As we continue to dive into the health related issues regarding mercury toxicity, we would like to take some time to discuss a very important aspect of preparation before having amalgam (which are 50% mercury!) fillings removed.
We wrote a post about a safe protocol for removal or replacement; you can check that out here. Many people might like to immediately rush out to have their fillings removed as soon as they realize how poisonous they actually are, but this may not be the best idea if your health is already really poor. You need to get real about what state your health is actually in!
Most people that want to do it properly take steps to check their level of health and support whatever they might need first.
This is ideal because if all your body systems are not supported--especially the organs involved with detoxing pathways (kidneys, liver, etc.)--you can be causing more damage than good. It’s often easier to address and correct weaknesses now instead of healing damage later.
The key factor to stabilizing health prior to amalgam removal is nutrition. Getting the body functioning at the highest level it can--even with the mercury fillings!--through diet and potentially vitamin/mineral supplementation is of utmost importance. Since nutrition and/or supplementation is a vast topic, we're going to discuss it over multiple posts. First, let’s focus on nutrient needs to support mercury detox.
*Please note that just like so many people have different symptoms of mercury toxicity, they also have different reactions to the supplements that are commonly used to help. You can work with your healthcare provider to have blood tests and other analyses done to gauge your level of health and vitamin and mineral needs.
Here are the most common supplements used and what they do for a mercury poisoned body. In an upcoming post, we’re going to make an extensive guide for finding these nutrients in whole food and natural sources:
1.) Nascent iodine
Most people are unaware what a huge role iodine plays in our health, or that the human body is supposed to consume it every day. Most cells contain/use iodine, especially the thyroid cells, but even more importantly here is that iodine will help you detox heavy metals like mercury. Over 95% of people are deficient in the vital nutrient iodine.
Most people are not eating things like sea vegetables each day - and even if you did you, would probably just be getting more mercury because the oceans are polluted. Our bread used to be fortified with iodine until the 1970's, but then it was replaced with bromine which is actually an iodine disrupter that makes your body lose more than it had.
Further, iodized salt does not contain healthy forms or quantities of iodine for the body, plus it is processed with toxic chemicals. While it may contain just enough to prevent goiter (enlargement of the thyroid) it is nowhere near enough to support real health. Iodized salt is a very poor source of iodine.
We have this miraculous nutrient/detoxifier/protectant available by donation through our website. http://www.intothegardenofeden.com/iodine1.html
2.) Omega oils such as 3 and 6
These oils can increase the fluidity of how the cell membranes function, which helps mercury be moved out of the cells. The oils also help to calm a distressed nervous system. Mercury is known for eating away at the myelin sheath that protects your nerves.
Many people believe omega oils can only be obtained by fish or fish based supplements, but a much safer option for mercury damaged individuals are omegas that come from safflower or sunflower oil, or the superfood "weed" lamb's quarter. If you are getting it from plants, you are much less likely to be consuming mercury along with it!
3.) Zinc picolinate
Mercury quickly depletes zinc.
4.) Sulfur
Mercury loves sulfur and will try to bond with it, thus making it unavailable to bond with other molecules. Sulfur is part of our blood cells, and they cannot function properly when mercury binds to sulfur.
Garlic is an awesome source of sulfur, or MSM is a sulfur supplement that helps to mobilize mercury to get it out of your system.
http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/hg.htm
5.) Selenium
Just like sulfur, mercury binds to selenium. Selenium deficiencies have been tied to a loss of glutathione peroxidase, which eventually will cause free radicals to run rampant and cause lots of damage.
And of course it has many other functions in the body! Some doctors even believe something as simple as 200mg of selenium a day could dramatically reduce breast cancer. It has been shown that a large number of women that had root canals (which are potentially sealed with amalgam before crowned or filled) have ended up with breast cancer.
http://www.naturalhealth365.com/root-canals-toxic-chemicals-bill-henderson-1337.html
6.) Methyl-B12 and Active B complex
All B vitamins are so very important, and many people are at least slightly deficient in them to begin with. It is great for the central nervous system. They help support your adrenal gland which are easily overworked with mercury toxicity, and they also support the methylation process.
Methylation is part of how your body will detox. It is found that the sicker some individuals are with mercury poisoning, the more likely they are to have one or more defective genes that aid in methylation. (If you want to research that more it is called MTHFR gene defect.)
7.) Vitamin C
This is a wonderful antioxidant, again with many functions in the body! Many people have used vitamin C IV therapy to heal many illnesses.
8.) Digestive support (probiotics, digestive enzymes)
Mercury is great at destroying gut flora and digestive enzymes. Helping support digestion for proper nutrition absorption is critical. For the same reason it is highly suggested you avoid antibiotics while mercury poisoned. They also destroy good gut flora, and many people have only noticed a rise in mercury related symptoms after taking a round of antibiotics for minor infections.
9.) Vitamin D
This will help aid in fighting off minor health issues and help keep hormones balanced. Additional illness while already mercury toxic can be much worse than it normally could be.
10.) Colloidal Gold
High quality colloidal gold is like magic in a bottle. It is thought to rejuvenate glands (like adrenals), soothes nerves, and also stimulates them to function better, invigorates sexual organs (a lot of infertility is thought to be related to heavy metal issues), reduces joint pain and inflammation (which is abundant with mercury issues), improves digestion, and enhances mood and cognitive function. There are studies still underway to explore how it helps the plasticity of the brain in reordering neurological pathways.
http://www.intothegardenofeden.com/colloidal-gold.html
These are not in order of importance per se, since they each play a different role.
This list may seem a little daunting but please keep in mind how many body systems and functions are disrupted and damaged via mercury.
We're going to cover whole food and natural sources for these nutrients in an upcoming post, and we want to make a few notes about supplements here:
There's a huge range in quality of vitamins. The industry is essentially unregulated, and unless you have fancy testing equipment or a very trusted source, you basically don't really know what you're getting!
So it's important to know that
- There's a lot of total crap out there.
- You do not want synthetic sources--whole food, organic sources are best.
- Cost is not foolproof but is often a decent indicator of quality. Super cheap supplements from corporate chains have proven again and again to be contaminated or weak.
So yes, supplements may be easy especially if you have money or are busy or eat at restaurants a lot and don't control your nutrition, but we'll show you whole food sources that can supply all these nutrients that will actually be more sustainable in an upcoming post!
This is a great starting point to get yourself towards health for a good removal and great detox!
We hope this will inspire you to do additional research and work towards the best possible health for yourself!
For additional resources on this topic please check out some of these links and the ones above:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27954/
http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Dr-Brownstein/iodine-deficiency-thyroid-fatigue/2013/01/22/id/484522/
http://www.medicalmedium.com/book
www.intothegardenofeden.com
