: creating bone, kidney and cardiovascular problems, they are also neurotoxic and carcinogenic . And the list does not end there.

Heavy metal poisoning could be the root cause of symptoms that are less alarming but nevertheless unpleasant to live with on a daily basis: low energy, mood swings and cognitive disorders.

What are they ? If the study published on the Public Health website has been scrutinized:

• Mercury
• Nickel
• Lead
• Cadmium
• Arsenic
• Copper
• Chromium

Other heavy metals are also on the list:

• Aluminum
• Thallium
• Uranium

While lead levels have fallen, mercury and nickel have remained stable while cadmium, arsenic and chromium have increased. As the commissioner would say in Taxi: “general alert! ".

How do you get addicted to heavy metals? In a sly and very simple way: in your daily life. If you eat fish, if you drink tap water, if you use household products or if you went to the dentist for cavities or crowns… be sure that you have some. The French study speaks of 96 to 100% of the population who would be concerned. 100%...these are official figures, hard to believe and yet true.

How do heavy metals settle in our body? They achieve this by passing into the blood, which will distribute them here and there in all our organs and tissues, to remain there for years.

How to detox from heavy metals?

Great question to which there are several answers. Without wanting to be exhaustive, we will explore several ways here, some very gentle that can be done on a daily basis and others that absolutely require the support of a therapist. Nevertheless, we warn you about at least one thing: you could experience symptoms that are unpleasant to say the least during this detox: fatigue, digestive problems or even loss of appetite.

Certain foods will clearly be preferred: green vegetables and vegetables in general, certain herbs and spices or even seaweed (even if you do not live in Brittany as we do, you will easily find them in organic stores). Certain natural substances like shilajit or activated charcoal also help the body get rid of them.

The dangers of heavy metals

If we can quite easily get rid of certain chemical substances through digestion or urine, it is however much more complicated to release heavy metals from our body. Indeed heavy metals attach themselves where it is very difficult to dislodge them: in our fats . While it's true that losing weight (by losing fat) can help you lose heavy metals, unfortunately things aren't that simple. Quite simply because it is impossible to lose all your fat and heavy metals also lodge in the organs.

In order not to have heavy metals in your body, the best thing would be simply not to absorb any. But we'll stop you right away: it's impossible. Indeed, they are found everywhere: food, water and soil. Over time they accumulate in our tissues, in a "gentle" way, without us obviously noticing it. Nothing to do with flu or Covid.

Heavy metal poisoning is not a disease in itself, it is what triggers or helps trigger problems such as reduced mental and nervous functions, damage to vital organs such as the liver, heart, kidneys and glands. In the long term they can create real illnesses that affect the muscles as well as the brain or the nerves. You often hear (or say to yourself): "I'm losing my memory" or "I'm tired" and attribute it to age. Maybe right but… maybe wrong. Indeed heavy metal poisoning apes the symptoms of aging. If having a lesser memory at 90 than at 20 is not abnormal, having memory loss at 60 is additionally so. In this case we clearly invite you to look into this subject, without saying that it is necessarily the cause.

What are the signs and symptoms of heavy metal poisoning?

Here are some of the most common warning signs that you may be dealing with heavy metal toxicity. You will see, there are many. Hence the difficulty of precisely determining the root cause.

• chronic fatigue
• Autoimmune diseases
• Lyme disease
• Difficulty recovering after exercise
• Irritated skin
• Mind fog
• bad memory
• Concentration difficulties
• Depression, anxiety
• Insomnia
• Digestive problems, including the famous portmanteau: irritable bowel syndrome
• Chronic pain
• Anemia
• Tremors
• Various disorders such as hearing, speech or vision

The origin of heavy metals

We have seen that they are literally everywhere. But then why are heavy metals becoming a problem when they weren't a priori a few decades ago? There are two answers to this question: we live longer. With the accumulation of years the problems then go from light to more serious. Simple and unstoppable. However, this explanation is unfortunately not the only one: we are increasingly exposed to these metals via soil and water pollution and chemicals used indiscriminately.

Here is in detail how we become intoxicated slowly but surely:

• Environmental pollutants : car exhaust, cigarette smoke, radiation or even food contaminants.

• Dental amalgams : the famous fillings (which no longer contain lead for a long time but slowly release mercury into the body) and metal crowns.

• Cereal consumption. Yes we too fell from the clouds. Cereals contain cadmium for non-organic and copper for organic.

• Fish , especially oily fish. The biggest ones (including tuna) are particularly to be avoided, without falling into an extreme. Once a week, no more.

• Water sometimes contains metals such as aluminum.

• At home you can find them in many places: adhesives, air conditioning filters, cosmetics, make-up, fabric softeners, polishes, markers… but also cans, old paints, insecticides, pipes.

• The tattoos .

• Food in direct contact with recycled cardboard . Here it is not the cardboard that is in question but the inks present in the packaging before being recycled which migrate into the food once in contact with it. Do not be surprised to see, for example, your pasta placed in a plastic bag itself placed in a cardboard packaging.

