All about mercury poisoning. Part 2 of 2.

For people who have mercury poisoning, the first step is to stop further exposure to the toxic metal. If they have silver-amalgam dental fillings, there may be good reason to consider replacing them with composite fillings. If they live in an urban area, they may want one or more air purifiers. Plants can also be a great air purifier. The common spider plant is one of the best! Most people are aware of the mercury risks in many fish and seafood. There are many species that are very safe to eat and others not so much. For fish lovers, the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California has an excellent resource called “Seafood WATCH”.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) defines chelation as "the formation or presence of bonds (or other attractive interactions) between two or more separate binding sites within the same ligand and a single central atom." Simply put, a chelating agent is ingested or injected, which bonds to another compound (in this case toxic heavy metals) and neutralizes the other compound, allowing it to be eliminated naturally. Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is a common oral chelating agent and is also a powerful antioxidant. Chlorella is single-celled algae that has been shown to enhance immune functions and lower cholesterol and blood-pressure, is often used for chelating mercury. Dimercapto-propane sulfonate (DMPS) is commonly used when oral chelating agents have not worked or mercury levels are very high, by way of a series of injections in your largest muscle – the indispensable gluteus maximus.

Fasting is a common detoxifying practice. When the digestive system has nothing else to do the body begins to throw out the garbage, desperate for anything it can use to make glucose. The liver, kidneys and other internal organs get a long vacation and all the “crap” starts moving the other direction. There are many accounts of dramatic recoveries from serious and chronic disease as a result of a long-term water fast. I’ll definitely be covering this topic again!

Last but not least, alkaline water is said to help the body eliminate toxins. The so called “ionized” water is said to permeate the cell walls more efficiently and eliminate waste and toxins at a cellular level. According to Wikipedia “drinking ionized water would not be expected to alter the body's pH”, but the article overlooks the stress incurred to the body by the process of offsetting a very acidic diet. Obviously water is essential and I will explore the importance of pH in great depth shortly.