Get the Lead Out with Oral Chelation

Heavy metal toxicity has been documented throughout the ages. For instance, some historians have long maintained that the Roman Empire met its fate because of strife from within and without—internal conflicts and wars with other nations.

Other historians have speculated that those internal conflicts resulted from the unstable mental states of the Roman leaders. The senators may have been suffering from dementia as a result of a few too many sips of wine and water from lead goblets.

In essence, the Romans’ wealth undid them, since other nations weren’t wealthy enough to afford containers made from lead.

Now, more than 1,500 years later, lead is still a problem. For example, recent testing of 11,000 school children in China revealed that 65 percent had blood lead levels that exceeded those considered safe by the World Health Organization.

Back here at home, the World Bank has identified lead poisoning as the number one environmental disease among children in the industrialized world…including the United States.

Understanding Oral Chelation

If you know or suspect that you have high levels of lead, cadmium, or arsenic in your body, then oral chelation formulas containing EDTA (ethylene-diamine tetra-acetic acid), a weak synthetic amino acid, are the best way to remove them. Chelating agents bind with heavy metals, and then carry them out of your body via urine and stool.

Oral EDTA will provide long-term protection against heavy metal poisoning, chronic inflammation, and hypercoagulable states (very sticky blood). But EDTA has a downside, albeit minimal. In the process of drawing out all heavy metals (iron, mercury, copper, aluminum, lead and cadmium), EDTA also pulls out much-needed zinc, magnesium, and calcium.

That’s why I recommend that anyone taking an oral chelator supplement with additional minerals—zinc, magnesium, and calcium. If you take a quality multi-nutrient formula, that will be sufficient.

The reason I’m so interested in oral chelators is that none of us can escape heavy metal poisoning; it’s part and parcel of our modern life.

In a recent U.S. study of 3,800 children and adults representing a cross-section of the population, investigators documented traces of 11 heavy metals, six compounds usually found after exposure to pesticides, and several other toxic ingredients in their bodies.

Over long periods of time, regular use of an oral chelator can help your body rid itself of toxic build-up. It takes at least a year to pull heavy metals out of tissues like bone and brain. But the best part is the immediate protection.

Suppose tomorrow you’re exposed to mercury in the form of a tuna sandwich, or to arsenic in pressed wood while working on your deck. A chelator will help neutralize any toxicity from this current exposure.

Given the fact that probably all of us are burdened with heavy metals to some degree, I recommend that you at least use widely available nutrient chelators, such as:

• chlorella (follow directions on supplement label),
• selenium (200 mcg),
• vitamin C (1,000–1,500 mg), and
• garlic (1,000 mg in supplement form plus fresh garlic in food) on a regular basis.

EDTA should also be considered, because it’s very safe. The U.S. government recommends EDTA as the treatment of choice for young children suffering from lead poisoning.

So, if you know that your heavy metal levels are on the high side, or you simply feel you want to take good care of yourself by practicing preventive medicine, then include a chelator in your daily plan.

If you’re interested in starting oral chelation therapy, I recommend products from two pioneers in this area: Garry Gordon, D.O. and Maile Pouls, Ph.D. Visit her website YourNutrition.com. Oral chelators are definitely a step in the right direction to help us survive in this toxic environment of ours.