Heavy Metal Detox Diet and Foods

Heavy Metal Detox Facts:

1. Your health is today what you did yesterday (& months/years before)

2. What you do today will determine your health in the future.

3. Your body has been telling “Houston, we have a problem” for years.

4. 1000 x’s more chemical toxins today vs. 75 yrs ago (our food/water/ air); 50% of US pop diabetic/pre-diabetic; cancer to be leading cause of death; 53 million US have auto-immunity; childhood disease, obesity, …..Toxins cause inflammation that leads to diseases.

5. Medicine is sick care. Food is healthcare. It affects all downstream imbalances/inflammation/leaky gut.

See: Best anti-inflammatory foods for arthritis

Do you want to reclaim your optimal health with target foods?

Do you suffer from chronic health issues and have yet to discover the answers you seek? If you believe that you are looking for answers for much too long, you aren’t alone. You may already be doing all you can imagine to keep yourself healthy. Sadly, these kinds of symptoms are getting increasingly more commonplace. Why does my body feel this way?”

Do you want to lose weight, stop the pain, fix your hormones, thyroid issues, blood sugar, risks for dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and fix brain fog, headaches, asthma, allergies, fatigue, eczema, psoriasis, digestive issues, acid reflux, constipation and more? Do you want to reduce your stress, anxiety, depression, irritability, reverse autoimmunity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer? Do you want to fix ADD, ADHD, autism, behavior, learning disabilities in children? Then let’s get some facts straight.

See: Best Foods Good for Your Heart

Influencers: Things getting in the way

1. Pesticides/Toxins – hormones/liver/leaky gut:

BPA/PCB’ s/phthalates, hormones/antibiotics (in factory meat/ dairy/fish), heavy metals, mold, medications (statins, HBP), pesticides/herbicides/fungicides, …tears open gut lining so that things leak into the bloodstream stimulating an immune response, crosses into brain.

In this modern age, we’re bombarded with toxins of every kind imaginable. Our bodies are constantly exposed to a slew of harmful chemicals daily from air pollution to pesticides. This has become an unfortunate fact of contemporary life. If you’re experiencing brain fog, migraine, anxiety symptoms, or any other symptoms that cannot be linked to any obvious cause, there is a great probability that some class of toxins may be what’s causing them. They’re called toxic heavy metals that remain well-hidden within our own bodies, never showing itself unless you’re actively searching for it.

Toxic heavy metals are almost everywhere and are present in things we come in contact with each day, such as aluminum cans and aluminum foil, batteries, metal cookware, old paint, and even the foods we consume. Unfortunately, it’s these “older” metals, that have been lurking in our system for extended amounts of time, that pose the greatest threat. Over time, poisonous heavy metals may oxidize, causing damage to surrounding tissue and promoting inflammation. They literally poison our bodies and may inflict harm on virtually every organ and system, such as our liver, brain, digestive tract, and different parts of our nervous system. Toxic heavy metals put a massive burden on our immune system, leaving us exposed to a number of illnesses.

While toxins of each kind are dangerous, heavy metals pose a special threat. They’re a kind of neurotoxin that disrupts nerve function and confuses your immune system. This toxicity can inflame and irritate our central nervous system (particularly our brain), causing numerous symptoms like memory loss, brain fog, fatigue, and depression. Toxic heavy metals may also promote inflammation in the digestive tract, releasing toxins into our gut also. As though this is not bad enough, heavy metals also function as a source of food for viruses, parasites, bacteria, and other pathogens in our own bodies.

See: Fad Diets

Your Delicate Central Nervous System

Heavy metals have the capability to infiltrate the mind. While heavy metal deposits are damaging no matter where they are in the body, the brain is particularly vulnerable. Our brain cells regulate the physiological processes in our body. In healthy brains, this system operates efficiently and smoothly. If, however, the nerves are surrounded by brain tissue saturated with mercury or other heavy metals, this leads to electrical short-circuiting. These minerals have the capacity to oxidize heavy metals, literally causing them to corrode. This may spread to other regions of the brain, allowing more electrical impulses to come in contact with the heavy metal oxidation, resulting in even more short-circuiting, and perpetuating a vicious cycle that leads to stress, depression, memory loss, emotional upheaval (e.g., flying off the handle), migraines, mood swings (i.e., intense highs and lows), being mentally hypersensitive, using multiple chemical sensitivities, etc.

The reality is most foods that could help get heavy metals from your body require a helping hand, and work better as a group. This is the reason the best approach for heavy metal detox is to use not one but several different detoxifying foods together.

Fixing Your Heavy Metal Detox With Natural Remedies

1. Avoid environmental exposures: clean up your environment: go organic, change household/body products used, pots/pan/ utensils, fragrances, filter water (chloride/fluoride/meds/ metals) Everything you eliminate is one step closer.

In today’s world, the accumulation of heavy metals and other toxins, along with inherited mercury deposits, is inevitable. The better news is that it’s relatively easy to eliminate the heavy metals which you might have already gathered (both generational and current ), and there are steps you can take to minimize your potential vulnerability. Adding the next all-star foods into your daily diet and being diligent in your efforts to eat these will go a long way toward ridding your body of heavy metals:

– Aloe Vera Leaf Juice

Consuming fresh aloe vera leaf juice is just another terrific addition to your heavy metal detox toolkit. Aloe is extremely proficient at helping flush metals from your body. For optimal benefits, cut off a four-inch section of a fresh aloe vera (if it’s big, as is typically the case for aloe vera. If you are using a homegrown aloe vera, it will likely have smaller, skinnier leaves, and so you’ll have to cut more).