• Household items, baking powder, stainless steel cutlery, coins

What is a heavy metal detox?

Everyone should think about detoxifying heavy metals when you know that 100% of the population is affected, to varying degrees. Blood, urine and hair tests are available. There is a real battle between laboratories to have the most reliable test. You got it: no consensus on the most reliable method. It's up to you to make up your own mind here. However, since we are all intoxicated, we might as well start a cure, however gentle it may be. That's why we share with you here a quiet method that will allow your body to slowly get rid of these famous metals. In addition to eliminating them by following these tips, your liver, your intestines and your immune system will thank you.

First and foremost it will be your brain and your nervous system that will benefit.

That's all well and good, but how do you do it?

The most common method is chelation . Understand by this that certain molecules that you will absorb will come to bind then dissolve the molecules of metal to allow your body to release them by the urine. This process must imperatively be followed by a competent practitioner because serious side effects are possible.

If you don't want to see a health practitioner, there are other , lighter methods . These methods will help your body break down metals into small molecules so they can be eliminated through urine, stool, or sweat.

What are the benefits of starting a heavy metal detox?

Among other things you might see over time:

• Improving your energy levels
• Better digestion
• Better skin
• Decline in cognitive disorders
• Improved immunity
• Reduced damage caused by free radicals (the famous oxidative stress)

What foods for heavy metal detoxification?

We quoted it above and return here to this point in detail.

• Leafy green vegetables : Among the most powerful foods to help detox you can add them to your daily routine. Uncommon, they will bring a little variation to your kitchen.

Kale, dandelions, chard, mustard greens, arugula, spinach or even beets.

• Herbs and spices : cilantro first and… practically everything else. In this context, use and abuse basil, thyme, rosemary, ginger, turmeric, parsley, oregano and cinnamon. Add it to your dishes or your vegetable juices when possible.

• Foods high in vitamin C will help reduce heavy metal damage, preventing free radicals from hurting you too much. You already know them: orange, grapefruit, lemon. Also spinach and kale, berries, broccoli, kiwi, bell pepper.

• If they are not recommended during a (short) FODMAP diet , garlic and onion will help your liver to detoxify because of their high sulfur content.

• Water : and yes it's stupid but it starts there.

• Fibre : vegetables, legumes, flax and chia seeds help the intestine to detoxify and reduce inflammation.

During your cure you will take care to avoid:

• Farmed fish , especially tilapia which comes to us from Southeast Asia. The French health agency recommends limiting fish consumption to twice a week.

• Foods your body is allergic to. Indeed it will be very difficult for your body to fight against the effects of allergens and get rid of heavy metals at the same time.

• Foods grown in conventional agriculture . Indeed even if organic is far from perfect (presence of copper in particular) it contains much less chemicals. This will lighten the toxic load of your body, which will help it to get rid of heavy metals less easily.

• Alcohol . Here too your body will work a lot and one of the organs that will get the most out of it is your liver. And as you know your system processes alcohol through the liver. So we advise you to take it easy, or even stop completely, during this period.

Preferred supplements

Unfortunately it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for you to get rid of heavy metals without the help of dietary supplements. We made you a shortlist of the most effective supplements:

• Shilajit is an adaptogen used in Ayurveda that shares many similarities with activated charcoal and bentonite. It is effective in helping your body get rid of heavy metals thanks to two of its compounds: humic acid and fulvic acid, which bind to toxic molecules to be better excreted by the body.

• Milk thistle is one of our favorite herbs and one of the most popular for detoxifying the liver. Its main component, silybin, has strong antioxidant activity. Its other major component, silymarin, reduces liver damage.

• Vitamin C helps reduce free radicals. Prefer there in liposomal or ester form. Otherwise it's almost useless.

• Chlorella , star among the stars of heavy metal chelation, is a green algae that helps eliminate heavy metals, including lead and mercury. Excellent source of chlorophyll it is extremely powerful. Use with caution.

• Coriander is also very effective. In your dishes or… in juice!

• Activated carbon , also widely used. Its porous surface will allow toxins and gases to bind to it. Very powerful it is used as an emergency treatment to eliminate poisons.

• Bentonite - Clays (yes, we do say clays in the plural) act as sponges for chemicals and heavy metals. While most clays are used only on the skin, some, such as bentonite or zeolite, can be absorbed. You will find many articles and books explaining their virtues and how to use them on a daily basis.

Conclusion

You have understood, getting rid of heavy metals is not easy BUT it is possible to start the process at home, on a daily basis, thanks to products accessible to all. The products we have mentioned are all gentle on the body (except possibly chlorella) and can be taken without the advice of a practitioner although it is always preferable to do so in a case like this. We have not talked about another technique which is perhaps THE most used technique but which also involves the most risk: chelation. We simply do not talk about it because it must imperatively be carried out with a competent professional.