– Lemon Water

An extremely effective way of detoxifying the body is to drink two glasses of water on an empty stomach. Squeeze half of a freshly cut lemon in a glass of water, and drink it in the morning. When doing a heavy metal detox, it’s absolutely crucial that you’re sufficiently hydrated.  The fresh lemon juice boosts the water’s ability to grab the toxins within your body and help flush them out. This practice is particularly effective for cleansing your liver, which works while you sleep to collect and purge toxins from your body.

2. Food choices: sugar, dairy, gluten (wheat/rye/barley/oats/corn/rice), food dyes/artificial sweeteners/chemicals/additives/preservatives, trans/ hydrogenated fats, processed foods, MSG, GMOs, HFCS

3. Endocrine System of Glands/Cells/Hormones via the bloodstream – is made up of chemical messengers released by brain, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, ovaries/testes, GI tract, kidneys, visceral fat,… that controls communication from 1 part of the body to another to maintain homeostatic balance controlling: growth, repair, development, energy, mental clarity, immunity, temperature, stress response, weight, metabolism, aging, digestion, … Think of glands like a solar system. When one gets out of balance, it affects the others in the ‘space’ of the body.

a. Estrogen dominance – a steroid that balances with progesterone & testosterone.

Problem in men

(adrenals/fat cells) & women (adrenals/ovaries/fat cells) to be in excess (toxic) – mood swings, weight gain, menopause symptoms, bone density, heart, cognitive, candida, cancer.

Many things in our environment are ‘phytoestrogens’ or ‘xenoestrogens’ that mimic estrogens that stimulate growth/fat storage (insulin linked in all) – Sunscreens, plastics, soy, stress, pesticides, personal care (cosmetics/laundry/cleaning/ lotion), factor farmed meats/dairy/fish, …

b. Insulin (ghrelin/leptin) & insulin resistance – key to hormone balance from pancreas to control blood sugar, energy, hunger, cravings (too much insulin), acne, insomnia, depression, fatty liver, metabolism, & fat storage/release promoted by too much insulin &/or estrogen dominance from processed carbs, HFCS, …

c. Hypothyroidism – thyroid regulates our metabolism. Many things in our environment interfere with it – fluoride, chlorine, bromide in flour, heavy metals, toxins, leaky gut/immune response.

d. Cortisol Stress – fight/flight system steroids from adrenals that moves energy away from other systems to increases blood sugar, etc. by blocking digestion/absorption/restoration/sleep cycle: work, sick kids/parent/ spouse/self, moving, chronic pain, physical/emotional trauma/ACEs, perceived/perception of stress, death, relationship, accidents, auto-immune conditions, EMF,… leading to Chronic/adrenal fatigue/weight gain.

2. Detox Ideas:

a. Milk thistle & beets – supports liver detox

b. Hormone adaptogens – balance sex & stress hormone with ashwagandha & maca root

c. Matcha green tea – helps block bad cancer-causing estrogens or xenoestrogens & stimulates the fat release

d. Fiber – balances blood sugar, binds & removes excess toxins & estrogens – veggies/nuts/seeds

e. Chocolate – organic cacao powder

f. Coconut charcoal – 90 days; binds/removes toxins

g. Humic & Fulvic acid/shilajit – pulls heavy metals out of cells, kills candida

h. Yellow dock root – repairs/deflects EMF damage

i. ALA/NAC – upregulates glutathione/controls blood sugar/heals leaky gut…

j. Chlorella/Spirulina – rich chlorophylls that bind toxins

k. Selenium – binds to heavy metals

3. Probiotics/prebiotics – FEED the good guys. Fermented foods, 6- 10 servings of veggies/day & 15+ strain probiotic 30+ billion units

4. Heal Leaky Gut – bone broth, collagen, quercetin, aloe vera juice, slippery elm, yellow dock (EMF too)

5. OTC/NSAID/Meds: all contain problematic ‘stuff’ that damages or depletes the body. Use alternatives.

6. Stress management: yoga, meditation, tai chi, walking, turn off WiFi & phone at night, breathing techniques.

7. Sleep – 7+ hrs = body’s time rest/repair/restoration/detox

8. Good Fats (required for hormone production) w/fiber/protein every meal – olive, coconut, MCT, ghee, avocado, nut/seeds,…

9. Change your relationship with food: Nourishment

a. All chronic conditions have many nutritional deficiencies present.

b. The calories in, calories out theory of eating less & exercise more is out. The body does not use 100 Calorie cookie the same as 100 Calories of broccoli. So, quality is key.

c. COOK/PREPARE ALL YOUR OWN FOOD. Start with a crockpot, smoothies

d. No sugar, GMO’s, non-organic, processed, dead, food-like substances

10. Learn to read labels – if you can’t pronounce it or don’t know what it is, don’t eat it.

11. Hydrate – 1⁄2 of body weight in ounces to flush toxins.

12. Sauna – Near-infrared

Infrared sauna sessions can give your heavy metal detox an extra boost. Infrared saunas emit infrared light in your skin for the purpose of recovery. The beams deeply penetrate the body, providing advantages like increased blood circulation and oxygenation of the blood, elimination of toxins from the skin, elimination of aches and pains, and improved immunity. Infrared sauna sessions help the human body’s innate detoxification attempts, which expedites the heavy metal removal procedure. You can often find an infrared sauna in local gyms, massage therapy centers, or sauna centers.

Your liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal system are made to eliminate toxins, but contamination, pesticides, and other dangerous chemicals can eventually overwhelm the body. A personalized natural detox and some exercise will go a long way toward giving you more energy and allow you to feel better about yourself. Make your detox diet your permanent diet, and your body will thank you.